LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Third Sunday of Easter – Sunday, May 1, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy gospel according to saint john the 10th chapter give me a second here there we go
0:34	glory to you
0:41	jesus said i am the good shepherd the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep he who is a hired hand not a
0:48	shepherd who does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming leaves the sheep and flees and the wolf snatches them and
0:55	scatters them he flees because he’s a hired hand he cares nothing for the sheep i am the good shepherd i know my
1:00	own and my own know me just as the father knows me and i know the father and i lay down my life for the sheep and
1:07	i have other sheep that are not of this fold i must bring them also and they will listen to my voice so there will be
1:12	one flock and one shepherd this is the gospel of the lord in the name of Jesus
1:19	prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 53 6 all we like sheep we’ve gone astray
1:24	we’ve turned everyone to his own way and that is the problem if you think all the
1:31	way back to the garden of Eden god if you were to think of Adam and eve as his sheep that’s the metaphor used by god
1:39	throughout the scriptures it’s an interesting metaphor that they were penned in if you would by the goodness
1:45	and mercy of god and his commandment that you shall not eat of that tree that’s in the midst of the garden but
1:50	what did our first parents do like terrible sheep they jumped the fence went off into the wilderness and you’ll
1:56	note that in the wilderness there’s where the lions the tigers and the bears are oh my
2:01	so that being the case you we note then here the misery that is upon us is because of us turning to our own way is
2:09	the problem it’s self-idolatry acting like you know better than god sin isn’t that big of a deal uh it’s it’s just a
2:16	mistake it’s just a slipsy it’s an oopsy-doopsy no it’s not it’s imperiling you your very soul and so the devil is
2:23	described in scripture like a roaring lion but the good news here we get a
2:28	hint of it in Isaiah 53 6 the lord has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all and
2:34	see here’s the interesting bit god truly loves us he cares for his
2:40	creation he is merciful and kind and throughout the scripture he is portrayed
2:45	as this caring attentive protecting shepherd and what stands in contrast
2:51	well are the false shepherds now last year on this when when the occasion of this text came up i preached about how
2:59	in john chapter 10 the context begins in chapter nine with the fellow who was
3:04	born blind and john chapter nine and ten were they worked together as a unit but
3:10	what i found fascinating in preparing this week’s sermon is looking at the fuller context of ezekiel 34 which i think is a perfect
3:18	parallel thematically of what we see in john 9 and 10. and so if you would allow
3:24	me we’re going to back up into the context again context context context it’s an important thing
3:30	ezekiel chapter 34 verse 1 and consider the fuller context and how it relates to
3:36	what Jesus says about he how he is the good shepherd in our gospel text today so it says in ezekiel 34 1 the word of
3:43	the lord came to me son of man prophesy against the shepherds of israel now a
3:49	little bit of a no here we’re not talking about actual shepherds you know god hasn’t sent the prophet ezekiel to
3:54	go and scold those shepherds you know who are actually working with physical sheep the metaphor here he’s talking
4:00	about the shepherds of israel those who are supposed to be pastoring if you would the idea of pastoring goes
4:07	all the way back into the old testament but you’re going to note here have you noticed that there are some who are pastors who are not really good at it
4:15	what they’re really good as at is abusing christ’s sheep they are good at
4:21	not feeding them i always wonder what those fellows who kind of piecemeal the word of god out every sermon you know
4:28	it’s like well you sheep i’m going to give you one half sentence of the bible here out of context and i’m going to give you
4:34	another thing over here and no i’m not going to give you that last one and then what that you kind of have
4:41	to piece it all together and what do they do they just constantly ride you hard with the law
4:46	giving you tasks to do never giving you any comfort of the assurance of salvation because they’re not reading
4:53	god’s word just try harder do gooder you know don’t worry you need to learn to hear the voice of god and he’s going to
4:58	give you some purpose and you got to get busy working on that oh these people are false teachers all right and you’ll note
