YuruChurch 悠日教會: Jesus, The Soul Shepherd

Jesus, The Soul Shepherd

around 2 000 years ago jesus was born in bethlehem [Music]

and the first people the angels announced his birth to were shepherds out watching their flocks

this was fitting because jesus was a descendant from a long line of shepherds

including abraham isaac jacob judah and david

like his forefathers jesus also was a shepherd even though as far as we know he never

led any sheep instead he led people [Music]

the bible metaphorically gives jesus a title the great shepherd of his sheep

and just as his forefathers tended their flocks in israel israel is also the setting for jesus's

earthly shepherding

six years ago i moved my wife and three young children to israel just as my father had moved his family

to the middle east when i was a boy i grew up camping in the desert where i

first got acquainted with the nomadic shepherds known as bedouin [Music]

this background helped me to get to know the bedouin living in israel

who tend their flocks in the very same places that the shepherds in the bible

did their shepherding thousands of years ago [Music]

[Applause] [Music] [Applause]

[Music] you're the filmer i'm the i'm the

shepherd savior june [Music]

[Applause] [Music]

from what i've filmed over the last several years you're gonna see a lot of shots of

bedouin and their sheep [Music] but this movie isn't actually about them

this movie is about you [Music]

you see the shepherding that takes place in israel today can help us more deeply

understand our own relationship with the one the apostle peter called

the shepherd of your souls

okay [Music]

[Music] shepherding is all about calling and

listening these are the same kind of sheep that we

read about in the bible today they're known as fat tail sheep this breed of sheep instinctively

follows the voice of their shepherd

and it's this act of following that keeps them alive [Music]

you see sheep don't know where to find good pasture or where to find water or

shelter only the shepherd knows where all the needs of his flaw can be met

and so he calls to them and they follow him to food drink and protection

metaphorically this is what a relationship with jesus looks like human souls following the voice of the

only one who knows where to lead them

[Music]

so [Music]

for most of the year in israel food is scarce

shepherds must lead their flocks great distances to keep them fed

for a short time after the rainy season pasture becomes

lush only under these conditions can well-fed sheep lay down and rest

in the bible metaphor food represents god's truth jesus taught that the food that the soul

lives on is every word that comes from the mouth of god

[Music] [Laughter]

[Music]

the shepherd david wrote about his own relationship with the lord in psalm 23.

[Music]

so [Music]

most of the water available to flocks in israel is found at the bottom of deep wells

therefore sheep and goats must completely rely upon their shepherd to give them water

in the biblical metaphor water represents the holy spirit jesus called the holy spirit living

water and promised anyone who drank of it that they would live forever

and anyone who wanted to drink of the holy spirit had to rely on jesus because

he was the only one that could give it to them [Music]

sheep are completely helpless against their enemies and in israel the number one enemy of

sheep has always been and continues to be the wolf

the bible describes wolves as being savage and ferocious

despite the fact that the bible describes gazelle as being swift and alert

they often fall prey to wolves

and since a wolf can easily kill a gazelle a sheep has no chance at all

this reality raises an important question how is it that helpless sheep are

protected from wolves one day in israel i was filming this

wolf notice how he hunkers down when he crosses my scent path

and after he smells me immediately he starts looking for me you see wolves are

afraid of people and the only thing that protects sheep from wolves is that they

are in the presence of a human shepherd

david wrote about this in psalm 23 when he says [Music] though i walk through the valley of the

shadow of death i will fear no evil for you are with me in other words david is

protected from his spiritual enemy because he is in the presence of the lord his shepherd

in the shepherding metaphor the wolf represents our spiritual enemy

but the devil and his demons are terrified of jesus and so it's being in the presence of

jesus our shepherd that protects us from evil

there is something else that shepherds use to protect their sheep from wolves

nighttime is when sheep are the most vulnerable to wolf attack

so before sunset a shepherd gets his flock into one of

these a sheep pen

sheep pens protect sheep throughout the night from wolves in the bible metaphor a sheep pen

represents heaven and eternal life so we can see how souls go to heaven by

understanding how shepherds use sheep pens

so a sheep pen is made up of these stone walls that come together and form a narrow opening so before evening sets in

the shepherd gets his flock into the protection of a sheep pen and then he himself serves as the gate to a sheep by

sitting or laying in this narrow opening so that nothing can get in and nothing

can get out without going through the shepherd [Music]

so [Music]

