1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:02,340 Amen. 2 00:00:02,340 --> 00:00:06,970 So it's since it's, uh, it's, uh, I guess it's Hispanic month, right? 3 00:00:06,970 --> 00:00:11,329 So the sermon today will be in Spanish, but don't worry, we've got headsets. 4 00:00:11,329 --> 00:00:14,540 They'll pass them out so you can listen to the translation. 5 00:00:15,299 --> 00:00:16,470 No, no. 6 00:00:16,470 --> 00:00:17,020 Okay. 7 00:00:17,310 --> 00:00:20,820 I do want to encourage everybody to learn Spanish because I was 8 00:00:20,820 --> 00:00:25,340 told on good authority that Spanish is the language spoken in heaven. 9 00:00:25,890 --> 00:00:30,269 So you don't want to spend eternity with headsets listening to translation. 10 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:32,150 I'm just kidding. 11 00:00:32,150 --> 00:00:32,460 Okay. 12 00:00:32,460 --> 00:00:33,070 I'm just kidding. 13 00:00:33,670 --> 00:00:34,840 Please don't quote me on that. 14 00:00:36,590 --> 00:00:37,060 Amen. 15 00:00:37,070 --> 00:00:38,580 Jesus, the good shepherd. 16 00:00:38,590 --> 00:00:41,739 We're going to have a little sermon and then go right 17 00:00:41,740 --> 00:00:44,660 into the main event of today. 18 00:00:44,689 --> 00:00:49,279 The appointing of three new elders in the Orange County region, 19 00:00:49,709 --> 00:00:51,240 which I'm super excited about. 20 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:55,540 Um, let's, let's, before we jump into scripture, let's, 21 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:56,390 let's go to God in prayer. 22 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,470 Father God, we're so excited about all the things that you're 23 00:01:00,470 --> 00:01:02,129 doing all over the world, God. 24 00:01:02,870 --> 00:01:07,539 And yet we also know that there's so, so much great need in our world, Father. 25 00:01:08,109 --> 00:01:12,240 We pray for all our world to know you, God. 26 00:01:12,249 --> 00:01:14,209 For everyone around to know you. 27 00:01:14,229 --> 00:01:19,339 For there to be many more baptisms and many more people who know you and 28 00:01:19,339 --> 00:01:21,009 live with you and walk with you, God. 29 00:01:21,479 --> 00:01:24,210 We pray especially for our brothers and sisters. 30 00:01:24,625 --> 00:01:28,804 In Beirut right now, father, the sisters and brothers that we've 31 00:01:28,804 --> 00:01:33,854 had in Ukraine, who've just been surviving bombs and warfare. 32 00:01:33,854 --> 00:01:36,145 And now we have our brothers and sisters. 33 00:01:36,154 --> 00:01:38,354 Some of them are very dear friends to me. 34 00:01:38,364 --> 00:01:43,554 God, please be with them, protect them, protect especially the 35 00:01:43,554 --> 00:01:47,024 Children all over the world, God. 36 00:01:47,774 --> 00:01:51,044 Be with them, help them to know that you are with them. 37 00:01:51,544 --> 00:01:57,154 Help them to find you, to discover you, to know you, God, help us to be a light 38 00:01:57,164 --> 00:02:02,574 to the world so that we can help everybody who wants to, to know you and be with you. 39 00:02:02,574 --> 00:02:04,464 God, we love you and thank you. 40 00:02:04,464 --> 00:02:08,834 As we have time now to study your word, uh, open our hearts and our minds, help 41 00:02:08,835 --> 00:02:13,635 us to focus God on your scriptures, to open up our hearts and minds so 42 00:02:13,635 --> 00:02:18,864 that your word can penetrate and transform us, God, and change our lives. 43 00:02:18,864 --> 00:02:19,715 God, help us. 44 00:02:20,165 --> 00:02:21,445 to be like Jesus. 45 00:02:22,245 --> 00:02:23,815 Please bless this time that we have. 46 00:02:24,005 --> 00:02:25,005 In Jesus name we pray. 47 00:02:25,145 --> 00:02:25,515 Amen. 48 00:02:27,174 --> 00:02:27,815 Amen. 49 00:02:27,924 --> 00:02:32,744 So John chapter 1010 is the classic, the good shepherd, right? 50 00:02:32,745 --> 00:02:35,125 The good, the good shepherd scripture. 51 00:02:35,584 --> 00:02:40,204 And he starts out by saying, before he introduces himself as the good 52 00:02:40,204 --> 00:02:45,695 shepherd, he says, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. 53 00:02:46,505 --> 00:02:48,539 I have come that they may have life to live. 54 00:02:49,299 --> 00:02:50,989 and have it to the full. 55 00:02:51,690 --> 00:02:55,440 This is Jesus introduction of what his role is here. 56 00:02:56,030 --> 00:02:58,949 If you're visiting and you're wondering exactly what is this about? 57 00:02:58,950 --> 00:03:01,589 Maybe you're already been, you know, going to church. 58 00:03:01,589 --> 00:03:03,449 Maybe you know a lot about, maybe you don't know much, 59 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:04,579 maybe you don't know anything. 60 00:03:04,869 --> 00:03:10,130 This is Jesus introducing himself, telling us why he's here and he's 61 00:03:10,130 --> 00:03:14,859 telling, he starts, I said, the thief comes only to kill, to steal and to kill. 62 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,209 That's of course we know who the thief is. 63 00:03:18,130 --> 00:03:18,950 It is Satan. 