For the week of April 21 – 4th Sunday of Easter
Morning Prayer: Living Word, whose love abides in us, You call us to love in truth and action. Give courage to our hearts so we may love those You love. Open our ears to the wisdom of those You send, who might otherwise be dismissed. Transform our charity into justice over all the earth. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Opening Hymn #128 He Leadeth Me: O Blessed Thought
- He leadeth me: O blessed thought! O words with heavenly comfort fraught!
Whate'er I do, where'er I be, still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.
Refrain: He leadeth me, He leadeth me, by His own hand He leadeth me;
His faithful follower I would be, for by His hand He leadeth me.
- Sometimes mid scenes of deepest gloom, sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,
by waters still, o'er troubled sea, still 'tis His hand that leadeth me. (Refrain) - Lord, I would place my hand in thine, nor ever murmur nor repine;
content, whatever lot I see, since 'tis my God that leadeth me. (Refrain) - And when my task on earth is done, when by Thy grace the victory's won,
e'en death's cold wave I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me. (Refrain)
Psalm 23
23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Children’s Time 1 John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before Him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and He knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we obey His commandments and do what pleases Him.
And this is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as He has commanded us. All who obey His commandments abide in Him, and He abides in them. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit that He has given us.
Children’s Message
Love is a small word for a very large concept. What do you think about when you hear the word love? Maybe we think about ways we show affection, like hugs and kisses. Maybe we think about doing nice things for the people around us.
One of the definitions of love is justice. Justice is setting things right, making something unfair, fair. In the church, we sometimes refer to justice work as missions. We see something that is wrong and we work to make it right. Hunger is a problem in our community and we respond by providing food in our Blessing Box out front and we work with our local food bank to be sure those without food get food.
As we move through this season and into the summer, we are going to be hearing and working with scriptures throughout the Bible to get a fuller understanding of love. John tells us that when we are loving others we are connected to God and that pleases God. We can do these things because God loved us first by sending Jesus.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for loving us. Help us to see all the ways you want us to love You and each other. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: Thank you for your Lenten Offering. 30 Pieces of Silver offering was $2,761.65 and has been given to Withrow University College so that they can have a bathhouse for the residential students.
Offering prayer: Gracious Provider, we gather with hearts filled with gratitude for the love You've shown us. Your Word reminds us that true love is seen in the self-sacrifice of Christ. As we offer our tithes and offerings today and as we dedicate the offering provided to Withrow University College, we are reminded of the importance of generosity and stewardship in every aspect of our lives. May these gifts be a reflection of the love we have experienced in Christ and show our commitment to this church and to Withrow University College. Use these offerings to bring justice, mercy, and hope to the world. In Your holy name, we pray. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation #381 Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us
- Savior, like a shepherd lead us, much we need Thy tender care;
in Thy pleasant pastures feed us, for our use Thy folds prepare.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast bought us, Thine we are. - We are Thine, Thou dost befriend us, be the guardian of our way;
keep Thy flock, from sin defend us, seek us when we go astray.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Hear, O hear us when we pray.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Hear, O hear us when we pray. - Thou hast promised to receive us, poor and sinful though we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us, grace to cleanse and power to free.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! We will early turn to Thee.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! We will early turn to Thee. - Early let us seek Thy favor, early let us do Thy will;
blessed Lord and only Savior, with Thy love our bosoms fill.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast loved us, love us still.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus! Thou hast loved us, love us still.
Message Scripture: John 10:11-18 (CEB)
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away. That’s because he isn’t the shepherd; the sheep aren’t really his. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 He’s only a hired hand and the sheep don’t matter to him.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that don’t belong to this sheep pen. I must lead them too. They will listen to my voice and there will be one flock, with one shepherd.
17 “This is why the Father loves Me: I give up My life so that I can take it up again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I give it up because I want to. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it up again. I received this commandment from My Father.”
Message: The Good Shepherd Pastor Ron
Jesus begins this passage by saying, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” He then contrasts the good shepherd with a hired hand. The sheep belongs to the shepherd, and he works extremely hard not to lose a single one of them. The hired hand, however, could really care less. The sheep belongs to someone else. Why should he risk his life for someone else’s sheep? We’ve all known people who have had the attitude of the hired hand.
