Full Transcript for Essentials : Life

of generosity, and the peace of God, Christian essentials, over the next nine weeks. 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:32.560 Not things that we ought to know, not things that simply tick a box, but actually the things that reorient our lives and draw us back to Jesus again. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:47.520 Um, and so by way of introduction today, I I knew um where we had to start with this series, and I feel that the Lord has given me a word for you today, in this moment and in this season of our church life. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:53.280 And uh I didn't have to think about it for very long, it just felt really clear. 00:02:53.599 --> 00:02:59.919 We have to start today in a very famous passage of the Bible in John chapter 10. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:05.439 And uh to some of you it will be quite familiar, but we're gonna read it together. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:12.479 And this is the right place for us to start unpacking the essentials of adult Christian faith. 00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:17.919 If you're willing and you're able to, could you stand with me as we read from the scriptures? 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:24.000 And this is John chapter 10, Jesus speaking, um, Jesus in his own words, if you like. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:28.719 And uh yeah, this is from verse 7 of John chapter 10. 00:03:29.680 --> 00:03:36.400 Jesus said again, Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:41.840 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:43.680 I am the gate for the robbers. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:47.039 Whoever enters through me will be saved. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.080 They will come in and go out and find pasture. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:03:54.240 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 00:03:54.560 --> 00:03:57.840 I have come that they may have life and have it to the foe. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.080 I am the good shepherd. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:03.360 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.960 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. 00:04:07.039 --> 00:04:10.719 So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. 00:04:10.879 --> 00:04:13.360 Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:18.639 The man runs away because he has a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:21.120 I am the good shepherd. 00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:31.199 I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, just as the father knows me and I know the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:36.480 I have other sheep that are not part of this sheep pen, I must bring them also. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:41.680 They too will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.399 The reason the father loves me is because I lay down my life only to take it up again. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:49.920 No one takes

it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. 00:04:50.079 --> 00:04:55.360 I had authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.120 This command I received from my father. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:00.480 In Jesus' name. 00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:01.519 Amen. 00:05:01.759 --> 00:05:02.959 Guys, grab a seat. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:06.959 Um, struggle. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:09.759 Um wonderful. 00:05:09.920 --> 00:05:14.959 There are three things that I want to share with you today about this uh passage from John chapter 10. 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:21.519 Uh, and the three things are uh first of all, uh, what it shows us about God's heart for us. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:27.680 Secondly, there's an invitation to trust in the passage, and finally, there's evidence of God's love. 00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:33.360 His heart for us, an invitation to trust, an evidence of his love. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:36.160 First thing, God's heart for us. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:47.120 Naomi and I were on holiday this summer in Lisbon, and as we were walking the streets of Lisbon, uh the World Cup was on and there was a lot of activity, thousands of people milling about. 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:59.040 And Naomi and I were stopped in the middle of the street by a complete stranger, and we uh were given an impromptu quiz on the subject of Nepal, as in the country, Nepal. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:07.600 Now, I have a strange little obsession with high-altitude mountain climbing, and Mount Everest just happens to be in Nepal. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:12.319 So this guy picked the wrong person to quiz on the subject of Nepal. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:18.800 So, anyway, as Naomi was watching in awe and wonder as I got a series of questions right. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:22.879 Um I I really like I I couldn't understand what was happening. 00:06:22.959 --> 00:06:26.639 I didn't know why I was being quizzed on Nepal, but I was really enjoying it. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:33.839 He asked me what the official height of Mount Everest is, and of course, the official height of Mount Everest is 29,032 feet. 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:40.399 And uh I think he was quite surprised to come across someone on the street who just has that in their back pocket, ready to unload. 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:43.519 Um anyway, I I don't know what was happening. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:51.920 Do you know when you're having a do you know when you're having a conversation on the street with someone and you're already gutted that you've been caught because you should have just put your head down? 00:06:52.240 --> 00:07:00.480 And the wee man in the front of house is is trying to engage in the conversation, but the wee man at the back of house, he's trying to work out what the heck is going on. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:02.399 Like what is the agenda here? 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:04.079 That that's what was happening. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:07.199 And later on, uh we thought nothing of this. 00:07:07.279 --> 00:07:08.560 We enjoyed the rest of our holiday. 