64 00:03:19,740 --> 00:03:21,250 And there is evil in the world. 65 00:03:21,540 --> 00:03:22,880 All you gotta do is turn on the news. 66 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:24,290 We know there's evil in the world. 67 00:03:24,730 --> 00:03:28,780 And our world is in a raging battle between good and evil. 68 00:03:29,120 --> 00:03:32,369 And no matter how you may see it or your world view, but we 69 00:03:32,369 --> 00:03:33,980 know there's a battle going on. 70 00:03:34,690 --> 00:03:37,270 And the Bible tells us it's a spiritual battle. 71 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:40,740 It's not necessarily just an obvious battle often times. 72 00:03:41,060 --> 00:03:43,820 It's a battle that's fought out in our hearts and our minds 73 00:03:43,879 --> 00:03:45,570 for what is right and good. 74 00:03:47,154 --> 00:03:48,744 And why we need Jesus. 75 00:03:49,214 --> 00:03:55,445 He says, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. 76 00:03:56,445 --> 00:03:57,524 What does he mean by that? 77 00:03:58,264 --> 00:04:01,124 What does he mean by life to the full? 78 00:04:01,494 --> 00:04:04,474 And a clue is in the word, which, if you've listened to my 79 00:04:04,475 --> 00:04:06,014 sermons, you know I love this. 80 00:04:06,144 --> 00:04:07,444 It's one of my favorite words. 81 00:04:07,594 --> 00:04:08,294 Zoe. 82 00:04:09,035 --> 00:04:11,734 It means life to the full. 83 00:04:12,124 --> 00:04:13,374 There's another word for life. 84 00:04:13,374 --> 00:04:14,135 Bios. 85 00:04:14,579 --> 00:04:17,940 And that's just what everything has, that breathes, that grows. 86 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:19,370 Plants have bios. 87 00:04:19,660 --> 00:04:20,560 Animals have bios. 88 00:04:20,660 --> 00:04:23,450 Everything has that breathes and lives has bios. 89 00:04:23,470 --> 00:04:25,300 Like we get the word biography, biology. 90 00:04:25,539 --> 00:04:27,660 But this word is special. 91 00:04:28,060 --> 00:04:29,650 And you thought it was just somebody's name. 92 00:04:29,779 --> 00:04:31,020 No, it's Zoe. 93 00:04:31,270 --> 00:04:32,610 It's powerful. 94 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:34,010 It's life. 95 00:04:34,390 --> 00:04:36,310 It's what we think of the good life. 96 00:04:37,230 --> 00:04:40,110 And it's what Jesus came for. 97 00:04:40,539 --> 00:04:42,400 It's what He came to give us. 98 00:04:42,945 --> 00:04:49,305 He came to give us the good life, the right life, life as it should be lived. 99 00:04:49,365 --> 00:04:51,525 We only get one shot at this. 100 00:04:52,534 --> 00:04:53,455 One shot. 101 00:04:54,485 --> 00:04:58,665 And I would love to believe in reincarnation, but it's just not true. 102 00:04:59,705 --> 00:05:01,904 It sounds wonderful, doesn't it? 103 00:05:02,284 --> 00:05:05,034 That you could just do a mulligan on life. 104 00:05:05,434 --> 00:05:07,994 I'll just do over, you know, be like a video game. 105 00:05:08,034 --> 00:05:08,914 I'm just gonna start over. 106 00:05:09,675 --> 00:05:12,205 And that would be great, but that's not reality. 107 00:05:12,205 --> 00:05:15,235 The Bible says that everybody lives and dies and appears 108 00:05:15,235 --> 00:05:16,775 before God on Judgment Day. 109 00:05:17,005 --> 00:05:17,874 One time. 110 00:05:19,554 --> 00:05:20,465 So don't blow it. 111 00:05:21,325 --> 00:05:23,724 Let's get this life thing down. 112 00:05:24,344 --> 00:05:30,275 And Jesus presents himself to us as the way, the truth, and the life. 113 00:05:30,935 --> 00:05:31,625 Sowing. 114 00:05:32,245 --> 00:05:34,215 He says, this is what I've come for. 115 00:05:34,415 --> 00:05:35,715 To give you this. 116 00:05:35,715 --> 00:05:38,765 And the thing is, everybody wants a good life, right? 117 00:05:39,295 --> 00:05:42,455 Everybody, whether you live in Hollywood or Compton, whether you're 118 00:05:42,455 --> 00:05:47,185 young or very old, whether, everybody everywhere wants a good life. 119 00:05:47,675 --> 00:05:49,705 Even if they don't know the word Zoe, they don't know what it 120 00:05:49,705 --> 00:05:51,255 means, but that's what they want. 121 00:05:51,284 --> 00:05:52,495 Everybody wants that. 122 00:05:53,485 --> 00:05:57,784 And the world thinks that a good life, Zoe, the great life, comes from 123 00:05:57,784 --> 00:06:01,974 money, comes from beauty, comes from education, comes from possessions, 124 00:06:02,004 --> 00:06:05,634 comes from having the right boyfriend or girlfriend, or finding the right spouse, 125 00:06:05,634 --> 00:06:07,794 or, or, or just having the right career. 