A paratrooper who had recently finished his time in the military was asked by his friend how many times he had jumped out of an airplane. His reply was, “None.” So, the friend asked, “What do you mean, ‘none,’ I thought you were a paratrooper?” He replied, “I was, but I never jumped. I was pushed several times…but I never jumped.”
The hired hand never jumps. He must be pushed. Churches have a lot of hired hands in them. Not this church, of course. But other churches are full of people who must be pushed to do what they know they ought to do. Jesus didn’t have to be pushed. We must understand that dying for the sins of humanity was not something He relished. He died an excruciating death. Still, He laid down His life for the sheep. That should really speak to us.
Because first of all, it says, that we really do matter to Christ. In one of His most memorable parables Jesus compared Himself to a shepherd out in the wilderness. One of his sheep has gone missing. He leaves the ninety-nine other sheep under his care to search for that one lost sheep. This shows how much he really does care.
It’s like a scene that occurred on September 11, 2001, when terrorists hijacked four airplanes, ramming two to the planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The entire world watched in horror as the towers erupted into gigantic fireballs, then imploded until nothing was left of the 110-story, glass-and-steel structures except soot, dust, and a six-story-high pile of smoldering rubble. Even before the dust settled, the heroic rescue efforts began as thousands of people systematically started combing through the debris to find survivors. One rescuer told how he had climbed down into a hole in the twisted steel and rubble, extending his arm as far as he could to shine his flashlight into the darkness. Then suddenly, out of the dusty blackness a hand reached up and grabbed his! He was so startled he almost dropped his flashlight and let go of the hand. But instead, he reached his other hand back for someone to grab his hand, then someone grabbed that person’s hand, until a human chain was formed, and the man trapped in the pile of debris was pulled to safety. It is wonderful when human beings reach out a helping hand to one another in times of great need. But it’s even more significant when the eternal God sacrifices His son in our behalf. It’s like a shepherd risking his life for a sheep. It really doesn’t make a lot of sense, but that is how much we are loved.
We know that sheep aren’t the most intelligent creatures in the animal kingdom. We have probably over romanticized the relationship of a shepherd and his sheep. In his book, The One and Only You, Bruce Larson prints a hilarious letter from a friend of his who tells of having to deliver seven new-born sheep while her husband was out of town. In her letter she says, “Never again can I think of the Good Shepherd without knowing that He must love us beyond measure if we are like sheep to Him. A sheep is smelly, with an oily kind of dirt that lingers on anything it touches and soaks right through clothing to give an overall aroma long after you’ve come in. One old ewe that I hate with a passion, since she takes advantage of every unsuspecting moment to assert her authority, had trouble having her lamb. Would you believe we had to pen her up all the while she was trying to incapacitate us…and then rassle her down and sit on her head before we could pull the lamb. Then she was so exhausted she didn’t want to get up to take care of her baby, so I pretended to go back into the pen with her and she was so anxious to clobber me, she got up with no trouble at all. And that was only one of seven we delivered that week! Thank heaven the others were less traumatic.”
We all have this image of the cuddly little lamb, but adult sheep are not the most endearing of God’s creation. And the idea of a shepherd giving his life for a sheep is absurd. But Jesus is trying to say to us that this is how absurdly wonderful God’s love for us is. God is much higher above us that a shepherd to a sheep. And from a logical standpoint, it is absurd to think that God would love us that much. But sisters and brothers, that is the Gospel. God really does care for us so much that Christ laid down His life in our behalf.
This brings us to the second thing we need to know about the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd knows us by name. He doesn’t just love humanity in mass. He loves each of us intimately. Jesus goes on to say, “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father.” (14-15a)
One of the most disturbing and influential books of the last century is the futuristic novel by George Orwell titled, 1984. Some of you may have been required to read 1984 in school. In this novel everyone is under complete surveillance by authorities, mainly by video screens. Watching over this totalitarian state was a mysterious dictator called Big Brother. The people were constantly reminded that “Big Brother is watching you.” Ever since 1984 hit the bookstores, privacy and freedom have looked for signs that Big Brother is becoming a reality in our society. And it is true that more and more of our homes, businesses, traffic lights and even churches have security cameras watching every move we make. Let’s not forget Google Earth, where you can go online and peer into your neighbor’s back yard. Who knows where this will eventually lead us?
