February 8, 2026 - I AM The Gate Of The Sheep (John 10:7,9 - Norm Byers)

We think our striving is the only way to be happy. But Jesus stands at the gate and he says, stop playing in the mud. I have an ocean for you. Jesus is the gate to the full life where striving ends and flourishing begins. I just wanna urge you today to open your heart up to what Jesus has for you. [01:09:09] (26 seconds)  #OpenToFullLife

So let's jump right into the first instruction, and it's this, enter through the gate of Jesus. If you want a fulfilled life, if you want a life that is exceeding expectations, a life you're going to love, then it starts with this, enter through the gate of Jesus. And what's interesting about what Jesus is saying here is he is giving an exclusive way, the only way, the point of entry, this way right here. But I wanna say this, it's incredibly inclusive of anyone, whosoever, whoever would. [00:47:33] (35 seconds)  #EnterThroughJesus

So here's the bottom line. There's a definitive moment when you choose to walk through a definitive door. That's a Christian. Someone who's made a choice like, I am doing this. By faith, I'm going through this specific door. And what Jesus says is, that salvation. That's powerful. If you're hearing that for the first time, I'm so blessed that I had the chance to share that with you. And maybe today, this is the kind of seed that can birth a whole new thing in your life. And change everything. [00:51:26] (41 seconds)  #StepThroughByFaith

What does it mean to enter in? What is Jesus saying? It's an invitation. It's an invitation. It boils down to a decision, a choice that you each one of us has. I mean, in other places, Jesus says, if you're if you're burdened, if you're broken, if you're heavy laden, he says, come to me and I will give you rest. It's kind of like that. It's like, hey, if you've tried it your way and you're really tired of it, here's a new way. Here's something to try. Enter through me. [00:50:13] (31 seconds)  #ComeAndRestInJesus

The first instruction is enter in and it's that it's it's entering. It's a point of decision to commit to Christ, okay? It's punctiliar. It's like a point of decision to do something. And the second one is it's more of a rhythm. You've already entered in, and now you're a Christian. And now you need to come in regularly to Christ. You've gotta come back to him. You've got to be reminded of who you are. [00:54:07] (33 seconds)  #ReturnToChristDaily

So once you've come in for rest and intimacy, you've come into the lord, then the sun rises. It's a new day, and it's time to go out on mission. It's, it's a time, to follow Jesus. And and Jesus doesn't just lead us to refuge. He leads us to nourishment which is going out into the world and finding pasture, finding mission. And this is what's missing for so many followers of Christ. And and why so many don't flourish. You can't grow if you don't leave the fold. And so we're going out to do this to feed on the opportunities that God has provided. That's the pasture. That's the mission that will feed you, feeds your purpose. [01:03:55] (51 seconds)  #PastureAndPurpose

You believe that a specific win, that next thing, promotion, new house, whatever, will permanently move your happiness needle, and it it never does. Here's another one, the gate of comparison. It's the if I'm ahead of you, then I'm living. You know, if I'm ahead of I I got a better house than you have or I'm better at something, you know, like in sports, let's just say if you're in school. But then I'll be happy. Then I then I'll be there. And it's the I am better than you trap. And it it's a trap. [00:44:03] (31 seconds)  #ComparisonIsATrap

Here's another one. It's called the gate of performance. And this false gate is I am what I do. And Arthur Brooks says that if your identity is built on your performance, you will be left despairing when your performance slips. And that's going to happen to everybody in this room. [00:44:58] (22 seconds)  #IdentityNotPerformance