126 00:06:07,794 --> 00:06:07,934 That's it. 127 00:06:08,555 --> 00:06:11,465 But yet, there, we know, we can look around, the truth is there 128 00:06:11,465 --> 00:06:15,335 are many people who have plenty of money, lots of beauty, education, 129 00:06:15,495 --> 00:06:19,754 possessions, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a spouse, and they don't have Zoe. 130 00:06:20,515 --> 00:06:23,055 They don't have life to the full. 131 00:06:23,175 --> 00:06:23,475 Why? 132 00:06:23,484 --> 00:06:26,174 Because that comes from Jesus. 133 00:06:26,814 --> 00:06:28,535 That comes from Him. 134 00:06:29,415 --> 00:06:30,255 That's the truth. 135 00:06:31,195 --> 00:06:35,245 We do not have life to the full without Jesus. 136 00:06:35,795 --> 00:06:36,875 He shows us the truth. 137 00:06:37,310 --> 00:06:43,550 The way in fact, it's incredibly difficult to even have a good life To have a 138 00:06:43,550 --> 00:06:48,060 great life why because the world just throws all kinds of stuff at us all the 139 00:06:48,070 --> 00:06:52,700 time Whether you're a teen trying to find a group to belong to in school or 140 00:06:52,900 --> 00:06:56,230 or college Trying to figure out your future your life and who you're going 141 00:06:56,230 --> 00:06:58,850 to get married Are you going to get married or you're in a career trying 142 00:06:58,850 --> 00:06:59,990 to figure out am I in the right career? 143 00:07:00,470 --> 00:07:06,325 Jump career wherever we're at Jesus is the way You And the problem 144 00:07:06,325 --> 00:07:08,985 is, this is like, this is why it's called the secret of the kingdom, 145 00:07:08,995 --> 00:07:11,705 because most people don't know that. 146 00:07:13,474 --> 00:07:14,175 They don't know that. 147 00:07:14,835 --> 00:07:17,305 And that's the secret of the kingdom. 148 00:07:18,145 --> 00:07:19,494 That Jesus really is the way. 149 00:07:19,495 --> 00:07:20,775 I want to read you a story. 150 00:07:22,615 --> 00:07:25,484 I'm going to challenge this a little bit, so pay attention, because it's four pages 151 00:07:25,484 --> 00:07:27,604 long, but hang in there with me, okay? 152 00:07:30,184 --> 00:07:32,124 It's one of the most powerful stories. 153 00:07:33,104 --> 00:07:35,664 I've ever heard to explain what we're talking about here. 154 00:07:37,505 --> 00:07:40,695 From John Ortberg's book, the life you've always wanted. 155 00:07:41,835 --> 00:07:45,745 The state run convalescent hospital is not a pleasant place. 156 00:07:46,405 --> 00:07:51,665 It is large understaffed and overfilled with senile, helpless and lonely people 157 00:07:51,665 --> 00:07:54,445 waiting to die on the brightest of days. 158 00:07:54,455 --> 00:08:00,285 It seems like it seems dark inside and it smells of sickness and stale urine. 159 00:08:01,130 --> 00:08:05,030 I went there once or twice a week for four years, but never wanted to go there. 160 00:08:05,740 --> 00:08:07,770 And I always left with a sense of relief. 161 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,810 It is not the kind of place one gets used to. 162 00:08:11,830 --> 00:08:16,320 On this particular day, I was walking in a hallway that I had not visited 163 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:21,210 before, looking in vain for a few who were alive enough to receive a flower 164 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:23,080 and a few words of encouragement. 165 00:08:23,930 --> 00:08:27,320 This hallway seemed to contain some of the worst cases, men 166 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:28,930 and women strapped into carts. 167 00:08:29,284 --> 00:08:32,025 or wheelchairs looking completely helpless. 168 00:08:32,885 --> 00:08:37,365 As I neared the end of the hallway, I saw an old woman strapped in a wheelchair. 169 00:08:38,054 --> 00:08:40,115 Her face was in absolute horror. 170 00:08:40,825 --> 00:08:44,404 The empty stare and white pupils of her eyes told me she was blind. 171 00:08:45,025 --> 00:08:48,144 The large hearing aid over one ear told me she was almost deaf. 172 00:08:48,784 --> 00:08:51,854 One side of her face was being eaten by cancer. 173 00:08:52,614 --> 00:08:56,604 There was a discolored and running sore covering part of one cheek, and 174 00:08:56,604 --> 00:08:58,475 it had pushed her nose to one side. 175 00:08:58,935 --> 00:09:02,295 dropping an eye and distorting her jaw so that would have, what 176 00:09:02,295 --> 00:09:04,745 would have been the corner of her mouth was the bottom of her mouth. 177 00:09:05,495 --> 00:09:07,705 As a consequence, she drooled constantly. 178 00:09:08,365 --> 00:09:12,485 I was told later that when new nurses arrived, the supervisors would send 179 00:09:12,485 --> 00:09:17,004 them to feed this woman thinking that if they could stand this site, they 180 00:09:17,005 --> 00:09:18,624 could stand anything in the building. 181 00:09:19,264 --> 00:09:24,905 I also learned later that this woman was 89 years old and that she had been there 182 00:09:25,025 --> 00:09:27,665 bedridden, blind, nearly deaf and alone. 183 00:09:28,020 --> 00:09:31,570 For 25 years, this was Mabel. 184 00:09:32,370 --> 00:09:33,160 This is a true story. 