The Church of Eleven22 - Wk 1: The Good Shepherd

Episode Date: October 16, 2022

Are you living the abundant life or is your life defined by an abundance of stuff that will never satisfy?

Amen and amen. Hey, if you would grab your journal and hold it up so I can see it. We're all playing along here. And now you can open it up. This is like the SAT, all right? I hope you are excited about this. This is by far the biggest thing God has ever called us to do as a church. If we are obedient to what the good shepherd calls us to do,

this initiative over the next two years and for the rest of our lives, will impact more people than we've ever been able to impact ever. not only in our generation, have been in generations to come. I need you to think about this, that if we do what God has called us to do, there will be people that will be born that would not have been born.

There will be people that will embrace life that did not know that that was God's best for them. There will be people that will be forgiven and set free from a past sin, and for the very first time, they know that God is for them, not against them, that all sin is forgiven at the cross,

and therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There will be marriages that will be saved. There will be chains of addiction that fall off. There will be people that struggle with depression, and the depression will be taken away, and joy will be replaced. There will be people whose forever will be changed, eternities will be changed if we will offer to the whole world, the 10-10 abundant life. Amen?

I hope you're ready for this. So open up this journal, because there's no way you can remember everything I'm going to go over, and there was a lot in that video. There's a lot that God is calling us to do. and God has given us a lot. God has entrusted us with a lot. And so we want to continue to be faithful to do whatever it is that he has called us to do. You'll see there a letter for me.

There's a picture for me and Gene from about a year ago. If you'll open it up one past that, there's Cessaria Philippi. I need to take you there. That's pretty awesome. And you'll see a timeline, and the timeline is not just about our church. The timeline is about the church. Because everything that God is calling us to do, and all of the amazing things that we have been a part of

since we launched this church 10 years ago, it's not new, it's just our turn. And I hope that you know that we stand on the shoulders of faithful men and women who have gone before us. From Jerusalem to Jacksonville for the last 2,000 years, Christians have been sowing into what God is reaping right now. Sowing in prayers, sewing in tears, sewing in invitations, sewing in their lives, showing in resources, and everything that we've gotten to experience is because of God's faithfulness through the fateful prayers of men and women who have gone before us. And then if you will keep going, you will see a breakdown of everything I just went over on the video. Because as we walk through this 10-10 life journey for the next two years,

in order for us to kind of get our minds around it, we split it up into three different areas, and you can read more about this all throughout the journal. The first area is called church life. And the reason that we do this is we do not want to take our eyes off of the vision that God has given us as a church. In other words, what we're going to do is we will continue to be a movement for all people to discover and deepen a relationship with Jesus Christ. And I don't know if you're paying attention, but it's going real good. We are in the year of worship, and so far during this year, 1,909 people have surrendered their life to the Lord. Lordship of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. And we just taught the book of Psalms for 22 weeks. It's not exactly a

growth strategy movement, but Jesus says if we lift up him, he will draw all men and women unto himself. In fact, this year we have baptized more people than any singularity year in the life of our church. We have baptized two people. They have come forward to declare Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And so the reason we stay focused on that, That just means we're going to keep doing the things that we've been doing. We're going to make disciples and make disciples and make disciples and make disciples. We're going to gather together and make much of Jesus in worship and word. We're going to continue to gather in disciple groups.

We're going to send missionaries all over the world. We're going to continue the church life. The second part is called eternal life because the gospel changes eternities. And eternity doesn't start when you die. Eternity starts the moment you put your faith in Jesus Christ. And so a part of what this initiative is about is we are going to plant. 200 more local autonomous churches. And let me tell you why that's exciting.

Because when we are all dead and done, and by the time you leave here today, you'll be an hour closer to that than when you were when you got here. And when we are all dead and done, God's primary strategy for accomplishing the Great Commission, which is the local church, will be happening all over the world.

In fact, one thing to celebrate is this. I know we have a bunch of people that attend our church, but every Sunday morning around the world, There are more people that attend almost 500 churches that we've already planted than attend 1122. And when we're done, God will raise up a new generation of leaders, anoint them and appoint them, and it will continue to propagate the gospel wherever these churches are. And so we're going to continue to plant churches all over the world. We're also going to continue to launch campuses wherever God calls us to launch 1122 campuses.

Now, I set out a goal in 2000. that by 2029, we would plant 1,000 churches, we would send 100 full-time missionaries, and we would plant at least 10 campuses around Jacksonville and beyond. Well, we're already at 10, so scratch out 10, and you can write the number 22. I think 22 is a good godly number. I like that number. So we'll do, honestly, we will just put campuses wherever God tells us to. Because we've never tried to be a big church.

We just want to make room for one more. And some of you crazy people drive like an hour to get here. And so we just want to come where you are so you can reach your one more. A month ago, we opened Orange Park. During this initiative, we'll launch one on the north side near the airport. We're going to be working on St. John's permanent location.

There's an area up in Yulee called Wild Light. We're believing God that we could put a campus there they actually invited us to. There's some areas down in St. Augustine. We want to put a campus there. In fact, wherever he leads us, that's where we're going to go. In fact, there's a group of people

in Sarasota, Florida, and every single weekend, they gather as 11-20 tours. There's a couple of hundred of them. I've never even been to Sarasota. I had to look at them on a map, okay? Pray for Sarasota. But they are already doing a thing. There are a few thousand people that worship with us online in Orlando every single weekend. So we need to figure out what's happening there.

