Spiritual Food for Isolation
Welcome to this 10 week course that will focus on the Gospel of John.
Week 3
Spiritual Food for Isolation - John's Gospel 10
Thank you for joining us - may God bless our time together with Him.
1) Aperitif: Saviour, like a Shepherd lead us: Click me for words/music .
2) Prayer/Grace: Dear heavenly Father, may this prayer from Psalm
23 be truly mine:
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my
soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with
me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
3) Our main course; the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to the Apostle John, chapter 10: Click me to read - Click me to listen
4) Chewing it over; after reading today's chapter, take your time to think through the following:
- v3, who might ‘watchman' or ‘gatekeeper’ be referring to?
- v7, who is the ‘gate’?...
- v10, who is the ‘thief’?...
- v11. who is the ‘good shepherd’?...
- v12, who is the ‘hired hand’?...
- v4 & 27, the sheep follow the shepherd because they know His voice. Who are the sheep?...if
it is us, how can we follow Jesus?....and how can tell the difference between His voice and that of someone/something
else, including our own ‘inner voice’?
- does a good shepherd lead the sheep to where they want to go, or where they need to go?
- what sort of ‘thieves’ or ‘wolves’ may be creeping into our churches today?...how can we identify
them and protect ourselves against them?
- v16, who is Jesus talking to at this point?...who might He be referring to as the ‘other’ sheep?
- v19-22, here again can you see how useful it is to ask people to choose whether they think Jesus
is mad, bad, or God?...note that He claimed His works to be proof of His identity (v25 & 32)
- v30-33, These are very important verses - clearly, although Jesus calls Himself the 'Son of God',
and He refers to God the 'Father'....nevertheless, the two are one, both are God, and the Jews understood
perfectly well that this was His teaching and wanted to kill Him for such perceived blasphemy. How helpful
might these verses be to those who struggle with belief in the Trinity?...Could we point to these to
help prove our case?...
- Is it possible for God to be One in essence, but three Persons?...is it possible for God the
Father to be ‘greater’ than God the Son?....does it help to consider than you can have three people who
have separate/lesser/greater roles (Territorial Commander/Divisional Commander/Corps Officer) but
yet are one in essence (all human and so co-equal)?
- v39, How do you imagine this happening? …was it like a game of British bulldog?...or something
else?
- v42, John the Baptist was probably dead (beheaded) by now, and yet the Gospel seeds he sowed
throughout his life continued to bear fruit long after he left the scene. How can this encourage us in
our evangelisation as we point to Jesus and proclaim ‘Behold the Lamb of God’ today?...
5) Digestif: Tauren Wells 'All about You': Click me then press 'f' for full screen.
6) Snacks: Dr Jo Vitale: Are we a help or a hindrance to knowing Jesus? Click me.
7) Supper: Living Waters University: Witnessing to a muslim Click me
8) Midnight Feast! Jesus in Islam v Jesus in Christianity - which is true?: Click me
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give
the reason for the hope that you have.
1 Peter 3:15