5:05	that in ezekiel’s day well there were plenty of those who somehow made it into exile in babylon
5:13	and so the word of the lord comes to ezekiel prophesy against those shepherds of israel prophesy and say to them even to
5:20	the shepherds thus says yahweh elohim ah shepherds of israel who have been
5:26	feeding yourselves could you imagine having god show up and take that kind of tone of voice with you
5:33	let’s it’s time for uh your your annual evaluation you shepherds and
5:38	let’s just say things are not going well because here i come and you’re supposed to be caring for my sheep and what are
5:45	you doing you’re feeding only your self
5:50	you know i think of the recent scandals that have come to light you’ll note this was going on for a long time scandals
5:56	with hillsong scandals with carl lentz who i happen to know by the way uh carl lentz of
6:02	hillsong new york city uh of all the extravagant expensive clothes that he
6:07	was buying of the chauffeured limousine that he drove around in and things like this feeding only himself indeed i think
6:14	of ken copeland and his multiple jets right i have a jet it’s about this size i have
6:20	to shrink in order to fit into it somebody sent me sent me a model of a private jet because they felt bad that i
6:26	didn’t have one i have to call on jeff kenny to figure out how to fly that thing anyway
6:33	right but god shows up ah shepherds who’ve been feeding only yourselves should not
6:38	shepherds feed the sheep that kind of makes sense doesn’t it you shouldn’t nurses nurse doctor’s doctor
6:45	you know shouldn’t shepherd shepherd you get the idea shouldn’t shepherds be feeding the sheep you eat the fat you
6:51	clothe yourselves with the wool you slaughter the fat ones but you don’t feed the sheep
6:57	the weak you have not strengthened the sick you have not healed the injured
7:03	you have not bound up the straight you have not brought back the lost you have not sought and with force and harshness
7:11	you have ruled over them you know you think of it this way you know some poor fellow is attending uh
7:18	one of those churches where the pastor’s twisting up the word of god and not really feeding him and so the sheep goes
7:24	to the pastor and says you know i really think your sermons are bad and so i i
7:30	really would like more bible please and what does he get right touch not god’s anointed let’s take a
7:36	look at your tithing record you know things like this i think perry noble
7:41	also famously years ago he was he was inviting all these secret driven vision
7:46	casting leaders to come to a leadership conference at his church down there in anderson south carolina this is before
7:52	his spectacular moral failing and he famously on stage i was there in the
7:58	room when he said it because i was there reporting on it for my podcast and he says he talks about well i can’t use the
8:05	words that he used let’s just say let’s come up with an alternative word we’ll use the word jackball okay and so he
8:12	says the jack ball in the church is the one who always screams we need to go
8:17	deeper all right and he says deep let’s take a look at your tithing record he says you
8:24	you’re only you know you’re only as deep as your last tithing record and then
8:29	makes the point of saying that uh i’m not gonna really give you more bible until you obey the bible i’ve already
8:35	given you it’s sick to that people went whoo
8:42	yeah well how do you explain this little conversation that god’s
8:47	gonna have with you you shepherds you who feed only themselves you see christ isn’t like this at all
8:55	unlike these false shepherds christ actually strengthens the weak
9:01	the sick he heals the injures he binds up the strayed he seeks out the lost he
9:07	finds right you get the idea and christ doesn’t deal harshly with us
9:13	the one who humbles himself christ will care for and feet in fact have you ever
9:18	noticed that when you read the gospels that jesus’s approach to shepherding makes no sense all right let me let me
9:26	give you an example right jesus says who who of you who has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray will not leave
9:32	the 99 and go and seek for the lost one nobody does that okay you write it off on your taxes
9:39	asset lost okay you know it’s you know that’s how this works nobody’s
9:44	going to risk losing 99 in order to go and hunt for the lost one but jesus does
9:50	and then you heard in our gospel text jesus say this he said i lay down my
9:55	life for the sheep well what good is a is a dead shepherd okay how are you
10:01	gonna protect your sheep when you’re dead right so jesus’s approach to shepherding doesn’t make sense by any
