John 21 - Loving The Lord Jesus

Main Idea: We have been loved by Jesus in a way that demands our worship and obedience.

WE LOVE JESUS BECAUSE HE LAVISHLY LOVES US

- He has diagnosed our broken state & provided our cure.

- He has given us more blessings than this life can contain.

- He doesn’t need anything from us, He just wants us.

- He enables us to meaningfully participate in His work.

WE EXPERIENCE JESUS' LOVE THROUGH HIS GIFTS

- Jesus gave us His Word & Spirit to bless others.

- Jesus gives us protective guidance & direction through shepherds.

- Jesus gives us our own unique purposes by which we glorify Him.

Sermon Transcript (Auto-Transcribed by Apple Podcasts)

I had to tell you guys, I am so, so, so excited for today's message for two reasons. Number one, anytime we come to the word of God, it is a precious and a holy thing that we don't come here to hear from Bryon.

Like, if all you came for was to hear me, I'm sorry, you know, price of admission was too much, and the price of admission to church is zero dollars. So you pay too much if it's just to hear me.

We come to the word of God to hear the Son of God and the Spirit of God speak to us. And so even as we approach this portion of scripture, I want to encourage you, listen for what the Lord has for you today.

It is also a time of really big rejoicing in my heart. We started going through the Gospel of John in 2024. I want to say it was probably June or July of 2024.

When we started, we took a few breaks in Genesis and in Daniel along the way. But this is now our 43rd message, and it is the final message in the Gospel of John.

And so, I can't help but think back to even the past six months as we have walked through chapters 11 through 21, or last year when we saw chapters 5 through 10, or when we started off and looked at chapters 1 through 4.

This book clearly declares to us who Jesus is. He is the Son of God, the one that came to redeem us, the one that came to give us new life. And as we hear Him and obey His voice, God has abundant life available for each and every one of us.

The story of the Gospel of John is not how you can work your way to God. The story of John is how Jesus worked His way to you.

And no matter who you are, no matter what you have done, no matter what you have encountered in your life, Jesus is there for you.

And whether you are Nicodemus the Righteous in John 3, who knows all of the Torah, knows all of the Bible, he needed to be born again. He needed to call on Jesus and be saved.

Or whether it was the woman at the well in John 4, that was from a heated people group, that she had had five husbands, and the man that she was then living with wasn't her husband. Jesus said, if you ask from me, I will give you living water.

And she led both, she accepted Jesus' salvation, and she led her town to accept Jesus. And so, no matter who you are, where you've been, if you're the thief on the cross, Jesus has salvation for you.

If you're the disciple that walks with Jesus each and every day, Jesus wants to save you as well. And so, that's a little bit of what we're going to look at today. The title of the message this morning is, Loving the Lord Jesus.

Loving the Lord Jesus. I normally enjoy, when it's maybe a little bit briefer passage, being able to read all of the way through it at the beginning, and then go through and have kind of the points of the sermon.

Today, the points of the sermon are all intertwined with what's going on, and so we're going to be navigating through the passage as we start off.

I do want to mention just this, these last two verses of John's Gospel by way of introduction as we read today. Verses 24 and 25 say this, This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down.

That is John, the son of Zebedee, the brother of James. He is the one that wrote this Gospel. He says, we know that his testimony is true.

He says, you guys know that I'm not lying. As he writes, he's writing in, if you will, complimentary fashion to the three other Gospel accounts, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that had been written beforehand.

And so he wrote what he did, as we heard two weeks ago, so that we would believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of the living God, and that through believing in him, we would have life in his name.

And verse 25 says this, and there were also many other things that Jesus did, which, if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.

That is true for the life of Jesus physically here on earth, but it is also true in your story, and it's true in my story, that we could not begin to believe everything that God has done for us.

If today you don't know the Lord, you don't have a walk with him yet, I want to tell you that all of your life has led to this moment where you get faced with the Son of God, and what he is extending to you is life and forgiveness, a relationship

with him. And so that's what we're going to behold today. Let's pray together and dive into the message. Dear Jesus, we thank you for today, God.

We pray that you would be speaking to our hearts as we hear from your word. God, I ask that you would help me to only say the things that you would have me to. Lord, I pray that you would give each of us ears to hear from your spirit.

