1. Note: This PowerPoint is not meant to be shown to the audience;
it is simply the outline and notes for use by the speaker.

2. The Sheep and the Shepherd - Psalm 23
1. One of the best known of Bible passages – used in nearly every funeral service
2. Read
3. Very comforting – most people see how it relates to them
4. Let’s talk about the difference between the sheep and the Shepherd
5. First, a couple of questions: How many have shepherded sheep? Know someone who has?
6. Most of what we know we have read, heard or been taught.
7. All of us have seen a picture of Jesus with a little lamb, and that’s how we view this psalm.
Psalm 100:3 “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”
Since the Bible teaches we are like sheep, we need to explore what sheep are all about:

3. The Sheep - First, being called a sheep is not complimentary:
Sheep are dumb
a. Probably the least intelligent animals God made
b. Ever heard of a trained sheep?
“Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep,
and doesn’t know where to find them.
Leave them alone and they’ll come home,
wagging their tails behind them.” (Should read “they’ll never come home”)
c. Sheep cannot find their way home.
d. Once they get outside their group, they are lost and have no idea what to do, no sense of direction
2. Sheep are weak and helpless
a. Ever seen a “beware of sheep” sign?
b. Hunting magazines filled with stories of narrow escape from game like lions, tigers, bears, buffalo, rhino, even deer…but never a story about a sheep
c. “Strong as an ox” “courageous as a lion” “smart as a fox”
d. Can you imagine a football coach firing up his team by calling them “sheep?”

4. 3. Sheep are dirty:
a. “Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow” (Not without a lot of care!)
b. Sheep wool is not fluffy and white, but greasy and tangled and everything sticks to it.
c. Without constant care, they will remain dirty – most owners don’t even try.
c. And THEY STINK!
4. Not so flattering, is it? But, in reality, it is a good description of us. It is the way we are without a Shepherd.
Isaiah 53 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
5. We are dumb. We are not smart enough to know the ways of our enemy. We don’t even recognize an enemy when we see one!
6. And we certainly cannot direct our own steps.
Jeremiah 10:23 “ O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”
7. We will simply follow our noses and get into real trouble.

5. 2 Tim. 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
8. Without God’s help we like sheep will remain dirty. We cannot purify ourselves.
9. Every person in this room needs help from the Shepherd, every person in the World!
With the Shepherd…
2 Timothy 4: And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
The only way you and I can be safe, or be saved, is by the Shepherd:
Isaiah 41: For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'
Sheep become frightened easily and are scattered, and it makes them easy prey. When trouble comes, we need to stick close to the Shepherd!

6. Think of Job; he had everything and lost it all in an instant! Where would he be without a Shepherd. Dead of suicide?
We can lose everything in this world so quickly, and not know where to turn. The Shepherd cares and leads, protects and defends.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
“He leads me beside the still waters.” Sheep are afraid of running water and need to be directed to a quiet pool in order to drink.
Some have said if a sheep falls on its back, it cannot get up again without help.
How many times has the Lord, our Shepherd, found us on our backs and helped us up.
A shepherd will set them up right and, if they’ve been in that shape for a long time, will massage their legs until they can move on their own.

7. II. The Shepherd
A. Sheep can be driven like cattle, but not very easily. They will willingly follow the voice of a Shepherd they know and trust.
John 10:1 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
It should give us great joy and comfort know that Jesus is our Shepherd and that he knows all of us by name and that he will always be there for us.

8.  Matthew 28: And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.
Luke 15:3 So He spoke this parable to them, saying: 4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 "And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!‘
The Shepherd is committed to all his sheep. He could just say ah who cares I have 99 what is 1 sheep to me but instead he takes the time to go find the one sheep because every sheep is important to him.
Every lost soul is important to God and he wants everyone to be saved.
I also love how the Shepherd doesn’t scold the sheep when he finds it instead he comforts it and puts it over his shoulder, etc.

9. Invitation…  
Matthew 11: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."