10:09	kind of earthly standard but it makes sense regarding us who are christ’s lost
10:14	sheep we being harassed by the devil under him under the harshness of him we
10:21	being weakened and sick and broken christ comes and he seeks us out and he
10:26	cares for us he’s nothing like the false shepherds of the world because the false shepherds are the world they’re wolves
10:32	in sheep’s clothing and they’re the agents of darkness so god is here calling these false
10:39	shepherds to account so they were scattered because there was no shepherd they became food for all the wild beasts
10:45	my sheep were scattered they wandered over all the mountains and over every high hill my sheep were scattered over
10:51	all the face of the earth with none to search for them but i know somebody who did seek them out so therefore you
10:57	shepherds hear the word of yahweh as i live declares yahweh elohim this is god
11:04	giving an oath based on his own self surely because my sheep have become a prey and my sheep
11:11	have become food for all the wild beasts since there was no shepherd and because my shepherds have not searched for my
11:17	sheep but my shepherds have fed themselves and have not fed my sheep therefore you shepherds hear the word of
11:24	yahweh thus says yahweh elohim behold i the shepherds and i will require my
11:30	sheep at their hand and i will put a stop to their feeding the sheep no
11:35	longer shall the shepherds feed themselves i will rescue my sheep from their mouths that they may not be food
11:43	for them so these false shepherds when they stand
11:48	before christ on the day of judgment jesus is going to look at them and go where’s the sheep
11:54	why why aren’t they with you what’s going on here right the sheep you didn’t seek for the weak you didn’t
12:00	care for and strengthen the sick you didn’t heal where are they i’m gonna require them from you
12:08	they were my sheep and that’s kind of the point and note the absolute tenacity ferocity
12:15	seriousness of christ in his love for his sheep and his determination that
12:21	those who serve in his church at his name that they are to be like him in fact you
12:28	know this idea of rescuing sheep one of the things i find fascinating is that remember remember when
12:34	david went to war with goliath that little battle here in the lead-up to
12:40	it’s rather interesting david had just been anointed the king of israel he’s the anointed but not yet reigning king
12:46	of israel kind of a big theological point at that time and the line of the messiah
12:51	had come up to david and no farther right so what happens is that jesse
12:57	david’s father sends him to the war you know where the armies of israel are fighting the
13:03	philistines and he sends some cheeses and some bread to his brothers you know provisioning them and when david arrives
13:10	out comes goliath of gath and he taunts and he mocks the armies of the living god and
13:17	david gets incensed just absolutely incensed and and who is this uncircumcised philistine that he should
13:24	talk trash like this and mock the armies of the living god and david starts kind of talking it up he’s starting to do
13:30	some trash talking himself and people notice this and they send him to go to king saul
13:35	and king saul is trying to talk some sense into young david you know after looking
13:40	at this guy who was showing such bravery with his words saul’s like yeah you know
13:46	goliath has been a a warrior for his entire life and you’re still a youth okay you can’t even shave yet we got a
13:54	problem here all right but what does david say and listen to these words because this kind of invokes christ
14:00	david said to salt listen your servant used to keep sheep for his father david was a shepherd
14:06	and when there came a lion or a bear and took a lamb from the flock i went after
14:12	him struck him and delivered it out of his mouth and he and if he arose against me i caught him by his beard and struck
14:19	him and killed him say what okay
14:25	whoa that’s savage that is brutal man i mean i’ll be blunt if i was a shepherd
14:31	and a lion comes and snatched a little lamb i’d say you can have it that’s we’re good here
14:37	because i’m pretty sure i’m not going to have do well going against the lion but not david
14:43	david miraculously here he snatches the lamb out of the lion’s mouth and then
14:48	kills the lion with his bare hands who does that it sounds a lot like jesus right and
14:55	that’s the point you see the devil is the lion you’re the lamb christ has come and by his death
15:02	and his resurrection bleeding and dying for all you’re straying and all of your sin and iniquity he snatches you out of