Speak your truth to our hearts. God, we are so grateful for you, and we pray all of this in your precious name. Amen.

Kind of the main idea, the main thought of today's message is that we have been loved by Jesus in a way that demands our worship and obedience. We've been loved by Jesus in a way that demands our worship and obedience.

5:28

Jesusʼ Lavish Love

Today, beginning this passage, we see in the first portion of it that Jesus has lavishly loved us. And so as John would write in another one of his epistles, he says, we love him because he first loved us.

Any of our love for God is always reciprocal love. We are never the instigator of our relationship with God. God is the one who instigated it.

And so let that bring comfort into your heart, that the times that you fail and that you have sinned, that you've walked away from God, you've told him, no, that Jesus is the one that reached out first.

Knowing all of your sins and failures, he reached out to you because he loves you and he wants the relationship with you. So don't ever think that you have wandered too far away from him. He will always welcome you back with open arms.

So we love Jesus because he lavishly loves us. Let's begin walking through the passage beginning in verse number one. It says, after this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias.

This would be another name for the Sea of Galilee. Says he revealed himself in this way. So this is after Jesus's initial week of interacting with the disciples.

We even saw Easter morning, the resurrection appearances that he had. Then Easter evening, as he appeared to the disciples in the upper room. And then a week later, when Thomas was there as well, that he appeared.

That's what we saw at the end of chapter 20. And then now Jesus is showing himself again to the disciples resurrected. It wasn't just that people went, okay, the tomb is empty, therefore Jesus must be alive.

It was over and over and over again. And in groups and in varied groups and people that used to be skeptics and up to 500 people at one time that saw Jesus raised from the dead.

What we believe as Christians is not just, okay, well, the Bible says Jesus rose from the dead, and so I guess we just kind of have to believe it.

No, the Bible goes at great lengths to tell us, here are all of the people who saw him, and here are people that didn't believe in Jesus beforehand, that now believed in him, or the people like Thomas, as we saw last time, that had believed in Jesus,

but then didn't believe that he was risen from the dead. And so scripture goes to great lengths to tell us our faith is built, not just on blind hope or blind trust, but based on eyewitness accounts of the risen Lord.

Verse number 2, Simon Peter, Thomas, called twin or in Greek didymus, Nathaniel from Cana of Galilee, if you'll remember Simon Peter and Nathaniel, they were two of the ones that we saw in John 1 as some of the first to interact there with Jesus.

And so now they're here at the end as well. It says, Zebedee's sons, and that's James and John. James would actually be killed within the next 10 years or so by Herod, who was the king of that country of Judah.

And it says, and two others of his disciples were together. I don't totally know why John names all of the other ones and doesn't name the other two disciples, but I'll ask him one day when I get there.

I'm going fishing, Simon Peter said to them, and I know we have some guys and girls in this room that would say, Amen. I like that. I like this, Peter.

He says, I'm going fishing. We're coming with you, they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Friends, this is actually the word where we would get, the Greek word underlying here, friends, is kind of like the word where we would have pediatrics.

It's the word for little kids. He was like, hey, kiddos. Jesus called to them, you don't have any fish, do you?

No, they answered. If you were out all night on the boat, and all of a sudden some wise acre on the shore is going, hey, caught any fish? You might, I assume Peter, knowing what I read of him in Scripture, he's like, no, we didn't catch any fish.

Jesus says, cast the net on the right side of the boat, he told them, and you'll find some. So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.

Notice here, even as Jesus interacts with them, it's similar to the way that he interacts with us. We love Jesus because he lavishly loves us. He has diagnosed our broken state and provided our cure.

You see, your problem and my problem is not necessarily that we haven't caught enough fish or that we weren't successful enough hunters. Our problem is that all of us have sinned. We have fallen short of the glory of God, that God is perfect.

He is good. He is loving. He is kind.

He is loyal. He is just, and we have not been that. We have all said and done and thought things that violate the law and character of God.

So, as a result of that, our relationship with God and with other people is broken.

Now, our brokenness doesn't just mean that we have an iffy, broken relationship with God and people, but Scripture also tells us that there is an eternal separation, an eternal brokenness that awaits all of us if we continue in our separation from

God. The Bible calls this a place called hell. But Jesus loved us so much that He came, He lived a perfect, sinless life.

