The Love and Leadership of God

♪ ♪ Welcome to another inspiring message from Bethel Church in Reading, California. Our mission is revival. The expansion of God's kingdom through his manifest presence bringing hope and transformation to the world. We pray this message will inspire and equip you in your faith journey. You can find previous sermons in multiple languages at Bethel.com/podcasts and on all your favorite podcast platforms. We hope you enjoy this message by Haley Braun. For more resources visit Bethel.online or shop.bethel.com. [Applause] Hello, hello, you can be seated. Good to see you all. I think the last time I was up here for preaching was in early January so it's wonderful to see your faces. And the last time I was up here I got to make an announcement about equip classes and I get to do it again. And so in our effort to sync up our equip classes I think we counted that we had nearly a thousand people on campus during the week in our various classes and discipleship which is so exciting. And we're launching another round of equip classes. Those will be coming live on the website in just a couple days. We'll be starting in two weeks on March 8th. And the next week we'll be doing a couple of Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And there'll be different classes, some theology classes, one on our core values. We've got Tom Crandell's ways of the kingdom. We even have a pre-married class. And just to heads up for those of you, pre-married doesn't have to mean that you're just about to get married. It could just be we're dating. And we're wanting to actually grow in some skills and tools to figure out how to build healthy to see if this is something we need to do. And we're going to be doing a couple of Tuesdays. March 8th. March 8th. Hallelujah. Well, why don't we pray? I'm going to take this out of my pocket. Here we go. I had it in case. I forgot my announcement, but I remembered it. Yeah, Jesus we thank you. Lord, we thank you that the God that is everywhere. He's looking for the welcome of his people to come and rest and dwell with them. And so Lord, we say as a people, we welcome your Lord as we've worshiped as we've sung, praises, as we've magnified your name, Lord, as we've looked at your love and as we've declared your goodness, Lord Jesus, we personally say, Lord, we want you here. We want to experience you. We say, King of glory come in. And we just welcome you and invite you today, Jesus. And Holy Spirit, we pray that the Spirit of wisdom and revelation would open the eyes of our hearts that we might come into greater knowledge of who you are, Jesus, that we might come to comprehend as Ephesians 3 says, how high, how wide, how deep is the love of God, that we might be rooted and grounded in your truth. And so we just invite you, Jesus. We welcome you, God. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Well, this morning, as I was for me when I'm preaching, I'm always asking Lord, like, is there something you're highlighting or speaking to? And often for me, it's as I'm doing my daily reading with the Lord that he'll begin to highlight different things and be speaking to me and I'll be doing studies and he'll kind of highlight something that maybe I read a few months ago. But this one, he popped it up in my heart. I felt like I kind of like a bubbling fountain of the Holy Spirit and just led me to preach Psalm 23 this morning. And so if you want to open to Psalm 23, I did not imagine and probably because it's such a well-known passage. But what I'm going to do is I'm going to pick on my husband a little bit and I'm going to have him, I'm going to run down to him and I'm going to have him read verses one through three and then Tilly sitting behind him. I'm going to pick on him and I'm going to have you read verses four and five and then Melissa Demont, I'm going to have you end with verse five. Is that all right? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you annoyed my head with oil and my cup overflows. Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. In the Methodist church we would say thanks be to God for his word. Amen. Thanks be to God for his word. As I was preparing this message, I felt like I could just sit on verse one. The Lord is my shepherd and as I was reading that three things immediately stood out to me. The first one is the Lord. That's a great statement and that could preach for an hour for the next 365 days. The Lord, the declaration that we are all here because we have one Lord, one God, one King, that we are following one leadership and that he is my Lord. In all things, in all circumstances, I am not the Lord, I am not the leader, I am under the servanthood of him. The next one is my. The Lord is my. He is our Lord. He is the Lord over the church. He is the Lord over this world. He is the Lord in heaven. He was before the foundations of the earth, sacrificed for my sin, that I might become one with God. But he is my Lord and he is my shepherd. We put your hand in your heart and say he is my shepherd. On any given Sunday, in any given moment, we would all be walking through these doors from different experiences in life. You know, some of us walk in, we are excited, yay, it's Sunday, we are happy to be in church. Some of us are like, I am believing for breakthrough today. Others are weary and wondering, I should have stayed in bed, I wonder why I am here. Some of you don't even know what you are thinking. I know for me sometimes when I come home from work and my husband says to me, hey, how was your