15:09	the mouth of the devil and death itself and he delivers you this is who jesus is
15:15	and it’s absolutely amazing so verse 11 now in ezekiel 34 says for thus says the
15:21	lord god yahweh elohim behold i myself i will search for my sheep and i’m going
15:26	to seek them out as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered so will i seek
15:33	out my sheep and i will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick
15:39	darkness hey wait a second the day of clouds and thick darkness i know what that is have you read amos have you read
15:46	the the prophets that’s the last day and so think of it this way you know always
15:51	people talk about the end of the world right now it’s the apocalypse it’s the end of the world well for those who
15:56	persist in sin and unbelief and those false shepherds who feed only themselves well it will be a day of clouds and
16:02	thick darkness it’ll be a terrible day for them but for us who are in christ
16:08	his forgiven shed bled for sheep he is going to seek us out on that
16:14	day the the day of judgment is not a day of judgment for us it’s a day of us being gathered together into one final flock
16:21	the flock that will persist in the new world forever in a world without end i will bring them out from the peoples i
16:27	will gather them from the countries i will bring them into their own land i will feed them on the mountains of
16:32	israel by the ravines and in all the inhabited places of the country i will feed them with good pasture and on the
16:39	mountain heights of israel shall be their grazing land they shall lie down in good grazing land and on rich pasture
16:45	they shall feed on the mountains of israel isn’t it amazing
16:51	although all we like sheep who have gone astray christ doesn’t scold us christ doesn’t come to us in wrath
16:58	christ comes to us with comforting words i’m going to gather you up bring you and i’m going to put you in a good land a
17:04	rich pasture and there you’re going to lie down and you’re going to rest you’re going to graze
17:11	right this is who christ is this picture of the good shepherd is so endearing it is
17:18	so comforting and it’s absolutely amazing this shows and typifies the love
17:24	of christ for his fallen creation even though even you because each and every one of us we have
17:29	strayed from god in so many varied ways we have broken his commandments we’re
17:34	guilty of idolatry we’re guilty of blasphemy we’re guilty of not holding god’s word sacred and gladly hearing and
17:41	learning it we’re guilty of disobeying our parents our bosses and our governmental authorities uh well aplenty
17:48	we’re guilty of murder and adultery we’re guilty of theft we’re guilty of lying we’re guilty of coveting and
17:56	stealing it’s just horrible if you think about it but christ has
18:01	mercy on us because what did isaiah say about about jesus you see in that same verse
18:08	isaiah says all we like sheep we’ve gone astray we’ve turned every one of us to his own way and that’s what sin is
18:13	turning away from the ways of god to our own ways but god the lord has laid on jesus the
18:18	iniquity of us all he’s born in his body well our iniquity suffered and died in
18:25	our place so that we can be forgiven and pardoned and restored and so you’ll note the comforting words that god says here
18:32	in ezekiel 34 the perfect cross reference to our gospel text and god is speaking words of comfort i will seek
18:39	the lost i will bring back the straight i will bind up the injured i will strengthen the weak the fat and the
18:45	strong though i will destroy and i will feed them in justice and here in in
18:50	isaiah 34 things start to turn a little bit in the metaphor because if you were to think about it
18:57	the sad and tragic bit of all of this is that when a false pastor when a false
19:02	shepherd when one who abuses christ sheep who feeds only himself who doesn’t strengthen the weak who doesn’t bind up
19:09	the injured that fellow at the end of the day even though he was a shepherd he was supposed to be an undershepherd of
19:15	the good shepherd and he is still a sheep even though i’m a pastor i’m still a
19:21	sheep right and so you’ll note the turn here in in ezekiel 34 now talking about
19:28	what those well false shepherds really are they themselves were sheep but what
19:34	did they do they abused their fellow sheep and god says i will act in justice against them
19:41	as for you my flock thus says lord god behold i judge between sheep and sheep between rams and male goats is it not
19:48	enough for you to feed on the good pastor that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture and