He died on the cross, not as a result just of geopolitical struggles in the area, but because He, being perfect, laid down His life. He died. He took the punishment that you and I deserved.

We deserved death, separation from God and life and love. Jesus took that on Himself so that we would not have to be punished. If you will, He paid the bill for us.

And so, because Jesus died and then rose again, He is God Himself, because Jesus died, whoever calls on Him for salvation will be saved. They will be completely forgiven.

You're not just put back on the right path and hopefully you don't fall off again. Scripture tells us that you are then indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God, that if you will, God safeguards you for the rest of your life.

It's the wonderful truth called the perseverance of the saints, that who God saves, he guides and protects and keeps all throughout the remainder of a person's life.

We read this even in John 6 and in John 10, that those that belong, the sheep that belong to Jesus are in his hand and he is in the Father's hand, and no one can pluck them out of the hand of the Father. What a joyous truth that that is.

So Jesus knows what's broken in you and me. Now, what's broken in each of us is actually different. There are some people in the room that maybe have struggled with addiction, and we have people that have never so much as gotten addicted to candy.

We have people in the room that you really struggle with anger, and other people that struggle with lying, some people that struggle with lust, some people that struggle with envy or wanting what other people have.

All of us have different things that we are broken in, and I want you to know that Jesus sees you specifically, and He has the cure for what is broken in you and what is broken in me.

And the answer to that is the Holy Spirit of God, using the Word of God to make the child of God more like the Son of God. And so that is what we see, that Jesus loves us. He has diagnosed our broken state, and He has provided our cure.

Can I ask you today, have you ever turned your life over to Jesus? Have you recognized that the diagnosis that Dr. Jesus, the great physician, has diagnosed you with?

Have you said, Jesus, you're right. I have been broken, and I need the doctor to come fix me. I need your salvation.

I need to, if you will, follow. I need to take that prescription of eternal life that Jesus has given, that I repent of my sin, and I believe in Jesus. If you have never done that, I want to encourage you to make that choice today.

Next, as we travel through, we see in verse, actually, no, I'm going to wait here first.

13:54

Abundant Blessings

At the end of verse number six, he says, So they did, so they cast the net on the right side of the boat. It says, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. I am not a fisherman.

I don't think that's a shock to very many of you. But for those of you that are fishermen or fisherwomen, I don't know that you have ever experienced this, where there were just too many fish hopping on to your pole or whatever.

And I don't know that you've ever experienced this. But what a joy that the way that Jesus has loved us is super abounding. It is more than we could ever think or imagine.

Kevin Ezell, the president of the North American Mission Board, quoted that verse, Ephesians 3, 20, and 21, even in his video. And I love that Jesus has given us more blessings than this life can contain. I want you to think about that.

Many times in our day to day, we think about our struggles, our hardships. We think about loved ones traveling through health difficulties. We can think about our own health difficulties.

We can consider our lack of finances. We can think about the interpersonal struggles that we are facing, hard choices that we have to make. And we can wonder where God's goodness is in the middle of it all.

But can I encourage you today that God's goodness to you is not limited to the here and now. And in the day to day, today, we may have some struggles. We may have some hardships.

But there is coming a day when all heartaches will end. No more clouds in the sky. No more tears to dim the eye.

All is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore. What a day, wonderful day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, and I shall look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace.

And when he takes me by the hand and leads me to the promised land, what a day, glorious day that will be. Were you playing that one earlier? Yeah.

I was going to say, someone got it stuck in my head earlier, and I think it was you. Grateful for that. That's a great one.

Jesus has everlasting life prepared for you, and you are not going to be bored. You are not going to be stuck in eternity with the risen Lord.

My friend, Ephesians chapter 2, the Apostle Paul would tell us that God has planned throughout the endless ages to show you the incredible riches of his kindness in Christ Jesus.

So if right now stinks, if right now you experience hardship, know that it's not forever, and that day of joy is coming. And one day, when we shed this mortal coil, we will get to experience God's lavish, unlimited goodness to us forever.

There will never come a day where God runs out of goodness, or runs out of kindness for you.

So in the broken moments now, cling to that promise, that those overflowing nets that the men couldn't even contain, they couldn't even receive all of the blessings that God had for them in that moment.