In fact, this past week, we had a couple of hundred people at an interest night in Palakka. I didn't know a couple of hundred people lived in Palakka, but praise God. Everybody in Palakka brought a couple of people. cousin and they showed up. Okay, so here's all I'm saying. Wherever the good shepherd tells us to plant an 1122 campus, then we are going to do whatever he tells us to do. We're going to expand our prison ministry campuses there, so we're going to do that. Church life, eternal life also means that we're going to send 15 more full-time missionaries. And here's what's great about it. Some of them, you're listening to the sermon right now, and you're thinking

I wonder who that is, and they're sitting in your chair. I can't wait to watch that. Again, some of you're about to graduate from college with a degree that you don't need, and so what you're going to do is give us two years, and you're going to go to the mission field and serve at one of our church plants. Some of you're about to retire, and you think, what I'm going to do with all my time. I know exactly what you're going to do with all your time.

You're going to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and some of you got some, like, high school and middle school kids, and you're right in the peak earning years, and it makes zero sense at all, except your good father says, drop it all and follow me, and you're going to do that. And we're going to see 15 more missionaries to the ends of the earth. Amen? See how quiet it is right here?

You're like, oh, God, if I say amen, he might send me. We'll see. And then the third bucket, the third bucket, it's called abundant life. Abundant life. And again, the idea here is what would it look like for a church, not to simply be pro-life as a political ideology just up to the point of birth, but what would it look like if we were pro-life from womb to tomb. Because we have been called to share the abundant life with every single person from the moment of conception all the way to the casket. And so here's what this means.

We're going to double down on our efforts to partner with some folks like First Coast Women's Services to fight for the rights of the unborn. We want every single mama to embrace life, to embrace life. And also, we also want to come alongside those women who have bought into the lie of the abortionists and let you know that that does not have to define you, that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of all of our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness, and therefore now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So we're going to fight from the moment of conception, but it doesn't stop there. We're just beginning. Then we're also going to throw our hat in the foster care ring. And I want every single person, every single family, every single

person at 1122 begin to pray and say, God, are you calling us to foster kids? Can you imagine, what if we could foster every child in every county where we have a campus? Imagine if I could go to the mayor of Duval County and be like, okay, we got foster care. Now, why don't you finish 295 or something constructive? That'd be awesome, okay? All right. And so God's going to call hundreds and hundreds of 1122ers to bring kids into their home as foster kids, okay? This is like a reverse mission trip. Instead of you going, we're going to bring them into our homes. And then all of the rest of the church is also playing along. We need to create a support network for these families, and you need to begin praying right now how you can serve there. For some of you,

you've got a long care system. Congratulations. God just told you to do like three or four houses a week of foster care family. Some of you cut hair, you cut in foster kids hair for free. Some of you do taxes, you might need to block out some time next April because you're going to do some taxes for free. and however else we can figure out to support these families because every child matters, there are no accidental kids. And so we're going to reach out to every single one of them. We are. We're going to continue to rescue kids from poverty in Jesus' name through Compassion International

all around the world. And there's some very under-resourced kids right here in our own backyard that we're going to help through the Boys and Girls Club. Years ago, we started our ministry to our special needs, friends, and families that we wanted to to roll out the red carpet to any family with kids with special needs. Well, guess what happens with kids? They grow up. And our special needs community is growing up. And so we're going to help our special needs adults find employment. We're also going to expand our prison campuses. We're going to Georgia. We're going to expand that. In fact, the state of Florida has called us

and said, we have the keys to every prison in the state of Florida. So pray about this. I'm trying to make all my pastor buddies do what we've done and put campuses in Florida. So pray that they would open their ears and do what Jesus tells them to do when I tell them that Jesus told them, okay? So, also, also, we are going to fight for the mental health of people in general, but primarily this upcoming generation. That the adults in this generation have failed the upcoming generation in the last two years, particularly people struggling with suicidal thoughts, suicidal ideations. And so we are going to have a team of people that are helping.

We want people to know the truth. God loves them. God has a purpose for them, a plan for their life, and he's not done with them. Also, we want to fight for people that feel like they're in hopeless situations that we're joining up with the Tim Tebow Foundation and others to rescue people out of human trafficking. And I mean literally, kick down the doors and rescue, but then also rehabilitate and love and offer counseling and some skills so that they can get involved. in this world and let them know that Jesus is like the shepherd that leaves the 99 that does whatever

it takes to go and find the one. Then there are those of you that fight for a living called first responders, and we are going to raise up an army of lay chaplains. And just like when we need help and we dial a number and you show up, we are going to create an army of lay chaplains and when you need help, you raise your hand and you say, I need spiritual, relational, emotional help. And we are going to have some 11-20 tours to come alongside you. as a lay chaplain so that you know that we got you.

I want every first responder as they're driving around Jacksonville and they see one of those 1122 stickers, they'll know somebody in that car has my back. We're turning every one of our campuses into respite centers for our police officers. So when they're filling out paperwork in the middle of the night, they don't have to watch their back. They can come into our churches

and they can get coffee and prayers and some snacks and a place to do their work, okay? And then kind of the last thing on the, and I don't even have time to describe. all of the things that we're going to do, but then we're also, we are going to start a senior adult ministry. And if you were saying, do I qualify?

You've probably qualified for a lot longer than you realize, okay? So I need you to think about this in two ways, okay? There's like the varsity version of senior adult ministry, and what this means is there's a lot of folks, man, and they're in care facilities, they're in nursing homes, that kind of thing, and our whole society has forgotten about them, but God has not forgotten about them. As long as there is breath in their lungs,

they are valuable to Jesus and they're valuable to us. And just imagine, what if you volunteered to several times a year being a part of one of the teams and we take our 1122 services into care facilities and into nursing homes, anybody that would have us, we would be able to offer those there? And then there's like the JV version. Because there's a bunch of you in this room and at all of our campuses and watching online. And you're getting to that place in your life where you either have retired or you're about to retire. from your vocation.