00:07:08.639 --> 00:07:14.000 I got home, and about three days after we got home, someone sent me a link on Instagram, and I thought, oh no. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:20.800 Um turns out that this guy has a YouTube channel and an Instagram channel called Daily Vlogs with Sandy. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:26.800 And I was now the weekly star on Daily Vlogs with Sandy. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:33.199 So if you want to go home on a Sunday afternoon and watch something really silly, you know where to find it. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:45.040 Um if someone stopped you on the street this afternoon in Belfast City Center and asked you the question, What is Christian faith actually all about? 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:51.600 I wonder where you would take them or what you would say. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:08:00.160 Because I know where I would take someone in the scripture if they asked me that question, I would take them to John chapter 10. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:06.639 The passage we've just read is wrapped in it in an extended metaphor about shepherding, which we'll unpack a little bit more fully. 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:16.720 But right at the center of the passage, and at the center of John's gospel is one of the most iconic statements that Jesus ever made about what he has come to do, and it's in verse 10. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:22.160 Jesus said, I have come that they may have life and habit to the full. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:25.839 That line is a scriptural diamond. 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:40.159 You could hold that up to the light today, and someone once said, you know, it's it's simple enough for a child to understand, I have come to give you life, but it's actually deep enough that a scholar could spend their entire lives in it and never reach the bottom. 00:08:40.320 --> 00:08:45.759 You could write PhD after PhD on that one line that Jesus spoke. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:50.399 You could hold it up to the light and see the light come through it in a million different ways. 00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:54.960 And once upon a time in my life, it was a very powerful moment of right now. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:08:56.720 I actually get it. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:07.519 That's why I would take somebody to that verse because it was probably the ver first part of scripture that ever really meaningfully spoke into my life. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:15.679 I don't know if I've told you before how I became a Christian, but when I was 16, I was disengaged entirely from faith and from church. 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:17.120 I just really lost interest. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:19.600 It was a little bit of residual childhood faith. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:21.519 I knew all the right answers. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.679 Uh, I had a fairly thorough Sunday school education. 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:36.480 I used to have to do a thing in church called the League of Church loyalty, which none of you will remember, but it

involved getting a little stamp on the way into church every week that you came, and it marked your attendance. 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:47.679 And at the end of the year, for one day only, Jesus' own merchandise store would come to church, and you could trade in your stamps for like something educational, a pencil that said smile, Jesus loves you on it. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:56.720 Um there was a little bit of residual childhood faith and some flickers of passing interest, but it had become an intellectual exercise, and I had lost interest. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:00.399 So at 16, I was nowhere really with faith. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:05.679 And there were so many other things in life that seemed much, much more compelling. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:15.600 But through circumstances and at a birthday party and a few friends who I reconnected with, a group of friends dragged me into an environment of worship. 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:18.399 And as a teenager, I was pretty hapless and a bit hopeless. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.039 I didn't really know who I was or where my life was going. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:24.399 I had some friends, but I felt like I was desperately clinging on to them. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:26.639 I wasn't sure they actually were my friends. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:31.600 And in so many ways, I was quite deeply sad, but I didn't I didn't know that. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:36.159 And I was standing in this environment of worship and sort of taking it all in. 00:10:36.320 --> 00:10:40.480 These were environments that I'd spent the last four or five years trying to avoid at all costs. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:52.080 But as I stood in this environment of worship, sort of the worst case scenario unfolded because we were too close to the front, and someone who was on prayer ministry offered to pray for me, and I wasn't brave enough to say no. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:10:59.279 And so I stood with one eye open, um, wondering, you know, what was gonna happen and how how weird it was gonna be. 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:10.559 And as they prayed for me, I was set upon by an ancient and completely overwhelming love. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:15.279 And I actually felt like at one moment my heart broke from the top to the bottom. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:28.639 And the only time I've ever seen an illustration of this and thought that that's what happened to me was in the Lion King production when Simba hears Mefasa's voice saying, Remember, right? 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:34.720 I I remember seeing that at in London and thinking that that's actually what happened to me. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:44.960 Because in that moment, as God kind of broke mine heart and poured his love into my life, it wasn't like brand new information, it was like I'd forgotten something that was always true. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:50.080 And I suddenly remembered who I actually was and what life was all about. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:12:01.440 And it was almost like I'd been living in a tiny

