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Welcome to Social Dallas. Oh, you look like you got some confident trust in the Lord. It's hard to trust a God you don't know. Hard to know a God that you won't take time to worship and honor. So we'll never apologize for that. I am going to preach an abbreviated, abbreviated message today. So glad that you're here. But I'm more thankful that the presence of the Lord is here today. Thank you, God. He's the God we can trust, the God we can trust. And so we have a verse that we declare every single Sunday. We're going to do it again today. It's in Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 35 through 37. I know you've been standing for a minute. I promise I'm going to let you sit. Worship team, don't go too far. Go too far. Come on, y'. All. Don't go till I say so. You ready? So I throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you. Patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. Come on.
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Do you believe he's coming?
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Every time we read it, I just wonder, what if he comes while we reading it? That be crazy. The Coming One will we just out of here. Those of you at the top, get there before us. I want to read a very familiar passage of Scripture in your hearing. We have been in a series, believe it or not, called Still. Understanding what it is to practice the discipline of silence and solitude. Come around the idea that it's not enough to just be around God. If you don't get along with God, be still and know that he is God. So this is the third installment of that series, and I want to look at a familiar passage of Scripture. But I believe the Holy Spirit's going to give us fresh perspective on it today. Psalms 23. Not the whole thing, just verse 1 and 2 will do. Says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, and he leads me beside. What kind of waters? Still waters. Some version says, quiet waters for our purpose today in our series called Still. That's what I want to talk about. Still waters. Look at your neighbor. Whichever one you like the best, you pick. Just say neighbor. You look like you need some still waters. Look at your other neighbor. Say other neighbor. I know you need still water. No, sparkling still. Father, speak to us today. Amen. You can Sit down. You can sit down. Help me. Thank God for our worship team. Wow. Still waters. Are there any dog owners in the house today? Y' all shouted like you were waiting for somebody to ask you. Dog owners, Let me see your hand one more time. Dog owners. Okay. Any cat owners? I'm not judging, but I'm praying for y'. All. I'm praying for y'. All. I'll be honest. I did not grow up around a lot of animals. I didn't have a dog growing up as a kid. I've never been a dog person. Never wanted one, never desired a dog. As a matter of fact, I thought I would live my entire adult life dog free. But then I got married to the lovely Taylor Madu and we had three kids. And it's a horrible thing when your whole family gangs up against you. And through coercion and even manipulation, I have now become a dog person. I've become a dog person because we have two dogs. Two dogs. One is Theodore. We call him Theo. He is a golden doodle. They're still. Oh, don't. Oh, you don't know. You don't know. Matter of fact, he is for sale to the Highest bidder after service 3 million. Okay. Yes. Trying to get us in our building. That's Theo. He's our golden doodle. And he is not my favorite of our dogs. He is not my favorite. I do have a favorite. And he is Bruno. That's my favorite. Hey, that's my dog right there. That is my dog. Bruno is 140lbs of solid rock waller. I love Bruno. Let's talk about Bruno. He is my favorite. He's my favorite dog. It's interesting because if I saw a dog that size, that size and that breed, like, at your house or in these streets, I would be petrified. I would run. And don't let them jump on me. I'm calling animal control. But Bruno, it's just different because we got history. We got history. I have spent years building trust. I knew that dog when he was this size. Just a little bit puppy. I've had him for a while. I put some time in with Bruno. I've held him in my arms. I got history with Bruno. And so there's something that Bruno frequently does that fascinates me. It'll happen in a moment when I get quiet and I get still, and I'll just stand somewhere in the yard and Bruno will come up to me and he will lean his heavy body on my still developing calves. And then all of a sudden, he will get Very still. And he will watch this sit not by my feet, but on my feet. And he will just be still. No barking, no jumping, no pacing, just sitting on my feet still. And I was thinking about this week and thinking about our series, and I realized that stillness feels safe when you trust the one you're with. Stillness always feels safe when you trust the one you're with. That dog, trust me. And that's why he will come up to me and get. And that's really what we've been unpacking in this series, trying to get quiet moments where you get along with God and yourself and understand that you have a God who wants to get along with you, who wants to spend time with you. And you have a God that can be trusted because he is safe. And as amazing as that sounds, can we be honest? It is harder than it sounds. It's hard to get quiet moments alone with yourself and God because we live in a culture where we are overstimulated, over scheduled, overexposed, overworked and under rested. One author described it as the anxious generation. We don't know how to be still. We don't know how to be still. So we struggle with the noise that's around us and we struggle with the noise that is within us. I was thinking about this. Wouldn't it be amazing, especially as we've been in this series, if you had, like a stillness coach, wouldn't that be amazing? Like a solitude trainer that you would just sign up for and they would help you practice silence and solitude. You clap, but you wouldn't like it because they would mess you up. They would do stuff like, give me that phone. You'd be like, I'm grown. They'd be like, I don't care. Give me that phone. You've scrolled enough. They would help you practice silence and solitude. They would say stuff to you like, don't respond to that text. No, but I need to let her know. Don't respond to that text. They would tell you things like, cut off the tv, But I got three more episodes in this series. Cut off the TV and go to bed because you need some quiet in your morning. And you don't prepare for the morning in the morning. You prepare the night before. So get off of TikTok, go to bed so you can get up and get along. Wouldn't that be awesome if you had a stillness coach? Wouldn't that be awesome if you had a solitude trainer? Well, I got some good news for you today. You got something better than that. You have a Shepherd. You have a shepherd. And he is not a regular shepherd. He is a good shepherd. He is a shepherd that says, I will lay down my life for my sheep. And if you will let me guide you and lead you, I will show you my ways. We have a good shepherd. Which brings me to our text today in Psalms 23. Come on. This is undoubtedly one of the most known, not just psalms, but