day, I am like, I don't even know. I don't think I want to find out. I think I just want to chop the vegetables and once I put the kids to sleep and I have done mom and wife and all those things, then I will feel. Anyone ever like that? Yes, okay, that is, and ultimately we are going through an experience together as well as having experiences in our individual life. And even if we are going through the exact same thing at the exact same time, every moment of the day, all of us would be processing it differently. Every single person in this room has come with a process, with a journey, and the comfort is that the Lord that is our Lord is also my Lord. That He is not just shepherding the whole, but He is shepherding me, and that He has an individualized plan and purpose and fathering for my specific needs, once desires, questions, He is my shepherd. As I started reading this passage, I started thinking about the I am statements that Jesus makes in the New Testament. And so the Lord is my shepherd. Charles Spurgeon says this, he says, in order for us to truly say, the Lord is my shepherd, I must first feel myself to be a sheep in nature. For we cannot know that God is our shepherd, unless we ourselves feel like we have the nature of a sheep. Jesus in John 10 verse 11, He makes one of the I am statements, He says, I am the good shepherd. When the Lord encountered me six years ago, one of the greatest freedoms I found was realizing, I am not leading me. I am not shepherding me. The Lord is shepherding me. Amen? You're quiet. Are you with me? He is my shepherd. I started looking at facts about sheep on the Internet. I want to tell you we got two corners in this ring of sheep. We got some people that really think sheep are not great animals. They say lots of hard things. I want to say lots of pastas. I think they're trying to make a really strong statement of how good the sheep it is, but these sheep are struggling in these people's perception. They are not smart. I've heard words like dumb, even said on the Internet. I didn't say it in it said dumb sheep. Then there's another camp that I would like to sheep advocates. So we have the sheep accusers and the sheep advocates. And these people feel the need to tell us how the sheep are actually not as dumb as we think, though maybe they're also not as smart as they would like to think. And so I found some facts about sheep. And one fact I found out is that sheep, and this is true for both the accusers and those that are activists for the sheep. The one thing is true is that sheep do not have great homing instincts. If a sheep gets lost, it does not know where home is. Now I want to tell you recently I discovered that there was a family of groundsquery that made a home under my house. I'm not all sad. All of you are reading what I'm talking about. And I, so sorry, I have a hard time annihilating these creatures. It's tough for me. I love animals. And I have a soft heart for all sorts of creatures. So my poor husband is having to trap these creatures and re-home them. Not at your home. Oh no, Dan's already going not at my home. No, out in the fields and the pastures far away from any suburbia, right? Some of you like just kill the creatures. I know I'm so sorry. He might have sneakily taken out some lives without me knowing. But what we found is if you don't take the groundsquery far enough, they come back home. It's not my home. They think it's their home. And so groundsquery have homing instincts. Cats, homing instincts, pigeons, homing instincts. There's even a scripture in the Bible that talks about donkeys finding their home. Sheep, not so much. And when sheep get lost, they don't know how to find food. They don't know how to find water. And they become vulnerable. But the shepherd knows where home is. For the cap of the activists of the sheep, they came to tell me that sheep though have an uncanny ability to recognize faces. Sheep, they did a study. I don't know who is studying these sheep and putting different people pictures of celebrities in front of these sheep. But somehow someone did a study to to traper tech the sheep's reputation. And tell us that sheep have this amazing ability to recognize. I think I read up to 50 faces. So while we don't know how to find home, a face that we look at long enough, we will recognize when we're lost. The Lord is my shepherd. Some 34, 10 says that young lions suffer and want hunger. But those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Because this shepherd leads us to grain pastures. This shepherd leads us to food. This shepherd leads us to what we need. And the beautiful thing for me is that though he is my shepherd leading me to food, the interesting thing is that Jesus makes this declaration in John 6.35, another I am statement. I am the bread of life. And whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never go thirsty. This shepherd doesn't just lead me to food. He is my food and he is my water. John 7.37 through 39. Jesus says this. And on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the scripture said out of his heart will flow. Rivers of living water. The shepherd that leads me becomes my food and the one that I believe in will not just quench my thirst but will make a river flow from the inward being of myself. This is exciting stuff. Philip Keller wrote a book, the shepherd looks at Psalm 23 and it says this about sheep. Because they are timid, they will not lie down if they are afraid. Because they are social animals, they will not lie down if there is