John 10:11-18       NT p. 98

11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away--and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,

15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.

16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.

18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."

INTRODUCTION:

Make Sure Everyone Has A River Rock Before The Pastoral Prayer, For The Closing Of The Sermon And The End Of The Service.

Begin with the Skit "Tale of Two Fathers" from Communication Resources, Volume 1, p 297.

Well, I'm still waiting. Have you gotten yours yet? I ordered mine nearly thirty years ago and renewed the order every year since. I really tried to find out what they did with the order 19 years ago and I still haven't gotten it. I know we should get one. We get one with everything else. We got one with the van. We got one with my computer. We even got one with Midnight's new dog collar. Oh sure, sometimes I misplace them, but at least we get them. But I haven't gotten the ones I need the most. I've been looking and waiting for years.

What am I talking about. The Owner's Manual and the Warranty on my boys. I keep looking in the mail but so far, I haven't gotten it or it's been shipped to the wrong address.

Unfortunately, there is no Owners Manual or Warranty on our children. There's not even a tag that says, "some assembly required" or "batteries not included." We go to the hospital filled with hope. The children are delivered. And then we start asking, "When are we going to the Owner's Manual?" and sometimes, "Who is going to deliver the parents."

The skit we just saw makes a great point. Though we don't get an Owner's Manual, there is an instruction Book that we can turn to.

A story is going around the internet right now about a little boy who tells his father that he knows exactly what the Bible means. Of course Dad says, "Oh, yeah. What does the Bible mean." To which the little boy responds: "The Bible means Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth."

I really like that. The Bible is our basic instruction book for life and relationships. Oh, I know, you can't turn to an index and get direct advice about how to deal with your straight A student who suddenly decides they want to pierce their eyebrows or dye their hair clown orange. Or a child who has decided that the only thing they can eat is a diet of quail eggs, jicama, kiwi and tabouli. It doesn't give direct answers about what movies we should let our children see or what curfew we should set for what age.

But it DOES speak to us of a loving caring God. It IS filled with stories of loving caring parents. It DOES show by example what loving relationships should be like. It DOES tell us the ramifications of disobedience and disrespect. And it DOES talk about grace, love, mercy, forgiveness and about giving and sacrifice. And parents know what sacrifice is all about.

I. OF SHEEP AND SHEPHERDS:

A. Jesus compares us to sheep and shepherds, and describes Himself as the Good Shepherd. I'm not so sure being called sheep is much of a compliment. You see, sometimes they smell like sheep. And by that I mean that sometimes sheep really stink.

But then so do we. Sometimes life stinks. And sometimes we stink at life. That's why Jesus came. Because sometimes we stink at life and we totally mess up this wonderful gift from God. Jesus came to give us hope. He came to bring mercy instead of justice and offer us forgiveness. That's why He made the ultimate sacrifice of giving Himself for our sakes.

That's why God gave us the church. The church is a place where we can be in relationship with others who understand and have experienced that sometimes life stinks and sometimes we stink at life. But more than that, we understand that there is a place and a person to turn to when life stinks and when we stink at life. For in the church we find others who understand that you don't have to be perfect to be a part of the rich fellowship known as the church. All you have to do is acknowledge that you need the help and forgiveness of God through Jesus. You don't have to be perfect. God doesn't want perfect Christians, God wants Christian Disciples who can be perfected.

You see, God knows that sometimes we not only look like sheep but smell like sheep, too. He knows that sometimes life stinks and sometimes we stink at life.

B. Parents know that the same is true for kids. Sometimes life stinks and sometimes they stink at life.

You may have already seen this but it's hilarious. Whenever your kids are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that even God's omnipotence did not extend to God's kids. After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing God said was:

"Don't".

"Don't what?" Adam replied.

"Don't eat the forbidden fruit." God said.

"Forbidden fruit? We got forbidden fruit? Hey, Eve...we got forbidden fruit!"

"No way!"

"Yes way!"

"Don't eat that fruit!" said God.

"Why?"

"Because I am your Father and I said so!" said God, wondering why he hadn't stopped after making the elephants.

A few minutes later God saw his kids having an apple break and was angry. "Didn't I tell you not to eat the fruit?" the First Parent asked.

"Uh huh," Adam replied.

"Then why did you?"

"I dunno," Eve answered.

"She started it!" Adam said.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"DID NOT!!"