little cardboard box for most of my life that was just all about me, and it was really small and really claustrophobic, and it was about getting what I wanted and finding my own way in life. 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:18.799 And in that moment, I just put a fist through the wall, and the wall turned out to be paper thin, and on the other side of the wall, there was this extraordinary glassy lake with snow-capped mountains all around it, you know, and just expansive possibilities full of hope and love and knowing God personally. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:22.399 And I thought, was that there the whole time? 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:25.120 And nobody told me. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:26.960 Holy smokes. 00:12:27.200 --> 00:12:38.320 Some people um find and cross the borders of faith much more slowly, cross the borders of faith more gradually, couldn't really pinpoint exactly when it happened, and that's fine. 00:12:38.559 --> 00:12:46.320 Um, God finds people in all kinds of different ways, but that's how God found me very, very, very slowly and then all at once. 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:48.159 There were tears. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:54.320 Shortly afterwards, I was reading the Bible, and I swear to you, it was like somebody had changed the words. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:08.559 Somebody had had taken my Bible and had edited the content, and the very first place I found myself reading the Bible, like having an experience of the Holy Spirit living in me was John 10, verse 10. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:18.480 And I read these words, I have come that they may have life and have it in all its fullness, and I thought, how on earth did I miss that? 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:20.320 How did I miss that? 00:13:20.480 --> 00:13:23.840 Like that has been God's heart for us all along. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:35.600 If you pick up a Bible and and you like dropped it on the floor, and the heart came out of it and started beating on the floor, and and and just there was blood all over the place as the beating heart of the Bible became real. 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:42.559 Like the beating heart of the Bible would be Jesus saying, I've come to give you life, I've come to give you life and life in all its fullness. 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:52.399 And um, I think most of my life I kind of had this suspicion that the beating heart of this book was that God wants me to stop doing certain things and to start doing other things. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:56.799 That's what I thought the kind of message was. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:00.639 And the truth is there isn't an element of that. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:07.600 Jesus does want to change your life, but actually, that the heart of this is I have come to give you life. 00:14:07.759 --> 00:14:11.600 And I think there's so much even in one sentence before we look at the whole passage. 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:16.240 Like when Jesus says, I have come, people often use this expression about finding God. 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:19.840 Did you hear that Joe

Weller, the YouTuber, has found God? 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:27.440 But actually, Christian faith is not about finding God, it's about God coming to find us, it's about being found by God. 00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:32.799 And and then he says, secondly, I've come that they, so you know, they may have life. 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:40.559 He's talking about normal people, uh, people who walk with a limp, people who struggle, people who are just about getting by. 00:14:40.720 --> 00:14:42.320 It came for us, people like you and me. 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.360 And then thirdly, he said, I came to give them life in all its fullness. 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:45.679 St. 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:58.639 Ireneus of Leon, who lived um some 1800 years ago, famously said this: he said, The glory of God is a human being fully alive. 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:02.559 Only the word alive is missing. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:06.080 As if to hold you in suspense to see what St. 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:08.159 Irenae actually did say. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:13.759 Maybe you never finished his sentence, maybe it was his dying breath, and we're just guessing. 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:14.799 Um, St. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:17.759 Irenae said the glory of God as a human being fully alive. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:23.279 You know, God's intention for your life is not to limit or diminish your humanity, but to bring it fully to life. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:26.320 And that word life is one of the most beautiful words in the Bible. 00:15:26.399 --> 00:15:38.240 It doesn't mean life in the way that our culture interprets it, like having more stuff, more experiences, more promotions, um, kind of more profile, more opportunities, more money to express myself. 00:15:38.480 --> 00:15:42.799 Actually, you can have more of everything in this world, and somehow it can still diminish you. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.600 The word that he uses there is the word Zoe. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:47.360 I don't know if there's a Zoe in the room. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:50.080 Um, I've always loved the name Zoe. 00:15:50.399 --> 00:15:52.559 It means spiritually alive. 00:15:52.720 --> 00:16:01.200 Um Jesus didn't come to make bad people good, he came to make people who are spiritually dead come to life. 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:06.480 Um and he's suggesting that that only happens in and through him. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:08.639 He's inviting us into the life of God. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:15.440 The invitation is deeper than you think it is, and I think it's the starting point for everything that we're going to look at in this series. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:23.279 Is that before you talk about prayer or scripture or community or generosity, you have to grasp something of the heart of God. 00:16:23.440 --> 00:16:28.480 That Jesus came for you and I, and he came to give us fullness of life. 00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:31.600 I think the second thing is there's an invitation to trust in the passage. 00:16:31.759 --> 00:16:34.000 The metaphor he uses is about shepherding. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:45.039 Uh, I once made a dreadful mistake in church when I stood at the front of a room and said, the metaphor is about shepherding, but nobody in this room has ever done any shepherding, I would imagine. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:53.919 And it turned out that uh one of the leaders of our church at the time had actually had a short-term contract in Morocco doing a bit of shepherding. 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:58.320 Do you have a friend in your life who has done literally everything? 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:01.039 We all I think we all know somebody like that. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:05.119 Like someone who, no matter where it is in the world, hey mate, have you ever been to Azerbaijan? 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:06.960 You know, actually I have, you know, I was there. 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:08.480 Have you ever met somebody like that? 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:13.119 My friend Gary was like that, and it turned out Gary had done some short-term shepherding. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:19.359 So for most of us, shepherding is a slightly foreign and unfamiliar sort of metaphor or concept. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:25.920 And whenever you look up shepherding on the internet, you will get picture after picture after picture that looks like this, right? 00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:33.680 Um very agrarian, kind of cute, sort of uh a bit distant. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:39.119 You know, perhaps Jesus just wants to give us a cuddle because at the end of the day, we're silly little sheep, aren't we? 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:42.640 You know, come here, fluffy, let me give you a cuddle, I'll make it all feel better. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:46.240 Um that's not the metaphor. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:47.759 It's not the metaphor. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:54.880 In the ancient world that Jesus is inhabiting, shepherding is a really powerful and direct metaphor for leadership. 00:17:55.119 --> 00:18:03.119 Like, as in kings were shepherds, military leaders were shepherds, political leaders were shepherds. 00:18:03.359 --> 00:18:06.480 The image is not come here, fluffy, you silly little thing. 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:08.079 Let me give you a cuddle and make it better. 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:15.359 The image is actually one of like immense responsibility and protection and provision and guidance into a life that's flourishing. 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:25.039 Jesus is making a claim that he has the right to lead our lives, and he doesn't just say, I am a good shepherd, he says, I am the good shepherd. 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:34.720 It is a unique claim about his relationship with the Father, his knowledge of his people, and ultimately his willingness to lay down his life. 00:18:35.759 --> 00:18:38.079 Jesus wants to shepherd your life. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:43.200 Not in the sense of come here fluffy, but as in like from a place of deep trust. 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:48.799 And you might ask the question, you know, if you're

exploring the relevance of faith, you might ask the question, well, do I need a shepherd? 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:50.480 Like I'm shepherding my own life pretty well. 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:52.880 I'm happy to direct my own life. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:19:01.519 Um, well, sociologists are really clear and in total agreement that we are all being shepherded all of the time. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:05.759 Not none of us is is really living as an autonomous, independent person. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:07.519 Let me give you a really silly example. 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:10.400 You walk into Tesco's for one thing, don't you? 00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:11.359 Mm-hmm. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:14.079 You walk into Tesco's for one thing. 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:15.920 Do you come out with one thing? 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:16.880 No. 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:23.680 Um you come out with about 10 things, which now costs somewhere between 65 and 90 quid. 00:19:23.920 --> 00:19:26.960 Um did you choose those things? 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:43.519 Well, in some sense you did, but in another sense, your psychology has been hacked and exploited by people who understand you better than you do, and they have reached into your pocket and extracted another 65 or 70 quid for things that you do not probably need and didn't go in for. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:50.720 And it's a silly little example and metaphor, but it's actually like so true of the rest of life as well. 00:19:51.039 --> 00:20:03.680 In Tesco, the architecture and product placement and advertising and music and the entire experience is designed to mold your desire and shape your behavior and influence your choices in their direction. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:11.759 And you feel like you're an entirely independent person, but yet again, when I come out having spent 65 quid, I discover that I am not. 00:20:12.799 --> 00:20:23.680 And our desires in life are continually being shaped by people we listen to, things we watch, stories that we believe, narratives we buy into, the culture we're part of, and voices that speak into our lives. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.519 The question is not, will someone shepherd me? 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:28.640 The question is who? 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:33.440 Who is leading and guiding and shepherding your life? 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:40.319 And Jesus contrasts his vision for shepherding with the thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy. 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:47.119 And he's really confronting false and exploitative leadership practice in in the wider people of Israel. 