Point of Grace Online Worship - September 6, 2026

           8.30.26 - I Am for the World  – “Sent from I AM”                           

I AM for the World – Season One “Jesus – The Great I AM”

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

I AM the Good Shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me… and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15

I AM the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
John 11:25-26

I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6

I AM the Vine; you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; 
apart from me you can do nothing
John 15:5

I AM for the World - Season Two “Sent from I AM”

Episode 1 – “The Prequel”

Exodus 3:1-6
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

I AM is deeply personal as He relates to His people and as He calls them in to His mission.

I AM the Good Shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me… and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15

Exodus 3:7-10
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

I AM is moved with compassion to save His people and calls His own to play a role.

I AM does the saving and battling against evil but He works through people as His agents on the ground.

Exodus 3:11-15
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I AM who I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
15 God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘YaHWeH (The Lord), the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.

John 8:56-59
Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
”You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”
“Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was, I am!” 
At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

I AM is Present – “I will be with you!” – We are called to join Him on His mission.
Moses was sent “from” I AM but also “with” I AM.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

I AM (Jesus) is Personal, Compassionate and Present as He “sends” us out to join Him on His mission
bringing deliverance and salvation to those lost from Him.

I am “Sent from I AM”

What is my answer?

“Here I am! ......... My Yes is on the table!”

Point of Grace Online Worship - August 30, 2026

           8.30.26 - I Am for the World - Pt. 7 – “I AM the Vine”

“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 fears, needs and longings.

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

I AM the Good Shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me… and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15

I AM the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
John 11:25-26

I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6

I am the Vine; you are the branches. If you remain (abide) in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; 
apart from me you can do nothing
John 15:5

How is Jesus speaking to our collective fears, needs and longings?

Jesus is addressing the hardwired impulse in the human heart to “make a difference”, “be productive”,
“make a meaningful contribution” ... it’s a deep desire to have some level of significance in this life.  In Jesus’s terms he calls it “bearing fruit”.  On our own we will turn to ourselves to make this happen.  We might use hard work, or special giftedness to strive for significance..... we may strive to accrue wealth or status or titles or followers or friends or people we can turn into projects or anything to just be needed! ... ... God wired us with this desire to be productive!  But without Him as the center and the impulse of our “productivity quest” it will go awry.  We will tap into other “vines” for power, life and direction. 

John 15:1-17
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain (abide) in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

The true Vine is __________.                 This is a loaded term in context.

The gardener is the __________ and the  branches are __________.

Bearing kingdom fruit is non-negotiable.    The key to fruit bearing is “r____________ / a____________” in Jesus!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; 

Galatians 5:22-23

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain (abide) in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

Can you feel the weight of some of His words as He contrasts “remaining” and “not remaining” ? 

Words like “nothing”, “thrown away” ...... but also .... “to my Father’s glory”, “bear much fruit”!

Notice the role of “His W_______” and “P_______” in the abiding life.

“Do not be occupied with the abiding—be occupied with Christ! He will hold you,
He will keep you abiding in Him. He will abide in you.”  Andrew Murray 

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 

Abiding in the Vine is abiding in His L_______. 
This is the DNA and culture of the Vine and branches life ... a union of Love!

Obedience to Jesus flows from remaining in His Love and is vital for remaining in His Love.  Then joy over flows!

““It is not a matter of feeling—it is not a question of growth or strength in the Christian life—it is the simple question whether the will at the present moment desires and consents to recognize the place you have in your Lord, and to accept it............ The wholehearted surrender in everything to do His will, that gives access to a life in the abiding enjoyment of His love. Obey and abide.  Andrew Murray

12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

It’s all about Love – sacrificial love with which we are loved overflows to each other.

We get to be “f___________” with God.  We get to be in on the “master’s business”.

“Remember.... I c_______ you!” – Jesus

Some Helpful Prayer Phrases

“My dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to be restored in You and renewed in You to receive Your Love and Your Life and all the Grace and Mercy I so desperately need this day.”

“Restore our union Lord, restore our union. 
Holy Spirit, restore my union with Jesus and the Father.”