Having had it with the two of them, God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own. Thus, the pattern was set and it has never changed. But there is reassurance in this story: If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give them wisdom and they haven't taken it, don't be hard on yourself. If God had trouble handling children, what makes you think it would be a piece of cake for you?

As parents, we've all been there, haven't we? That's why we need the Scripture and it's why we need the Church.

Let me share with you:

Billy's Recipe for Good Parenting:

It takes equal parts of Faith, Hope, Prayer, Patience, and Sacrifice:

Add to that a cup of The Milk of Human Kindness.

Daily helpings of Scripture.

A double dose of Grace.

Large portions of Sunday School and Worship.

A pound of Discipline.

Sweeten it all with lots of Joy.

Stir in a barrel of Laughter.

Flavor it with a modicum of Mercy.

Then gently mix it all together with a Lifetime of Love. And serve.

Parenting isn't easy, even in the best of times. We need the basic instructions and the Biblical examples to help us raise our children right. And we need the fellowship of like minded people for comfort and support. We need the Bible and the Church because sometimes life stinks and sometimes we stink at life.

II. A SHEPHERD'S SACRIFICE:

A. Today is Mother's Day and we honor all of the mothers who are with us this morning. The carnations on the altar honor all of the mothers who have made a difference in our lives.

We're also in the winding up stages of our Capital Campaign. In the plan of the Campaign, next Sunday is Commitment Sunday and that means that this Sunday is supposed to be the hard hitting, two fisted, sermon on spiritual sacrifice and giving.

At first I wasn't sure it was a good idea to combine the two. But then I got to thinking, what better time to talk about sacrifice then on Mother's Day. Jesus describes Himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. He talks about caring and sacrifice. I got to thinking, who understands sacrifice better than Mothers? Or Parents in general?

Parents make sacrifices all the time so their children can have certain things in life. We sacrifice and save for the stuff we want in the future or the future of our children. As parents we sacrifice our time so that our children can play soccer or dance or be involved in tumbling or little league.

As married couples we make sacrifices for each other so that our partner can excel. We make sacrifices for those things that we believe in.

B. Mary and I believe in this building project. I truly believe that this is what God wants us to do. I've never felt this strongly about any other building project I've ever been involved in. I really believe that God wants us to move and to build some form of what we have been presenting as our preliminary plans because, the Holy Spirit has been present in every single Building Committee meeting and has lead us every step of the way.

Mary and I both believe in this campaign. And we plan on increasing our giving, up and above our normal tithe, to help make it happen. We plan on giving sacrificially so that we can see God's vision for this Church come to life. We plan on giving sacrificially not just to build a building. But in order to build disciples who can and will make a difference in the lives of parents, children and youth in this community.

We plan on giving so the ministry of this church can help equip parents and future parents for those times when life stinks or they stink at life.

We plan on giving because we have heard the voice of the Good Shepherd calling.

We plan on giving sacrificially because the Good Shepherd gave His life sacrificially for us.

I know many of you have already made your commitments. I can't tell you what a joy it is to be a part of something so big that we have to rely fully on God for it to happen. But then you've already experienced that, haven't you.

If you haven't made your commitment yet, than I ask you to think about how you can be involved. But more importantly I ask you to spend time in prayer, seeking God's will for your involvement. Ask yourself, "If not Now? When?" And "If not You? Who?"

God wants you to be involved in both the campaign and in the ministry of this church. I truly believe that. How much is between you and God. So spend time in prayer and ask God, "How much?"

CONCLUSION:

This morning, as we close, I want you to be a part of a prayer experience. I hope you have your river rock. This whole campaign has been based on prayer and faith in God. Those are the foundations of everything we do. Thinking is those terms, today we would like you to consider the river rock as a symbol of your prayers and your faith. You've held them during worship and during our times of prayer so that your prayers and our prayers could be wrapped around that rock.

Now, as we close the sermon and the service, we'd like to ask you as you leave to take the rock, sign it with the markers on the table and then place it in one of the empty baskets. The stones will be saved and put into the foundation of the new building, when it is built, as a symbol of both our faith and our prayers.

We all know that without faith and without prayers we would never make it through those times when life stinks or we stink at life. But we give thanks for the Good Shepherd Who gave His life for our lives, and Who hears our prayers and offers comfort, strength and salvation. He truly is the rock of our salvation.

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