But you don't get to retire from the Great Commission. And here's what's crazy, man. You've got time, you got resources, and you've got wisdom. And most of you have learned it the hard way. And what a waste of time it would be if all you did is try to get your handicap down to a single digit. Now, you can do that, good luck, but you probably lie about it anyway. But that's not what all you've been called to do.

We need you to stay in the game, to leverage your life, to leverage your resources, to leverage your time, to leverage your wisdom for the kingdom of God and right here in this church. Because let me tell you, we got a pile of 20-something years old. And you know what they need? Wisdom. Amen, Frank.

I knew you'd get me on that one, all right? Wisdom. And they actually want to learn it from you. And so this is the 10-10 life that God has called us to. From womb to tomb. Church life, eternal life, abundant life. And then if you keep going in the journal, when you get to page 41, that's where we're going to be today.

There's notes for all five weeks of the sermon series. I need you to be committed to be here for all five weeks. And at the end of each week, there's also a place where you can take notes. There's a place that they'll guide you through a reading plan and a prayer guide, God. I hope you'll do that. If you keep going, your disciple group materials are here. And if you're not in a disciple group,

Make a fist, punch yourself in the face. What are you doing, man? I tell you all the time. And I know you won't do it because you ain't joining the disciple group, so you don't do nothing I say. So here's the thing. Can you at least give me five weeks?

For the next five weeks, if you're not currently in a disciple group, you can just make one up, start one. Here's all the material you need right here. Or come to one of our Discover groups that's meeting on campus. We've got child care, we've got all the things. And then if you keep going all the way to the end

in the very last little sleeve, you're going to find this commitment card because this is a two-year discipleship journey, and it for sure has a generosity element to it. Now, everybody grab this, touch it, smell it, get used to it, it's going to be your friend for the next five weeks. You're not ready to fill it out yet, so don't even try to, all right? Our primary goal in this 10-10 life,

the primary goal is that 100% of people that consider 1122 to be their church that they would participate in the abundant life. Now, I'm just going to tell you, When I say 100%, that's not just the people that attend on the weekends. And I don't know if you realize this. Did you not everybody comes every single weekend? Can you believe those people?

And so, on an average weekend, we have 13,000 to 15,000 people. You put them all together. It's probably 20 to 25,000 people that in and around Jacksonville that would say, that's my home. We also have more than that many people that worship with us live online, because what we have decided a couple of years ago is that I don't care where you live, if you raise your hand and say, well, you disciple me, our answer is yes. So whoever that is, our number one goal, our primary goal is that 100% of the people,

to consider 1122 to be their church, would ask this fundamental question, am I living the abundant life Christ has for me, or is my life defined by an abundance of things that will never fully and finally satisfy? That's the number one goal. The secondary goal is that we are believing God for $110 million over the next two-plus years to accomplish everything that he has called us to accomplish. And so this represents the generosity portion. And it is our secondary goal as an organization.

So here's what this means. If one of you heard it and said, oh, 110 million, I could probably do that. Will you take a check? The answer is yes. And if you're attending another campus, I'll wait here until you get here. Okay, no problem. Just swinging on by, we'll take care of it. And we would gladly take it to the bank tomorrow and put it in the bank.

And then you know what we'd do for the next two years? We would do the 10-10 life because that is the secondary goal. The primary goal is that we would hear from the Good Shepherd and do what he says. And though this card is secondary to us as an organization, it will be primary in my life and my family's life and in your life in regards to taking steps of obedience in what the Good Shepherd calls us to do. Now, I want to invite you to join me over the next two years on this journey and maybe you're asking, well, how in the world did we get here? Where did all this come from? I can tell you where it came from. A couple years ago, when the pandemic hit and things are shutting down and none of us know what to do,

and the overwhelming thought that I had was this, our people need a shepherd. Our people need a shepherd. When we were being told where we can meet and when we can meet and how many people can meet, I knew that what we needed, the body of Christ, needs a shepherd. And so if you were around back then, you'll remember I did 99 devotionals. I would sit down three times a week with my Bible, open it up, look at a camera like I was having a coffee with you and say, here's some things from the scripture

that I think that you should know. And I did 99 divos. We called them Pastor Jobi's Devo's on the website. In fact, we had a bunch of people over the last couple of years move here and they would say, where's Pastor Jobi DeVos? And I was like, nope, that's not my last name. It's not DeVos. There was her divos.

And because I had this thought that our people needed a shepherd, the two preeminent text on shepherding in the Bible, the Old Testament text is Psalm 23. That's what led us to study the book of Psalms for 22 weeks this summer. In John chapter 10. And in John chapter 10, I don't know if the Lord's ever done this to you, but you ever read a verse and you feel like you know it. And then somehow God slips a new word into the verse.

You ever seen that? It happens to me all the time. Maybe I'm not real quick on the uptake. I don't know. But I feel like I knew John 10. I've been a pastor for 30 years. I was familiar with this verse. but then during this season, as I came along, John 10, it says this, that the thief comes only

to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I'd never seen the word only there before. And then I would go home and turn on the news, and the only thing I would see was stealing and killing and destroying. And it looked like a people without a shepherd. But Jesus comes along that we may have abundant life. Now, I'm a child of the youth group of the 1900s, and so we didn't use the ESV, that's what I teach out, I've done that. Now, we use the NIV 84 edition. And so a lot of what I have memorized, I haven't memorized in the NIV 84, and so my brain just goes there, and the way it's translated there is, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.