So it is with the child of God, that until this mortal has put on immortality, and until this corruptible puts on incorruptibility, I can't receive everything that God has for me. So live today knowing that the bright tomorrow is coming.

I also think that it's instructive for us as we think about the men, they have their nets on the left side, and Jesus said, throw it over to the right side. And when they obeyed, then there was blessing.

My parents from the time I was a little kid would always tell me and my three siblings, obedience brings blessing, disobedience brings conflict. And over and over again in my life, I found that to be true.

When I'm obeying the Lord, there is blessing that is found there. And when I disobey the Lord, if I leave the nets on the other side, I will not experience the blessing that God wants me to have within my life.

Then verse number seven says, The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, it is the Lord.

I like all the way through John's gospel how he's always like, and I knew first out of all the guys that were on the boat, yeah, you know, Simon Peter, you know, he's going to jump off into the sea, but I knew it was Jesus first.

And when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him for he had taken it off. Actually, this is a great way for me to illustrate this real quick.

So Peter has like his outer garment thing, and you know, he ties it around his waist, and he's like, all right, we're going swimming, guys. And he jumps off into the water because he wants to be with the Lord.

There's an excitement in Peter to be able to see Jesus. Can I ask you, even as you wake up every morning, you're not going to see, if you will, Jesus physically embodied. It's not that time yet, but are you excited to see him in the Word?

Are you excited to go to him in prayer? Are you excited each Lord's Day that comes around? Are you excited to come and worship together, to see the body of Christ lift up the risen King together?

Are you excited to see Jesus even here as Peter was? Since they were not far from land, about 100 yards away, the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. I'm certain deriding Peter in their heart the whole way.

They're like, listen, all of us want to see him, but we've also got to bring the fish.

And we left behind one of our guys that were super strong, and we'd already been told that they couldn't even bring the net into the boat because of how many fish there were.

And so knowing them, I'm sure that there was some verbal spouting of like, oh, come on, Peter, like we want to see him too. It says, when they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish lying on it and bread.

Okay, so Jesus helped them get the fish. Did Jesus need their fish in order to eat? No.

I love, as we think about Jesus' lavish love for us, he doesn't need anything from us. He just wants us. There is nothing that you can do for the Lord that he cannot do for himself.

His desire for you is that you would be with him. Know that all the work that you can do does not bring you one step closer to God. He is already right there beside you, my friend.

You do not have to earn his favor. His favor, his view of you, was earned on the cross of Calvary by the Son of God, saying, Father, forgive them, because they don't know what they're doing.

And we who were far off have been brought close by the blood of Christ. I love here that Jesus doesn't need anything from us. He just wants us.

Jesus in verse number 10 says, bring some of the fish you've just caught. He told them. I love this.

Jesus didn't have to have them bring the fish, but he wanted them to participate in the work that he was doing. Jesus already had the fish. He was already cooking it, but he invited them to meaningfully participate in what was happening.

He invited them to bring their fish. It says, So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.

It was kind of funny as I was studying over the past, like, couple of weeks for this passage. Way back in the day, there were some people that were like, okay, I'm sure that this number 153 has to have some sort of, like, hidden meaning underneath.

And they're like, okay, 12 tribes of Israel times 12 minus a couple of apostles plus some of these churches. And boom, we get to 153. And so they tried to do all sorts of numbers.

Frankly, I think we can just take it at face value of what the Lord here says, that this is a tremendous load of fish that was caught, 153 of them. And I love it there. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.

One of my favorite verses is in Proverbs and it says, The blessing of the Lord, it makes rich and he adds no sorrow with it. When God blesses you, there is able to be a joy. It is overabundance and yet the net is not torn.

Even as I think about our church family, one prayer that I often see pastors pray is, Lord, would you help us to grow at a pace in which we can remain healthy? I'm sure we'd all love it.

If 3,000 people tomorrow wanted to join Tabernacle Baptist, but we would very quickly go, wait a second, where are we supposed to put all these people? How are we supposed to man our kids' classes or our nursery?

Or how are we supposed to deal with the facilities or with the parking? And we would not be able to receive the blessing that God was pouring out onto our church.

And so this is something that we can pray as God, give us your blessing and give us it so that there is not the nets being torn, that we are able to do this at a healthy, sustainable pace.

