Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hey guys, this is Naeeb and you've reached the mosaic church podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community and I'd love for you to be even more connected. So check out our website. There's more content there and there's more opportunities for you to get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content if this is blessed to you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it, so share this podcast if you will. Lastly, would you consider supporting this ministry? This is made possible by other people's generosity and I'd love for you to pay it forward. Join us to reclaim the message and the movement of Jesus together. So would you consider giving to this ministry? I know that God is able to do immeasurably more through us when we come together. Thank you so much. God bless you and enjoy.
[00:00:55] You guys are the best. You guys are the best. How are you feeling this morning? Good. Awesome. Excellent. Excellent. Man, what a special moment right there as we've dedicated, you know, Brittany and Travis's baby. Man, it's so awesome to be a church family that we can be in moments like that. And so it's really great if you are a guest here this morning and it's your first time, maybe your first time watching, we are in a conversation, a series of conversations, actually. Seven weeks. And the title is right behind me. It's called what? Help me out. It's called why Jesus? Yeah, why Jesus? And the reason why I wanted to do this series partly is because it's selfish. I get asked this question all the time because I'm a pastor, but mostly is because I grew up in a. In a muslim household. I grew up in a different faith. And people know my story and they're always asking, like, so why did you go over to the other side, in the sense, you know what I'm saying? Like, why'd you do that? And I also always have great answers for them. I think I do. But then I realized, I think a lot of us have thought that a lot of us have gone. You know what? I don't know. I kind of believe what I believe, but I'm not quite sure. In fact, the longer I talk to people, I realize that there are so many people in our lives, like, they just don't know, why do we do, like, why do we follow Jesus? And maybe for some of you, you're like, you know what? Actually, I've actually nothing clear. And I don't know why I just do. I just do. Now, my last count of mosaic is that we have about 27 different ethnic groups here. Okay. In mosaic, you're like, yes, 27. Okay. That's a lot of different kinds of people, nationalities. Wow. Okay. That means that you're coming from all different backgrounds, and we're all coming together, and we have all opinions, religious opinions. And then you add the fact that we've got denominations. Like, if you're a baptist, make some noise. Any Baptist in the house. So. Okay. They don't make any noise, by the way. They don't? They don't. That was a trick question. Okay. Okay, let's see. How many. Any charismatics in the house?
[00:03:10] Okay. There's one. Okay. How many Catholics in the house?
[00:03:14] Okay. How many methodists?
[00:03:17] Wow. A lot of methods to this. Okay. Okay. I can't. I'm not gonna go on. I'm not gonna go on. But we've got different people, and so the series of conversations is really about getting on the same page, but us going, I think I know now why I follow Jesus.
[00:03:34] That's really my hope today. Okay, so let me ask you a question really quick before we get started on today's, because I want to give you the big idea for today. Okay? This is the question. I know the answer to it. Okay. I really do. It's a question to you, but I know the answer to it. Okay. But if you agree with this, say, so true, so true. Okay. What are you gonna say? So true. So true. And if you're like, no, not really, you know what? Say, let's see. I'm in denial. I'm in denial. I'm in denial. All right, here. Here's the question. Here's the question. Ready for it. Ready for it. Okay. Do you have a person in your life, a certain person in your life, that you wonder if they like you?
[00:04:14] Okay. Any denials in the house? No. You're like, no, everybody likes me.
[00:04:19] You know? Yeah. We all have people now. It's complicated because if you think romantic, right, then it gets super complex. Or you're like, I hope they do. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not quite sure. You know? Like, how can you even tell? Tell a text message in a text conversation. But then there are other people at your gym, your work. Maybe there are people at Mosaic. You're like, I don't know if they like me. I don't know. I'm not quite sure. I think they do. I'm not quite sure. Now let's talk about your relationship with God.
