I want to make a confession to you that really pains me, because I hate to admit personal weakness, at least publicly, but if there is an Achilles heel in my life - it is worry. The truth of the matter is, if you just look around you, you realize that we all do have reasons to worry. I mean you have to stay out of the sun, because it can cause skin cancer. Air vents in public places can cause lung clotting molds to form in your body. Potato chips have too many carbs and too many vitamins can be toxic. Think about this - why do they have to call an airport a terminal? Why is it the pilot has to say just before you are about to land, "We are about to make our final approach?" Why can't he say, "We are about to make our semi-final approach?"

Think about this - the flight attendant will say, "Stay seated until the airplane has reached a complete stop." What other kind of stop is there? Do you have fractional stops? Partial stops? I sometimes feel like I have PhD from the University of Anxiety.

We all have worries. The question I want to ask you is, "What are you going to do about your worries?" If you think about it, you can really only do one of two things; you can try to handle your worries yourself or you can let someone else handle them for you.

We know how to do that with some things. We let a bank worry about keeping our money. We let a financial planner worry about planning our retirement. We let a doctor handle diagnosing and treating our illness.

What about the worry of a marriage that is on the rocks? What about the worry of children who you suspect are doing drugs? What about the worry of finding your purpose in life before your life is over? What about the worry of death? What about the worry of your eternal destiny?

The truth of the matter is there are a lot of worries that you can't handle and that is where God comes in, because believe it or not, God will handle all of your worries if you will let Him. How do I know that? Because, He said so. I Peter 5:7 says, "Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you." (I Peter 5:7, NLT)

Let me summarize what this verse really says. Your worries matter to God because you matter to God. Indeed, this verse tells us that our worries are actually a sign that we do matter to God.

Today, as we continue this series called "iMatter" we are going to see that God wants to take care of you just as a shepherd takes care of sheep. Several times Jesus made an "I am" statement that absolutely astounded the people who heard them. Today we are going to look at this one, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:11, NASB)

This claim of Jesus to be "the good shepherd" is the fourth of the "I am" sayings that we find in John's Gospel. I have no doubt that if we were to take a vote on which was the most popular of the "I am" sayings it would be this one.

Some of you may not know this, but the Bible often compares people to sheep and it often describes God as a shepherd. Perhaps, the most well known verse in the Old Testament is this one. "The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1, NASB)

We see this same theme repeated over and over. Psalm 95:7 says, "For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand Today, if you would hear His voice." (Psalms 95:7, NASB)

I Peter 2:25 says, "For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls." (I Peter 2:25, NASB)

Jesus used a lot of examples and metaphors to describe Himself. As we are going to see, He called himself a door. He called himself a light. He called himself a vine. He called himself bread. More often than anything else, He called himself and was called by others a shepherd. We are going to learn why, as the good shepherd, we not only have no need to worry if we are a part of His flock, but it is because we are a part of His flock that we really matter to Him. As the good shepherd we know...

I. God Will Guide Me When I Need Direction

One of the things that fascinates me is to see how Jesus looked at people. Unlike most of us, when Jesus looked at people, He didn't see nameless faces, bland personalities, a bunch of hang ups or hiccups. He saw people as sheep. Most of us in this culture really can't appreciate what that means, because we don't live in an agricultural culture where shepherd and sheep are abundant. In that day and age, shepherding was a very intimate occupation. The shepherd knew each one of his sheep by name and he had one job - to provide for the sheep and to protect the sheep. The very existence of a sheep depended on the care and the leadership of the shepherd and that helps you to understand this verse, "Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36, NASB)

Why is a flock of sheep with no shepherd so sad? They are totally helpless. Sheep have no sense of direction and without any leadership sheep will just wander aimlessly. They will stray away from the flock. They will lose their way and will even walk over a cliff to their own death.

During World War II, the English government knew that Hitler was planning to invade the BritishIslands. They encouraged their people to prepare for the invasion and they did several things: they boasted their defenses, they put guards on constant watch, and they developed early warning systems and evacuation routes.

They did one more thing - the government passed a law requiring every community to take down all the road signs and any sign that named any town or village. They knew the Germans had maps of England, but if they couldn't locate themselves on those maps, they would be slowed in their progress as they approached London. Without any sign or any point of reference, the troops would just wander aimlessly around.

That is exactly the way most people live their lives; they don't know where they are and they don't know how to get to where they need to go, so husbands and wives will wander away from their marriages. Children will wander away from their parents. People will walk off cliffs of drugs, alcohol, or materialism. Sheep need guidance. They need direction and leadership.

