BIG Words (Shepherd) Making sense of Christian language, to be more productive disciples of Jesus Christ.

John 10:11-18 NLT… “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

Introduction: John 9 and John 10 cannot be understood separated from each other. The two chapters are connected by the same story.

Transition: Hear this good news… the religious folks put the man out, but Jesus heard about it and went to find him! Jesus welcomed him in, and the man worshipped Jesus as Lord.

Exposition: It’s on the heals of a sheep being rejected from a sheepfold, that Jesus says “I am the good shepherd”!

1. The picture of the Shepherd Reference Psalm 23:1, Psalm 79:13, Psalm 80:1, Isaiah 40:11, Matthew 18:12, Mark 6:34, Luke 12:32, I Peter 2:25
2. The priorities of the Shepherd Know – Nurture – Protect – Save
3. The power of the Shepherd

Conclusion: We must adopt the attitude of the blind man Jesus healed in John 9, and testify over and over that Jesus is our Good Shepherd!