Here is what I find interesting. There are people who have no difficulty believing that one day the government will keep track of us all, but they cannot conceive that an all-knowing God can take a personal interest in each of His children. God hears each of our prayers and is responsive to each of our individual needs. Brothers and sisters, we are sheep! No matter how far our technology progresses it will still be painfully primitive in comparison to God who created all that lives and moves and has its being. God knows our name. When we come before Him to confess our sins and express our needs, God hears us and is present with us as if we were the only person in the universe. If you can believe that the government can track your whereabouts, how can you not believe that the God who created the heavens and the earth cannot be individually responsive to those who call on His name?
God really does care for us. He knows us by name. Here’s the last thing we need to know this morning: God wants to be our partner as we seek to cope with life. Jesus compared us to sheep, and there are times that we are sheep who surely need a shepherd. But He also calls us friends, as well as His brothers and sisters. He told us to be yoked to Him because He wants to partner with us as we live our lives.
Robert A. Schuller talks about a young woman named Shannon who was impacted by the television ministry of Schuller’s Father, Dr. Robert H. Schuller.
Shannon’s mother was an alcoholic. Many times, as a child, Shannon says, she remembers crawling underneath her bed and being very quiet so her mother couldn’t find her. As she grew up, she was afraid of making friends with the other kids. She didn’t want them to come home with her and see her mom. In high school Shannon began experimenting with drugs, which helped her fit in.
But then, one morning Shannon heard Dr. Schuller on television say that Jesus loved her. And she began believing it. Through prayer she turned away from drugs. She felt God’s presence in her life. This emboldened her to pray for what she called the greatest miracle of all: for her mother to stay sober. She prayed and she prayed. Yet nothing seemed to happen. Finally, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She took away her mother’s last bottle of booze after she had passed out one afternoon, even though she knew you weren’t supposed to do that to an alcoholic. That evening, when she was talking to a friend on the phone, her mother came up behind her and screamed, “Shannon, I hate you! I want to kill you!” Shannon turned and saw that her mother had a knife in her hand. Shannon ran to her bedroom and locked the door. Her mother stood outside her door screaming, “Shannon, I hate you! I wish you were dead! I hate you!” Then she heard a thud, and the knife pierced the door. Shannon looked at the tip of the knife and felt all her hope shatter. She fell into a clump on the floor and cried. She was angry with God. “Why would You let this happen?” she screamed at God. “I’ve prayed. I’ve had faith.” And then she listened for an answer. And then she heard God speak to her. God told her, “Shannon, get up off the floor, open the door, and tell your mother that you are sorry.”
That was not what Shannon wanted to hear. Her mother had just tried to kill her. But suddenly, she felt a peace come over her; she calls it the peace of the Holy Spirit. She opened the door. Lying there on the floor outside her room was an extremely sick woman. And she felt sorrier for her mother than she did for herself. “Mom, I’m sorry that it’s like this. I love you very much. And I’m sorry.” Change didn’t happen overnight. The fights kept occurring. But every time Shannon said, “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry it’s like this.”
One day when Shannon came home from school she felt a peace in the house. She went to her bedroom and her mother came in. She put her arms around Shannon and said, “Shannon, I’m very, very sick. I have a disease. It’s called alcoholism. I’ve called AA, and they’re coming to pick me up. I’m scared, Shannon. I just want you to know that I love you very, very much.” It was the first time in her life that her mother had told her that she loved her.
Shannon’s mother has been sober ever since then.
Sisters and brothers, miracles like that happen all the time. It may not happen today, or even tomorrow. But God loves us, God knows our needs, and God wants to partner with us as we deal with our lives. He is the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. God cares about you and wants to be your Good Shepherd.
Closing Hymn #347 Spirit Song
- O let the Son of God enfold you with His Spirit and His love.
Let Him fill your heart and satisfy your soul.
O let Him have the things that hold you, and His Spirit like a dove
will descend upon your life and make you whole.
Refrain: Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill Your lambs. Jesus, O Jesus, come and fill Your lambs.
- O come and sing this song with gladness as your hearts are filled with joy.
Lift your hands in sweet surrender to His name.
O give Him all your tears and sadness; give Him all your years of pain,
And you’ll enter into life in Jesus’ name. Refrain.
Go into your week with the blessings of The Father, The Son, The Holy Spirit.