19:53	to drink of clear water that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet and must my sheep eat with what
20:00	which you have trodden with your feet and drink which you have muddied with your feet note the abuse sheep on sheep
20:06	abuse here therefore thus says the lord god to them behold i myself i will judge
20:11	between the fat sheep and the lean sheep and the reason why there are lean sheep is because the fat sheep are hoarding
20:16	everything for themselves right don’t think for a second this doesn’t happen also in the world
20:24	let me put it this way christ cares for the poor and it is absolutely true in our day
20:30	that some people are poor literally experiencing poverty in this life not just the poverty of spirituality but the
20:36	positive poverty that comes in physical poverty as a result of those who are wealthy who exploit the system and work
20:44	everything in their favor in order to oppress people and to make themselves rich on the back of everybody else
20:52	this is also what false shepherds do they make themselves rich on the back of
20:57	the sheep that christ has called them to care for so christ himself promises that he will judge between the fat sheep and
21:03	the lean sheep because you push with side and shoulder and you thrust at all the weak with your horns till you have
21:10	scattered them abroad i will rescue my flock they shall no longer be a prey i will judge between sheep and sheep and i
21:17	will set over them one shepherd my servant david that’s referring to jesus and he shall feed them he shall feed
21:24	them and be their shepherd with christ there is no lack there is no lack
21:29	physically in food there is no lack spiritually when it comes to being fed by christ jesus is not chintzy with his
21:37	word and he’s not chintzy in meeting your need and so the lord their god will be their god and my servant david shall
21:44	be prince among them i am yahweh and i have spoken and so it’s in this regard then we we
21:51	hear again the words of our gospel text and we’ll add a little bit of context you see in john chapter 9 you had that
21:57	fellow who was born blind and the disciples they said hey they asked jesus a question
22:03	kind of parroting the false doctrine of the false shepherds which is what the pharisees were there was nothing
22:08	orthodox about the pharisees they they asked jesus who who sinned that this fellow was born blind this man
22:14	or his parents and you just see jesus going vey right no way he said neither this he was born
22:22	blind in order that the power and glory of god may be demonstrated in his life and so what does jesus do he makes mud
22:28	puts him in the puts it on the fellow’s eyes sends him off to the pool of siloam to wash his face and wash the mud off of
22:34	his eyes and he comes back seeing right and everyone’s like what what’s going on here and i listen
22:42	jesus i he he made mud and i can see and no sooner does that happen that the
22:48	soundtrack begins going really dark [Music]
22:55	here come the pharisees right and what are they upset about what
23:02	what what is this what jesus restored your sight off to we need to interrogate you so
23:08	they interrogate the fellow wanting to know what’s going on they think it’s a ruse at first that somehow they’ve been
23:14	punked this guy’s just you know some kind of you know an actor trolling them and turns out you know they they’re not
23:21	satisfied with the answers that he gives so they call his parents in the the line of question goes something along the
23:27	lines of this yeah is this your son yes this is our son was he born blind yeah he was born
23:32	blind how does he now see uh he’s of age ask him we we need to get out of here
23:37	right because the pharisees at that point had already said if you believe in jesus you’re out of here they’re gonna
23:43	excommunicate you from the synagogue which makes no sense that’s how false
23:48	shepherds work by the way so they bring bring the guy back and
23:53	they reinterrogate him and the beautiful bit in all of this is that he stands his
23:58	ground and he confesses that jesus is a prophet because never in all of scripture has a has there ever been ever
24:06	heard of a man who was born blind receiving his sight and he confesses that jesus is a prophet and they say no
24:13	synagogue for you and they excommunicate the guy right you gotta love how this works
24:19	and so jesus finds him in one of the most compellingly beautiful sections of scripture the most beautiful section
24:25	christ finds this fellow who still has not seen him with his own eyes and he says to him do you believe in the
24:31	son of man and the fellow says well who is he sir that i should believe in him jesus says
