The God I Wish You Knew Part 3

Solar Eclipse

When I look at the world as it is…

What do I wish people knew about God?

What do I wish people knew about Mt. Pleasant?

I want you discover the God who DRAWS you, not the Religion that DRIVES you.

“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him.

“I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary.

Jesus answered, “I told you, but you don’t believe. Everything I have done has been authorized by my Father, actions that speak louder than words. You don’t believe because you’re not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand.

The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind.”

John 10:11-18,25-30 (Message)

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and

helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Matt 9:36

The God I Wish You Knew

I AM the Good Shepherd

God is Drawing You

I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to

the cheek, and I bent down to feed them. Hosea 11:4

God is Drawing You

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

Matthew 11:28

God is Drawing You

We pursue God not in order to get more (driving)

We pursue God because there is more (drawing)

God will Protect You

They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. John 10

God will Protect You

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him. Psalm 40:2-3

God will Protect You

Do you need protection?

Do you feel Blessed?

God will Provide for You

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” Ps 23:1-2

God will Provide for You

When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.

Hosea 13:6

If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. CS Lewis

We are half-hearted creaturesWe are too easily pleased We have herd mentality

“We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the

source of it.” L’Engle

The God I Wish You KnewThat’s