John 10:11-18 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-- and I lay down my life for the sheep.

1. Until Christ returns, the wolves will ____________ be ____________ God's flock.

2. Our great problem is that ____________ the ____________ the world gives us.

3. We know and believe the loving voice of the ____________ ____________ because He laid down His life for us.

Scripture Readings
Acts 4:1-12
1 John 3:16-24
John 10:11-18

Take It With You!

Here are some further thoughts to help you contemplate and celebrate Christ's Easter victory over sin, death, and the devil!

Our dear Lord Jesus Christ commenced the sermon on this Gospel at the beginning of this chapter, basing it on the nature and characteristics of sheep. For the Lord God so created sheep that among all the animals on the earth there is none with better, sharper hearing than a sheep, as experience teaches. Suppose there are ten thousand men gathered together; a sheep will become skittish and run away except at the voice of its shepherd, which it recognizes and follows after, so certain, so acute is its awareness of the shepherd's voice. Similarly, there may be a thousand sheep in a flock with all the ewes bleating, yet each lamb will recognize its mother's voice, and run after her until he finds her. Its hearing is extremely acute and perceptive, as I myself have often observed and wondered about.

Christ here takes not of this singular trait and states that he, too, has such lambs. For I am a shepherd, he says, and my little sheep have this characteristic, to precisely recognize and know my voice. If my voice is not there, no one can lead them. With this he wants to teach us that if we wish to be Christ's sheep, we must have acute ears, ears that distinguish Christ's voice from all others, regardless how clear, beautiful, enticing, and friendly they may be.

Martin Luther, Sermon on the Second Sunday after Easter, 1533.