friction among the sheep. If flies or parasites trouble them, they will not lie down. Finally, if sheep are anxious about food or hungry, they will not lie down. Rest comes because the shepherd has dealt with fear, friction, flies and famine. He makes me lie down. And when I am under the Lordship of the good shepherd, he deals with fear, friction, flies and famine. Even in this moment, when we are walking through life circumstances, oftentimes we will look to people to find agreement to try and find comfort. We will look to lose to bring tension out of our lives so that we can find comfort. I don't know about you but sometimes when I go to people, I am hoping they will agree with me and then I realize they are having a very different experience and all of a sudden what felt like tension now starts feeling like friction. But we have a shepherd that can meet us in the very nuance of our need and come and bring alignment and hope and comfort to the most complex circumstances. He is not shaken or concerned by what you are facing. He is a good shepherd. He leads me to parts of righteousness for his name's sake. Hallelujah, we are led. I am being led. I preached a message on the fear of the Lord a few months ago. I come to find that people don't always remember everything you say. So I am going to say some things again. I have sat under the same teachings for years and years and somehow I find that this Holy Spirit that has been given to me the Spirit of Jesus that he illuminates and brings revelation to things that I have heard before and he makes it come alive for me. In Psalm 25, I mean even David writing Psalm 23, this is a shepherd knowing sheep. And again, David is writing in Psalm 25 and he is talking about the fear of the Lord and being instructed in God's ways. Verse 9 and 10 says this, "The humble, he leads the humble injustice. He teaches the humble his way. All the parts of the Lord are mercy and truth. To those who comply with his covenant and his testimonies. For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my wrongdoing, for it is great. Who is the person who fears the Lord? He will instruct him. He, God, will instruct the person that fears the Lord in the way that God chooses." In this passage, when I studied it a few months ago, it talked about the parts of the Lord, right? His parts are righteousness. I just want to tell you, there are so many scriptures about the parts and the way of the Lord directly connected to the commandments of God that those who live enter the authority of God in the understanding that he is both righteous, holy and blameless. He is also loving, kind and comforting. But these parts were an imagery of people, you know, in those days they would pack up their wagons and they would either take their wagons to the market or from the market, but they would put goods, special things, not bads, you know, goods, goods in the wagon. You can chuckle, it's okay. They would put things there that they thought was good, that they would want to trade or bring home. And in the first service, I began to think, you know, we used to read this book called the Mouse Family Picnic at home, I loved it, it was my favorite one. And it's kind of like my dad's kind of picnic. Everything gets packed in the car and on the way, it's bumpy, the road is bumpy, everything the beach ball falls out, the towels fall out, and the picnic falls out, and the mice get to their little picnic, and they have no picnic, and they have to figure out what to do and they make a plan. And it made me think of this, that the pods of the Lord in those days, if you filled your wagon with things, and there was no path established, right? You're just going through, "Well, the rough terrain." You know, things are falling out. I was thinking like maybe it's a watermelon, maybe it's a butter, not squashing, like stopping, picking up your watermelon, putting it in. But what if it was grain? Could you imagine a sack of grain getting balanced around and starting to fly out your wagon? You can't just pick it up and put it in. This is something you've planted, you've watered, you've chased pests away, you've pulled up weeds, you've harvested from sun up to sundown, worked hard, and all your weeds and bread was the sustaining food for people in those days, and there, it's falling out your wagon. But after a while, people will begin to establish a well-worn area, right? The rocks are getting trampled, the grass is getting removed, and all of a sudden the path is getting smoothened, over time the rain comes, and the wagons, as they run through the wet mud, they begin to put ruts in the ground. And now these pods are not just smooth, but they actually have the perfect place for your wagon wheels to run through without any bumps or lumps or bruises. And what the Psalm writer David here is saying, he's saying, the pods of God, these established ruts, they're not just simply smooth, they actually are established grooves for your wheels to lock themselves in and find a smooth terrain to get you where you needed to go. These pods are mercy and truth. The world wants to pick my logic, my own reason, struggles to hold mercy and truth on the same path. Because you imagine if you just have truth on one side, your wagons are doing this. And if you just have mercy on one side and no truth, you're doing this. You ain't taking nothing nowhere. But the paths of the Lord, you see human beings we struggle with tension. Is the Lord terrifying and loving? Is he a lion and a lamb? Is he my Lord and my friend? Which one is