Well, let me ask you this, are you living the full life? I mean, is your life full? I know your calendar is. I know your head's full of worry and anxiety, right? But that seems like it's very, very different than the fullness of life that Christ has for us. So for the next two years, we're going to be wrestling with this. Are you living the abundant life that Christ has for you, or is your life defined by an abundance of stuff that will never fully and finally satisfy? Because let me ask you this. Who wants to live the abundant life? Aren't me like? You're like three people in the front row? Okay, sweet. Well, no, you missed it. Don't start now. What if that was the answer to prayer God was going to give you this month? And he looked,

and said, no, well, you forget it, okay? Think about that at lunch. You see, we all want to live the abundant life. And here's what's crazy. He wants the abundant life for us. And so if he wants it for us and we want the abundant life, maybe the problem is we've just had the wrong idea of what an abundant life is. And so if you've got your Bibles, go to John chapter 10 or page 41 in your journal. And what we're going to see here is that Jesus is going to describe for us what the abundant life is. Now, in order to fully understand John 10, you've got to know John 9. Because there's no break between John 9 and 10. There were not chapters and verses when John writes this down. And in John chapter 9, what happens is that Jesus heals a blind man. See, he's a blind man, makes mud pies,

puts it on his face, he washes his face in the pool of saloam, and then he can see. And then the moment he does this, the religious leaders get angry. So all of John 10 is a continuation of John 9, because the religious leaders come up to the blind man, and they say, who healed you? And the blind man goes, all I know was this. I used to be blind, I met a man named Jesus, and now I can see.

And they go, where is he? He's like, I don't know. All I know is this, I used to be blind, I met a guy named Jesus, now I can see. And then they go, well, why did he do it? He's like, I don't think you're paying attention. Let me tell you what I know. I used to be blind, Jesus, ta-da, okay, that's all I got.

Then at one point the blind guy's like, why you ask you asking so many questions. Do you want to be a follower too? And then Jesus rolls in. And so as Jesus is discussing this with these religious leaders, they asked the question, are you saying we are blind? And to that question, are you saying that we, the religious leaders, are blind? Jesus's answer is John 10. It says this in verse 1. Truly, truly I say to you, the religious leaders. He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in another way. In other words, if you think you've got your religious position by your good works, that man is a thief and a robber. And then he's going to use this parable of shepherding because everybody was familiar with it.

He says this, verse two, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Underline that verse. Highlight that verse. Bite your finger and bleed on that verse. whatever it takes. This is my prayer for us as a people throughout the 10-10 life. My prayer is that if you don't know Jesus as the good shepherd, that you would hear for the very

first time him call your name and you would follow him. And if you are a sheep, which, by the way, is not a compliment in case you're new to Bible study. When the Bible calls us a sheep, it's because we're dumb and we're stinky and we're nasty and we can't take care of ourselves. There's nothing positive about being a sheep. And if you're like, hey, wait a minute, just trust me, You're a sheep, okay? And here's what I want for all of us that we would hear his voice. And if you're like, well, how do you hear his voice?

Primarily through the Word. If you ever want to know what the voice of God sounds like, read the Bible out loud. That's what it sounds like. Secondly, another great way to hear the voice of the shepherd are sermons about the Word. Not sermons about your own personal thoughts and ideas, but sermons from the Word.

And then, and then, Sometimes God speaks to his people and what the Bible calls a still small voice. Is he speaking to you? And if you're like, well, I haven't heard him lately, do you think it's because he's not speaking or because maybe your world is just too loud? And so what I'm asking is over these five weeks,

could we all turn down the volume of this world in our life so that we could tune our ears in to the good shepherd that we could hear what he is calling us to do and then ask him for the faith and the courage to be obedient to walk in a manner that he has called us to walk. Or maybe your time with God is too inconsistent. Like you only show up to church like one every four weeks. You're like, was it him? And it'll take four more weeks for you to open up years again.

I want to ask you to be committed to a few things. Be here for five weeks in a row. And if you're already committed to be somewhere else, promise that you will listen to the sermon. So with the intention that you would hear the voice of the shepherd, also we've got some tools available to you, like the podcast. The only reason we do this podcast is just to dive deeper into His Word. Maybe you'll speak through that. Or maybe you need to, or not maybe, get into a disciple group if you're not in one so that you can wrestle these things out with some other people.

I want you to hear the voice of your shepherd and do what he tells you to do. Verse four, he says, when he has brought out all his own, he goes before them and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. He repeats it again. If the author and perfect of our fate that spoke everything into existence starts repeating himself, you might want to jot that down as kind of a big deal. And in this next verse, it makes me nervous. A stranger, they will not follow.

But they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. Let me ask you this. You ever listen to the voice of a stranger? You ever know what God's called you to do? Then you look up and you're like, well, I'm not even doing that anymore. It's as simple as this. You wake up one morning and you're like, you know what, God has given me this body and I'm to be a steward of this body,

and I feel like God is telling me to go to the gym. And so you put on your gym clothes, and then you've got to put on the other set because you haven't been in a while. And so then you're on your way. Remember last week? The spirit is willing and the flesh is weak. And on your way to the car to go to the gym,

one question on the radio can throw you off. What would you do for a clondite bar? I know what I'd do. I wouldn't go to the gym. 30 minutes later, you're three clondites deep, just full of guilt and shame, right? All right, right. This is what he's talking about.

He says, don't listen to those voices, because those voices are not for you. Those voices are thieves and robbers, not a good shepherd. Verse 6, this makes me feel better as a disciple and a preacher. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. Anybody ever read the Bible and you not understand what God is saying to you? Anybody, anybody, that's why I have a job. Raise your hand high and proud. Good, good.