185 00:09:34,190 --> 00:09:35,960 I don't know why I spoke to her. 186 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,039 She looked less likely to respond than most of the people I saw in that 187 00:09:40,039 --> 00:09:45,329 hallway, but I put a flower in her hand and said, here's a flower for you. 188 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:46,770 Happy Mother's Day. 189 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:50,470 She held the flower up to her face and tried to smell it. 190 00:09:51,090 --> 00:09:55,520 And then she spoke and much to my surprise, her words, although somewhat 191 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:56,989 garbled because of her deformity. 192 00:09:57,760 --> 00:09:59,980 We're obviously produced by a clear mind. 193 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:02,830 She said, thank you, it's lovely. 194 00:10:03,550 --> 00:10:05,390 But can I give it to someone else? 195 00:10:05,740 --> 00:10:08,090 I can't see it, you know I'm blind. 196 00:10:08,910 --> 00:10:09,899 I said, of course. 197 00:10:10,290 --> 00:10:13,899 And I pushed her in a chair back down the hallway to a place where I thought 198 00:10:13,939 --> 00:10:15,839 I could find some alert patients. 199 00:10:16,439 --> 00:10:18,520 I found one and I stopped the chair. 200 00:10:18,910 --> 00:10:23,140 Mabel held out the flower and said, here, this is from Jesus. 201 00:10:24,790 --> 00:10:29,074 That was when it began to dawn on me That this was not an ordinary human being. 202 00:10:29,775 --> 00:10:33,944 Later, I wheeled her back into her room and learned more about her history. 203 00:10:34,444 --> 00:10:37,254 She had grown up on a small farm that she managed with only her 204 00:10:37,254 --> 00:10:39,104 mother until her mother died. 205 00:10:39,785 --> 00:10:44,484 Then she ran the farm alone until 1950, when her blindness and sickness 206 00:10:44,484 --> 00:10:46,295 sent her to the convalescent hospital. 207 00:10:46,905 --> 00:10:51,704 For 25 years, she got weaker and sicker with constant headaches, 208 00:10:51,925 --> 00:10:55,474 backaches, stomach aches, and then the cancer came too. 209 00:10:56,345 --> 00:10:59,745 Her three roommates were all human vegetables who screamed 210 00:10:59,745 --> 00:11:01,125 occasionally but never talked. 211 00:11:01,745 --> 00:11:04,735 They often soiled their bedclothes, and because the hospital was 212 00:11:04,755 --> 00:11:07,915 understaffed, especially on Sundays when I usually visited, 213 00:11:08,205 --> 00:11:09,825 the stench was often overpowering. 214 00:11:09,825 --> 00:11:16,045 Mabel and I became friends over the next few weeks, and I went to see her once or 215 00:11:16,045 --> 00:11:17,915 twice a week for the next three years. 216 00:11:18,555 --> 00:11:22,234 Her first words to me were usually an offer of hard candy from a 217 00:11:22,234 --> 00:11:23,815 tissue box she kept near her bed. 218 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:28,300 Some days I would react to her from, I would read to her from the Bible. 219 00:11:28,670 --> 00:11:32,050 And often when I would pause, she would continue reciting the 220 00:11:32,050 --> 00:11:34,429 passage from memory, word for word. 221 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:39,010 On other days, I would take a book of hymns and sing with her. 222 00:11:39,339 --> 00:11:41,669 And she would know all the words of the old songs. 223 00:11:42,189 --> 00:11:46,100 For Mabel, these were not merely exercises in memory. 224 00:11:46,610 --> 00:11:50,900 She would often stop in mid hymn and make a brief comment about lyrics 225 00:11:50,900 --> 00:11:52,669 she considered particularly relevant. 226 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:59,740 I never heard her speak of loneliness or pain, except in the stress she placed 227 00:12:00,030 --> 00:12:01,870 on certain lines and certain hymns. 228 00:12:02,439 --> 00:12:05,589 It was not many weeks before I turned from a sense that I was 229 00:12:05,590 --> 00:12:07,910 helping to a sense of wonder. 230 00:12:08,529 --> 00:12:12,040 And I would go to her with a pen and paper to write down the things she would say. 231 00:12:12,820 --> 00:12:17,290 During one hectic week of final exams, I was frustrated because my mind seemed 232 00:12:17,290 --> 00:12:21,050 to be pulled in ten directions at once with all the things I had to think about. 233 00:12:21,710 --> 00:12:24,430 The question occurred to me, what does Mabel have to think about? 234 00:12:24,980 --> 00:12:28,670 Hour after hour, day after day, week after week. 235 00:12:29,260 --> 00:12:31,600 Not even able to know if it's day or night. 236 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:37,089 So I went to her and asked, Mabel, what do you think about when you lie here? 237 00:12:37,860 --> 00:12:40,609 And she said, I think about my Jesus. 238 00:12:43,219 --> 00:12:48,510 I sat there and thought for a moment about the difficulty for me of thinking 239 00:12:48,510 --> 00:12:50,209 about Jesus for even five minutes. 