“Jesus, I love You!   Thank you for loving me.  I receive Your love!”

Point of Grace Online Worship - August 23, 2026

           8.23.26 - I Am for the World - Pt. 6 – “I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life”

“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

I AM the Good Shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me… and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15

I AM the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
John 11:25-26

I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6

Jesus is directly dealing with the age old and inherently common human quest “our search for God and the Life with Him we were designed for”.  .....  It is as if every human has inherently woven into them a “homing device” offering subtle but consistent signals calling us home to God... in the words of Jesus “my Father’s house as many rooms” as if to say... here is where you belong.

“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy. The most probable explanation. Is that I was made for another world.”

“Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it. But only to arouse it to suggest the real thing”.

CS Lewis in Mere Christianity.

John 13:33-14:7

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, 
“I am the way and the truth and the life. 
No one comes to the Father except through me. 
7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Can you imagine the confusion, hopelessness, doubt, fear and angst that has been ushered into that room with all this talk of “leaving, betrayal and denial” ...
John 14:1 “do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in Me” should be read in the same breath as the verse before, 13:38 “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

Jesus is bringing assurance that Life with God the Father (at home with Him) is still Real and True for the disciples even though over the next couple of days they will experience pain, heartache, shame, guilt, confusion, trauma, helplessness, hopelessness, like they can’t even imagine as Jesus “does what Jesus must do alone – the cross and resurrection.”  These things He must do alone to become the Way for them (and us) to be with Him and the Father forever. 

Jesus is consistently saying to them,

Focus on ME!
Trust ME!
Listen to ME!
Return to Me!
Center your thinking, living and feeling on ME!
““I AM the Way, the Truth, the Life... no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The Way

Genesis 3:21-24  
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. 

The Truth

“What comes into our minds when we think about God? Is the most important thing about us. The most concerning fact about any man is not what he may say or do. But what the He conceives God to be like in his heart? By a secret law of the soul, we tend to move toward our mental image of God.”
A. W. Tozer

John 14:7  “ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” 

The Life

True Life is in a person ... the quest ends with a person who invites us in.

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
John 5:29-40

Might the quest end today
in refreshing surrendering
to the One who said,

“I AM the Way, the Truth, the Life... no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Point of Grace Online Worship - August 16, 2026

8.16.26 - I Am for the World - Pt. 5    -   “The Resurrection and The Life”

“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

I AM the Good Shepherd.  I know my sheep and my sheep know me… and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15

I AM the Resurrection and the Life
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 
and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
John 11:25-26

What about “death”, “eternity”, “what happens” …etc.?   

Jesus speaks directly into our … questions, fears, longings, needs… concerning “death”, “eternal life”?     

Biblically speaking “death” is seen in relational terms.    Death = Separation

John 11: 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”… … …
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”   23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said to her, 
“I am the resurrection and the life. 
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 
and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said,
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.   35 Jesus wept.  36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 
44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

Jesus is not just a words guy but a words-and-actions guy with deep compassion.  He is at war with death.

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said to her, 
“I am the Resurrection and the Life. 
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 
and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. 
Do you believe this?”

Sadducees Hellenist          Pharisees                           

Material world is everything soul/spiritual good If we are good enough death is the end of soul/body  body/physical bad   soul goes to heaven                                                                                          resurrection someday

Secularism                                   Plato/Greek Religious                                      Gnosticism

Jesus comes crashing in with this revolutionary claim

“I AM the Resurrection and the Life. 
The one who believes in me will live (eternally), even though they die (physically); and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. 

Salvation into eternal life is for the whole being soul and body. 
Life Eternal and Resurrection is through Jesus.  He is the Resurrection – He is the Life
Any hope and assurance of Life eternal and Resurrection to Life is found in Him - not a system or a formula.
          Jesus is inviting us into a “relationship” not a “transaction”.

“God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

John 17:3   
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 

Our default is a “transactional” approach, “What do I need to do to get to heaven?”

