Amen. Good seeing you this morning. I appreciate that. This morning we're gonna be in the book of John, chapter 10. John, chapter 10. We're also gonna be in Ezekiel, chapter 34. We'll throw in salt and pepper some more Scripture in there along the way. But those are the two main. I was thinking on the Lord. It's been a few weeks now. I was thinking about the Scripture that talks about Him being the Good Shepherd. I was thinking about Him being our Shepherd. And I started thinking about what God is to us. what he is to me, what he is to you. And I hope that through this message, this is probably one of those, this ain't probably going to be very, I don't know, maybe, I don't know where the Lord's going to take it, but it's just one of them well-known, well-known scriptures, well-known of things that we should know as Christians. And if we don't know, I hope that maybe we'll know by the time we leave here this morning. But I just think about how good God is. I want to talk about how good God is. How the God that I serve is my good shepherd. He's the one who leads me beside the still waters. He's the one who's going to be with me even to the ends of the earth. He's the one that is in control of it all. I just can't hardly, it's hard to wrap my little feeble mind around the fact that he is in control of everything. Well, I feel like even in just my own life and in my own personal life, I feel like it's hard for me to control just the things that I have control of. But He's in control of it all. That's the God that we serve. And I just want to glorify God this morning in the message. And I hope that this is something that will draw us closer to Him. I pray that if you're going through a valley, you're going through a dark time, you're going through some hard times, I hope maybe this is an encouragement to you. Maybe if you're new to the faith, maybe you're not very far into your Christian walk, maybe this will help you to see just how good God is and how much that He is in control of your life and the things that are going on around you. And I pray that this is just a help to us today, that we can leave here saying it's been good to be in God's house glorifying and honoring and worshiping and praising the God of the universe, the controller of all things. I hope that this is a reminder to us that maybe we've forgotten just how good God is. And I hope this is a reminder to us that He is the Good Shepherd. And I praise God for that. I praise God for that. So but it just real quick just one verse you don't have to turn there Exodus chapter 3 verse 14 says God talking to Moses when Moses was going to the children of Israel trying to Tell them that he was coming to get set them free. He was trying to set them free from the Egyptian bondage Moses was pretty much asking God now God who am I going to tell them right? Who am I going to tell them sent me and this is what he said and God said unto Moses. I am that I am and he said thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel I am has sent thee or sent me unto you I am dot dot dot that's what I put at the very top of my sermon notes here I am dot dot dot he is a lot of things to a lot of people he is water in dry places Right? I took this song out of the book this morning. This was my Papaw's testimony song. He says, he's water in dry places. He's bread in starving lands. He's my rock and shelter. He holds me by the hand. And when my life is, or when my friends forsake me, close by my side He'll stand. He is everything to me. Is He everything to you this morning? Because He is everything to me. And I hope maybe through this message this morning, I'm telling you that course that says if it wasn't for the Lord, tell me what would I do? Tell me what would I do? I'm telling you, how many times have we been in there? How many times have we gotten in situations in life where we were like, what am I going to do? What will I do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do now? Lord, look to the Lord because He's the one who's everything to me, right? He is everything to me. I ain't even got to the scripture yet. I'm telling you what, the Lord, I knew, don't get me wrong, I had a feeling that this morning was gonna be good, this thing has been good. I'm telling you, everything was against me this morning and usually April's like, everything's against me it must going to be good. I hope it is good. Maybe it's just me that's feeling it this morning, but I hope that maybe through the scripture this morning we will see that God is good. John chapter 10 verse 11. John chapter 10 verse 11. