Episode 4: He Satisfies Your Need to Belong

Join us for Episode 4 in our seven-week series, Encountering Jesus Personally. In this week's episode, Lisa and Laura dive into the Gospel of John, focusing on the famous I AM statement, “I am the good shepherd.” Each time we find Jesus saying, “I am,” He is giving us a glimpse into what He’s like. He’s revealing something about His character.  Do you struggle to believe that God is good? Do you doubt your own goodness? What does good mean? Join Lisa and Laura as they unpack today’s Scripture and apply it to our daily lives.

Open your Heart to our key Scripture. 

John 10:11: I am the good shepherd.

Open your Bible to other Scriptures referenced in this episode. 

John 10:11-15: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own life the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. 

Isaiah 61:2-3: To comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. (NIV) 

John 10:18: No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have the power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.

John 11:25: I am the resurrection and the life.

Romans 5:8:  But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 

Psalm 139:14: I praise you, for  I am wondrously made.

Psalm 139:16: Your eyes beheld my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. 

Romans 14:8: If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

Catechism 356: Of all visible creatures, only man is “able to know and love his creator.” He is “the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.”

Invite Him in with this episode’s questions for reflection.

With your current set of circumstances, what are you choosing to focus on? The hardship or God’s goodness?

Are we close enough to hear His voice? Or have we strayed? Are we searching for a sense of belonging outside of a relationship with Him? 

Show mentions.

Walking with Purpose, Fearless and Free: Experiencing Healing and Wholeness in Christ

Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration 

“Adversity is the touchstone of the soul because it discovers the character of the virtue which it possesses. One act of thanksgiving when matters go wrong with us is worth a thousand thanks when things are agreeable to our inclinations.” (John Gilmary Shea, American author and historian)

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