Is The LORD Your Shepherd?

4.26.26 sermon by Phillip D. Mumford

Psalm 23

[1] The LORD is my shepherd; I have what I need. 

[2] He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. 

[3] He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name's sake. 

[4] Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff-they comfort me. 

[5] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

[6] Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD as long as I live

 John 10:1-15

"Truly I tell you, anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in 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 it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought all his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they know his voice. [5] They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run away from him, because they don't know the voice of strangers." [6] Jesus gave them this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. [7] Jesus said again, "Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. [8] All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't listen to them. [9] I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. [10] A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [12] The hired hand, since he is not the shepherd and doesn't own the sheep, leaves them and runs away when he sees a wolf coming. The wolf then snatches and scatters them. [13] This happens because he is a hired hand and doesn't care about the sheep. [14] "I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, [15] just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.