240 00:12:51,275 --> 00:12:53,375 And I asked, what do you think about Jesus? 241 00:12:53,995 --> 00:12:59,194 And she replied slowly and deliberately, deliberately, as I wrote, I think 242 00:12:59,204 --> 00:13:00,915 about how good he's been to me. 243 00:13:01,975 --> 00:13:04,235 He's been awfully good to me in my life. 244 00:13:04,254 --> 00:13:08,394 You know, I'm one of those kind who's mostly satisfied. 245 00:13:08,785 --> 00:13:10,964 Lots of folks wouldn't care much for what I think. 246 00:13:11,375 --> 00:13:14,324 Lots of folks wouldn't think I'm kind would think I'm kind of 247 00:13:14,324 --> 00:13:16,064 old fashioned, but I don't care. 248 00:13:16,735 --> 00:13:17,985 I'd rather have Jesus. 249 00:13:18,745 --> 00:13:19,995 He's all the world to me. 250 00:13:20,735 --> 00:13:22,935 And then Mabel began to sing an old hymn. 251 00:13:23,675 --> 00:13:25,705 Jesus is all the world to me. 252 00:13:26,185 --> 00:13:27,985 My life, my joy, my all. 253 00:13:28,574 --> 00:13:30,455 He is my strength from day to day. 254 00:13:30,785 --> 00:13:32,145 Without him, I would fall. 255 00:13:32,645 --> 00:13:34,424 When I am sad, to him I go. 256 00:13:35,024 --> 00:13:36,725 No other one can cheer me so. 257 00:13:37,194 --> 00:13:38,864 When I am sad, he makes me glad. 258 00:13:39,245 --> 00:13:40,035 He's my friend. 259 00:13:41,444 --> 00:13:42,835 This is not fiction. 260 00:13:44,305 --> 00:13:48,045 Incredible as it may seem, a human being really lived like this. 261 00:13:49,005 --> 00:13:50,235 I know I knew her. 262 00:13:51,285 --> 00:13:52,415 How could she do it? 263 00:13:53,205 --> 00:13:57,975 Seconds ticked and minutes crawled and so did days and weeks and months and years of 264 00:13:57,975 --> 00:14:02,654 pain without human company and without an explanation of why it was all happening. 265 00:14:03,345 --> 00:14:05,505 And she lay there and sang hymns. 266 00:14:06,035 --> 00:14:08,024 How could she do it? 267 00:14:08,024 --> 00:14:11,095 The answer, I think, is that Mabel had something that you 268 00:14:11,095 --> 00:14:12,345 and I don't have much of. 269 00:14:12,955 --> 00:14:13,865 She had power. 270 00:14:14,705 --> 00:14:17,795 Lying there in that bed, unable to move, unable to see. 271 00:14:18,210 --> 00:14:20,520 Unable to hear, unable to talk to anyone. 272 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:22,840 She had an incredible power. 273 00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:28,360 Here was an ordinary human being who received supernatural power 274 00:14:28,710 --> 00:14:30,250 to do extraordinary things. 275 00:14:30,739 --> 00:14:36,570 Her entire life consisted of following Jesus as best she could in her situation. 276 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:41,930 Patient endurance of suffering, solitude, prayer, meditation, and 277 00:14:41,930 --> 00:14:43,960 scripture, worship, fellowship. 278 00:14:44,370 --> 00:14:48,290 When it was all possible, when it was possible, Giving when she had a 279 00:14:48,290 --> 00:14:50,730 flower or a piece of candy to offer. 280 00:14:51,220 --> 00:14:56,190 Imagine being in her condition and saying, I think about how good he's been to me. 281 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,370 He's been awfully good to me in my life, you know. 282 00:14:59,900 --> 00:15:03,859 I'm one of those who's, who, the kind who's mostly satisfied. 283 00:15:05,289 --> 00:15:08,410 This is the 23rd Psalm come to life. 284 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,060 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 285 00:15:12,720 --> 00:15:18,695 For anyone who really saw Mabel, I Who was willing to turn aside. 286 00:15:19,285 --> 00:15:22,005 A hospital bed became a burning bush. 287 00:15:22,455 --> 00:15:27,945 A place where this ordinary, pain filled world was visited by the presence of God. 288 00:15:28,755 --> 00:15:35,775 When others saw the life in that hospital bed, they wanted to take off their shoes. 289 00:15:36,485 --> 00:15:37,585 They were on holy ground. 290 00:15:38,505 --> 00:15:39,475 The lid was off. 291 00:15:39,905 --> 00:15:43,865 The turn came with a catch of breath and a beating heart and tears. 292 00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:45,990 They were standing on holy ground. 293 00:15:47,030 --> 00:15:51,580 Do you believe that such a life is possible for an ordinary human being? 294 00:15:52,229 --> 00:15:54,420 Do you believe it is possible for you? 295 00:15:55,700 --> 00:15:57,310 This is promised in the gospel. 296 00:15:57,939 --> 00:15:59,980 The good news proclaimed by Jesus. 