A Good Shepherd for the Sheep | Every Longing Fulfilled | December 21 2025 (10:30am)

Devotional

Day 1: Good news arrives on the margins first

In the deep dark of ordinary work, God draws near. He chooses the overlooked and the outcasts, not the halls of power, to announce joy big enough for the whole world. This interrupts our Advent complacency and reminds us that heaven’s glory is aimed at the ones on the outskirts. If you feel “near, but not quite,” take heart—He knows where you are and steps into your night. Let the wonder cut through the background noise and awaken fresh awe. The Savior has come, and the sign is humbly simple so none will miss it—wrapped tight, laid low, easy to find [49:59]

Luke 2:8–12: Out in the fields at night, shepherds were keeping watch when a messenger from God broke into their darkness with radiant glory. “Do not be afraid,” he said, “I’m bringing you news that will make the world sing. Today, in David’s town, a Rescuer has been born for you—He is the Messiah, your Lord. Here’s how you’ll know: you’ll find a baby, wrapped snug and lying in a feeding trough.”

Reflection: Who in your weekly routine feels “on the outskirts,” and what simple, concrete step could you take to bring them near to the joy of Jesus this week?

Day 2: “I Myself Will”: God’s promise kept in Jesus

When human shepherds fail, God does not outsource redemption—He comes Himself. The long-echoing promise, “I myself will search, gather, heal, and feed,” reaches its fulfillment in the manger. This is not theory; it is God doing field work, stepping into our scattered places and leading us home. He brings us to good pasture, binds our wounds, and restores what our wandering has cost us. In Jesus, the Holy One refuses distance and chooses presence for our sake [56:41]

Ezekiel 34:11–16: The Lord declares, “I myself will go after my scattered flock. I will bring them back from the places where darkness drove them, settle them on safe ground, and give them rich pasture. I will watch over them as a true shepherd does: I will look for the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, strengthen the weak, and deal justly with those who harm the flock.”

Reflection: Where do you feel most “scattered” or weary right now, and how could you let Jesus carry you toward good pasture in one specific way this week?

Day 3: The Good Shepherd lays down His life

Jesus doesn’t protect from a distance; He lies down in the doorway between danger and the ones He loves. He takes on our trails, our smell, our mess—then offers His very life so we can live. His rescue does not always remove every wolf and thorn, but it breaks sin’s final claim through the cross. This is costly love, not hired-hand care; it is devotion that holds fast when fear would run. Trust Him at the threshold you’re facing today; His body has already made the way [57:37]

John 10:11–15: “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus says. “A good shepherd gives up his life for the sheep. A hired worker runs when danger comes because the sheep aren’t his. But I know my own, and my own know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Reflection: Where are you asking God to remove a danger, and how might trusting His guarding presence—even if the situation remains—change one practical choice you make this week?

Day 4: Known by name, moved with compassion

The Shepherd knows you personally—your voice, your patterns, your name—and He calls you closer. His compassion is not polite sympathy; it is deep, gut-level care that feels your distress and moves toward you. When He speaks, the strays who hear Him recognize the familiar tone and run to Him, even through confusion. You are not a number in His system; you are carried in His arms. Make space to hear and respond; His voice is nearer than you think [53:45]

John 10:3–4,14: The gatekeeper opens to the shepherd, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own by name and leads them out; when he goes ahead of them, they follow because they know the sound that belongs to him. “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus says, “and I know my own, and they know me.”

Reflection: When this week will you set aside five quiet minutes to ask Jesus to speak your name, and what simple practice (like rereading John 10 aloud) will help you recognize His voice?

Day 5: Don’t shut up—go tell everyone about Jesus

The shepherds didn’t keep the news to themselves; they told it on the way there, at the manger, and on the way home. Meeting Jesus sent them back to ordinary work with extraordinary praise—and a story they couldn’t stop sharing. Heaven’s math still seeks the one; love is willing to leave the ninety-nine to bring a stray home. In a culture hungry for hope, your genuine witness is a gift, not a sales pitch. Open your mouth in love and let the Good Shepherd be seen through your words and life [54:56]

Luke 15:4–7: “If a shepherd has a hundred sheep and loses one, won’t he leave the ninety-nine in open country to go after the one that wandered off? And when he finds it, he joyfully carries it home and gathers friends to celebrate. In the same way, there’s a celebration in heaven over one sinner who turns back to God—greater even than over the ninety-nine who didn’t stray.”

Reflection: Who is one “one” on your heart, and what natural setting (a walk, a meal, an invitation to a service) could you use this week to share what Jesus has done for you?