verses in the entire Bible. I don't care if you missed every single Sunday school class and you only pull up to church on Easter. How many know you know Psalms 23? It is a beloved psalm. It is read at funerals and quoted in hospitals. It's printed on cards and framed on walls. In fact, St. Augustine called it the Martyr's Hymn, the Martyrs Hymn, because many are the martyrs who died for the gospel. And as they were dying, they quoted the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Even history tells us that Abraham Lincoln, when he was facing a deep, dark depression, the only scripture that would bring him peace was Psalms 23. For over 3,000 years, we have quoted this and we know the words. But how many know? Knowing the words doesn't always mean you understand the meaning. Just because you know the words. Just because you have a song you're singing, it doesn't mean you understand what you are singing about. A psalm is a song. It's a song. And you could be singing a song passionately and not even know what you're singing. You can be singing a song and not realize what you're singing about. You already got. But let me prove it to you. While I was working on this message, True story. As I'm working on this message and this part of the message, I'm working in the office upstairs and my kids are downstairs. And as I'm writing this part of the message, all of a sudden the sounds from downstairs start coming upstairs. And I hear my two daughters, one who is 8 and one who is 11, singing at the top of their lungs downstairs, talking about, come be the man I need.
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And then I hear PT Join them, talking about, come be the man I need.
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And then I came downstairs like, what
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are we talking about?
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You don't even know what you're singing.
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Here he is. I am the man you need. What are we singing about? He's not coming. He's already here.
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I wonder if God feels that way sometimes.
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Talking about, come be the God I need. And God's like, I'm right here in your presence. I can do things that nobody else can do. While you singing about something actually experience in real time.
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Just because you sing it doesn't mean you know the full weight of it. And I think we do the same with Psalm 23. We say it, we quote it, we sing it, but we don't stop long enough to wrestle with what it actually means. And part of the reason we miss the meeting is because we forget who wrote it. This is David who wrote Psalms 23. King David, who used to be shepherd boy David. In fact, most scholars believe that David wrote this later in his life. Not when he was a shepherd, but when he was a king. This is when he writes, the Lord is my shepherd. That means David knew exactly what he was saying. David was not guessing. He was actually remembering those times when he was a shepherd boy out in the field. When he said, the Lord is my shepherd. He is not reaching for a random metaphor. He's reaching for the one thing he understood better than anything else. Think of all the other metaphors he could have used. He could have said that the Lord is my warrior because David knew how to fight. He could knock you out with one rock. He could have said that the Lord is my king because he was a king and he knew what it was to have a kingdom and have subjects. He could have said that the Lord is my judge because he knew that the people would bring their issues to him and he would have to rule and reign with discernment. But of all the metaphors that David could have used, he said, I know what my relationship with my God is, and I'm choosing to say that he is my shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, not your shepherd. He personalizes it and says, the Lord, Lord is my shepherd. Why did David do that? Because he knew what it meant to stay up at night protecting what couldn't protect itself. He knew what it meant to guide and love something that didn't always listen. When David wrote Psalms 23, he knew the weight and the responsibility of being a shepherd. We read Psalm 23 like poetry, but David remembered the responsibility. He remembered that the protection provision, guidance and direction was not the responsibility of the sheep. It was on the care character of the shepherd.
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So it is from this posture that
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he boldly exclaims, the Lord is my shepherd.
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Why do we only read this at funerals?
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This is not something you just read at death.
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This is something you gotta read in your life.
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Cause David is bragging about who his God is. He says, who he is, my shepherd. He is boasting in the fact that he belongs to the Lord. Okay? This is the equivalent of my Dog Bruno having a conversation with another dog. And we could. Let's say we could read bark. And he's like, man, I'm telling you, PR Is my owner. And he's bragging to another dog about PR Being his owner, how I take care of him, how I provide for him, how I preach my sermons to him before I preach it to y'. All. Can you see Bruno bragging that he is owned by me? But it depends on what dog he's talking to. Let's imagine he's talking to Oprah's dog. That's a different conversation. He would have to pull his brag back a little bit, because he would be like, yeah, my dog take. My owner takes care of me. I love PR And Oprah's dog would be rolling his eyes, talking about, do you fly private, though? Because I got a different situation going on. See, I'm trying to show you. Hear me, that every single animal lives at the level of the care of its owner. You gonna get it in a minute. Every animal lives at the level of the care of its owner. If you want to know the character of the owner, then just look at the animal, and it will show you the character of the owner. Let's go to New Testament. That's why In Matthew, chapter 15, when there's a woman who's a Gentile, and she comes to Jesus and she says, jesus, my daughter is sick. She's possessed by a demon. Will you please heal her? Watch what Jesus says to her. He says, it is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. Your savior, your master called this Gentile woman a. A dog. That's in your Bible, called her a dog. Because in that day, the Jews called gentiles dogs. And this woman had every right to walk away mad and offended. I can't believe. Call himself the sin savior of the world, talking about I'm a dog. But she didn't walk away offended. She flipped that thing and said, well,
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even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from their master's table. In other words, I'm not offended that
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you called me a dog.