That is the job of the shepherd. What is the second verse in the twenty-third Psalm? "He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters." (Psalm 23:2, NASB)

That is the difference between a cowboy and a shepherd. The cowboy drives his cattle. The shepherd leads his sheep. Psalm 80:1 says, "Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth! (Psalm 80:1, NASB)

When you allow the Lord to become your shepherd, you can read His word for guidance, you can actually talk to Him and ask Him for direction and He promises that He will lead you where He wants you to go and where you need to go. If I am in His flock and He is my shepherd, I matter to Him and there is no need to worry. Because, He is the good shepherd...

II. God Will Guard Me When I Face Difficulty

"I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:11, NASB) Jesus repeats something in this passage of scripture four times. He says four different times that He "lays down His life for the sheep." He says it in verse 11, 15, 17 and 18 and that is why He is not just a shepherd and that is why He is not even the shepherd, but that is why He is the good shepherd.

Sheep are totally defenseless apart from the shepherd. Think about it - dogs can bite, cats can claw, skunks can spray, but sheep can't do anything. They need protection and that is the job of the shepherd.

I want you to notice that I did not say that the shepherd guards us from difficulty. I said the shepherd guards us when we face difficulty. The shepherd cannot prevent sheep from coming into contact with bears or lions or other wild beasts, but the shepherd can protect the sheep when they come into contact with those animals. What does this mean? If Jesus is my good shepherd - Nothing can touch me without His permission. However, if He does permit something to touch me, then it must be for my good.

The Apostle Paul, who wrote half of the New Testament, made a very interesting statement over in II Timothy. "The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen." (II Timothy 4:18, NASB)

That is a great promise that any of us can claim if Jesus is our good shepherd. The Lord will deliver us from every evil deed - that is exciting!

Then, Paul said over in another passage of scripture these words, "[I was] beaten times without number, often in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure." (II Corinthians 11:23-27, NASB)

Isn't that strange? Paul said that God would deliver him from every evil deed and then it sounds like he had to put up with a lot of evil deeds.

Go back and listen to what Jesus called himself again. He called himself "the good shepherd." That word "good" doesn't just mean "nice" or "effective", the word literally means "one of a kind, in a class all by itself." Do you know what a good shepherd always does for the sheep? He always does what is best for the sheep and sometimes that will include difficulties, problems, tragedy and trouble.

Because Jesus is the good shepherd, then we can always know this - No problem before me is bigger than the God that is above me. This shepherd who gave His life for us also came back from the dead to prove that if He can conquer death, He can conquer anything. If I am in His flock and He is my shepherd there is no need to worry. Because He is the good shepherd...

III. God Will Get Me To My Final Destination

Jesus was really on a roll talking about His role as the shepherd and our role as the sheep and later in this chapter He says, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." (John 10:27-29, NASB)

Don't miss the significance of what Jesus just said. Once you get into His flock you are always in His flock. The good shepherd lives by this creed - No sheep left behind.

Even though sheep are helpless and defenseless and not the sharpest knives in the drawer, there is one thing about sheep that I really do admire. Do you know what that is? Sheep never worry. If you go look at any sheep you will never see a worried sheep. You will never see a sheep nervously rubbing its hoofs together. You never see a sheep sweat. You will never see a sheep pacing back and forth. Sheep don't worry as long as the shepherd is around. They never worry about their security. Why? No matter what else is going on around them, if they have the presence and the protection of the shepherd they know he can handle anything that is thrown at them.

Let me ask you a question. Of all the worries that you wrote down on that card, "What is your greatest worry? What is your biggest concern?" Whatever it is remember this - The concern of the sheep can never be greater than the care of the shepherd.

What if a car was built that was guaranteed to survive any accident? What if a plane was built that was guaranteed to survive any crash? What if a ship was built that was guaranteed to be absolutely unsinkable? What do you think they would be worth? Obviously, they would be absolutely priceless.

What would it be worth to you to follow a shepherd who can give you eternal life and guarantee you a place in heaven when you die? I don't know about you, but to me that is priceless.

I once read where a shepherd, who embarked on a long journey with a flock of sheep was considered successful if he arrived with more than fifty-percent of the sheep. The reason is there were so many dangers to the sheep such as disease, poison grass, water, and wild animals. That is why Jesus Christ is like no other shepherd and that is why He is called "The Good Shepherd" the one of a kind shepherd, because when Jesus starts out with one hundred sheep, He ends up with one hundred sheep. He doesn't lose one.

I realize there are some of you that don't have Jesus as your good shepherd, because you have never become a part of His flock. Did you know that you are in this passage too? In verse 16 Jesus said, "I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd." (John 10:16, NASB)

I bet you never knew that you were in the Bible. At one time, I was one of those other sheep that had not gotten into the flock and maybe that is where you are. The beautiful thing is any time you are ready to accept Him as your shepherd, He is ready to become your shepherd.