I'm so thankful for how the Lord even has been growing and moving in our church body over this past, really this past year or so. I was just seeing God do some amazing things.

There's been lots of hurts and fears as people navigate through various financial and health difficulties. But I've seen over and over again the love of Jesus be shown through his body and that God continues to add to the church as he desires.

And so I'm really, really grateful for that. Jesus said in verse number 12, Come and have breakfast, Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you?

Because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them. Now, does that phrase remind you of anything like Jesus took the bread, broke it, gave it to them?

Here, John reminds us of that last supper. And here in this moment, that we can have even day by day, even on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, we can have sweet communion with our Lord and with the others that are there.

It says he did the same with the fish. It says this was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. So we see first that we love Jesus because he lavishly loves us.

He's diagnosed our broken state, provided the cure, given us more blessings than this life can contain. He doesn't need anything from us. He just wants us, and he enables us to meaningfully participate in his work.

That though Jesus would be totally fine, he would have everything he needed without our help. He wants you to be involved in what he is doing. He wants you to be a part of how other people at Tabernacle experience the encouragement and love of Jesus.

He wants you to be a part of that. He wants you to be a part of the gospel work that happens, inviting people to come to know the Lord Jesus, inviting them to become a part of our family of believers. God wants you to meaningfully participate in it.

And then, secondly and lastly today, we experience Jesus' love through his gifts. You can see this. I'm going to read through verses 15 through 25.

That way, we can get kind of full picture here.

25:41

Peterʼs Commission

When they'd eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, Simon, son of John or son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? It's a little unclear in the passage, whether he's referring to the other disciples, whether he's referring to the fish.

There are various people that think it might be okay. Do you love God more than the work that you're doing, the hobbies that you enjoy, or do you love God more than the people that you lead?

Do you love God more than you love your friends or your family members? There's a number of possibilities there. It's helpful for us to think through all of those possibilities.

Do I love Jesus more than anything? Do I love Jesus more than anyone? He says, do you love me more than these?

He says, yes, Lord. He said to him, you know that I love you. Feed my lambs, he told him.

A second time, he asked him, Simon, son of John or Jonah, do you love me? Yes, Lord, he said to him, you know that I love you. Shepherd, my sheep, he told him.

He asked him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know everything.

Do you know that I love you? Feed my sheep, Jesus said. Now, I want to remind you guys, do you guys remember any time in the Gospel of John where Peter said something three times?

What was it? Yeah. Three times he said, I don't even know the man.

And now Jesus says, for every time that there was brokenness, for every time that there was sin and denial of the Lord, I want you to know, I'm giving you just that many more opportunities to be able to say, God, I love you.

Now, I love that Jesus here highlights that love for Jesus means love for the sheep. We cannot say, and John actually highlights this a lot in his letter of 1st John, we cannot say that we love God and hate God's people.

We cannot say, oh yes, me and God are great. But man, Susie Q and Lori Barnby and Ron Smith and Bob Bourne, man, I just really can't stand those four, but I love Jesus. No, we the greatly forgiven ought to greatly forgive and love others.

If we have been forgiven the debt of an eternity of sin and separation from God, you can handle 60 years being friends with, loving, being kind to, praying for, encouraging those around you. If Jesus loves them, you and I ought to love them too.

If Jesus has forgiven them, you and I ought to forgive them as well. I also love here as Jesus highlights, you saw the first couple of times he said, feed my sheep or feed my lambs.

And then he also says to shepherd that here Jesus speaking to Peter, this one who would be a pastor and elder, both in the church at Jerusalem, the church in Babylon, at times even the church in Antioch, that there was a commissioning here to Peter

to say, if you really do love me, then it is going to require you to tell the people of God what the Word of God says. It's going to require you caring for, guiding, shepherding these people in their walks with the Lord.

Verse number 18, Jesus goes on. He says, truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you'd tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted.

But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don't want to go. He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would. And then what are those next two words?

Glorify God. Even our deaths can bring glory to the King of Kings. May we choose, may we desire God to my dying breath.

I want to follow you and love you and obey you. He says, after saying this, he told him, follow me. History would tell us that Peter got crucified.

He actually got crucified upside down because he said, I am not worthy to die in the same manner as my Lord. And so he would die there in Rome. I think I might have said Babylon earlier on.

If I did say that, ignore that. Rome was the other location where Peter was at. So he died crucified upside down.