297 00:16:00,589 --> 00:16:02,970 The kingdom of God has come near. 298 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:06,130 Repent and believe in the good news. 299 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:12,179 The good news, as Jesus preached, is that now it is possible for ordinary men and 300 00:16:12,180 --> 00:16:13,789 women to live in the presence of God. 301 00:16:14,270 --> 00:16:20,469 And under the power of God, that good news as Jesus preached is 302 00:16:20,469 --> 00:16:23,400 not about the minimal entrance requirements for getting into heaven. 303 00:16:23,400 --> 00:16:27,780 When you die, it is about the glorious redemption of human 304 00:16:27,780 --> 00:16:30,829 life, your life and my life. 305 00:16:33,299 --> 00:16:34,970 This is real Christianity. 306 00:16:36,479 --> 00:16:38,189 This is real faith. 307 00:16:38,199 --> 00:16:40,149 This is authentic faith. 308 00:16:42,219 --> 00:16:44,459 This is real religion is God intended. 309 00:16:44,479 --> 00:16:51,800 It something that is a hidden treasure, that is a pearl of great value, that 310 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:57,259 is worth more than everything and all that we have to have this faith. 311 00:16:57,979 --> 00:16:59,869 Why and how could she do it? 312 00:17:00,649 --> 00:17:05,270 'cause she had Jesus, she had the good shepherd. 313 00:17:06,170 --> 00:17:09,170 Mabel is authentic. 314 00:17:10,490 --> 00:17:11,869 What could make a person's life? 315 00:17:13,409 --> 00:17:17,348 So full of suffering, yet so full of peace. 316 00:17:18,170 --> 00:17:23,490 How could anyone survive such horrors, and yet be kind and 317 00:17:23,490 --> 00:17:26,409 gentle, even giving and loving? 318 00:17:27,128 --> 00:17:30,500 Most of us struggle with a whole lot less suffering than that. 319 00:17:31,120 --> 00:17:32,360 We struggle with this. 320 00:17:32,940 --> 00:17:39,709 Mabel understood and overcame because she knew the Good Shepherd. 321 00:17:40,620 --> 00:17:41,450 She knew Jesus. 322 00:17:42,210 --> 00:17:50,750 I love that she says, my Jesus, my Jesus, she understood the value of life with 323 00:17:51,150 --> 00:17:58,969 Jesus and therefore had the power to overcome challenges to be healed from 324 00:17:58,969 --> 00:18:06,630 this life and its many damages to love, the love to overcome hatred, anger, and 325 00:18:06,630 --> 00:18:09,630 fear that is just destroying our world. 326 00:18:10,310 --> 00:18:16,620 The patience to wait on the Lord and let Him work over the days, over the 327 00:18:16,620 --> 00:18:19,320 weeks, over the months, over the years. 328 00:18:20,020 --> 00:18:27,050 The faith that sustains a person through any hardship and any suffering. 329 00:18:27,789 --> 00:18:32,080 The faith that keeps us strong and going forward. 330 00:18:33,230 --> 00:18:38,749 At this very moment, we have brothers and sisters hiding from bombs. 331 00:18:39,575 --> 00:18:45,175 Trying to find food to feed their kids, our own members going through this. 332 00:18:45,395 --> 00:18:49,715 I've been talking to Mofeed in Beirut and there, you know what they're doing? 333 00:18:51,505 --> 00:18:55,885 They're out trying to help refugees and they're baptizing people. 334 00:18:56,695 --> 00:18:59,125 People are turning themselves into Jesus. 335 00:18:59,615 --> 00:19:04,605 There are people waking up on the streets of LA, no home. 336 00:19:05,364 --> 00:19:07,245 Some of these people are children. 337 00:19:08,175 --> 00:19:11,445 Trying to figure out how to survive another day under 338 00:19:11,445 --> 00:19:12,845 a bridge or in a shelter. 339 00:19:13,335 --> 00:19:17,725 There are people trying to sober up today before they go to work tomorrow. 340 00:19:18,395 --> 00:19:22,575 Trying to hide their addiction before somebody finds out and fires them. 341 00:19:23,195 --> 00:19:27,395 There are people trying to heal hurts inflicted by people who 342 00:19:27,395 --> 00:19:29,085 were supposed to love them. 343 00:19:29,995 --> 00:19:34,995 There are people just lonely, lonely, wanting a friend. 344 00:19:35,745 --> 00:19:38,395 And some of them, of these people I'm talking about, 345 00:19:38,615 --> 00:19:39,665 are right here this morning. 346 00:19:40,445 --> 00:19:45,114 And on and on and on, the world needs Jesus. 347 00:19:46,075 --> 00:19:48,625 The world needs the Good Shepherd. 348 00:19:49,915 --> 00:19:55,025 Jesus goes on and He says, and we'll close out with this, He 349 00:19:55,025 --> 00:19:57,885 says, I'm the Good Shepherd. 350 00:19:59,265 --> 00:20:01,995 The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 351 00:20:03,340 --> 00:20:06,640 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. 352 00:20:07,180 --> 00:20:11,180 So when he sees a wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. 353 00:20:11,690 --> 00:20:14,000 Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 354 00:20:14,880 --> 00:20:18,070 The man runs away because he's a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 355 00:20:18,779 --> 00:20:19,960 I am the good shepherd. 356 00:20:20,279 --> 00:20:23,420 I know my sheep and my sheep know me. 357 00:20:24,360 --> 00:20:27,530 Just as the father knows me and I know the father. 