So if you're a little slow on the Bible uptake, I've got good news. you can make a great disciple hang in there. Because look how patient Jesus is. He's just going to say it again to make sure we get it. And he's not going to lose his metaphor here. He's still talking about shepherds and sheep, and he's going to drop it down on the bottom shelf, and he's going to explain the terms so we can get it.

So Jesus again said to them, truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. This is a really big deal. Seven times in the Gospel of John, Jesus is going to have these I am statements. I am is the English translation of the covenant name of God Yahweh. So every time Jesus says, I am, and he does it seven times, he is saying, I am completely God.

The covenant God that came to Moses, that got the Israelites out of Egypt, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the one that the prophet prophesied about, I am that God that is who I am. And he says, I am the door. Now, the moment he did this, my high school English teacher would give you a C for mixing metaphors. Remember that? Can't mix metaphors. I don't know if you know this, but you wouldn't know this. I never made an A on a middle school, high school, or college English paper. Did you know that?

Amen. Praise God. And I am a published author. So I sent one of my books to my English teacher and said, you never wrote a book. Pastor Jovee. Take that. All right. So, whatever.

Jesus mixed metaphor. metaphor so like that out. Now, he wasn't actually mixing metaphors because shepherds were literally doors. Like, a shepherd would build a little sheep pen with some stacked stone, and they didn't have to build it very high. And the sheep were two days, they thought they were stuck, so they wouldn't leave. And there was one way in and one way out. And at night, the shepherd would lay down his life. He would lay down and sleep in the entrance in and out. And so that the sheep would stay in and be safe, and so that if a wolf tried to come in, they would have to come through him. That's what he's saying. I am that kind of door. He says, I am the door of the sheep.

All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. He says it again, I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. What does that mean? A door, very simply, if you want to go from here to there,

you go through the door to get from here to there. What Jesus is basically saying is if you want to go from here to there being heaven, a face-to-face relationship with God, He is the only way to get from here to there. Four chapters later, he's going to say, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.

And if you say, well, how do I go through him? It's simply this, that you believe, that you trust, the Greek word is Pistuo, that when he died on the cross, it counted for you. That through his life, death, resurrection, and one day return, that he has made a way. He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. and he is the way to get from here to there.

And then we get our verse, the thief. By the way, I don't know if you've ever thought about this. Our enemy's purpose statement is in our Bible. It says the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. The only thing the enemy wants to do to you. The only thing he wants is to kill, still, and destroy. He wants to kill, literally you.

He wants to kill, literally, our children. He wants to kill our hopes, our dreams, our relationships. He's not for you. He's not a good time waiting to happen. Everything he does is a trick and a trap that only and always leads to death. He wants to kill. And he wants to steal. He wants to take what is not his.

The primary thing he wants to steal is the kingdom of God. You see, every time in the kingdom of God, God creates and the enemy counterfeiting. and his counterfeits are there just to take what is not his. So he wants to steal your intimacy. He wants to steal this peace that you have. He wants to steal your joy, and he wants to destroy everything good and godly in your life. It's not like the world offers one way that's kind of neutral

and God's way is better. The world that we live in offers nothing but destruction. That is it. And so even a great way to think about sin and it's not to think about right and wrong, and it really is to think about life and death. When we do things God's way, it leads to life, and when we reject God's way, it leads to death, no matter how fun it is on the way. And yet Jesus offers an abundant life.

Again, who wants an abundant life? I do. So what is that? Cash and prizes? Cotton candy and Cadillacs? Success and status? No. Back in the 1900s, there was a very powerful series.

of shows on VH1 called Behind the Music. You should YouTube it. Everyone was the same. Everyone was this verse. And all they did was follow the most successful artists of our day. And then you would watch it and you'd be like, no way. Motley crew weren't fully and finally satisfied with all the success they had. And every artist they followed, it was all the same that they had accomplished everything this world had to offer.

and it was nothing but death and destruction. A bunch of years ago, after Tom Brady won his third Super Bowl, he's up to seven now, after he won his third Super Bowl, he was on 60 minutes being interviewed. And he says this, these are his words. I don't have anything negative to say about the brother. I don't know him, but I know a guy that knows him, and apparently he's a good dude, okay?

But here's what they said about Tom Brady. Tom Brady says this to himself. He says, there's times where I'm not the person that I want to be. Why do I have three Super Bowl rings? now seven, and still think there's something greater out there for me. I mean, maybe a lot of people will say, hey, man, this is what is. I reach my goal, my dream, my life. Me, I think, God, it's got to be more than this.

I mean, this can't be what it's all cracked up to be. I mean, I've done it. I'm 27. What else is there for me? And the interviewer says, what's the answer? And Brady answers, I wish I know. I wish I knew. I want to stick my head in the TV and go, I know.

I know what you're looking for. You're chasing after the things in this world, success and, I mean, all the things, bro. And you got it. You got them all. Seven Super Bowl rings. He married a supermodel. And look at him. Somehow playing quarterback makes you look younger over the years.

Not true of planting a church, okay? So, I don't know why they laugh. I'm going to hurt my one feeling. All right. And yet, and yet he's got an abundance of Super Bowl rings. He's got an abundance of money. He's married to a supermodel. And I can guarantee you right now, he's miserable.

Because they're going through a divorce. They're talking about custody battles and stuff. And they got it all, man. They're so good looking. Look at how good looking at these people are. I mean, think about it. Tom Brady looks at a supermodel, and is like, nah. And she looks at him too with his jaw and his tan.