[00:04:49] Do you think that God likes you? Right, that's true. Nice. I like this because for so many of us, though, once there was a point where we did not believe that others of us, we've believed this and we know this to be true. And so we've discovered that there is a God who really does like us. But like I said, because we have different backgrounds, there's so many of us that go, I'm not quite sure. In fact, I talked to some people in my life because I surround myself with people who are just really trying to figure out their faith and they just don't know. In fact, humanity has asked that question, am I okay with God? Throughout its time, like through centuries, in fact, religion, philosophies, they pretty much try to answer the question, are we good with goddesse? Like, are we on right standing with God? The religious word there is righteousness, which really means to have a right standing with God. Are we in right standing? Are you? So how do we figure that out? How do we realize that are we good with God? That's the big question today, because last week, when first week I talked to you about how Jesus introduces us to a God that is, that is not, is accessible without a temple or a church. I introduced the idea of a church less faith that Jesus presented, that you need to connect with God without institution, without culture, tradition, ritual, that that's the kind of goddess that wants to have a connection with you. And today I want to talk about the fact that there is a God out there who wants to go even deeper. You see, like last week, Jesus said, hey, my claims and my life point to the fact that I'm the way, the truth and the life. And there are certain statements that Jesus has made. The second statement that he's made, or one of the other ones he's made is the idea that he is the door. He is the gate. And this also talks about how he is the good shepherd. Have you ever heard that before? Right, the good shepherd, Jesus is the gate, the door. What does that mean? I think it's something that we, you and I, need to know if we move forward and it's our next step towards why Jesus. So let's jump right in. Okay, I'm gonna go into the gospels of John. So John, chapter ten, where am I going? John what? Chapter ten. Chapter ten. Okay, so let me read this to you and we'll discuss. So Jesus said, it says here, jesus said, I tell you the truth, the person who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. But the one who enters by the door is the shepherd. The shepherd.
[00:07:51] The one who guards the door, opens it for him. And the sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd.
[00:07:59] He calls his own sheep by name and leads them. What? Out. Then he keeps on going. He says, when. When he brings all his sheep out, he goes. He goes, what? Ahead of them? Which is interesting. He goes ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger. They will run away from him because they don't know his voice. Jesus told the people this story, and this is the funniest part. And they did not understand what it meant, which is most of us right now. You're like, why are you reading this? We have no idea. There's a voice. There's a stranger. Is it she fold?
[00:08:41] What's happening here? What's happening here? Well, to understand this is to understand what happened on the same day just a couple hours earlier. You see, it was a Sabbath. The Sabbath is a holy day, okay? For those of you who know, it's like, jewish people would not do anything there, and it was, like, forbidden to do any work there. And the rabbis, the religious people were all about the Sabbath. Have you realized that when religious people get older and older, they get more and more religious? You know what I'm saying? They don't get more gracious. They just get more and more religious. So nitpicky and all that. And so they had an issue with Jesus because he was one of the rabbis, but he would do something that all the other rabbis would not do. He would go and he would eat on the, you know, he would pick berries or whatever on. On the Sabbath. He would, in a sense, work on the Sabbath, and he would do something that was a no no. And that is. He would heal people. That's a problem, people, right? He would give out free healthcare on the Sabbath, and they're like, no, no, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't do that. So they always had an issue with him. So what happened earlier in the day is jesus did the very thing. He healed a guy who had been born blind. Born what? Blind. So here's the story. Story is, is that there's a. There's a family. Mom and dad show up to Jesus, okay? Jesus is walking somewhere, and they go, we have a son. He's been born blind. Can you help him? Can you help him? And he was like, you know what? Yeah, I can do it. I can do it. It's my day off, but it's all good, you know? Okay. So he tells him to. Tell him to come over. And then jesus does something which is kind of unique for all his miracles. He makes mud out of his spit.