Sermon Summary

Advent is God’s gracious invasion into our longings. From the start, God delights to make His identity unmistakably clear—not to impress the powerful, but to rescue the needy, the known, the hurting. That’s why the announcement of Jesus’ birth lands first in a field, not a palace. Shepherds—the overlooked, the out-on-the-edge—are interrupted by heaven, and the sign they receive subverts every expectation: the Lord of glory wrapped tight and laid in a feeding trough. The Great Shepherd arrives among the animals He came to care for. That isn’t sentimentality; it’s strategy. If you want to lead sheep, you have to smell like sheep.

The shepherds show us what grace does. They go straight to Jesus. They can’t keep quiet. They return to their ordinary work changed, carrying extraordinary praise. This is what happens when God bypasses the gatekeepers and calls the common by name. Ezekiel had warned Israel’s leaders—bad shepherds who fed themselves while the flock starved—but God promised, “I myself will.” That promise takes on skin in Bethlehem. In Jesus, God does field work. He lays across the gate, places His body between danger and His own. He doesn’t secure us by removing every wolf; He secures us by letting sin do its worst to Him so it won’t have the last word over us.

Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd—known by His sheep and knowing them. He’s not distant power; He’s present compassion. When He sees the crowds, He feels it in His gut—harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. That’s why His math refuses efficiency: He leaves the ninety-nine to find the one. Advent is the beginning of that pursuit—God stepping into our night to gather strays, bind wounds, and bring us home.

So let’s be simple and bold like those first shepherds. Go see Jesus. Go tell of Jesus. Go back to your fields with the joy that comes from being found. The baby in the manger is both our Good Shepherd and our perfect Lamb, the One who lays down His life to give you yours. Don’t shut up about that.

Key Takeaways

1. God chooses the margins on purpose. God’s announcement to shepherds isn’t a quaint detail; it’s a declaration of how His kingdom moves—toward the overlooked, not the overlords. By bypassing the gatekeepers, God reveals a Savior who serves in the fields, not just the halls of power. If grace came to the margins first, it will meet you in your periphery too. [58:23]
2. The Good Shepherd draws near. You cannot shepherd from a throne room; you have to walk the same paths and carry the same dust. Jesus closes the distance, choosing proximity over convenience and embodiment over abstraction. He is with you in the dark places, not merely aware of them. [71:40]
3. He lays down His life for us. The cross is not a tragic accident; it’s a shepherd’s decision to stand in the doorway and take the hit. Jesus protects us not by denying danger but by absorbing its fatal edge so sin loses its claim. This is justice and mercy meeting in a single act of love. [67:33]
4. Known by name, pursued in love. Jesus doesn’t call to crowds; He calls to people, and they know His voice. Being named by Him means being seen, claimed, and led—out of confusion and into companionship. Discipleship begins with recognition: that familiar voice is for you. [74:37]
5. Don’t shut up—go tell. The first witnesses didn’t wait for perfect conditions; they simply shared what they saw and heard. We return to our same jobs, but we don’t return the same. In a culture hungry for hope, your simple, joyful witness is timely and powerful. [61:08]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:25] - Coming home; Advent longings
[01:20] - Why shepherds and not elites?
[02:55] - Reading Luke 2:8–20
[06:20] - Darkness, fear, and angelic glory
[08:40] - The manger as disruptive sign
[10:35] - The shepherds’ response: go and tell
[12:45] - Bad shepherds and Ezekiel’s warning
[15:30] - “I Myself Will”: God’s promise
[17:10] - Jesus declares: I am the Good Shepherd
[19:25] - Incarnation: the shepherd at the gate
[22:05] - Sacrifice: laying down his life
[24:30] - Known by name; intimate care
[27:10] - Compassion for the lost and the one
[29:40] - Don’t shut up—go tell

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- Luke 2:8–20

Observation questions

In Luke 2:8–20, what three titles are given to the baby, and what specific sign is offered to the shepherds? How do the titles and the sign sit together in the story?
Trace the shepherds’ movements in the passage: where they start, what they hear and see, where they go, what they do when they arrive, and how they return. What order and pace do you notice?
According to the description given, where were the shepherds located socially and geographically, and why might that matter? [56:16]
What exactly do the angels proclaim, and to whom is the message directed in the text?