It's like, nah. I mean, they get mad. they just throw cash at each other. Take that. That's what they do. And they can't fully and finally satisfy. I mean, with all the money and all the fame and all the athletic ability and all the success. And in reality, Giselle wants what G's got. Not financially and physically. I mean, unless you're into the like formerly fit kind of Civil War general look, then maybe, okay? But, nah, but man, faithfully serving the Lord together till your dying days. That's an abundant life, amen? And this is what he's offering, man.

So what is the abundant life? I got this from Karen Blankenship. She attends our church and she was in a meeting with me. And she said this. These are her words, not mine. She says, all right, if the enemy's desire is to kill, steal, and destroy, then the opposite of that is what abundant life is. So the opposite of steel is to give freely.

So how can you take something for me if I know it all belongs to God? I'm trying to give it all the way anyway. The opposite of to kill is to save life, to protect life, to speak life. And we're going to do that from womb to tune. and the opposite of destroy is to repair or make whole. That's what the gospel does. And then just so we don't get confused, Jesus make sure that we know what the abundant life is.

That it's not an abundance of stuff. He says this in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. That's the abundant life. The abundant life is him. I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly. And then he goes, I am the good shepherd. You see, I talk about this all the time.

We don't follow Jesus because he makes life better. we follow Jesus because he is better than life. Now, if you do life the way the author and perfector of life tells you to do it, it typically goes better. Like if you don't lie, you don't cheat, you don't steal, you don't covet, you only sleep with your spouse, better, okay? But he is not a means to our end. He is the end in and of himself.

Because the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The abundant life is found in the gospel. You see, Jesus is the only one when you find him will satisfy him. you, and when you fail him, he will forgive you. Verse 12, he who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

You see, the reality is that we live in a world that bates us down a road and then blames us for walking it. That's what it does, man. It goes, come on, buy this, buy this, buy this, buy this. With money you don't have to impress people you don't know to buy this thing you don't need. And when you are over to your head in credit card debt, and that person calls you, it ain't to check on you.

It's to get theirs. That's what the hireling does. And here's what idolatry does, man. Idolatry makes promises that it can't keep and then let you down. And here's how you know it's an idol. Because when the wolf comes and it's coming, you know what you never cry to? You never cry out to your money. You never cry out to your job.

You never cry out to your position. You never cry out to your 401K. You never cry out to your house. You don't cry out to your pool. You cry out to the good. shepherd. I got this commentary that Pastor Adam gave me. And in John chapter 12, to understand 12 got to know 11, in 11, Jesus caused Lazarus out of the tomb. And so in 12, they throw a party. The sisters of Lazarus throw a party. And Mary, because of what God has done, because of who he is,

she believes he's the resurrection and the life, and her brother just came back out of the grave. And so from an attitude of gratitude, she goes, gets this alabaster jar, the most valuable thing that she own. And she comes and she knows this is nothing compared to the one that I value more than anything. So she breaks it open and she pours it. She lavishes it upon Jesus as an offering. Generosity is worship, man. And Judas is critical. Judas is like, what a waste. We could have used that for the poor. By the way, in most churches, they put Judas on the trustees committee. Like, what a good steward. Here's what this commentary says. It says that Judas love money more than Jesus. But money is not God. Money is not alive. Money cannot raise the dead. Money cannot love you back.

Money is meant to represent value. It is currency. We gain money for what we provide or how we serve, and then we exchange the reward we gained by our ingenuity or effort for things we need or want. But money will not shepherd us. Money will not teach us truth. Money will not give itself in our place. Money is not at the right hand of God interceding for us. Money will not give us its righteousness so that we are justified before God. Mary understood this, Judas did not. Money is a means to an end.

Jesus is an end in himself. He is the good shepherd. Verse 13. He says he flees because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I want you to see a couple things here. One, he's good.

God is good. Look, he's for you, he's not against you. He wants nothing but good from you. And you may ask, well, if he's so good, then what about these things in my life? I didn't say the things were good. Most of those things aren't good. When sin entered the world, it held the door open

for all the terrible things that have ever happened to you. But he is good. He's a good dad. He wants good things for his kids. And sometimes, like a good father, he takes away things from you that are not good, He is good.

In fact, at the end of our service, we're going to sing about how good he is. We're going to sing that worship song that I love so much. It sounded like George Strait wrote it. You know what I'm talking about? And all my life you have been faithful. That's how you need to sing it too, right? And all my life you have been so, so good.

That's it. All my life, he's been faithful. All my life, he's been good. He is for you. He ain't mad at you? If you're in Christ, he ain't mad at you. Why? Because he dumped all of that on his son at the cross.

Jesus is the propitiation for our sin, the payment that satisfies. So if you're in Christ, he can't be dissatisfied in you. He's good. Every time I think about the goodness of God, I think about the conversation between Susan and Mr. Beaver and the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe. And Mr. Beaver tells her, Aslan is a lion. The lion is the Christ's character in the story. He says, Aslan is a lion, the lion, the great lion.

And she's a little British girl, so she's afraid of everything. She's like, ooh, I thought he was a man. he quite safe, I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion. Mr. Bieber replies, safe. Who said anything about being safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good. He's the king, I tell you. You see, he is good. Let me tell you what's not safe as we journey on this 10-10 life together. Our comfort, not safe. Our idolatry, not safe. Our covetousness, not safe. Our selfishness, not safe. But he is good. And he's a, a shepherd. He's a shepherd. Shepherds have a very particular role. And we have a hard time

understanding what shepherds are these days. Because we don't have a shepherd society. We have a cowboy society. And I'm going to be honest, I got nothing against cowboys. Cowboys are cool, man. Cowboys are super cool. You ever seen a shepherd movie? No. Cowboys got a lonesome dove. Shepherds just lonesome out there in the field with a sheep. You understand? And nothing cool about a shepherd. In fact, my role here, I'm the lead pastor, pastor and shepherd are the same word in the New Testament. The reason we don't have a senior pastor is because chief shepherd is already taken. Our senior pastor is Jesus. I work for him.