[00:10:22] Number one, how much spit do you need to make mud? And then he puts it on the guy's. Anybody know? Eyes. And then he tells them, hey, go wash. Which the guy's like, really? Like, can we just not. Can we just touch me? Can we just do that? You know? But no, he says, go do that. And then he tells him something interesting. He tells him, when you go wash, you'll be healed. But on your way back, don't come to me. Go to the temple. Go to the synagogue and make them. Let them know that you're good. Like, get yourself checked out. Which is interesting.
[00:10:57] Like, why? Right? But if, you know, if you didn't know back in those days, the spiritual leaders were even some of the medical doctors. So, like, going back to the. It's like, God heals you of cancer, but still, go get yourself checked out. You know what I'm saying? So he said, go make sure you present yourself to the rabbis. So he goes, and the rabbis are like, what happened here? They're like, I got healed. They're like, no, we don't believe it.
[00:11:26] You've never been blind. He's like, I just got healed, okay? And he checked. Say yes to this healing. Like, make it official. And they're like, nope, nope. You can't do that. And also, it's a saddest. It's not happening. So the synagogue people, they actually go, they're the pastors, the shepherds of the flock there, right? They're the people, right? Religious leaders, the priests. So they go to his parents and they go, hey, your son. Yes. What about him? So he was born blind. Yes, he was. He was. He says he can see now. They're like, yeah. He's like, who did this? Jesus? They go, that's blasphemy. That's not happening. It's the Sabbath. He can't do this. You're lying. He was never blind in the first place.
[00:12:09] And then they're like, okay, well, I don't. I'm just. And literally friends. If you read chapter nine, basically, they're like, if you. If you say that Jesus healed him, we will kick you out of the church. We will kick you out of the synagogue.
[00:12:26] So the parents are like, well, we don't say anything. You know what we realized? Our kid is a grown adult. Go ask him. And so they literally go ask him and they bug him and they bully him. And finally he says something that we know from, like, even centuries later, we know this phrase. I once was blind, but now I see. He was like, I don't know. I know only one thing. I once was blind, but now I see. That's where we get that phrase from. This is the guy who does it. So what happens is he says that they kick him out of the synagogue. Jesus walks by outside synagogue, did they kick you out? Yeah, they did. So they did to me, too. So he starts talking to him, but he gets so mad because they're kicking out a family out of the synagogue just because jesus did what healed him. He was blind, but now he saw. You know what's interesting about religious institutions?
[00:13:29] Sometimes they have no problem with your brokenness because they can control you, but as soon as you get healed, they'll kick you out. As soon as you can see things that are not good, you're out. As soon as you are waking up to the whole idea of like, hey, this is actually abuse, you're out. But as long as you stay broken, taking control, as long as you just don't get better, you're good. But once you get better, once you get healed, you got to get out.
[00:14:00] What's interesting is Jesus is so ticked off at this. So he starts off with the passage I just read to you, which was confusing. And he knew it was confusing. In fact, John, the guy who wrote this, he knew it was confusing. He remembers the time because these epistles, these accounts of Jesus written years later, and John's writing, writing this down, he goes, I remember that moment. He said this. And everybody was like, what is he talking about? Because they didn't understand because there were so many different kinds of people there. You had jewish people that are full on Jewish. You had jewish people who grew up in the roman empire because Romans were occupying them. You had also religious, super religious people. He had different kinds of people. So Jesus understands this, and he says, okay, let me do this. Let me do this. So he keeps on going. He says this. He says, so. So Jesus said again, right? He said again. He says, I tell you the truth. I am the. Help me out. I'm the what? I'm the door for the sheep. They're like, okay, okay, let's follow this along. He says, I'm the, I'm the door for the sheep. All the people who come before me were thieves and robbers, okay? People understand that the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door.