358 00:20:28,060 --> 00:20:31,040 And I lay down my life for the sheep. 359 00:20:32,505 --> 00:20:33,605 Who is he talking about? 360 00:20:34,645 --> 00:20:35,785 Talking about us. 361 00:20:36,745 --> 00:20:37,885 He's talking about you. 362 00:20:38,715 --> 00:20:41,925 That he lays down his life for you. 363 00:20:42,755 --> 00:20:44,044 And what are you going to do about that? 364 00:20:46,045 --> 00:20:47,885 He talks about being the good shepherd. 365 00:20:48,605 --> 00:20:51,945 Who stays and fights the bear and the wolf and the lion. 366 00:20:52,345 --> 00:20:54,025 And doesn't run away. 367 00:20:54,695 --> 00:20:57,705 When things get hard, it's so tempting to run away. 368 00:20:58,605 --> 00:21:01,164 It's so tempting to just say, I'm out, I'm done. 369 00:21:01,935 --> 00:21:02,745 This is hard. 370 00:21:02,805 --> 00:21:04,295 I didn't sign up for this. 371 00:21:06,355 --> 00:21:07,995 Thank God Jesus didn't run away. 372 00:21:09,315 --> 00:21:12,424 Thank God when things got tough, He didn't quit. 373 00:21:13,484 --> 00:21:18,274 He kept pushing forward as the Hebrew writers for the joy set before Him. 374 00:21:18,284 --> 00:21:20,245 He endured the pain. 375 00:21:21,095 --> 00:21:24,185 It's hard to endure the pain. 376 00:21:25,075 --> 00:21:26,765 It's hard to press forward. 377 00:21:27,795 --> 00:21:33,385 I remember one time I was I was, this was my pre christian days and I had 378 00:21:33,385 --> 00:21:38,515 visited my cousin and we were at his house and I had a really nice lowrider. 379 00:21:40,165 --> 00:21:46,154 1969 Grand Prix, shag rug, chandelier, chrome steering wheel, 380 00:21:46,154 --> 00:21:48,574 chain, chrome chain steering wheel. 381 00:21:49,355 --> 00:21:52,635 My car, oh yes, it could go up and down, yes. 382 00:21:54,025 --> 00:21:55,725 I was cool, believe it or not. 383 00:21:55,745 --> 00:22:01,615 And I was at my cousin's house who also had a really nice lowrider. 384 00:22:02,255 --> 00:22:06,015 And we got a call that there was a TV station that wanted 385 00:22:06,015 --> 00:22:08,675 to do a report on Barrio Unity. 386 00:22:09,055 --> 00:22:12,015 You know, and so they needed lowriders from the community. 387 00:22:12,015 --> 00:22:14,455 So we all went, all his friends, we all went there. 388 00:22:14,455 --> 00:22:18,155 We're all parked in this parking lot waiting for the news channel to show up. 389 00:22:19,025 --> 00:22:22,085 And this other lowrider cruised by from another neighborhood, 390 00:22:22,115 --> 00:22:23,099 another barrio, you know. 391 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,650 And he looked at us and there was about five of, uh, about five or six cars 392 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,810 parked and we're all hanging out there and he takes off and we're like, Oh, 393 00:22:32,790 --> 00:22:34,400 and he comes back in about 20 minutes. 394 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:39,860 We're still waiting with about six other low riders and they parked across the 395 00:22:39,860 --> 00:22:46,340 street and they get out of their cars and I see this one guy pull a chain. 396 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:48,330 Another guy grabbed a crowbar. 397 00:22:49,890 --> 00:22:51,390 I said, another guy grabbed a bat. 398 00:22:52,575 --> 00:22:55,465 And I thought, Oh, we're in trouble. 399 00:22:56,555 --> 00:22:57,465 This is going to happen. 400 00:22:57,975 --> 00:22:58,995 This is going to go down. 401 00:23:00,045 --> 00:23:04,565 And I ran, grabbed my crowbar and my cousin grabbed his crowbar. 402 00:23:05,885 --> 00:23:08,945 And I was like, we could just run. 403 00:23:09,115 --> 00:23:12,495 We could just go, you know, but it was such a battle. 404 00:23:12,515 --> 00:23:14,735 Cause I was like, I don't want to get hit by a crowbar. 405 00:23:15,495 --> 00:23:17,835 I don't want everybody to swing a chain and hit me over the head. 406 00:23:18,910 --> 00:23:21,480 And we're like, we can't, we can't run. 407 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:22,280 We want to run. 408 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:23,320 I wanted to run. 409 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:24,190 I wanted to go. 410 00:23:24,190 --> 00:23:25,500 I've, you know, I've been shot at. 411 00:23:25,510 --> 00:23:26,320 I've been stabbed at. 412 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:27,340 I've been beat up more times. 413 00:23:27,779 --> 00:23:30,219 It's painful. 414 00:23:31,020 --> 00:23:32,290 I wanted to run. 415 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:38,110 And thank God, as they started crossing the street, the TV van 416 00:23:38,140 --> 00:23:42,710 and the, and the truck pulled up to do a special on Barrio Unity. 417 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,220 Everybody quickly hit their crowbars and chains. 418 00:23:50,620 --> 00:23:52,900 And they asked us to drive together. 