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:52.240 But the language also points to pretty much anything in this world that opposes the life of God. 00:20:52.880 --> 00:20:53.839 And I thought about it this week. 00:20:53.920 --> 00:21:00.160 I Naomi and I went shopping this week and we accidentally stumbled upon student night at Victoria Square. 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:03.759 A terrifying dystopian experience. 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:09.920 Um thousands of students milling around. 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:14.799 And at 37, students have like almost become like an alien species to me. 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:16.400 We we don't understand each other. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:20.640 Um, but as I'm watching them queuing everywhere, I was really struck by one thing in particular. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:25.440 The longest queue was for free alcohol, which I think is fair enough. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:28.319 Like if we hadn't had other things to do, we might have been in the queue. 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:34.400 But the the second longest cue was for tarot card readings. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:36.799 Tarot card readings. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:54.000 And I um thought of a line that Jesus said quite early on in his ministry when he said, um I see people harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. 00:21:54.480 --> 00:22:06.400 And Nikki Gombel, uh, who pays my pocket money, uh, he um He said, you know, a really, really appropriate modern translation of those words harassed and helpless would be anxious and busy. 00:22:06.640 --> 00:22:10.480 It's actually a really careful translation of the original language. 00:22:10.640 --> 00:22:24.480 And and he said it's like Jesus would look out at these young people and see, I see a massive queue of young people, anxious and busy, but in some ways like sheep without a shepherd, you know, looking for someone who will tell me your future's gonna be everything's gonna be okay. 00:22:24.720 --> 00:22:26.559 Everything is actually gonna be okay. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.880 Can you help to guide or lead my life in some sort of direction? 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:39.440 And I I I wanted to walk along the queue and say to every single one of them, can I can I talk to you for one minute about Jesus who leads and guides my life? 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:42.640 Can I tell you how I know that everything is gonna be okay? 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:47.119 Um, because see the the the crazy lady behind the curtain, she actually can't help. 00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:48.319 She can't help. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:59.119 Um This world is full of things that promise life and fulfillment and security and identity, and and some of those things can end up diminishing us instead. 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:02.160 Jesus said the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. 00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:04.880 He has nefarious purposes in mind. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:16.799 I mean, John John Tyson talks a little bit about the algorithm as our shepherd, and he wrote this amazing poem recently from Psalm 23 called The Algorithm is My Shepherd, and I'm gonna read it to you. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:18.880 It's it's funny, but it's really uncomfortable. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:20.640 So brace yourself. 00:23:20.799 --> 00:23:23.519 Um, The Algorithm is My Shepherd by John Tyson. 00:23:23.599 --> 00:23:26.559 The algorithm is my shepherd, and so I shall always want. 00:23:26.960 --> 00:23:35.119 It makes

me doom scroll through digital pastures, it leads me beside rapids of engagement and it activates my anxiety. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:39.440 It guides me along paths of monetization for the sake of profit. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:45.599 And even though I walk through the valley of comparison, I still fear missing out because you are always tracking me. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:48.960 Your notifications and your ads, they compel me. 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:57.119 You prepare a carefully curated feed before me in the presence of those I most envy, and you fill my head with validation. 00:23:57.359 --> 00:23:59.440 My anxiety overflows. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:08.880 Surely dissatisfaction and envy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of monetized data analytics forever. 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:13.279 It's kind of funny, but it's it's also uncomfortable. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:20.160 And you know, I really wanted to add to that that the posture of Jesus this morning is not put down your phone. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:21.359 It's not that. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:30.559 The posture of Jesus is I'm so heartbroken that this is happening to you and this is being done to you. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:43.039 Why don't you find a way this week to lean even slightly into my vision to shepherd your life? 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:47.279 It's not put down your phone, you know, you spent six hours on it. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:49.920 It it that's not the tone and posture of Jesus. 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:56.079 It's why don't you come and lean into my heart for shepherding you even a little bit. 00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:00.240 I think the crux of what Jesus is saying is that we are valuable and we are vulnerable. 00:25:00.400 --> 00:25:04.400 We we tend to give our trust to things that don't have our best interests at heart. 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:10.240 And Jesus invites us to trust him instead in every season of life, not just in the surviving, but in the thriving. 00:25:10.400 --> 00:25:16.720 Psalm 23 says four beautiful words about how Jesus deals with us as a good shepherd. 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:19.519 It says, He restores my soul. 00:25:19.680 --> 00:25:20.559 Let me ask you a question. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:23.359 Have you felt recently like you're running on empty? 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:25.519 Have you felt like you're running on empty? 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:30.000 Jesus says, Let me restore your soul. 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:40.319 Maybe that would look like making a small space in your life somewhere for prayer again, or or trying prayer for the first time as you walk the dog in the afternoon. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:47.200 Maybe it's opening the scriptures a couple of times in the week and allowing Jesus to reshape the stories that you're telling yourself. 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:53.279 Um someone suggested to me once, why don't you why don't you take a page and kind of cut it in half? 00:25:53.359 --> 00:25:58.880 And on one side