[00:15:12] And the person who enters through me will be saved and will be able to come in and out and find pastor. Pastor. And then he keeps on saying, and then he goes and says this phrase, this verse that we, some of us might be very familiar with. He says, a thief comes to steal and what? Kill and destroy. But I have come to give life and life to its what? Fullness. And then he says, I am the what? The good shepherd. And the good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. You see, friends, he was a little spicy that day. I know it's Sabbath, but he was spicy. He was like, I am the good shepherd. You stink. Like you're not, you are thieves and robbers. He's looking at the priest, he's looking at the ideologies that want to control us and say, this is how you enter in, this is how you do this. And he's saying, you are gatekeeping God. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you, it's going to be a bad day for you. And when he said, I am the door and I am the good shepherd, friends, I want you to know that there are people there who are strict jewish rabbi people took it, it hit a little different for them because the reason why different for them is because he called himself the good shepherd, which is prophetic, where Zechariah, let me read this to you because Zechariah actually foretold something like this. And they were like, don't tell me you're quoting Zechariah because these people knew their scriptures, they knew their Torah, and so they knew their stuff. And the scriptures here in Zechariah eleven says, whoa, woe to the worthless. What shepherds? Woe to the worthless shepherds who desert the flock. May the sword strike his arm and his right eye, may his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded.
[00:17:18] Here, Jesus, when he says that, they're like, oh, you're accusing us of not being good shepherds. But then he says, I'm also the door. Now what's interesting about that is that when he says he's the door but also the shepherd, what he's doing there is, he's talking to all the jewish people who grew up in the roman empire because the Romans had different kinds of gods. But there was a most popular God in that day. And let me show you, I have a picture of him. Okay. He posed for a picture, okay? And so I want to throw a picture of him right up here. And so let's see. I think we got it. Yep, we do. Yep. Yep. There he is. There he is right here. Okay.
[00:18:13] And this God, this idol is called Janus. Can you say Janus?
[00:18:21] Janus is the God who calls himself the door, the gatekeeper. The two face represents that this God sees your past and your future. So you pray to him every time you're moving into transition, if you are trying to do something and start something new, you move, you ask him so he will be able to tell you. You pray homage to him.
[00:18:44] You please him, you request him, you plead to him. You do all those things. And they knew him as the door. And so when Jesus says, I am the door, all of the roman people there go, hold on. I'm sorry. Are you just comparing yourself to Janice?
[00:19:01] And Jesus is like, I am.
[00:19:05] Yes, I am. And I'm telling you, I'm actually the real guy in this. And so what's interesting about that is when Romans heard this, and jewish people that lived in Rome, they heard this, they're like, okay, is Jesus comparing himself to all the other gods out there? The answer is yes. But here's what's interesting. See, the God of Janus is this idea where he sees your past and your present, but he doesn't. He can maybe move towards helping you out and maybe turn things to your favorite. But you find yourself in the same place if you worship Janice, and that is that when you try something new. I know you pray, some of you do you ever knock on what? You knock on wood, which is another pagan thing we'll get into later on because you're actually asking the spirits of the wood to come out. And trees. Anyways. Anyways. But that whole idea was, we move forward, but we do this, we are hesitant towards it. So. Yeah, yeah. So people move through transitions. People understood that. I mean, you and I have moved through transitions. We've like, okay, I'm going to try something new. Even. Even crossing the line of faith, you kind of go, I think. I mean, to. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. And when Jesus starts talking about this idea that he is the door and he's also the shepherd, what he's saying here is that he is the shepherd who will lead us out from one place, out of our past into the future, and he will lead us that he will have a relationship with us and that we will have been constant communication with him. So what he's offering to these people is this reality that God wants to have a relationship with you, that allows you to hear him and to follow his voice. So you don't need to like slowly go into and try to make sure that everything's going to be okay, that there is a God out there. And he says, I am that God who will lead you. I am in front of you as you moving through it. And I don't know about you, but there's some of us, you're at a point of decision that there is this, there is this serious, I don't know, like decisions to be made.