it Lord? Yes. Do I receive grace as a free gift? All my salvation through fear and trembling? Yes. Is he a raging fire that consumes that which is impure in my life? And is the fire the momentum that drives me? Yes. He disciplines me and comforts me. He leads me and shepherds me. The paths of the Lord, you see, I remember a circumstance in my life, I'm just trying to think how to share this because it's tender for me. You know, when my little girl was diagnosed with Down syndrome and processing like what's her life going to be like? And how hard is she going to have to fight for things? And you're dealing with doctors, reports and IEPs and all these things where people are telling you what your child is not, right? And inside you have a faith and a hope and a belief of great things because the Lord has spoken. But I remember in some of that season, I would go to sleep at night and I wouldn't want to think about it. But my brain would go to, was it a cleanse that I did a year before I got pregnant or was it something that I was a lack of faith that I had or, and then sometimes people even start saying things about curses or generational things. And you start trying to, it's like the disciples saying to Jesus, is this man's condition because of a sin of his or a sin of his parents and Jesus doesn't answer? And it's those places you see, it's not because we want to go there, it's because we're trying to find peace. We're feeling pain and discomfort and intention. We want to pick one or the other because it feels more comforting to know and answer than to live in discomfort. Because those who trust in the Lord, those who walk by the Spirit recognize that it isn't one or the other, it's both and it's in the container of the man who is peace. The wisdom of God is not one or the other, it is mercy and truth is the part of our life and he leads us where we need to go. I get it clean, is that okay? I'll go on in my pocket, you know why? Because I'm always ready for this moment. Probably it's three, five, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean that on your own understanding in all your ways. I acknowledge he is the shepherd, he is my shepherd, he is my Lord and he will make my parts straight. Have a look, preach this, what does that word for trust mean? Throw yourself, take all of your weight and throw yourself on the Lord. But here's the thing, the Psalms writer David and the Proverbs writer, probably Solomon, Jan Dan can tell me, someone very wise, full of God, wrote Proverbs three. And the Proverbs writer understood that many of us in this room would say, "I trust God." I believe God. But the problem is sometimes we do these sneaky leans. To throw yourself on God is 100%, it's not 1910, it's not 80/20. You see, sometimes in life we throw ourselves on God and then we things get challenging or shaky and we do a sneaky lean on Plan B. We do a sneaky lean on our spouse. We do a sneaky lean on our bank account. We do a sneaky lean on making an ulterior direction even after God has spoken. We do a sneaky lean and I like the word sneaky lean as you can tell. I like it because sometimes we see the Lord in his authority and we condemn ourselves in the lean. But actually he just goes, "Well, sneaky lean, well, you see, sometimes with my kids, if I had to have a sit down with them for every time that they didn't do what I asked them to do, they would be tired children." There's times when the shoes get flung off at the front door and we're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, sneak a lean, sneak a lean, right there." Where do those shoes go? "Oh, sorry, Mom, in the basket. "Sit down on the couch and I'm on an apple core." "Wow!" "Apple core just appeared here. Huh?" "No." "What are we gonna do about that?" It's these moments. And since we think it's like, we wait for the Lord to come with the voice of conviction. And sometimes we just need to have such a current relationship that we hear his voice go, "Whoa, sneaky lean." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you searching for? "What are you looking for? "Trust in me." And those who throw their weight on the Lord, he leads them. As I was thinking about God's goodness, I just wanna write a quote and then have a question that popped up in my heart. A man named Clark says that, "To display the glory of God's grace, "'cause right, he leads us on the path of righteousness "'for his name's sake. "'Because when he leads us, he begins to display the glory "'of his grace through our frail lives built up by him." And Clark says this, "To display the glory of God's grace is not on an account "'of any merit in me." God's motives of conduct towards the children of men are derived from the perfections and goodness of his own nature. And say that again, God's motives and conducts towards us is not derived from my merit, but from the perfections and goodness of his nature. So I wrote this question, how far does the shepherd go? How far does the goodness and the conduct and the perfections of your nature go Lord? How far does it reach? 