Wolves, bears, and lions can be ferocious when they attack, and we must know that there is a shepherd who will drive away the devastating beast and guard and protect every sheep and lamb in the fold. David, the shepherd king of Israel, knew all about it some three thousand years ago.

This is one of the ways the pastor pleases the Father. He cares for, cares for, and guides the sheep.

All of this essential and foundational teaching comes from the 10th chapter of John in the New Testament. Take your time and take the time to read it. Jesus Christ goes on to say: “I am the good shepherd and I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”

Jesus links his shepherding ministry to God the Father, and we also link our shepherding ministry to Jesus.

The sheep hear the voice of the shepherd and move in the direction the shepherd wants to move, because the shepherd will always be concerned about safety and pasture, and refreshing and revitalizing water.

The sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd and eat and drink what he has provided. And the tone of the pastor’s voice should be the same on Monday or Friday as on Sunday and Wednesday. There has to be coherence.

The way forward in the church of Jesus Christ is not to fight and fight, but to listen, submit, serve, obey, love and sacrifice.

The way forward for us in the Church of Jesus Christ is not to resist, argue, or rebel, but to feed, follow, and fellowship.

And the sheep know the voice of the shepherd. Now, if the shepherd says – now, you are in the flock, along with all the other members of the flock, and you will be fed and watered with good things, and if the individual continually says “no”, then the shepherd realizes it. that that individual is not one of his sheep.

We need not only good shepherds, but sheep who listen, submit, serve, and obey.

Consider how Peter, James, John, Paul, and Silas submitted to the Good Shepherd, and sometimes at great physical cost.

And the loner, the one who thinks he doesn’t need the protection of being in the fold, the isolated wanderer, can easily be captured by any of these wild beasts and any of these temptations. How often have we seen that over the years, when people have been misled, misled, and misled? It is a fact of physical and spiritual life.

While Jesus is considering his death, his mind is on his sheep. Here, and of course the night before Jesus went to the Cross, Jesus was always thinking of his sheep and talking about having other sheep. Are these sheep Gentiles? Are these sheep that were not Jews, and are they people who had yet to come to him and repent and believe and be baptized in water and receive the Holy Spirit?

This is one of the things that makes serving Jesus Christ in the Kingdom of God so exciting and exciting. We never know what the risen and living Christ will do next.

Think about what happened in the 1960s and 1970s, that amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit worldwide. Could it happen again? We never know! It will mean talking to the pastor and listening to his clear and kind voice.