[00:21:23] You're trying to figure out what the next step will be for you, your family, will you move? What's going to happen? And there's so much anxiety that comes with it. And then God, then Jesus says, hey, I'm the guy. I'm the shepherd who moves you from one place to the next and I lead you out of it. I'm leading you, and all you have to do is learn to hear my voice. But, because if you don't, there are other voices, there are other bad shepherds that will come in there, robbers and thieves. They will come and steal your vision. They'll destroy the hope that you have and they'll kill the faith that you have. And you know and I know that there are people in our lives, maybe organizations, maybe other churches, sadly, that wanted to control you or wanted to come into your life in a certain way. And they've robbed us from our faith. They've stolen so much. And that's why you find yourself going, I don't even know if I believe any more. I just don't know anymore.
[00:22:28] And Jesus says, hey, that's why I want to let you know, I am the door and I'm also the good shepherd. Now, it's confusing to us, right? Because you're like, okay, you're the door. But then what about the good shepherd? Well, the thing is, the Romans understood the idea of a door, but the eastern people there, the jewish people, totally understood the idea of a shepherd being a door because back in those days, a shepherd would put his flock in a pen and the gate of that door, there would be a gate, but every night a good shepherd would sleep in front of the door and they became the door when it was the most darkest at night. So there's no thieves or robbers, there's no animals, there's nothing like that. A good shepherd, a hired help wouldn't do that. But a good shepherd every night would sleep as the gate and became the gate. And so when he says, I am the gate, I am the door and I'm the good shepherd, I all of the jewish people go, we get what you're saying. You're saying is that you're the gateway, you're the one that protects. So when you're experiencing the darkest time in your life, he says, I'm going to protect you. When you find yourself just stricken with grief and sorrow where you just don't know what's going on in your life, he's like, and you feel like you're withering away, he says, I am the good shepherd that will sit there, that will be with you, that will lie down in front and give my life for it. See, I think what happens is that so many of us, we find ourselves in dark places and then the first thing we wonder is, does God like me, am I good with God? Like, I don't know. I'm not quite sure. You know, for me growing up muslim, you never know. See in Islam the way it works is that you do good and there are certain things you need to supposed to do and you just hope at the end of your life you find favor with Allah.
[00:24:51] And that's a good concept for a religion because most religions do that. You just don't know till the very end. You know what Im saying? Is it going to happen? And you kind of like, I dont know, I just. How is this going to work? And Jesus starts off and just says, hey, hey, this is not how its going to work with you and me. I have made a gate, I have already done some things and then will do some things by laying down my life for you in a couple of weeks. Well celebrate that with Easter. Will lay down my life for you so you can be sure that you're okay.
[00:25:28] One of the writers in the Bible, a guy named Paul wrote romans and he wrote this and he says this, he says, he says he was trying to explain it to them. He was like, hey, you remember, he was like talking about Adam. He said, remember one man, he said one man sinned. One man sinned. And so death ruled all people because of that. What one Mandev. But now those people who accept God's full grace and the great gift of being made right with him will surely have true life and rule through one, this one man, Jesus Christ. So as one sin of Adam brought the punishment of death to all people, one good act that Christ did makes what.
[00:26:18] Makes what all people write with God and, and, and brings true life, true life. Life to the fullest for all.
[00:26:34] One man disobeyed God and many became sinners. In the same way one man obeyed God and many will be what made right.
[00:26:47] See, I know for some of us, we're like, man, I wish this was true. I wish I could believe this. But, man, I'm doing some things, and I've done some things, and I'm not quite sure. I think I have to pay penance for it.
[00:26:58] I have to. I have to do enough good to make it right.
[00:27:03] And that, my friends, is all the other options that you have.
[00:27:07] But with Jesus, that's not how it works at all.
[00:27:13] It's not because he knows who you are and what you've done and what you will do in the future and still still wants to be the good shepherd for you, still wants to be the gate for you.
[00:27:30] See, Paul understood this so well because he kept on going. He said, he said the law came to make sin worse, which is really funny, right? The law came because it's funny and it's true. Like, we only feel bad if there's a law. There's a rule against it. You don't feel bad if there's no rule against it.
[00:27:54] For some of us, we know that with our souls there are laws that when we violate them, we feel awful.