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. But he says, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known of mine. And the father knoweth me, even so know I the father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice. And there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my father love me, because I lay down my life. that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down in myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. Let's go to Lord in prayer. Dear Lord, we thank you, Lord, for this scripture. We thank you, Lord, for what it means to us, Lord, that you are everything to me, Lord. I pray that you'd have your way now in this service. I pray that you would, Lord, just give me the words, Lord. Give me the words to speak, Lord. I pray that it'll be a help to those that are here today, Lord. I pray it'll be a help to those that may be listening online, Lord. I pray that it blesses hearts today. Just your word, Lord. Nothing that I do, Lord, but what you do, Lord, through me today. Lord, through the Scripture, through the Word, I pray that it will be a help to us. Help us today, O God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I like that he is the good shepherd. I like the fact that he says a hireling will run away because he don't care about the sheep. I'm telling you, there's a lot of people in this world that may be your boss at work or whoever it may be that you may answer to. You know what? When times get hard, they may run away. But I'm glad to know that I serve a good shepherd who said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. But I'll go with you into the ends of the earth. That's what He promised us. He said, I'll take care of you. He said, when you have a need, I'll take care of you. Oh, when you're down and out, I'll take care of you. Oh, when there's problems arise in your life, He said, I'll take care of those too. He said, I am here because I love my sheep. He said, hey, If He's going to lay down His life for me, I'll just trust Him, right? He laid down His life for me. He loves me. No greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. How about that? I serve a God who loves me. I serve a Shepherd who takes care of me. I have a Shepherd who will just take care of my every need. Make sure that I'm provided for. Make sure that every time that I'm down and out, He can comfort me. He sent the Great Comforter to comfort me. I'm glad that I serve. the Good Shepherd. I'm telling you, you read the first part of chapter 10, he talks about how he's the door of the sheep. How he's the door of the sheep. He's not going to let just anybody in. He's not going to let just anybody in. He's going to let his sheep in. I'm telling you, he's not going to let those wolves in. He's not going to let them in to take advantage of his sheep. He's going to take care of his sheep. He's the door. He's the door to the pen there that the sheep stay in. I tell you, I was reading, I believe it was J. Vernon McGee's commentary. He talked about how back in those days, the shepherd would be the door to the pen. He would pretty much lay where the opening was to keep the sheep in. So I get the picture of Jesus standing there where we're all gathered in the fold together. We're all gathered there together. And He's standing there at the door not letting anything get in there. He's not going to let anything that does not belong come into the fold. He's protecting us. He's keeping us safe. I'm telling you, that's a God that I serve. He's protecting. He's saving us. He's helping us. Oh, I'm telling you, when we go astray, He'll leave the 99 and come find the 1, right? I'm telling you, I've been astray before. How many of you? All we like sheep have gone astray. I'm telling you, He's come looking for me. And I thank God I'm part of His flock. I thank God that I serve the Good Shepherd. He's the door that lets us in. I'm telling you, John, John 10, verse 11, he is the good shepherd, and the good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep. I was thinking about that. Matthew 6, verse 25-34, you don't have to turn there. April sung the song this morning. You consider the lilies. how much, how they don't toll nor spend. I believe the verse, the Bible says, and they said, hey, that grass, if God cares about the grass that's here today and gone tomorrow, how much more does He care about you? He said, you care about those things. He said, don't take no thought for tomorrow. He said, don't take no thought. He said, I'm going to take care of you. I'm telling you, God is a provider. He provides the things that we need. Maybe I should have turned to that scripture. In Matthew chapter 6. Verse 25 through 34, therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, what you shall drink, nor yet for your body. What you shall put on is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment. So he's saying, don't care about those things that you're eating. Don't care about the things that you're wearing. Don't give no thought for those things. Your body and your life is more important than those things. He says, Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than the birds of the air? Are you not much better than them? He said, which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they tool not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field which today is and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you? O ye of little faith, therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles say, For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. Verse 33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God. and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought of the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." He's saying, don't think about, don't get so caught up and worried about what you're going to do for your next meal. Don't take no thought or worry. He's telling us not to worry. Don't worry, because I can take care of you. I'm going to take care of the grass of the field. I'll take care of the lilies of the field. I'll take care of the birds that fly in the air. If I can take care of them, don't you think that I can take care of you? And we get so caught up in worry sometimes, worrying about what we're going to do for this and what we're going to do for that. So woe is me right here. What am I going to do? How am I going to do it? How am I going to do it? Well, the Lord says don't worry about those things. He'll make sure that we have everything that we need. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. I'm telling you, hey guys, chapter 2 verse 8 says the silver is mine and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. You need something financially, guess what? Who owns all the gold and the silver? The Lord, He will provide. I'm telling you, the earth, Psalms chapter 24 verse 1, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and they that dwell therein." You know what that tells me? That He owns the earth. He controls it all. It's all His. The earth is His. Anything that we have. There's one scripture I didn't write down. He says He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. I tell you what, if I'm out here starving to death, I believe He could butcher a cow for me and give me a rib eye if I wanted one, right? If He wanted to, He could. He will provide our every need. He says that the earth is His and the fullness thereof, and they that dwell therein. You know what that tells me? He controls all of us. He's in control of what we, He controls whether we take our next breath or not. Those that even denounce Him, those that do not call Him Lord, those, He's even in control of whether they have their next breath or not. He's in control. I say we just follow Him. He's in control. I don't know about you, but I know that growing up, I'd stay close to my parents, right? Because they took care of me, right? I knew growing up where my meals were going to come from. I knew when I got hungry, who was going to feed me. My mom and dad, because I stayed close to them, right? I always stayed close to mom. Dad was on the road driving the truck most of the time. But mom, I knew mom was always going to have something for me to eat. Right? I don't have a doubt in my mind if I needed something to eat today, Mom would provide me something to eat today if I needed it. Mom is still there for me, right? But, God forbid, when Mom is not here no more, where are we going to go? Let's go ahead and go to the Lord now, because we are going to need Him later. We need Him now. He's going to provide everything that we need. I'm telling you, he, no offense to mama, but he's better than mama. No offense to daddy, he's better than daddy. He is my daddy. He's my father in heaven. Right, let's go to him because he's in control of it all. The I am, the I am, let's see, Ezekiel chapter 34. I wanted to read this. Go there. Ezekiel chapter 34, verses 11 through 16. Now chapter 34, verse 1 through 10, God is really, He's telling those shepherds of that day, He's not happy with what they're doing. He's not happy with the work that they're doing. They're not taking care of their flock. They're not doing what they should do. So verses 1 through 10. But verse 11 is where the story changes. And that's where I wanted to go today. For thus said the Lord God, behold I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them out. So look, he's looking for us. He's searching for his sheep. As the shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy dark day. Having had them cloudy dark days and the Lord come and sought us out and brought us out of those dark and cloudy days. We can all say we've been delivered out of some dark and cloudy days I believe. I believe we all could say that. He said I'm gonna seek you out and bring you out. I'll deliver you. He says, And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in the good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be. There shall they lie in a good fold, and a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up them that are broken, and will strengthen that which is sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and I will feed them with judgment." So he's saying, listen, you're weak, you're broken, if you're lost, if you're out there, he said, I'm coming to get you, and I'm going to restore you, I'm going to bring you back. I'm going to bring you back to the fold. I'm going to take care of you. I like that part where it says, even the broken, He's going to come and restore us. He's going to come and make it to where we can lie down and be at ease and be at comfort because we're in His flock. We're in His fold. I praise the Lord this morning that He is the Good Shepherd. I praise the Lord this morning because He is the Lord. That was the next one. He is the Lord. The statement, I am Lord, is mentioned 163 times in the Old Testament. He's making sure that He's establishing who He is. He's making it known to all those, everybody who reads the Scripture, He's making it known to everybody that He is the Lord. And there is none else. He's the only one. A Lord means one who has authority or control or power over others. That's what the dictionary says about the Lord. He is the one who has authority. He's the one who's in control. And He's the one who has power over all others. He's in control. Is He your Lord today? Is He the Lord of your life? Is He the Lord of your life? Is He in control of your life? He is whether you want to admit it or