Interpretation questions

What does God’s choice to announce Jesus’ birth to shepherds reveal about how His kingdom moves toward the overlooked rather than the overlords? [58:23]
The manger is given as the sign. How does that one detail subvert expectations of power and show the kind of shepherd Jesus is? [59:18]
God promised, “I myself will” shepherd the flock, which takes on skin in Jesus. What does this teach about God’s presence and commitment versus outsourcing His care? [01:06:10]
If the Good Shepherd’s math leaves the ninety-nine to find the one, how should that reshape how we measure “success” in ministry, family, or work? [01:19:39]

Application questions

Where do you feel “on the outskirts” right now—near, but not quite in? Invite God to meet you there. What is one step of trust you can take in that place this week? [56:16]
Name your “field”—the ordinary place you’ll return to tomorrow (home, job, neighborhood). What would it look like to go back there changed, glorifying and praising God in simple ways? [01:01:31]
Who is one person you can “go tell” this week with simple, joyful words about Jesus? When and how will you share? What keeps you from speaking—and what could help you be bold? [01:22:56]
What “wolves” feel close right now—fear, sin, pressure, shame? How will you entrust yourself to Jesus who lays His body across the gate to protect you? Choose one practice this week to remember His nearness (a daily prayer, a verse on your phone, a song). [01:10:06]
How are you learning to recognize Jesus’ voice among many voices? What habits (Scripture, prayer, quiet, community) help you notice and follow Him by name? [01:16:49]
Where are you tempted to choose efficiency over love? What would it mean to “leave the ninety-nine” for one specific person this month (a visit, a call, an invitation, practical help)? [01:19:39]
Advent is God stepping into our night to gather strays and bind wounds. What is one wound, confusion, or sin pattern you want Jesus to tend this week? Who will you invite to pray with you about it? [01:20:44]

Sermon Clips

God does something amazing. He does not go to the powerful, but he brings this powerful message to the common, to the least of these. And their response, having been in the dark and wondering what's out there, quite appropriate. Terror. I want you to think about that. You're in the pitch dark. You've done this every night. Maybe the stars are lighting it up a little bit more. And then, boom! A voice from heaven. I'm sure it wasn't a whisper. And then a multitude. [00:56:54] (40 seconds) #VoiceFromHeaven

He bypasses the gatekeepers to speak directly to the common, the outcast, the ones who knew suffering. And honestly, they also knew contentment in having very little. By choosing the shepherds, the lowly, God was signaling that this king, this messiah, was not coming to be served in the halls of power, but to come and serve in the fields where these shepherds were. [00:58:23] (34 seconds) #KingForTheLowly

They returned to the fields. And once they got there, they praised the Lord. They gave him all glory. It's pretty simple, but somehow I think today we miss it. Sometimes we just go about our business. Yes, they went back to the same job, to the same sheep, but they were changed. They were transformed internally and eternally. They had met the true shepherd that they had been waiting for. [01:01:42] (40 seconds) #ChangedByTheShepherd

They weren't fenced in. They were usually rock formations with small openings. And the shepherd, the owner of the sheep, would lay across that opening to protect the sheep. He'd put his body between the danger and those that he was caring for. The hired hand didn't have that investment. The hired hand would see danger and run, especially if that danger was getting mulled by an animal. [01:09:55] (29 seconds) #ShepherdsShield

He calls us by name. You can't know a sheep by name from afar. Knowing and using someone's name requires a certain proximity. Parents know this. If you're trying to correct your kid, guide your kid, you can't do that from miles and miles away. If you want the appropriate response for the person whose name you know, you need to be close. You need to have a certain level of intimacy with them. For them to know you and for you to know them. [01:14:43] (37 seconds) #KnownByName

``I don't know about you. If I got a 99% in school, I was satisfied. The threshold is actually a lot lower, but 99% would have been amazing. But the good shepherd, his math is different. His math isn't ordinary. It shakes up the normal. Luke tells us in his book that he will leave the 99 and chase after the one. Folks, that's not efficient. That's not practical. That's love. That's an intimate relationship. [01:19:16] (47 seconds) #GoodShepherdChasesOne

For an impersonal God, strays would be on their own. But think back to Ezekiel 34. Because Jesus is a good shepherd, he promises to seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injury. Christmas story, what we're in right now, this time of Advent, is exactly that. It's him infiltrating our world in this ultimate proof that he, God, is not content to leave us in our mess, he's coming to seek out our longings and tell us, I've got it. [01:20:03] (40 seconds) #HeSeeksTheLost

So it needs to be asked and answered again. Why do we need this shepherd so badly? Because of the reality of our human condition. Like Matthew 9 records, we are like sheep without a shepherd. We are really, really helpless creatures. You may not realize it. We may not realize it fully. But we are dependent on a guide. We have to come to the end of ourselves to fully grasp what is truly at the heart of our longing. [01:20:44] (33 seconds) #WeNeedAShepherd

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