G'day and welcome to stories of a faithful God for kids.

Dave here.

How do you know if someone cares for you?

If they really want what's best for you? How can you tell if someone really loves you?

I know some guys who snuck into their friend's room on a camp and put toothpaste all through

his hair.

Do you think they were really caring for their

friend? Well, what if someone says they care for you?

Say that they're your friend, and then when you aren't there, tell everyone about your

embarrassing habits.

What about someone who acts like your friend

and then tells you to do something really, really bad?

And they say, come on, just do it.

It'll be hilarious.

Do they really care for you? How about you take 30 seconds now to tell

someone around you how you know if someone cares for you?

Go for it.

In todays story, were going to hear about the

person who cares for us the most.

And he doesnt just say he cares for us, he

actually shows us how he cares for us.

Oh, and I brought along some sheep.

Get ready for our next episode of stories of a faithful God for kids.

In our last episode, we met a man who believed in Jesus, even when that made life harder for

him.

He was treated really badly by the religious

leaders who were meant to care for him.

They hated Jesus and they hated anyone who

followed Jesus.

They got angry with the man and sent him away.

Was it worth it? Was it worth trusting Jesus?

Is Jesus still trustworthy when the people who trust him get treated really badly because

they trust him? Is Jesus faithful to the people who believe in

him? To answer those questions, Jesus uses picture

language to describe himself.

The first thing he says is that he's a

shepherdess.

He also says that he's not a thief.

Shepherds look after sheep.

Thieves steal sheep.

Shepherds care for sheep.

Thieves don't care about the sheep.

Shepherds know their sheep.

Thieves don't bother getting to know their

sheep.

Let me give you an idea of what it was like as

a shepherd in Jesus day.

In Jesus Day, a shepherd would look after

about 30 sheep.

Hed have a name for every sheep.

Hed know each sheep by name and the sheep would recognize his voice.

A bit like dogs know the voice of their owner.

At night, a shepherd could take his flock of

sheep to a big sheep pen with a stone wall that would keep them safe from wolves.

During the night, a few different shepherds would bring their flocks to the same pen.

In the morning, the shepherd would call out to his sheep.

And even if there are like 200 sheep in the pen, his 30 or so sheep would recognize his

voice, they think, in their little sheepy brains, ah, that's my shepherd.

And they go to him.

They go because they trust him.

They trust him to look after them and care for them.

They trust him to take them to green grass and cool water.

They trust him because they've learned that he's trustworthy, he's faithful in caring for

them.

Yes, that's right.

There are sheep in this story because we're focusing more on the shepherd.

Because we're learning about Jesus, the shepherd.

Look, if you're gonna stay, you need to be quiet.

Okay? I said, okay.

Oh.

Ah. You're being quiet.

Well done.

In John, chapter ten, verse three, Jesus

describes the shepherd like this.

He says, the man who guards the door opens it

for him.

And the sheep listen to the voice of the

shepherd.

He calls his own sheep, using their names, and

he leads them out.

He brings all of his sheep out.

Then he goes ahead of them and leads them.

They follow him because they know his voice.

But they will never follow a stranger.

They'll run away from him because they don't

know his voice.

That's what Jesus is like.

He cares for his sheep.

Well, when he says sheep, that's picture

language to talk about his people, the people who believe in him.

He really is faithful to his people.

And his people, his sheep know that.

Just think about the man we met in the last episode.

The man who'd been born blind, but who Jesus healed.

When he came in front of the Pharisees, they got really angry with him.

They tried to make him say that Jesus is a sinner, that he's really evil.

Because they're the religious leaders, the guys who are meant to be able to tell you how

to obey God.

You might expect the man to listen to them.

They're trying to be his shepherds, but instead he's like a sheep, saying, whoa, you

guys aren't my shepherd.

You must be thieves trying to steal me.

But when Jesus comes and tells the man to believe in him, straight away he's like, oh,

of course I'll do anything you say.

Because Jesus is his shepherd.

He recognizes his voice.

The people listening to jesus talk about this

are like, huh? What?

What's he talking about? Sheep and shepherds.

This is all a bit strange.

So Jesus uses another picture to describe

things to them.

The next picture jesus uses to describe

himself is a little bit weirder.

Jesus says that he is a door.

A door? Like a door.

Okay, the shepherd picture I get.

But why is Jesus saying he's a door.

Well, he says he's the door or gate for the sheep.

Remember that sheep pen that the shepherds use at night?

There's a big stone wall and a door or gate.

The door closes at night to keep the sheep

safe.

When it's safe, in the morning, the door

opens.

Jesus is saying.

He's like that.

He cares for his people, his sheep, and he

keeps us safe.

He looks after us.

Let me read you what Jesus says from verse seven.

He says, I tell you the truth.

I am the door for the sheep.

All the people who came before me were thieves and robbers.

The sheep did not listen to them.

I am the door.

The person who enters through me will be saved.

He will be able to come in and go out and find pasture.