419 00:23:54,330 --> 00:23:56,370 In their, in their thing, you know. 420 00:23:57,640 --> 00:23:58,550 I understand. 421 00:23:59,310 --> 00:24:00,309 The desire to run. 422 00:24:01,369 --> 00:24:02,239 The desire to quit. 423 00:24:03,420 --> 00:24:05,570 The desire to just say, this is too hard, forget it. 424 00:24:05,739 --> 00:24:06,609 I didn't sign up for this. 425 00:24:06,829 --> 00:24:07,789 That's the classic line. 426 00:24:08,489 --> 00:24:10,970 I've been waiting for years to get this right and they're not got it right. 427 00:24:11,740 --> 00:24:13,170 This church, it's got problems. 428 00:24:14,170 --> 00:24:15,529 Christianity is too hard. 429 00:24:16,100 --> 00:24:17,199 Where's Jesus? 430 00:24:18,190 --> 00:24:18,820 I get it. 431 00:24:19,250 --> 00:24:19,780 I get it. 432 00:24:23,159 --> 00:24:24,399 Thankfully, Jesus didn't quit. 433 00:24:25,350 --> 00:24:26,169 He didn't quit on me. 434 00:24:27,429 --> 00:24:30,820 He knew me then, and loved me. 435 00:24:32,389 --> 00:24:33,280 And I was difficult. 436 00:24:36,179 --> 00:24:37,309 He knows all of us. 437 00:24:37,879 --> 00:24:39,430 The Good Shepherd knows his sheep. 438 00:24:39,889 --> 00:24:40,610 He knows you. 439 00:24:42,659 --> 00:24:43,489 He knows you. 440 00:24:44,689 --> 00:24:45,649 He knows your hurts. 441 00:24:46,199 --> 00:24:46,989 He knows your pains. 442 00:24:48,610 --> 00:24:49,540 He knows your sorrow. 443 00:24:49,629 --> 00:24:50,419 He knows your joy. 444 00:24:50,419 --> 00:24:50,449 Amen. 445 00:24:51,519 --> 00:24:53,719 He knows you want Zoe. 446 00:24:54,679 --> 00:24:55,669 You want a good life. 447 00:24:56,659 --> 00:25:02,600 And it doesn't matter if you're 16 or 76, we all want a good life. 448 00:25:03,219 --> 00:25:04,949 The amazing thing, he's not even talking about heaven. 449 00:25:04,949 --> 00:25:06,379 He's not talking about what happens after you die. 450 00:25:06,499 --> 00:25:10,569 He's talking about right now what's happening right now. 451 00:25:10,570 --> 00:25:16,149 How did Mabel have so much peace? 452 00:25:18,459 --> 00:25:20,819 How could somebody going through so much? 453 00:25:22,139 --> 00:25:22,959 I think peace 454 00:25:24,979 --> 00:25:29,719 is one of the greatest evidences of the power of God. 455 00:25:30,909 --> 00:25:35,819 It's one of the things that shows most that somebody is walking in the spirit 456 00:25:37,590 --> 00:25:43,269 because it takes the spirit of God to overcome anger, to overcome hatred, 457 00:25:43,999 --> 00:25:46,620 to overcome resentment and bitterness. 458 00:25:47,269 --> 00:25:48,399 It takes God. 459 00:25:49,345 --> 00:25:50,605 But see, here's the thing. 460 00:25:50,815 --> 00:25:57,075 Jesus is actually building an army of shepherds. 461 00:25:58,234 --> 00:26:04,965 It's what he wants to help take care of God's people so that 462 00:26:04,974 --> 00:26:07,555 they can be a light to the world. 463 00:26:08,775 --> 00:26:14,125 He pulls together men and women who will go and preach the gospel, 464 00:26:15,045 --> 00:26:17,905 and many of them become evangelists and women's ministry counselors. 465 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:22,760 And they advanced the gospel and they advanced the kingdom of God. 466 00:26:24,030 --> 00:26:32,190 But he also pulls up and raises up the veterans, the old guys, the, 467 00:26:32,190 --> 00:26:33,400 I won't say the old group women. 468 00:26:33,420 --> 00:26:33,639 Okay. 469 00:26:33,639 --> 00:26:36,940 I won't say that the old guys and their wives, 470 00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,160 the old guys and their beautiful young wives 471 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:47,880 to take care of that group of people who've gotten baptized. 472 00:26:49,415 --> 00:26:54,025 Who have committed their lives to Jesus to help them thrive. 473 00:26:55,385 --> 00:26:57,984 To help them shine in this world. 474 00:26:58,795 --> 00:27:02,235 So that we can make a difference in this world. 475 00:27:03,675 --> 00:27:05,644 But it is a fight, make no mistake. 476 00:27:07,145 --> 00:27:08,775 And thankfully Jesus isn't a quitter. 477 00:27:10,035 --> 00:27:12,775 He fights for you, for me. 478 00:27:13,475 --> 00:27:14,754 He fights for the church. 479 00:27:15,915 --> 00:27:20,550 He told Peter, Even the gates of Hades will not overcome his church. 480 00:27:21,690 --> 00:27:22,200 Why? 481 00:27:22,810 --> 00:27:24,260 Because Jesus is here. 482 00:27:25,349 --> 00:27:28,969 Even with all our warts and all, even with all our issues 483 00:27:28,969 --> 00:27:31,159 and struggles, Jesus is here. 484 00:27:31,159 --> 00:27:32,290 That's just the way it is. 485 00:27:33,589 --> 00:27:36,820 None of us will ever be perfect in the sense of flawlessness. 486 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:39,710 We all need Jesus. 487 00:27:40,690 --> 00:27:44,600 And so I'm very excited because we're adding to that army 488 00:27:44,649 --> 00:27:45,889 of shepherds this morning.