One day I'm out. They'll put another kid in here. Pray for that dude. And that's it. But there's a big difference because shepherds know the sheep. Cowboys count head of cattle. Shepherds feed the sheep. Cowboys fat in the calves.

Shepherds protect the sheep. Cowboys protect the brand. Shepherds lead with their voice. Come on, follow me. Shepherds get in the back and they push with noise. It may be the biggest one. Shepherds love the sheep. Cowboys love being a cowboy.

I mean, there are cowboy stores. We can buy cowboy clothes. That's what I wear primarily. I have cowboy boots, cowboy jeans, cowboy jacket right now. I'd preach in a cowboy hat if you didn't look at me funny. And here's the truth, I don't know a cow. I don't own a cow. I don't have a cow.

I don't know anything about cows, all right? But I watch Yellowstone by God because I'm a disciple, all right? So, but Jesus is a good shepherd. He loves the sheep. Listen, I've told you this for 10 years. When I say I love you like crazy, it's because our chief shepherd loves me like crazy.

This is what he wants for you, to know you, to feed you, to protect you, to lead you to love you. Then he says, I know my own and my own know me, just as the father knows me and I know the father. Think about that for a second. The kind of intimate relationship that Jesus wants with you, he puts on the same level

as his intimate relationship with the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. The only way that happens is through the gospel. And then, verse 16 should be very exciting for us. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. That's us. It's not only us, but it includes us.

But this is also why we're planting 1,000 churches and sending 100 missionaries because there are sheep out there right now that Jesus wants to bring them into the fold. and they will listen to my voice. Are you listening to his voice? See, I just want you to put this together. He is the good shepherd.

He wants the abundant life for you, and he's speaking to you. So whatever he's telling you to do is because he's for you. Whatever he's telling you to stop doing is because it is robbing you of the abundant life that he has for you. I thought about this on Thursday night. My dad was here. He was at 722. He was sitting right over there where we sit. And when I thought about this picture of the good shepherd speaking to his sheep and wanting

the abundant life, I was reminded that, man, when we grew up, we just fished all the time. That's what we did on the weekends. We fished. And we didn't fancy fish like you people, okay? We didn't have this, like, center console. That was the person that sat on the cooler in the middle of the boat and got the drinks out for everybody, all right? We fished in a little John boat that my granddad, Joseph,

Perry Martin Sr. and my daddy, junior, built. And we didn't even, like, we didn't, it wasn't redfish in and speckled trout. We caught brim. You don't even know what that is. We called brim. You probably throw them back. We never threw anything back. We're not communists.

We ate every single one from eyeball to tail. You understand what I'm saying? And we didn't have fancy rod and reels or anything like that. We did it on cane poles, right? Cain pole. And we didn't have depth finders, but like, Daddy, how deep is it? You know what our depth finder was? It was the paddle.

He'd stick it down in the water, he'd hold it up about that deep, and then you'd stretch out your, and we didn't use a bobber, Yankee used boppers, we used cork. We'd just make our own corks, all right? And you'd you flip it out there on a cricket. And listen, man, if you've ever taken your kids fishing dads, do you expect to catch any fish? No, if the primary goal was for you to catch fish, the last thing you do is take your children, man. All they do is screw up everything. Now, I was fine, but my brother Russ, he was a train wreck.

He thought he was in a river runs through it out there, just hook in the squirrels, and all that stuff, you know, so my daddy spent half the time untangling him and all that. But here's what he would do, okay? My daddy could catch fishing. He invented the dad joke. You'd be like, how fast we go, and he'd go wide open. You know that kind of dumb stuff? Or like, where'd you catch him right there in the mouth?

All that kind of stuff, that's what he'd say. But sure enough, while we were fishing, he would say, whoa, whoa, whoa, because I wouldn't be catching anything. And he'd be like, why don't you try it right over here? Why don't you try it right over here? Because here's what he knew. He had just had a bite there, and he knew that's where the brimbed was, and he knew that's where the fish were. And what he wanted for me, his child, was in this context to have an abundant experience,

to catch a bunch of fish and have a good time. That's what he wanted for me. So the more I listened to him, the more likely I was to catch more fish. And guess what happened? Every time I would try it his way, it would go better. And so I learned very quickly as a little kid, if I will just do what my daddy tells me to do, it goes better for me. Now, I wish I could say that followed me through to my teenage years, but it did not.

but you understand what I'm saying. When the good shepherd tells you what to do, he's for you. He's not against you. It's because what he wants for you is the abundant life, not cash and prizes, but that you get him. So let me ask you, is your life too loud to hear his voice? Are you doing what he's telling you to do? And he says, he is for us. He wants the abundant life.

If we keep going in 16, he says, so there will be one flock and one shepherd for this reason. and the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I received from my father.

This is all rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 19, there was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said he has a demon and is insane. Why listen to him? Trust me on this one. followers of Jesus that are going to do what your shepherd tells you to do in a world who has a

very different value system than the value system of the kingdom of God. If you are faithful to do what the good shepherd tells you to do, there will be friends that may even call themselves Christians and they're going to look at you and say, are you insane? Trust me on this, man. You're about to plant a church in Jacksonville and Lisa Walmart, and people are like, are you insane? and then it fills up so then we buy an old sports bar and we start to go multi-sight and people are you insane? Are you back all the way up when I was in

college and decided I'm not going to go to med school that I got accepted in? I'm going to go be a youth pastor and people like are you insane? That's crazy. Here's what I'll tell you, man. In this world, get me crazy because normal ain't working. Normal is broke and depressed

and medicated. You can have normal. I want to do whatever it is the good shepherd has called me to do because here's I need you to lean into what he's telling you to do. And some of the, your buddy's going to look at you and you be like, oh, can't play golf Friday morning anymore because I'm volunteering at First Coast Women Services. And your friend's going to be like, are you crazy?