[Applause] [Music]

just as sheep have life with their shepherd so the human soul has life with god

[Music]

but the bible describes a soul that's separated from god as being like sheep

without a shepherd [Music]

one day i was randomly filming a shepherd and his flock off in the distance when i noticed this sheep going

astray the shepherd doesn't see this stray and continues up the valley with the rest of

his flock this sheep has chosen not to follow its shepherd but instead to go

its own way at one point the sheep even takes one last look back at what it's leaving behind

and what is leaving behind is the very person it needs to survive

it's hard to imagine but it's true that most lost sheep got that way like

this one by choice

this sheep is straying from the human presence that protects it nor will it be able to find water or the

protection of a sheep pen come nightfall

and the penalty of such a choice is death

[Music]

without a shepherd the sheep will never live long enough to die of thirst

the wolves will get it first

and this is why the bible describes a lost sheep as being food for all the wild animals

[Music]

the bible tells us that sin is choosing our own way so that we can do what we

want rather than following god and that sin is what separates us from

god and the penalty of sin is death

a lost soul is helpless and therefore

the only hope that a lost soul has to live is if its shepherd

will seek it out find it and rescue it

[Music] right

[Music]

in ezekiel chapter 34 god says my sheep have become food for all the

wild animals since there was no shepherd

i myself will be the shepherd of my sheep i will seek the lost and bring back the

strayed in fulfillment of this jesus said of himself

for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost

whoever hears my word and believes has crossed over

from death to life [Music]

if the shepherd doesn't hear the faint cry of the weak then a life is lost

shepherding is a relationship between the many who are weak depending upon the one who is strong

[Music]

a relationship based on grace and mercy [Music]

and trust

a relationship of tender care

and love

[Music] there are some tactics shepherds use in an attempt to try and teach a wandering

sheep to follow but in the end such things can't be forced

in the end every soul must choose to either be with god or without him

in the end every soul must choose between life and death

[Music]

in the bible shepherding metaphor sheep represent the souls that choose god while the souls who don't are the goats

we're not sure why maybe it's because goats are stronger and therefore often mean to sheep

whatever the reason it's often not hard to imagine goats as representing evil

[Music]

almost all bedouin owned both sheep and goats but out in the field i began to notice

that many of the flocks were either made up of all goats or all sheep

all goats all sheep

goats sheep goats

the reason for this is that goats are tougher than sheep and so they can feed in places that

sheep can't

therefore shepherds don't want their goats grazing where only their sheep can go to feed

for this reason in the early morning a shepherd will separate his goats from his sheep

one shepherd takes the sheep into the gentle valleys to graze

while another shepherd takes the goats to a more rugged feeding ground

this process of separation is what jesus used figuratively to describe what the

day of judgment will be like [Music]

[Music]

jesus said to the souls of people i am the good shepherd the good shepherd

lays down his life for the sheep come follow me

i am the way the truth and the life

enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate that leads to destruction

but small is the gate that leads to life and only if you find it

no one comes to the father except through me

i tell you the truth a time is coming and has now come

when the dead will hear the voice of the son of god and those who hear

will live first peter 2 25 says of jesus

he himself bore our sins and his body on the tree so that we might die to sins and live

for righteousness by his wounds you have been healed

for you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned

to the shepherd and overseer of your souls

@ngoc4312

1 年前

I was homeless, got into drugs, went into prisons, then i got to know Jesus, He changed my life.. Now i have a home, a wife, a lovely daughter and a new identity... A child of God.. Hallelujah

翻譯成中文（台灣）

I've walked away, many times. Please Jesus hear my cry. Please forgive my stubbornness and hard-heartedness. Please forgive my doubts and unfaithfulness and mistrust. Please I beg of you. I know you are my provider, healer, peacemaker, and waymaker. Let me hear your voice. Thank you, Lord, for all of Joel’s videos. Visually beautiful videos that make you more personal to me. In Jesus’ name.

翻譯成中文（台灣）

Jesus, The Soul Shepherd

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