[00:28:01] There's just some moral laws. There's certain things that we're like, this is not good. I'm better than this. Have you ever said that I'm better than this? How can I do this?
[00:28:12] He says, you know what the law made came to make things worse. He says, but I want you to know this. When it comes to your sin and mine, he says, I want you to know this. But when sin grew worse, God's grace.
[00:28:26] God's grace did what?
[00:28:30] Increased.
[00:28:31] He says, God's grace increased. He said, here's. He said, let me tell you. Let me tell you. Sin. It once used death to rule us, but God gave people more of his grace so that grace could rule by making people what right with him.
[00:28:58] And this brings life. He's like, guys, this is the kind of reality you and I need to exist in. This brings life forever through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
[00:29:15] And so if you find yourselves going, you know, I don't know if I'm right. I feel like I need to do this, to do this, to do this. I wonder if you're just going for all the other options, but if you're going to redefine reimagine a faith with God through the lens of Jesus, that you're just going to, for a minute, just going to go. I'm going to listen to what Jesus says about this God out there. Then this God out there is saying, hey, I've made a way for you through my son, a part of me. That's the gate forever. And I want to lead you with my voice.
[00:29:53] And so what does that look like for us? What does that look like for us? For us, it looks like that. We realize this truth in Hebrews. Paul writes again. He says now, since God has left us the promise that we may entertain, enter his rest, let us be very careful so no one of you will, what?
[00:30:20] Fail to enter. See, there's some of us, we've walked in through other gates. We think morality, success, independence, pleasure. We've gone and opened the door up to other things and we think it leads us to a better place. But if I could just go a little Sci-Fi for you, with you here, Jesus is the only portal that takes you to where you want to go.
[00:30:45] They might look the same, but you end up in a very different place. And Jesus, like the kind of life you and I were created to live is accessed if you go through the portal. And by the way, I'll lead you through it. And it's the life you need to live, a life that has a very clear conscience with God, a life in which you can address God and not feel like you're not worthy. That's why he keeps on going. He says, hey, our high priest, the guy who's leading us, our good shepherd, is able to what? Understand our, what weaknesses. For he was tempted in every way that we are, but he did not sin. He says, so let's do this. He says, let's do this. So let us then feel very what?
[00:31:39] Sure that we can come before God's throne. Where there is grace, there we will receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it.
[00:31:53] Friends, I think some of us don't realize the gate that God wants us to walk through. It's not a gate of like getting your act together or feeling remorse or the gate of just, I don't know, shame. It's the gate of grace that says if you walk through that portal, if you walk through there, it's the kind of life that you want to live. And by the way, I'm not like the other gods who, who. No, no, I'm going to lead you through it. I'm going to be the one walking you through this. And then I want to have a continual relationship with you because I want you to hear my voice and know my voice. And it's a lifetime relationship with me. I recently was on a call trying to help an organization reach people who are from different countries. And so one of the questions for me were, hey, how do you explain the son of God thing? Because people get hooked up on this title that Jesus had. Son of goddess, son of God, son of God. You know, and in my faith, in muslim faith, that's definitely a conversation stopper, you know, it's like, yeah, come on now, where's the mother? You know, like, how did she, who get pregnant? Like, come on, do you expect us to believe that?
[00:33:07] And I get that. I get that because in my faith, what happens is, and I don't know if you can relate to this, but in my faith, growing up as a muslim, it was like God was on a different realm and humanity was in a different realm, as in there was major space between them. They would never connect. So we were humans doing our thing and we just need to do the stuff. And only on our death day would we ever face God. We would not connect to him before then. And we just got to make sure that we did all the right things, that when we do show up in front of him, we find grace and mercy and we get into heaven. And so it's not very different from all the other religions out there, honestly. It's the same idea that the humanity and divinity do not necessarily connect.