'Cause this feels pretty amazing. This feels pretty wonderful. Oh God, you are, and I wanna go to this place in John 10, where I talked about Jesus saying, "I am the good shepherd." In verse six, he says, "I am the door that the sheep come through." So the shepherd isn't just leading me, he is the door, he is the way, he is the bread, he is the water, and he will become the light and we'll hit shadow in a second, but he is not just leading me, he is becoming the very sustenance I need. He is the well-worn path, laying down his life, making a way where there was no way, stretching himself in the middle of tension and say, "I stand in the gap and intercede." Come and join me. How far does it go? How long is a piece of string? It goes until it goes, until it goes, until it goes, because the love of God has no end. The love and the affections of the Lord, there is no place where that shepherd would not come and reach for his people and offer himself as the way. Early in my marriage, I'm sorry, babe, I'm telling you, I tell you often, it's what happens when you married to a preacher. I was a preacher's child. My dad told illustration centers, I was like, "Ah, didn't quite happen like that." So I'll let him tell his story one day. But early in our marriage, we've been married for a few months. We were 23, 22 when we got married. And in love, and wanting to be awesome, wanting to have a wonderful marriage, lived in the light of God and love each other and never have any problems. No disagreements, 100% communicating with absolute ease and effortlessness, 'cause we have done pre-marriage class. And we learnt the pillars and the foundations, and we are going to do better than everyone else. And then quickly in conflict and miscommunication, we started realizing my family talks, or anytime, conflict happiness, it just talks, talks about everything and wants to talk about talking. And then Ryan gets nervous when we talk. He likes talking about nice things, but when we talk about hard things, he becomes like a little bit afraid. That fire is gonna come out of my mouth and he will cease to exist. And so he would want to think before he talks, and I felt punished when he withdrew, because I felt like talking is what I needed, and silence is what he needed. And so we were talking about how to talk. And I remember it was probably like the third time, a few months into marriage, and he had shut down, and I'd probably talk too much. So I'll tell that part of the story. And he shut down, and I remember him coming back to me, and apologizing. And I'm saying, "How I feel punished when you pull back. "I need you to share." And he's saying, "Baby, I'm so sorry, I want to talk, "I want to share, I just felt afraid." Well, that's stuff, and then he said to me, "So this, can I have just one more time? "Can I have grace one more time?" I let him as I'd write in broad, you're gonna need a thousand more times, because this isn't a one time, this isn't baseball, this isn't three strikes, and you're out like, "Hey, if you don't, this is us learning how to communicate "as people in covenant." And I will continue by the grace of God to work with you. So long as we're coming together and talking this through, we will continue to work this out until we become shaped into who God makes us, to be, into Christ's likeness. And I wanna tell you that sometimes we sit in rooms and we're dealing with things, and maybe we've stood up for the altar call. Maybe we've received the prayer. Maybe we've come up and confessed. And then someone says, "Hey, stand up if you're feeling "X, Y, O, Z," and you think, "I stood up 10 times. "Maybe I'll just work a little harder before I stand up again." Maybe I'll just think a little more. Maybe I'll just go try and fix it in my own strength. And there's two words in the Greek for knowing in the Bible, well, there's sure there's more, but two ones that stand out. Genosco and epigenosco. Genosco is, "I know it. "Epigenosco is, "I've experienced and so I know." And the Lord doesn't just want us to know him as a shepherd as someone that we can trust, but He wants us to epigenosco to engage and enter in to the kind of God that stays present even when we're faithless, that remains faithful. Sometimes we have more faith in our ability to have faith. Sometimes we are putting our faith in our ability to have faith, to receive what God has, but we forget that He has a gift of faith for those who ask. It's like that Father says, "I believe helped me in my unbelief." That is the journey of the Christian, right? That we have measure of belief, but we have a measure of unbelief, and our good shepherd is leading us along his paths. 'Cause his rod and his staff, it comforts me. Are we doing all right? Do you want one of the most comforting things about the Lord is for me, is that He is both victory and broken? Revelation five, that they look at the scroll and the seals, and they say, "Who can open it?" And they see the line of the tribe of Judah first, who has overcome, and then a few verses later, they see a lamb that was slain. This victorious lion is also a slain lamb. Daniel, I don't know if you're ready, but I'd love if you'd come out and play keys for me. If you wanna open to Hebrews 10, 19. The Passion Translation of this section, comments on the rod and staff comforts me, it says this, it says, "Your authority is my strength. Your authority is my peace, and the comfort of your love takes away my fear." Growing up in a South African context in a system sometimes where maybe I felt like authority only existed to pull me out of class in the moment when I had made a mistake, to read my rights to me, to tell me what the punishment would be for something that I'd done wrong. I have distinct memories as a six-year-old of whistling on my way back to the pool. We used to wear these uniforms, and they would check all of our hair, and make sure that our clips all had to be brown, and our hair ties, they couldn't be a different color, and you'd get written up. And I remember, my