The Good Shepherd

Wherever the enemy is at work, in Africa, in Colorado, anywhere in the world, you see stealing, killing, and destroying. There is nothing beautiful in any of those words. But where people are flourishing, where there is unity and growth and joy, you find God.

Jesus contrasts Himself with the hired hand, who sees the wolf coming and runs because he cares nothing for the sheep. Both kinds of leaders are still here today. Some run the first time something rough comes. Others live among the people and care deeply for their souls.

We would rather be called lions, or eagles, or tigers. Pastor Brady asked an AI tool for the most popular team names at Christian colleges. Lions, Knights, Eagles, Bears. Not one is called the Sheep. Can you imagine the mighty lambs?

Sheep are defenseless creatures who could not survive long without a shepherd. They have mob instincts, they are stubborn, and they panic at the first sign of danger. Pastor Brady showed a video of a sheep rescued from a ditch that takes five steps and lands right back in it. That was Monday.

Admitting we need a shepherd is harder than it sounds. But that admission is the moment of salvation, and confessing Jesus as Lord every day after it is a lifelong wrestling match of the soul.

The perfect sacrificial lamb of heaven is now our shepherd. He was sacrificed for us on Good Friday, and we were invited in to come under His care.

We need a real shepherd because the wolves are real. When someone asks Pastor Brady about a voice they have been listening to, his counsel is to pay attention not only to what they say but to how they say it. There are a lot of people spouting truth with anger. Ask what it leaves in your heart.

In Matthew 18 the shepherd leaves the 99 on the hills to find the one that wandered off. During worship, Pastor Brady said the Lord gave him a word for the church: start inviting people, because we are about to see salvations and water baptisms.

The ask is simple. Tell people, come with me to church, I'll save you a seat. When Pastor Brady was a prodigal, his mother prayed he would bump into Christ followers every day, and he did, in every town he lived in. Somewhere a mom may be praying for a son or daughter in Colorado Springs. You might be the Jesus people they bump into.

Pastor Brady shared a personal story he asked Pam's permission to tell. Last year, for the first time in 44 years of working, he was forced out of his job. At 59 the phone went quiet, and he felt like he was wandering in the desert with his compass spinning.

Alone in the woods on a friend's ranch in southwest Arkansas, he heard the Lord say: Brady, no one's coming to rescue you. I'm enough. I am your shepherd. He knelt and said it back: Lord, you are enough. Ten minutes later, with barely a signal, his phone rang. Phil Long Music Hall was open on Wednesday nights if he wanted it.

Many of us are waiting on a politician, a heroic figure, or a job to rescue us. There has to be a moment where you kneel and confess, Jesus, you are my shepherd, and you are enough.

Pastor Brady closed by reading Psalm 23 over the church as a prayer, then a list he wrote down after that moment in the woods. He cares about my rest. He cares about my emotions. He cares about my daily decisions. He cares when I'm sad, lonely, afraid, or threatened. He cares when I have a financial need. And He deeply cares about my eternal future.