A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy.

But I came to give life.

Life in all its fullness.

Why does jesus keep going on about thieves?

He's warning us.

He's warning us that there are always people

like the Pharisees, who look like shepherds.

They look like they're going to care for us,

but they're not like Jesus.

They don't give us life.

In fact, by encouraging us not to listen to Jesus, they're trying to take away our life.

Because eternal life comes from Jesus.

If you've ever listened to someone who's

saying they're working for God or teaching you about God, but they're doing and saying things

that Jesus doesn't want you to do or believe, you know, they're not helping you to have

life.

They're thieves and robbers.

If you listen to Jesus, though, he's going to give you the best life possible.

Not always the easiest life.

Just like we saw in the last episode.

Sometimes it's hard following Jesus, but he will give you the best life forever.

Yes, I told them that.

Yes, I'm going to tell them the other thing as

well.

Well, if you just let me.

Yes, I know it's the best bit, but look, I thought you were going to be quiet.

Thank you.

Jesus comes back to describing himself as a

shepherd.

This time he describes himself as the good

shepherd.

What's so good about him?

Well, the thing that's so good is how much he's willing to do to protect the sheep, how

far he'll go to care for the sheep, how great his love is for the sheep.

In other words, what makes Jesus such a good shepherd is that he's willing to give his life

for the sheep.

I know.

It's great, isn't it? Jesus is willing to die to save his sheep.

He says he's not like someone who's just been paid some money to look after the sheep for a

while.

Just imagine this.

Youre on your summer break from school and you think hmm, id like some money, ill get a job.

And you see a sign saying work for Mister Browns Farm and earn just a little bit of

money and you think hmm, thats more money than I have now.

So you rock up to Mister Browns Farm and he takes you and his four wheeler out into a

field in the middle of nowhere.

His brothers looking after some sheep and

looking very tired of Mister Brown says look after these sheep for a while so my brother

can have a rest.

Then Mister Brown and his brother drive off

and you're left all alone with the sheep.

Yes, thank you.

I think they get the idea after a long time off.

In the distance you see two pointy ears.

Then the ears lift a little higher and you see

some grey fur and two beady eyes.

Then that lifts a little higher and you see

some big sharp pointy teeth.

It's a wolf.

And the wolf is hungry.

And the wolf is staring at you.

Now remember, you're being paid a little bit of money to look after these sheep.

What are you going to do to protect the sheep? The wolf starts moving towards you.

It gets faster and faster and faster.

And you know what you're probably thinking

around about now? You're probably thinking, oh you know what?

I can probably earn the same amount of money cleaning ovens or even cleaning bathrooms and

I'm not going to get eaten there.

If I run away now, the wolf will probably eat

the sheep and not me.

And so you run off screaming down the hill

because frankly you don't care that much about the sheep.

Just then Mister Brown drives up with some fresh fudge for you.

He sees you've run away and he sees why the wolf is almost at the sheep.

These sheep belong to Mister Brown.

He loves them and cares for them.

He knows them all by name.

He doesn't run away.

He jumps off his four wheeler, picks up a stick and he stands between the wolf and the

sheep.

He's gonna risk his life to save his sheep.

Jesus says he's not like the paid worker who doesn't really care about the sheep.

He's like the guy who owns the sheep.

Let me read you what he says from verse

eleven.

He says, I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

The worker who's paid to keep the sheep is different from the shepherd who owns them.

So when the worker sees a wolf coming, he runs away and leaves the sheep alone.

Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them.

The man runs away.

Because he's only a paid worker, he does not

really care for the sheep.

Jesus isn't just telling a story.

He really did give up his life for his sheep.

When Jesus died on the cross, he was dying so

his people could have eternal life.

He was taking our death for our sin and giving

us his life.

That's how much he loves us.

Thankfully, God raised him back to life.

Now, if Jesus has done that amazing thing, do

you think that he would ever, ever, ever give up on caring for you?

Is he ever going to say, oh, man, this kid's too hard, I can't keep helping her or him?

Of course not.

He's already done the hardest thing by dying

on the cross.

Everything else is easy.

Is he ever going to say, oh, far out, they sinned again.

I'm so sick of them.

No more help for them.

Of course not.

He knew all your sin before he died on the

cross for you.

And then he died on the cross for you, so you

can be forgiven for that sin.

He doesn't get shocked or surprised by your

sin.

Is he ever going to say, eh, I'm a bit bored

with them, I'm gonna find some more interesting people to save?

Of course not.

He knows you by name.

He loves you.

Nothing and no one can stop him loving you.

He's your good shepherd and you're his sheep.

He's already died for you.

He's gonna keep looking after you for the rest of eternity.

Jesus wants his sheep, his people to know just how much he cares for them.

He wants to show us just how much power he has to care for us.

And he's going to do that in the most amazing, spectacular, wonderful miracle that he's done

so far.

But that's a story for next time.

Keep trusting Jesus.

Bye for now.

Who let you in here?