John 10:7-9 – Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

I am the door – a door is a place of entry, a portal of access. Jesus is the door that gives you entrance into the Kingdom, into the promises the Father has for you.

John 10:10-14 – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.

Beware of listening to those hired hands.

We’re all susceptible to hirelings because we’re all sheep, and sheep need a shepherd.

Isaiah 53:6 – All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

What Makes Jesus the Good Shepherd

1 He is sacrificial – I give my life for the sheep.

2 He is loving – John 15:13 – Greater love has no man than this, he lays down his life.

3 He is Caring – 1 Peter 5:7 – Cast your anxiety upon him because he cares for you.

4 He is Personal – I know my sheep and my sheep know me. (John 10:14)

Questions for Discussion:
1) What is your interpretation of Jesus being “the door” for you to come in and go out?
2) What are some other voices or “hired hands” that you are prone to listen to?
3) What does abundant life mean to you?
4) What does your life look like when you’re living it abundantly?
5) Name a specific way that you have experienced the goodness of the Good Shepherd in your life recently.