[00:33:51] Humanity just continues to pay homage and appease and hopefully, and hopefully get to a point of divinity. Even Buddhism believes that this idea where you can work your way, in a sense, mentally, into a point of enlightenment, you can reach it.
[00:34:17] And I said, here's what I want you to understand.
[00:34:21] All the other faiths out there believe that.
[00:34:26] But when Jesus comes in and he introduces himself as the son of a father, do you know what he's saying? He's not saying I have a mother. He's saying there is a creator goddess who relates to me and relates to all of you as sons and daughters.
[00:34:47] It is our title. It starts with that. So when he would say son of man, son of God, what he's reminding us is that there is a creator God who insists that if there's ever going to be a relationship with humanity and him, it's going to be family.
[00:35:07] You are sons and you are daughters, you are not worshipers, you are not slaves, you are not servants.
[00:35:17] No, we are family.
[00:35:20] And so when that happens, when you hear Jesus, the son of God, I want you to know, I was telling him, the guy on the call, I was like, I want you to know, every time Jesus says Son of God, he's reminding us the context in which a relationship with God will ever exist.
[00:35:40] It's family, it's personal. And also, and also, he is forever breaking the separation of divinity and humanity.
[00:35:51] And I don't know if you know this, but Jesus is the only religious leader that has so many supernatural miracles assigned to him. No one else has done that. Like, that's the biggest debate. Did all those miracles really happen? Did all of them really happen? But there's no other religious leader that says, you know what? I've got some great things to say. But also, I can walk on water.
[00:36:18] Also, I can make fish tacos from, like this. See what I'm saying?
[00:36:24] Also, let's see.
[00:36:27] I'll resurrect from the, from the dead. Also, I'm gonna heal all kinds of people. Also, on the Sabbath, I'll do it all. You know what Jesus was doing by his words, calling himself the son of God, and by his actions, he was saying, friends, friends, I want you to know that this God is not a God who's far off. This God will supersede natural things every time, heal you. Even though the natural order of your things or your life is disease and death. He will come and he will do supernatural miracles. He is not a God who's up there waiting for you to ever attain him. He's a God who's come down and will do super natural things. He will dismantle, in a sense, he will supersede natural orders of things just for you. He'll heal you when your body wants to die. He'll, he'll feed you when your body is starving. He'll do all of these things. And he's doing that to communicate when simple truth, he is the door. He is the good, the good shepherd.
[00:37:44] I think for some of us, we just don't know that. So why Jesus?
[00:37:50] Because with Jesus, I know where I stand.
[00:37:53] I know where I stand.
[00:37:56] I know who I am.
[00:37:58] I know who I am. So let me pray for us. Because for some of us, let's pray for some of us.
[00:38:07] We've never asked him.
[00:38:11] We've never asked him, approached him to enter.
[00:38:19] We've tried other gates, other doors, because, well, well meaning people have told us, well, it's actually this way or that way.
[00:38:30] So maybe today, let's pray. God, I know that I've tried different doors, and I know that I find myself in a place where I just don't know how to reimagine my faith. But I do know this, that if all of this is true, then my idea of who God is is forever changed.
[00:38:54] Forever changed. So, Jesus, I want to enter. I want to know you. I want to learn to hear your voice.
[00:39:08] God, I pray that we would approach you knowing, being sure that you like us, that you're okay with us, and that you begin to do something in our souls, in our hearts that only your spirit can do. And you would show us the things in our life that we need to move away from, turn around, repent from. And then you would show us how to be filled with your presence and to follow you as you lead us with your voice.
[00:39:53] God, I pray that as we respond in the last song for some of us, when we go to the cross, we realize that when we receive communion, we realize the importance of you literally being the good shepherd who laid down his life for us.
[00:40:15] And when we light candles, God, we are reminded that there are so many people out there who need to know why. Why, Jesus?
[00:40:26] So, God, I pray, speak to us as we respond.
[00:40:31] In your name. We pray.
[00:40:34] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more audio and video content, visit us at Mosaicchurch TV.