dad was an avid whistleah. To this day, he whistles a tune, nobody knows what it is, but I tell you what, if he whistles it, I literally look where's my dad? If I hear, (whistling) I literally like my father is somewhere. And he would whistle all the time, and so I was at first grade, I was in first grade, and we went to the pool and got changed in the locker room, and I'm walking back, and I'm with another young lady, and I'm trying to whistle. I mean, my little line, in my little uniform. And I can't whistle, right, Tom? (whistling) Trying to whistle. And all of a sudden, that moment, my authority rushes in and just starts yelling. Who is whistling? Who is doing that? And I'm trying to, you know, put my hand up, my friend didn't even put a hand up, I remember thinking, "You supposed to love Jesus, "you're not telling the truth." (laughing) I was confused. I remember getting a black dot next to my name. No one asked questions. No one asked why, they're just, it's not appropriate. You messed it up. And I used to think God's authority was like that. Out of the blue, I don't know where, whoa, I thought it was okay. Black dot for me. No way to redeem it just stays. But this King, Hebrews 10, therefore brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. Not my ability to know all the rules, not my ability to get it all right, though I will try with the best of my heart, serving the Lord. I have confidence not because of my merit, but because his blood was poured out. And then this verse, I want you to look at the tension right here. By the new and living way, this is the picture of a resurrected sacrifice, a resurrected offering. Death could not hold him. The grave had no authority over him. He had, he experienced resurrection power and became our resurrection. He was and is the resurrection. He's the new and living way. You've got to imagine these people in Hebrews, they're bringing sacrifices to the Lord and they have to kill that sacrifice. And it is dead as dead as dead. And the next time they sin, they have to make another one. Every time, another one. It's the same thought of, you trust in the Lord, it's all your heart and you lean not on your own understanding. When we lean, we begin to live a life of perpetual sacrifice, having to feel like we're giving up something over and over again. But those that have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus and have stepped in can step into a life of obedience, single, single focus. So we've entered in by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way. I want you to look at this which he inaugurated for us. Through the, shot it up. Veil, that is through his. You've got to think of this imagery right now. The veil was torn. There is a living, victorious, glorious, magnificent, old, powerful, roaring king. The new and living resurrected, all powerful, ascended way. Who has been torn? Who has been broken? Who was, who was willing to be brokenness so that I could be whole? This imagery is both victory and broken. And I want to tell you, sometimes as humans, we want the victory, but we're not willing to gaze on the broken. And if we will not look at Jesus' brokenness, we will struggle to look at our own. His authority becomes my peace, because he bore on himself the punishment that belonged to me. In Luke 24, the disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus, they're walking with Jesus, and their hearts are burning, but their eyes are closed. And they're burning as he's going through the scriptures of the prophets and how we fulfill that. And he's talking about himself. These are the same people that experienced him speaking the words of life. Where will we go? In the greatest offense, where will we go? And they're experiencing the same burning, but they aren't seeing the same way. But it's when he broke the bread. What happened? Their eyes were opened. It was their willingness to see the broken Christ that allowed them to see their exalted Christ, the resurrected Christ, the beauty of Christ. Jesus breaks the bread at the table, and he says, "Do this in remembrance." When I'm willing to remember, what is remembrance? Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is what God has done. When I'm willing to turn my attention to the Lord that is my shepherd and begin to remember what he has done. I enter in. Okay. The word here for a ride is "Shaybet." In Genesis 49, 10, they say, "The scepter, the Shaybet, shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet." The staff of the Lord is both the governing authority and the guiding rod of discipline. Hebrews 12, 10 says that the discipline of the Lord leads to peaceful righteousness. Acts 9, 31 says, "And the church was built up in the peace of God, in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Spirit." And it multiplied. To multiply in our lives, to see God do the work He wants to do, He will build us in peace. We have to engage in the authority of His rod and His staff, knowing that it both leads, disciplines, and comforts. The authority of God is not there to misunderstand me, but to guide me into true comfort and strength. These people that live with Jesus as they shippet, the next part of the passage, and we're going to wrap up here. These people, they eat. Bill, did you close worship today with saying that they were going to bless your house today? Different. Can I share it? Is that okay? First service, Bill, just talking about how he is given his house to the Lord at his home, and you're talking about how this is the house