Mark 10 “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” … …
“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

           Can you feel Jesus calling the man out of a “transactional” approach to finding “life” and into a “relational” approach to finding life…… “come, follow Me.”

This is such good news!

“The one who believes in me will live”

I AM the Resurrection and the Life
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 
and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Do you believe this?”

Point of Grace Online Worship - August 9, 2026

I AM FOR THE WORLD…THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Jesus as the Answer for the Worried and Anxious Heart

Point of Grace - Pflugerville, Texas

August 9, 2026  

INTRODUCTION

 John 10:10

 I have come that you may have life and have it abundantly.  

Today:

Jesus is the Answer for the Worried and Anxious Heart!  

John 10:11-18:

 I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns 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. 13 The man runs aways because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me —15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 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. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life— only to take it up again. 18 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. 

 I. THE UNIVERSAL STRUGGLE WITH WORRY AND ANXIETY

Proverbs 12:25

An anxious heart weighs a man down.  

Philippians 4:6

Do not be anxious about anything, but pray about everything. 

 II. WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO THIS STRUGGLE WITH WORRY AND ANXIETY?

A. The Self Reliant Solution

1. Sheep are wayward

Isaiah 53:6

We have all wandered away like sheep; each of us has gone his own way. 

2. Sheep are dumb

3. Sheep are defenseless

4. Sheep are dirty

B. The Savior’s Solution

John 10:11

I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 

Two Decisions of the Heart:

1. Committing Your Life to Jesus in Faith

2. Calling Upon Jesus in Prayer 

III. WHY JESUS CAN LEAD YOU OUT OF WORRY AND ANXIETY

A. Jesus Knows You

John 10:14-15

I am the Good Shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me —15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. 

 B. Jesus Protects You  

John 10:11-13

I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns 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. 13 The man runs aways because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 

 Isaiah 53:4-6 (NLT)

 Yet it was our weakness He carried. It was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God for His own sins! 5 But He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped and we were healed! 6 All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on Him the guilt and sins of us all. 

C. Jesus Reigns for You  

John 10:17-18

The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 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.

 CONCLUSION

John 10:16

 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. 

 Jeremiah 3:33

Call to me, and I will answer you…

Point of Grace Online Worship - August 2, 2026

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

Point of Grace Online Worship - July 26, 2026

Point of Grace Online Worship - July 12, 2026

7.12.26 – Sermon Notes – I AM for the World – Bread of Life 

John 6
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…..
47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Astounding Claim by Jesus

The Context

     The Significance of Jesus saying, “I AM”

     Previously in John 6: “Miracle of Loave and Fishes” and “Walking on the Water”

     Old Testament Story of Manna in the Wilderness

Exodus 16 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

Deuteronomy 8 Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  

      Expectations?

“This section of the discourse is to be understood against the background of a Jewish expectation that when the Messiah came, He would renew the miracle of the manna. Comfortably filled with the loves Jesus had provided, the multitude challenged him to give them a permanent supply of bread. Jesus turns their attention to the true bread. Their thoughts are hopelessly earthbound. He seeks to raise them to heaven and to that eternal life which is inextricably linked with Himself.” – Leon Morris 

Why is Jesus revealing himself as “Bread of Life”?

What fear, need, longing in humanity is He responding to?

Humanity shares a “Soul Hunger – Soul Thirst” that only the God who created us can fill.

How is your soul?
How do you know when your soul is hungry/thirsty …. Suffering malnutrition, starving?

Jesus saves from the inside out!
When He dwells (is received–eaten) in the center of a person the whole being has New (eternal) Life!
We are designed for the constant presence of God in the center of our being…. Heart/Soul.

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are halfhearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition. When infinite joy is offered us.  Like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”   C.S. Lewis – “The Weight of Glory”

How do we “eat the Bread of Life”?

We come and keep on coming, believe and keep on believing His Presence and Word?

Daily Diet of Word and Prayer

Daily Pause
Pray100
“one minute pause” App         Morning and Evening Prayer
                                               “Experience Jesus Really” 20-day program
Lectio365 App

Homework – Memorize the “I AM’s”

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