I thought that was a thing for women. And you were like, I don't know if you realize this. Men are involved too. And you're going to show up there every week and you're going to look at some males and say, look here, bro, boys do what they want and men do what they should. And you're going to help them embrace life. And some of you are going to be called. to foster kids and your friends are going to say,

are you insane? You already raised kids. You didn't do too good of a job with the ones you made and had all the time. Now you're going to get these kids that got a lot going against them, and you're going to bring, do you know what that's going to cost? You know how aggravating that's going to be?

Do you know what you're signing up for? And you're going to go, I know it's crazy. There's only one reason I should do this because the good shepherd said that's what you're going to do. And some of you are going to become one of our lay chaplains. And you are inviting yourself into the mess when people, you know, the suicide rates for policemen are like triple what everybody else is. And people ain't going to call you to be like, hey, I need help.

I want to help tell you how great you are and how much I love you. That ain't what they're going to call for. They're going to say, I don't see a reason to live, and God's going to equip you to step in to this person that has been protecting us forever. And your friends are going to say, are you crazy? You're like, yep, but here's what you're going to find in that crazy. You're going to find an abundant light that you cannot find in just entertaining yourself of the things of this world.

And some of you, when it comes to generosity, you're going to do some radical generosity. You're going to sell some stuff. You're going to leverage some stuff. And your financial advisor is going to be like, are you crazy? Have you not seen the news? Have you not seen the markets? There's this thing called inflation. And you're going, I know, but it's crazy because my dad owns it all.

And his divine power has given us everything we need to accomplish everything that he has called us to accomplish. Listen to me. When the guys in Matthew 25 make it to heaven, the king does not say, well done good and fruitful servant. He says, well done good and faithful servant. We want to do whatever it is. The shepherd calls us to do. And others said, these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?

That's what I'm praying for us on this journey, that God would open our eyes that we could see what he has given us to see. Here's the point. I need you to deal with this question. Are you living the abundant life or is your life to find? by an abundance of stuff that will never satisfy. Now, we're just at the very beginning. I want to invite you to come on this two-year journey with me, and I'm on the journey with you.

Here's what I need from you. I need you to pray. I mean really pray. We're going to give you a bracelet on the way out. If you ain't into wearing it, no problem. Put it somewhere where you can see it. I'd love for you to mark your calendar, mark your day every day at 10-10,

whether that's a.m. or p.m. or both. But you would pray, tune in your ears to hear the voice of the shepherd, because the sheep hear his voice, the sheep know his voice. And you would lean in. The Bible word for this would be repent. Repent is not just a word

that crazy people all the way the Jags game yell at you in the bullhorn. It's a good definition would be like, rethink your strategy for life because your current strategy may not be working. And if there are areas in your life and you know that they are robbing you of the abundant life,

why don't you trust that he's good go ahead and turn from him right now and start leaning into him. And will you do whatever it takes? Will you commit yourself over the next five weeks to tune in your ears to his voice? Be here every week. Listen to the podcast. Read your Bible. Pray.

Tune in to listen to the voice of your good shepherd. And then commit to go on this journey with us. Because he loves you. He's for you. And he wants the abundant life for you. And here's what's crazy. do you have any idea what hangs in the balance? Not just for your abundant life,

but abundant lives for generations and generations and generations to come. Do you have any idea what hangs in the balance? If you will just take a step of obedience to do what he tells you to do, the answer is you have no idea. Trust me, he can do extraordinarily more than any of us have ever hoped or ever imagined or ever dreamed of, and he can use the most unlikely group of people, trust me on this one,

to do far more than any of us could come up with on our own. That there will be generations and generations impacted when we have faith and do what he says. Would you please stand? Let me pray for us as we begin this journey. Our good and gracious heavenly Father, God, you are so good and you are so gracious. And God, I thank you that you are the good shepherd

and all you do is good. and you have been at work for the good of those that love you and are called according to your purpose, sits before the foundation of time. Holy Spirit, I pray that even now you would begin to speak to your sheep and that we would hear your voice. And Lord, I pray that the more insane it sounds, the more likely it is from you

because we need faith in you to accomplish these things. And Lord, I pray against the enemy. I know all he wants to do is steal, kill, and destroy, and God, all we want to do is a part of your body, is all for abundant life to every single person created in your image, which is all people. And so, God, we thank you in advance for the things that you'll do through us and in us and to us. And it's all for the one name under heaven whereby we must be saved. It's all for the glory of Jesus.

We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. So, church, we're going to respond. This demands a response. We're going to pray. The reason I knew where to fish is because I was in proximity to my dad in the boat. And so that's what this whole front is about. Now, God can hear your prayer from way up there too, but I'm telling you there's something about moving your body,

kneeling before your father in heaven and saying, speak to me, good shepherd. And so I want to invite you to pray. We're going to sing. We're going to sing about the goodness of God, and you've done a real good job singing lately. Let's do it even better this time. We'll sing like save people. And then we're going to bring our ties and our offerings. Just like in John 12, when Mary took the most valuable thing and she broke it open and lavished it on the feet of Jesus,

may we do that to declare that he is worth it. Let us sing, let us bring, let us pray. Let's respond.