of God, but a hunger and desire for that resting glory in our own homes, and that he was going to go home and just commit his house to the Lord and say, "This is your house. Make me a guest here." For those that live with the Lord as their shepherd, the Spirit has been given right to dwell within us and make us the house of God, the temple of the Spirit. And actually, when we truly submit under His Lordship, He becomes the host of our home. And as the host, hosts prepare tables. He sets a table in the presence of those we love, those that don't like us, and those that oppose us. And when God becomes the host of our home, when we say, "Lord, You become the master, the boss, the leader, Lord, make me a guest in my own house. Make this your house, Lord." What happens is He takes ownership of preparing a table. And at the Lord's table, we eat no matter the circumstance. At the Lord's table, He is the bread of life. He is the wine poured out. He is the food that sustains. For the people that have the Lord as their shepherd, they're anointed with the Holy Spirit, and their cup overflows. Paul says, "I can rejoice. I can in a bounding or a basting. I can rejoice." Why? Because the joy of the Lord has become my strength. People that have given their all, their yes, to the good shepherd, goodness and mercy follows them. What a picture. The shepherd is leading us, and we're following like little lambs. You know, I think they do this. And we're following. And then, as He's leading, mercy follows. As I follow, He comes after me. "Well, where are you, Lord? Are you here or are you there?" "Well, I'm both your shield and your rear guard. I both lead and I protect. I take you and I cover. I feed you and I nourish you. I am all around." Why? Because my name is a strong tower. It's not just simply a word. It becomes a place that the righteous can run into the refuge. And they become safe. It's this idea that God's name is not simply too dimensional. But when we enter into the reality of the Spirit with us, in us, around us, we begin to realize the name of the Lord is far more mighty than a declaration. It is my covering. Those who are led by the shepherd, they dwell. He dwells. They dwell. We dwell. David said in Psalm 27, "For one thing I ask and one thing I seek that I made dwell in your house and gaze upon your beauty. Some 84 better is one day in the courts of the Lord than a thousand." He is the shepherd. He is the door. He is the way. He is the bread. He is the vine that I dwell in, abide in. He is the resurrection. And ye, though, I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, if there is a shadow, that means there is a light. If you are in a shadow, it means there is a light. And he says, "I am the light of the world." And when the enemy or life or our choices cost a shadow, we can trust that those who trust the good shepherd will step in through the shadow into the light. Would you stand with me? I wrote this, "We are a people of God's presence who pursues the one thing and the one thing pursues us." I want to pray today. I want to pray for the precious and wonderful shepherd to meet us where we are. The precious and wonderful shepherd for the Lord to illuminate to us in every circumstance that we face, where he is and how he is leading. We don't have good-homing instincts, but we got good facial recognition. We know what his face looks like. We know what his voice sounds like. John Tangies says, "My sheep know my voice." How do we become attuned to his voice we listen? That man's voice over there, Ryan Braun. I recognize it when I'm in another room with the door closed, that when I hear it come in the house, why? Because I've heard it over and over again. I recognize today, I felt like some people in this room, you might feel like you've done some sneaky leans. You might feel like, "Oh, there's a sneaky lean here." And you might be like, "Lord, I'm saying I surrender to you, good shepherd." I give it all to you, good shepherd. I also feel right now the wind of the Spirit coming and coming to blow through the cobwebs and the remnant of things that want to rest on us that are not the yoke of the Lord, they're the yoke of another. And he says, "Those who are weary and heavy-laden, you can come to me and give me rest. Why? Because I am both broken and victorious." I understand your brokenness and I know how to be the victory. I understand the journey and I am the destination. I am the path and the end. I also felt like today there was a sense of consecration in the room. I felt this feeling that some people are feeling the stirring, say, "Lord, I'm saying yes, no matter what the cost, you are my shepherd." I almost felt like it was this confirmation for some of you. Yes, this is the cry of my heart, this is the cry of my Spirit. God, you are my shepherd, you are the Lord, you are mine and you are leading me. And I felt like some of you just may, you might feel this burning too. Like I just want to kneel before the Lord. The front is open as we pray today. It's not something I need you to respond to. I just want to open it if you would like to. If it's stirring in you and I want to pray today, thank you, Holy Spirit. Rebe out on my say, would you mind just praying with me in the Spirit? Rebe out on my say, Rebe out on my say, Rebe out on my say, Rebe out on my say, Would you mind just praying with me in the Spirit? Rebe out on my say, Rebe out on my say, Would you mind just praying with me in the Spirit? Raise your hands to put them out in front of you. Thank you, God. Oh, we