The Phil Files

Target Date: 11.22.09 – See CTT Page

The focus this week is on how Jesus led people out from where they were – danger, hunger, brokenness, rejection, bondage – to a better place. A good shepherd leads his sheep to still waters and has them rest in green pastures. He restores their souls. Even in difficult times, even during the long dark valley of the shadow of death, the good shepherd stays with his sheep and leads them out to find food and leads them in to find safety. I wonder which is hardest for most real shepherds and most spiritual shepherds, leading them out to pasture or leading them back to safety?

The Key Scriptures

• John 10:3, 9-10
• Psalm 23
• Ezekiel 34
• Luke 9:23-26

Please share the link to any online pictures, YouTube movies, or video clips of sheep or shepherds or Scripture graphics you think illustrate the main focus of this week’s passages! What are the differences between driving cattle and herding sheep? Share your own ideas on how to listen to the Shepherd’s voice! What are some examples of this principle? Please share any video clips or YouTube links that you think may help us better understand this principle.

Target Date: 11.08.09 – See CTT Page

The focus on this message is Jesus. Jesus is God’s chosen Shepherd for His people. Jesus enters by the gate to sheep pen. He doesn’t sneak His way in, but comes in as the approved Shepherd. Jesus comes as descendant of David and Abraham, two of the three great shepherds of God’s people. Jesus is the promised great prophet like Moses, whose teachings help pastor God’s people. God saw His people scattered, harassed, and abandoned, and sent the only One who could truly Shepherd His people, Jesus, the Great Shepherd of God’s sheep.

The Key Scriptures

• John 10:1-3
• Matthew 1:1
• Acts 3:22; Acts 7:37
• Hebrews 13:20
• 1 Peter 2:25; 1 Peter 5:4

Inputs and Ideas

Share your own ideas on Jesus as God’s chosen Shepherd. Why is this important? Do you have any video or drama ideas that illustrate how Jesus is God’s chosen Shepherd? Why is it important to you that God sent Jesus to be both the Lamb that was slain and also the Chief Shepherd of His sheep? Please share the links to any online pictures, YouTube movies, or video clips of sheep or shepherds or Scripture graphics you think illustrate the main focus of this week’s passages!

Target Date: 10.25.09 – See CTT Page

The focus on this message is on the blessings of sheep having a good shepherd, especially when they have “The Good Shepherd!” This is the introduction to the series on having “A Heart Like the Shepherd.”

The Key Scriptures

• Psalm 23
• Isaiah 40:10-11
• Hebrews 13:20

Inputs and Ideas

Share your own personal stories on how the Lord has shepherded you or quotes, videos, or stories from the Old Testament on how God shepherded His people. Please share the link to any online pictures, YouTube movies, or video clips of sheep or shepherds or Scripture graphics you think illustrate the main focus of this week’s passages!

In my Heartlight.org article this week about the Good Samaritan parable of Jesus, I look at what it means to love our neighbors. The following words are key to getting a crucial point embedded in the parable:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27).

The key to loving our neighbor is really loving God. We become like what we love. Or in the case of Jesus’ statement, we ultimately become like the One we love!

Of course pet “owners” are repeatedly kidded that they look like their pets. The following dog owners seem to validate that premise!

While this is humorous and makes for good light night show faire, we have all experienced the deeper reality behind the truth. Recently I sat with several others and listened to a son, a daughter, and several grandchildren talk with admiration and love for their recently departed grandmother. A friend of mine ask them how this dear lady had impacted their lives. Each of them could share something significantly good that they had as part of their lifestyle that they picked up from their mother and grandmother. They had become like the one they love!

This is crucial because I believe that the foundational reason we serve our neighbors is because of our love for God. As His love transforms to be more like Him, we are going to go about “neighboring” those around us. Since Jesus is the clearest example of what it means to “love our neighbor,” so the more we know and admire the Lord, the more we are going to be transformed to be like Him (2 Corinthians 3:18).

To better get a sense of how Jesus loved his neighbor, let me share a few places to look and learn more about Jesus. Make a list of all the different kinds of people Jesus served — take a quick scan of the gospels to remind yourself of all the different kinds of people Jesus’ life touched in a redemptive way (Matthew 8:1-38; Mark 9:1-50; Mark 3:1-64; Luke 7:1-50 are a good start). Now give the following questions an opportunity to work in your life!

What do you think the message is for you and how you are to “neighbor” others based on Jesus’ example?

So what’s the point of all of this?
How would you describe what “neighboring” others means in your daily life?

What leads you to keep from “neighboring” those who need our help?

What makes it hard “neighboring” others you may not know?

What makes it hard “neighboring” those you do know?

I really would love to get your responses on this! Have a great week.

As I poured through the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) looking at how Jesus demonstrated how to “love your neighbor as yourself” I was blown away. In three years or so, walking on foot, with no multimedia, no press agent or campaign director, the number and wide variety of people touched is simply amazing. And to see how he validated these people personally — not treating them as projects or notches on his successful ministry belt. He touched them. He asked them questions. He listened to their words and he noticed the cues in their circumstances to personally serve them and attend to their obvious and their deeper needs.

As the linked video suggests, Jesus is amazing! (Click on the text link or the image below to preview this video.)

So why don’t you take some time and simply list the people Jesus touched in the following places. I think you will be amazed, too!

• The key people that Jesus ministered to in John chapters 1-13
• The people Jesus served in Matthew 8-10
• The kinds of people Jesus dealt with in Mark 3
• The different folks Jesus blessed in Luke 7

Now don’t you think it’s amazing that he touched so many lives personally? And if we are to be like him, aren’t we going to have to be more aware of those around us that need to be touched?

I love the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1), who are enabled to have a baby in their old age. The baby’s name is John — whom we often call John the Baptist. God uses the pregnancy of Elizabeth in her old age to be an encouragement of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The whole season of joy that goes with Jesus’ birth begins with Zechariah, Elizabeth, and the birth of their son, John.

Their story echoes with the laughter of Abraham and Sarah’s gift of a child in their old age. This child’s name was Isaac, which literally means “laughter.” Both of these stories remind us of both God’s intention to use everyday folks to do great things and also His sense of humor.

I write about all of this in my Heartlight.org post today, Season of Joy. But there are some questions that I’d love your input on related to this story and implications for us! (Just comment on this blog post!)

We find ourselves in two situations that challenge our openness to joy: the current difficult economic conditions and also the “busy-ness” of the season. How do we reconnect to the joy of God during these times?

The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, as well as the story of Abraham and Sarah that it reflects (Genesis 18), both are told with irony and a touch of humor. Yet frequently we do not notice humor in the great stories of God. Why do think that is so?

Why are awe at the work of God and also the ability to laugh with God both important in our lives and our worship?

Zechariah’s song sounds very much like a quotation of Scripture or an ancient song, why do you think these were the first words out of his mouth?

What is the greatest disappointment you face in your life right now?

What does this story say to you about the work of God in your life?