8.2.26 – Sermon Notes – I AM for the World – “The Gate”
“Discover and Do the Servant in You”
Servants of Jesus know how to serve people … Jesus!
Knowing the “I AM” statements of Jesus equips us to speak “Jesus” into others deepest needs.
I AM the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never go hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
John 6:35
“I AM the Light of the world.
Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness
but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
I AM the Gate;
whoever enters through me will be saved.
They will come in and go out and find pasture.
John 10:9
Humanity longs to Belong!
Where do we take that “longing”?
This longing exposes an acute vulnerability?
John 9
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said,
“Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”
38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.
John 10
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.
7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
John 10:1-10
The context provides two powerful Images to help us!
- The pastoral scene of sheep and shepherding.
- The Temple context with its “gates”.
In verses 1-6 – The gate is more the criteria for the legitimate shepherd to get to the sheep.
In verses 7-10 – The gate is also for the sheep to go through to go in and out for refuge and pasture.
“Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
Jesus is being “inclusively exclusive”! His “exclusivity” is so graciously “inclusive”.
“I AM the gate “ …to the belonging you long for
“whoever enters through me will be saved.” … this gate is stained with the atoning blood of Jesus,
who sacrificed himself for you out of pure love,
no earning just trusting faith that follows the One
who opens up the presence of God to us.
“They will come in and go out and find pasture” … through this gate we move freely and openly in the
presence and love of our Father.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.
This “I AM” calls me in three ways
- I am a “shepherd” who influences where people go for life… wholeness. How I lead others should be filtered through the One “gate”.
- I am a sheep who is being called and lead by the Good Shepherd through the One gate…. The blood stained gate…… no other gates.
“Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best; God finds it hard to give, because He would give the best, and man will not take it.” George Macdonald
- I get to bring this message of belonging to others who I can be sure of “Long to Belong” and the one place of belonging that will satisfy that longing is the One who said, “I AM the Gate”
“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
Psalm 100