If you were told the end of your life, you're going to be taken and killed, and Jesus says, follow me, would you do it? But for every single one of you here today, Jesus says, I want you to live for me. Will you do that?

Verse number 20, So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them. John was nosy. All the time, he's listening in, he's hearing what's going on.

John is following Peter and Jesus, the one who would lean back against Jesus at the supper and ask, Lord, who is the one that's going to betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about him?

So Jesus tells Peter, all right, you're going to die, you're going to be taken, you know, hands tied, and you're going to be taken to your death. And Peter's first reaction, like many kids is, aw, but what about him?

What kind of death does he have to die? And here's the question that Peter asked the Lord. Jesus answered, if I want him to remain until I come, Jesus answered, what is that to you?

As for you, follow me. Jesus says, hey, if I want to come back before John dies, like that has nothing to do with your mission or your purpose on this earth. Your unique purpose and walk with God is for you.

You don't have to have everyone else's things. You don't have to have everyone else's story. You have your story by which you are called to bring glory to God.

So, this rumor spread to the brothers and sisters that this disciple would not die. Yet, Jesus did not tell him that he would not die. But, if I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?

This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

There are also many other things that Jesus did, which if every one of them were written down, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that were written.

So not only has Jesus lavishly loved us, but we experience his love through his gifts. Jesus gave us his word and his spirit to bless others.

Jesus here, he instructs Peter to feed the sheep, that they would be given the word of God to know how they ought to live and act. Can I ask you, are you in the word each and every day? Are you spending time in prayer with the Lord?

And can I tell you, find out how God wants to use you to help others, not how to use others to help you. Find out how God has placed you in this body of believers in order to be a blessing to someone else. If you are here, God wants that for you.

You do have a purpose by which you are called to bless, benefit, encourage someone else in their spiritual walk. Find out what that is. Secondly, Jesus gives us protective guidance and direction through shepherds.

Here as Jesus talks to Peter, Peter would later tell some of the churches in Asia Minor in the letter of 1st Peter in chapter 5. He would say, Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, not out of compulsion, but willingly.

He says, because you know that the chief shepherd will one day come. Peter never got over this command from the Lord Jesus. Can I encourage you?

Are you allowing your shepherds, your pastors, to know you, to guide and to feed you? And selfishly, I'll say, pray for your pastors.

Even over the past like two, three weeks, being able to walk with our church body through grief, through prayer, through council, through just heartbreaking scenarios. Many of us at church, we don't always know what people are going through.

But as people's lives and hearts and bodies are broken, they're very often asking for spiritual assistance or asking for council. And I want to encourage you, pray for your pastors. We need it.

We are not the ultimate shepherd. We are not the chief shepherds. He is, but we want to be faithful under shepherds.

And so would you pray for us as we seek to feed and to shepherd the sheep of God? And then Jesus gives us our own unique purposes by which we glorify him. God has a unique path for Mary, for Tony, for Sherry, for Marla, the other Marla.

God has unique purposes for every single one of us. Embrace what God has given you and the unique path that God has for your life.

Don't obsess over others' paths, either in envy of, I wish I had their life, or in pride of going, man, my life's pretty great, and I'm really glad that I don't have Shelby's life. We ought to always have a humility in the way that we view our path.

And then I want to encourage us as well, our sufferings or our victories are God's unique path for us. It might be that in our death, we glorify Jesus.

It might be in the loss of a relationship or a loved one or a loss of possessions that God wants to glorify himself through that, through how we interact with the situation and others as a result.

It might be that God gives us victories and joys that we need to rejoice in, and that's how we give God glory. But each one of us have our own path to walk.

As Paul would tell us in Romans 14, so then every one of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Are you prepared for that day when you stand before your judge and your maker, and he asks, what did you do with the unique path that I gave you?

No one else, but I gave you. Jesus has loved us in a way that demands our worship and obedience. He's the risen Lord.

He has given us everything that we need from now until all of eternity. So we ought to worship and obey him.

And we can experience his love even now through the gifts of the Word and the Spirit, the shepherds, and the unique path that God has given to us individually. Today, will you choose to worship and obey this Jesus? The Gospel of John is complete.

This is the Word of the Lord for us. Will we respond to him in faith today? Would you stand with me?