Teaching Text

JOHN 10:11-21

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.“I am the good shepherd; 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. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to 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 authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Sermon Recap

This week, Pastor Jon taught from John 10:11-21, where Jesus declares "I am the good shepherd," and asked one of the most pressing questions of our moment: who or what is actually forming you?

He opened with the Edelman Trust Barometer, an annual study that tracks institutional trust around the world. The findings are stark: confidence in media, government, and religious leaders is collapsing globally. And into that vacuum, culture has rushed with its own shepherds. Algorithms, outrage cycles, and AI platforms are quietly and constantly shaping our desires, our fears, and our sense of self. Most of us have not chosen them. We have simply been handed to them.

The shepherds of Jesus’ day were no different. The Pharisees, fresh off their embarrassing treatment of the blind man in John 9, are exposed by Jesus for exactly what they are: hired hands who scatter when the cost gets real. The essence of bad shepherding, in any era, is the same. The bad shepherd sacrifices the sheep to save himself.

Jesus is the opposite. He did not die as a martyr swept up by forces beyond his control. He laid his life down by choice, as the one who had the authority to give it and the authority to take it back. That changes everything. His care for us is not reluctant or resigned. It is a decision He makes, and keeps making, for you.

“Discipleship,” Pastor Jon said, “is not a willpower project. It is about proximity to the Shepherd.” The real question is not whether you are being formed, but by whom. He closed with Ephesians 2:10, a reminder that God has good works prepared specifically for you. He is not leading you toward a generic destination. He is writing a particular story through you because He loves you. Choose your shepherd, and choose wisely. Christ wants to lead you to an abundant life. All you have to do is say yes.