24:37	is he who is talking to you and you have seen him and his response is i believe
24:42	and he worships jesus right and so jesus makes a pronouncement
24:47	at the end of chapter 9 basically saying that this is the reason why i came into the world for judgment so that those who
24:53	are blind may see and those who see that they may become blind that’s the point
24:58	the false shepherds they are truly blind and it’s in that context then that we hear these words jesus says truly truly
25:04	i say to you he who does not enter by the sheepfold by the door but climbs in
25:10	by another way that man is a thief and a robber
25:15	let me put it in another way just because you can wear skinny jeans and play an electric guitar guitar does not
25:21	make you qualified to be a pastor in christ church i could put skinny jeans on too
25:26	i’d never get out of them i’d never get out of them at least alive you have to call the you know the the jaws of life
25:33	would be necessary at this point but you get the idea that does not make you qualified so the one who enters by the
25:40	door he’s the shepherd of the sheep to him the gatekeeper opens the sheep hear his voice he calls his own sheep by name
25:46	he leads them out and let me point this out to you brothers and sisters this is an amazing bit about our god
25:52	you think that god doesn’t know you god doesn’t care he doesn’t see you you’re you’re experiencing the
25:58	difficulties of this life and the suffering that goes along with it because of your sin because of mine
26:04	and you’ll note this that god here is assuring us christ is telling us he knows us by
26:10	name and if that’s not enough scripture also reveals that in the world
26:16	to come christ is going to give you a stone that has a name on it that only
26:21	you and he know he has a name for you that is unique that nobody else has an
26:26	only god only christ has that kind of a vocabulary that he can create those that
26:32	many different names he leads a sheep out when he’s brought out all his own he goes before them and
26:38	the sheep follow him for they know his voice now if you’ve ever heard anyone say well you need to learn how to hear
26:45	the voice of god and so what you need to do is get into the lotus position after having obeyed and really showing that
26:52	you’re intentional just knock it off okay it’s super simple are you ready
26:58	jesus says to his disciples who become the apostles the one who hears you
27:04	hears me and the one who hears me here’s the one who sent me
27:10	the apostles have given us the living voice of christ
27:16	in the scriptures you will hear his voice here at no other place
27:22	and if there’s ever a man or even myself who stands in this pulpit who doesn’t bring you these words don’t listen to
27:28	him listen to the voice of christ it’s in the scriptures that’s how you hear his
27:34	voice a stranger they’re not going to follow they’ll flee from him they don’t know the voice of strangers so this
27:39	figure of speech jesus who’s used with them but they did not understand what he was saying so again jesus said to them
27:45	truly truly i say to you i am the door of the sheep all who came before me these false shepherds they’re thieves
27:50	they’re robbers but the sheep they didn’t listen to them i’m the door if anyone enters by me he will be saved and
27:56	will go in and out and he will find pasture the thief though he comes only to steal to kill and to destroy who’s
28:02	the thief here the false teachers the false shepherds i came though that they might have life and have it abundantly
28:10	i am the good shepherd the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep and that’s exactly what christ has done for
28:16	you by laying down his life and dying for you his sheep he has destroyed death he
28:23	has conquered the devil he has snatched you out of the mouth of the lion which is satan and he has brought you into his
28:31	good pasture in fact today christ has you lay down you’re sitting now right
28:37	and today we will feast on the body and blood of christ given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins here the good
28:43	pastor of his word goes forth and christ is the one caring for you not me him
28:49	right the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep he was a hired hand not a shepherd who does not own the sheep he
28:56	sees the wolf coming leaves the sheep flees and then the wolf snatches them and then scatters them he flees because
29:02	he’s a hired hand he cares nothing for the sheep but i am the good shepherd i know my own and my own know me just as
29:08	the father knows me and i know the father and i lay down my life for the sheep and i have other sheep jesus is
