Jesus as the Good Shepherd and the Gate

Hi everyone. This is Keri. Again, we'll update you more tomorrow about housing and some other things from the last few days, but I just wanted to write about how God worked through the church service this morning to teach us. If you haven't been reading this, we, but especially I, have been struggling to trust in God's provision when housing wasn't available to us. Lots of tears have been shed and I've been frustrated that God seemed to have forgotten about a basic need of ours. He used the service this morning at All Nations CRC in Halifax to tell us that's simply not true. First of all, one of the first points in the order of worship was a corporate prayer of confession. This is what we prayed(I italicized the most pertinent points):

O God, our great shepherd, you tenderly gather us as lambs, carrying us with all your all-embracing love. Yet, like sheep, we wander from you: following our own ways, ignoring your voice, not trusting in your provisions. Forgive our stubborn rebellion, our hardened hearts, our lack of trust. Refresh us once again by your quiet waters of mercy and restore our souls by your redeeming love. Guide our paths, that we might follow you more closely. Through Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, we pray. Amen.

Yeah. That was pretty convicting. Especially the parts about not trusting his provisions. I haven't been. Right there, I already had tears in my eyes. God is the GOOD shepherd and we are just sheep. He's looking out for us! Then, one of the next parts of the service was supposed to be a song by the choir, but too many members were sick, so the congregation sang an unplanned song:

Jesus loves me, this I know. For the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but he is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.

God was definitely speaking to my heart and having me go back to the basics. Jesus LOVES me. This weak little one belongs to him, and the only proof I need of that is that the Bible says so. Simple as that. Even when we're in a foreign country (okay, it's just Canada, but still far from home!) in an bug-infested hotel room (we might go into that story later) with no idea where we're going to spend the next night, He loves me and cares.

Then the sermon came. The passage was John 10:1-11, and the title was "Jesus the Gate." Now I don't know how many sermons on Jesus as the gate you've heard in your life, but I hadn't ever heard one...until 2 weeks ago, the last time we were at church at my parent's church in Grand Haven, Michigan. Same passage. Same theme. In churches that are miles apart. Ridiculous! And hardly a coincidence. Immediately, C.J. and I realized that God's got something to tell us! The basic themes were the same. Jesus is the good shepherd who knows his sheep by name, AND he is the gate-keeper to salvation AND he sits at the gate to the pasture, so NOTHING can get by him and get to his sheep without his permission. Pretty powerful imagery when we're in a different country and feeling pretty lonely and vulnerable. So I just thought I'd share what God's doing in our hearts and encourage you all to TRUST even when things aren't going as you planned them. Praise God for his faithfulness.