not. He is. So you might as well just submit to him. I tell you, it's better. You know, have you ever heard that saying? It's all things work better when you work together. Something like that. Have you ever heard that? Hey, when we work together with the Lord, things will be so much easier. Hey, when you talk about what Joshua preached about, oh Paul, oh Saul on the way to Tarsus, and the Lord revealed Himself to Saul and said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks or the goads. What he was saying is, it's hard for you to go against me. Why don't you just team up with me and let's go together? He said, it's going to be hard for you. Your work and your life is going to be hard when you go against the Lord. But if you just join up with the Lord and go together, guess what? Things are going to get a lot easier when you work together. Submit to Him. Trust in Him. Follow Him as your Lord and Savior. Because He is in control of your life whether you want to admit it or not. And one day, as He proclaimed in Isaiah 45-23, that unto Me every knee shall bow. and every tongue shall swear, or every tongue shall confess that I am the Lord. One of these days, whether you want to admit it or not, whether you want to bow to Him today or not, one of these days you are going to bow to Him, and you are going to call Him Lord, because He is the Lord of lords, the King of kings. He is above all others. He is in control of your life. He is in control of your next breath. He is in control of your next heartbeat. He is in control of what you will and will not have in this life. He is in control of all those things. I'm telling you what, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. And His righteousness. There's no righteousness in me, I'll say it, there's none in me except the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only righteousness I can claim. So seek him and his righteousness, and all the things that we need shall be added unto us. I am, I am. Tell them that I am sent you. I am what? I am the good shepherd. I am the door of the sheep. I am the Lord. I am so much more. I've got so much more. I don't have so much time. There's so much that the Bible says about the Lord. This may be a two-parter. I might finish this up tonight. But I am the Lord. He is the Lord. He's in control. He's in control of every bit, every bit of it. He's in charge. He owns the earth and the fullness thereof. All the silver and gold is His. I'm saying He is everything to me. Is He everything to you this morning? Is he the Lord of your life this morning? Is he the one who, I mean, to you, is he the one that laid down his life for you? He is. Now it's time to accept him. Accept him for who he is. As we get a song ready this morning. Page 330. There's a lot more, like I said, I believe this is, I didn't know this was going to be a two-parter, but I don't want to go no further right now. I feel like that's what the Lord wants to be said this morning. I don't want to go much further. We'll get into some more of who he is tonight, hopefully. Lord willing, that's his will, we'll get into more of who he is this evening. So come back tonight so we can hear more about what the Lord is to us. He is so much more. Like I said, he is everything to me. I hope that in your life that he is everything to you. I hope that we can look to him and have faith and confidence knowing that he can take care of us when we need something. I'm telling you, he's like Billy's son, I thirst. He's the water that we need. He's the water of life. He's the bread of life. I mean, He's the great physician when we need a physician. He's the one that can heal us. He's the one that can help us in many, many, many dark and desperate times. He's there. When we feel alone, when we're in the darkness, we feel all alone in the darkness, He is the light of life. I'm telling you, He is those things. He's there. We just got to call upon Him. A lot of times, I believe that's our mistake. We try to do it all on our own, and we don't call upon Him. If you're going through something this morning, I want to encourage you that He's the Good Shepherd. He says when you're broken, I'm telling you, He'll bring you back to the fold. Hey, when you're in shambles, when life seems to be falling apart, He says, I'll come get you. I'll take you back to the fold. I believe the shepherd, I believe when he gets that sheep that's broken, I believe he brings him back, sets him beside him, makes sure he's taken care of. He makes sure that he's good to go. He breaks a leg. I believe that he's there to help mend the leg back together. And the whole time that he's mending the leg back together, he's standing right there next to the shepherd the whole time. The shepherd's taking care of that sheep. I believe that's us when we get broken. I believe that he'll bring us back and he'll set us right by his side and he'll be taking care of us and helping us and ministering to us and providing for us and showing us that, hey, we shouldn't have went astray to begin with. We should have just stayed with the shepherd. We wouldn't have been broken if we had just stayed with the shepherd, right? So he could take care of us and protect us and keep us safe from all harm he can. As we sing this, as you stand this morning and we sing this song, if there's a need in your life, we'd love to pray with you this morning.