of the page, write down some of the stories that you're telling yourself that are inducing anxiety. 00:25:58.960 --> 00:26:11.599 And on the other side of the page, why don't you find some scripture to write down and just to try and uh meditate on and to repeat and to allow truth to replace lies in your own heart? 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:17.119 Um, whatever it looks like, I think the invitation of Jesus is to uh let me lead. 00:26:17.359 --> 00:26:31.200 Very lastly, um, and I'll not take long over it, uh don't want to dribble on on you, but um I think in this passage you see uh God's heart for us, an invitation to trust, and then finally evidence of his love. 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:41.680 Trust is being eroded in so many places in our society, and the reason for that is because leaders are self-serving, they they want something from you before they want to uh care for you. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:48.000 And um trust is often eroded when leaders protect their own interests. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:50.000 I'm really fascinated by trust in the workplace. 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:54.160 I don't know if you've ever worked for somebody who you don't deeply trust. 00:26:54.400 --> 00:27:02.640 It's an incredibly difficult and painful experience because trust is really the currency that makes the world go round and that makes us feel psychologically safe. 00:27:02.880 --> 00:27:16.880 And whenever I during a period in my life when I was struggling a little bit with that, I was introduced to um a piece of psychology essentially from a guy called Charles Green, a brilliant thinker who wrote uh an equation for trust. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:20.960 He basically described what trust actually is and where it comes from. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:24.079 And this is the trust equation of Charles Green. 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:32.720 Um he said, this is how trust works in your life and mine every day with everyone we interact with, with everyone who's ever led us or guided us. 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:34.640 Trust is credibility. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:37.359 Credibility is do you know what you're talking about? 00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:40.000 Like, do you know what you're doing? 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:41.759 Plus dependability. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:45.200 Dependability says, will you do what you said you would do? 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:47.359 And finally, relationality. 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:49.519 Relationality is do you care about me? 00:27:49.759 --> 00:27:54.960 So if I take Ben as an example, and Ben says, Johnny, I'll come round and I'll dog sit for you. 00:27:55.200 --> 00:27:56.480 I'll dog sit for you. 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:00.480 I want to know, does he know how to sit a dog? 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:02.559 Okay, does he know what he's talking about? 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:04.559 Has he ever had a dog before? 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:09.359 Secondly, is he actually going to show up at the time that I've asked him to? 00:28:09.519 --> 00:28:12.000 And finally, does Ben care about my dog? 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:14.960 Um, like, does he have any investment in this? 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:22.400 And the only thing that undermines so essentially, you you could apply this to so many people in your life, to so many scenarios in your life. 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:28.240 And if you ever find someone who you don't fully trust, the problem is on the top line of that equation. 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:33.039 The only thing that erodes trust is self-interest. 00:28:34.000 --> 00:28:43.680 When Ben is more concerned about getting something for himself than taking care of my dog, that will erode the trust that I have in him. 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:54.400 And you know, in the same conversation about trust, this this friend who was coaching me said, Imagine we could feed Jesus into the trust equation. 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:55.759 Credibility. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:00.480 Jesus made us, he knows us better than anyone else. 00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:05.680 Dependability, Jesus followed through on everything he said that he was and would do. 00:29:05.839 --> 00:29:17.359 And relationality, Jesus cares for you more deeply than anyone else in your life, and and ultimately he proved it, and he and he proved it through the giving of his own life. 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:39.039 And actually, Jesus is the only person in this universe who, on the bottom line, scores a clean round zero, and ultimately his death on the cross is proof, evidence that he laid down every form of self-interest in order to love us. 00:29:40.880 --> 00:30:07.039 The thief takes from the sheep, the hired hand abandons the sheep, the good shepherd gives himself for the sheep, the one who is asking for your trust and asking you to allow him to lead you and guide you and to shape your life is the only one who gave his life for you. 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:34.079 And so the essentials of Christian faith are gonna be fun, but they're built on this first of all, knowing what God's heart for us really is, secondly, stepping into an invitation to trust him with your life, and thirdly, building your life on the proof that you are loved, even to the point of death. 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:36.480 In Jesus' name. 00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:37.920 Amen.