29:14	referring to the gentiles that’s most of us by the way i have other sheep that are not of this fold and i must bring
29:19	them also so that they will listen to my voice so that there will be one flock and one shepherd ah it is truly amazing
29:26	that christ our good shepherd has laid down his life for us his sheep and beca even though we have strayed he has
29:33	forgiven us even though we have wandered away to our own ways he has brought us
29:38	back in love and kindness and mercy and pardoned us and reconciled us to the father by his shed blood on the cross
29:44	and it’s in here that i would add just kind of a little post note you know an end thought to the sermon and that is
29:51	that the apostle peter in first peter chapter 5 he gives an exhortation to those who would want to
29:58	be or who presently are shepherds of the under shepherd jesus christ in his church
30:05	peter writes this he says i exhort the elders among you as a fellow fellow elder and also a witness of the
30:11	sufferings of christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed shepherd the flock of god that is among
30:17	you and by shepherd he means really shepherd feed the sheep those who are
30:22	weak strengthened those who are injured bind them up those who are sick heal them that’s what he’s talking about here
30:29	shepherd the flock of god that is among you be like jesus our great shepherd exercising authority exercising
30:36	oversight not under compulsion but willingly as god would have you and don’t do this for shameful gain but
30:44	eagerly not domineering over those in your charge but being examples to the flock and then when the chief shepherd
30:50	appears you will receive the unfading crown of glory
30:56	you get the idea so there is an admonition here there is a proper office of shepherd a pastor in christ’s church
31:03	but if you seek to aspire to that well that office you must do it the way christ shepherds
31:10	and that’s the point and when you do then you will receive the unfading crown of glory remember those who are in
31:16	christ’s church that on the day of judgment shepherds get a stricter judgment
31:21	than anyone else keep that in mind and so we leave then with this thought
31:27	the scriptures paint christ and jesus himself makes it clear that he is our good shepherd and
31:34	because of this jesus is our shepherd and we will never be in want he is the one who makes us to lie down
31:41	in green pastures he is the one who leads us besides the still waters the
31:47	waters of baptism where we have had our sins washed away and he is the one who has restored our souls he leads us now
31:55	in paths of righteousness and all of this he does for his name’s sake and even though we presently now walk
32:01	through the valley of the shadow of death that is what this world is we do not fear evil because christ is with us
32:08	he is with us in body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of sins he is present with us now to forgive us to
32:14	strengthen us with his word he is here and because he is with us we
32:19	will fear no evil he is with us and as rod and his staff the disciplinary measures of a shepherd they will comfort
32:26	us when we stray because he’s not going to let us wander away and he himself prepares a table before
32:32	us in the presence of our enemies and i like to think that today while we have the lord’s supper think of a good way
32:38	here in light of that text from psalm 23 he prepares a table for us in the presence of the enemies that outside the
32:45	building of kong’s finger there the devil and his demons are seething and raging that we are being cared for by
32:51	our good shepherd and being assured of the forgiveness of our sins he is the one who anoints our heads with oil and
32:57	because of christ our cups overflow and surely then goodness and mercy they will
33:02	follow us all the days of our life and our lives do not end at the grave here our lives continue on forever on that
33:10	day of darkness and smoke when christ comes again he will gather us into a new world and we will live forever all the
33:17	days of our lives goodness and mercy will follow us and it is absolutely true that because of what christ has done we
33:23	indeed will dwell in the house of the lord forever in the name of Jesus
33:29	amen

If you would like to support the teaching ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church, you can do so by sending a tax-free donation to: Kongsvinger Lutheran Church 15950 470th Ave NW, Oslo, MN 56744 We thank you for your support. All of our teaching messages may be freely distributed as long as you do not edit or change the content of the message, and, again, thank you for listening.