welcome you, Lord Jesus. Don't be shy right now, just receive from the Lord. God, we welcome you, Lord Jesus. We thank you, Lord, that you are a good shepherd. Lord, God, we repent, Lord of any place where we have leaned on our own understanding, Lord, any place where we have leaned on things that are not putting our full weight on you, God. God, we repent, Lord Jesus, where, we've said your presence is enough, but then our actions have asked the question, Lord Jesus. And we, God, we say we are turning, Lord. We say you are the shepherd, God. You are the priority, Lord. You are the way. You are the door, and you are the leader. Whoo! God, I thank you, Lord, for the joy of our salvation. The joy of our salvation is not dependent, Lord, on our merit, but on your perfectness and your goodness towards us, Lord God. Yeh! [soft music] Lord, I thank you, Lord, that first John 4/18 says that there is no fear in love for perfect love, cast out all fear. That those who fear, they fear because of punishment, but perfect love that brings discipline and adjustment and that leads us along the paths of righteousness for your name's sake. [soft music] ♪ Come once again to me ♪ ♪ I will draw near to you ♪ ♪ ♪ Jesus, we cry out, Lord. ♪ ♪ You are our shepherd, Lord Jesus. Right now, I just, I hear the Lord, some of you, like the fear of punishment, the fear of, like what happened to me as a little girl. It like resonates in your being, this fear of the Lord that is going to, it's a demonic fear. It's not a holy fear of the Lord. It's not a fear that is full of love, that is leading and guiding. It's a place of like, we're wanting to pull back in shame. I see the Lord right now coming to pour out his love into your heart and remind you that I am a good father. I am a good shepherd and yes, I bring adjustment and correction, but it is for your good and for the good of the body and for the good of the Lord. Lord, I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you are a shepherd, that you God, you bring peace, to fear and friction and famine, God, you bring peace, Lord Jesus. And Lord, we consecrate ourselves. If you're able, just put your hands out in front of you and we're just going to, just as a body together, Lord, we consecrate ourselves to you. We set ourselves apart, oh holy God, holy spirit of God. Would you pour out the oil, Lord? Would you pour out oil that heals Lord? Oil God, that sustains Lord. Oil God that gives us longevity with you, Lord. The oil of intimacy. The oil God that lifts up our head that we can see you, King of glory. Thank you, Jesus. ♪ I heart and flesh cry out to you the living God ♪ ♪ Your spirit's water to my soul ♪ ♪ Thank you, Jesus ♪ ♪ We've tasted and we've seen ♪ ♪ Come once again to me ♪ ♪ I will draw near to you ♪ ♪ And my heart ♪ ♪ Bless for you ♪ ♪ Come, Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ And my heart ♪ ♪ Bless ♪ ♪ It burns for you ♪ ♪ Only you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Yes, my heart ♪ ♪ Bless for you ♪ ♪ And my heart ♪ ♪ Bless for you ♪ You just put your hands on your neighbors right now. You're just gonna pray for one another. Just pray, just pray for the comfort, the leadership, the guidance, the peace of God, the peace that passes all understanding. The comfort of your love, it brings me peace, the comfort of your love, it brings me strength, your authority, God, your authority, your leadership is my strength and my peace. You are my song in the night, Lord, and you are the mercy in the morning. You are the bread, you are the water, you are the way, you are the door, you are the light, you are the resurrection, you are the promised Lord, Jesus, our beloved, and we need you, God, we need you, Lord, we need your shippeting, Lord, and we welcome it, we declare the Lord is my shepherd. Oh, come Holy Spirit, come Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord Jesus. If you do not know the Lord as your shepherd, if you do not know the Lord as your Savior, if you have not come to know the power of being free from fear and guilt of sin, if you do not have Jesus as blood washing over you, then you have confidence to come to him and say, "God is my Father. "I would invite you today, I want to pray for you. "If that is you, would you just raise your hand? "I want to pray a prayer of salvation for you today. "Thank you, is anyone in this room? "If you are online, just say, "I need Jesus. "I need Jesus. "I'm going to pray church, will we pray together? "For those that online, I see that, I see a hand down. "I'm not sure if you're praying, but I see online. "Thank you, Lord Jesus. "Let's just pray for these people, Lord God, we thank you. "Let's say together, Jesus, we confess that we need a Savior, that you are the Savior. "You are Christ, the Son of the living God, "crucified before the foundations of the world. "And for the forgiveness of my sin, "Jesus, I ask today, you would be my Savior, "my Lord, my Messiah, my leader, my shepherd, "come into my life, Lord God. "Whoo, Holy Spirit, come and fill me, "that I can know the love of the Father. "I receive you, Jesus. "I turn from my sin. "I repent of my sin, and I receive your punishment "as my peace. "In Jesus' name, amen, amen. "Yeah, we give the Lord a hand." (audience applauding) Thanks for listening to the Bethel Church Sermon of the Week. If you'd like to partner with us in discipling nations and fueling personal revival, you have the opportunity to give at Bethel.ws/onlinegiving. Let's bring heaven to earth together. Have a blessed day. (gentle music)