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I just want to make sure you're my master. Because if you are my master, I'm going to have every single thing that I need. I wonder if there's anybody in here that can brag a little bit today and say, I'm so glad the Lord. Lord is my shepherd. Because if he's my shepherd, I'm going to have every single thing that I need. Somebody take a Praise break and thank him that he's your shepherd.
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He's mine. David is bragging about the ownership that he has. I've heard preachers preach this text all the time, and they always call sheep stupid and dumb. That is not right. Sheep aren't dumb, but they are dependent. Very dependent. You can't just leave sheep out there. You gotta watch them. If you don't watch them, something is gonna go down. They are dependent. And how many know your relationship with God? Your relationship with the shepherd is predicated upon dependency. Ooh. That's what David's saying. In the same way, these sheep are dependent upon me. Lord, I'm dependent upon you. Everything is about dependence. I love our baby dedications. It was so beautiful. You see the little babies up here looking so cute. What is one of the roles of those parents to take those little kids from what? Total dependence to independence. You need everything from me, that's cool. But at some point, get out my house and be independent. It's different in the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God, you start off with total independence. Your way, what you think. And then you give your life to Jesus. And watch this over time, he is trying to strip you of your independence so that you will be completely dependent upon him, the shepherd. This is what David is saying. I'm dependent on my shepherd. And so he says, because he's my shepherd, I've got every single thing. One version he says, I shall not want. Another version he says, I'll lack nothing. I have all that I need. Now, we've heard this so many times, but let's think about that. Does that describe your life that you can say, whew, the Lord is my shepherd, I'm good. I don't lack anything. I got everything I need. Does that describe your life? Come on, let's be honest. One of the problems with sheep is
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we don't really know what we actually need.
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We don't know what's really a need. Some of us, it'd be more like, I know my greed, but I don't know my needs. And yet David says, I got a relationship with the shepherd. That I can say confidently, I've got every single thing that I need. How many know? It's hard to say you got all you need when you're looking at other sheep's feed. Am I the only one? Come on. You ever got there, you're like, I'm good. I got everything I need. And then you see another sheep's feed and you're like, maybe I don't come on. You know, you were so excited with your spring break vacation to Paris, Texas, weren't you?
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So excited, you're like, turn up. We're going to Paris, Texas. You were good until you saw another sheep's feed, and you're like, oh, they're
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going to Paris, France. This is messed up. I don't have all that I need. Sometimes, because we are so, so aware of what every other sheep has, it's hard for us to be content and
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say that I'm good with where I am. Is your problem that you keep scrolling
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and seeing what other sheep have on their feed? And that's why you can never be happy. I know you can't speak for you. I speak for me. Here's the thing I've learned about me. I don't got a problem if I see another sheep's feed who has a different shepherd. Like, if the Lord is not their shepherd and Satan is their shepherd, and it looks like their life is blessed, I ain't got a problem with that. I'm like, oh, time is ticking. Keep popping them bottles. You look like it's fun. Now it's only a matter of time. You got a different shepherd, so I've got a problem with that. But when it's somebody that has the same shepherd as me, and I look
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at their feet, oh, can I be out?
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I feel some type of way.
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I feel some type of way.
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Cause I know we got the same shepherd.
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And how come it seemed like the
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shepherd is playing favorites and giving you
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stuff that I didn't get?
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Can anybody testify? Y' all so fake and phony. I tell on me. I will tell on me.
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I was last week, I was at
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a pastor's gathering, and it was a pastor and all these business leaders. This is. I'm telling the truth. There's this pastor, and his church is in a building campaign, too. They're renovating. They're trying to get a building ready, and we're talking about different things. He said, yeah, man. He said, we're in a building campaign. And, you know, I met with a couple in our church, and I was telling them the vision about the building, and. And this couple said, man, we believe in the vision, pastor. And they just wrote a check for $11 million. And I said,
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praise the Lord.
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He the shepherd, ain't he?
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But internally, I was like, lord, are you for real? You know, they ain't even been in multiple venues. God, we've been in 14 different venues. Oh, I felt some type of way.
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And maybe that's the problem with many of us sheep, because we keep looking at everybody else's feed, that we can never get the peace to go.
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God, you're my shepherd. I got everything that I need.
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Oh, let's remember that. When David says, the Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need. He's not talking about materialism.
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He's not talking about stuff or comfort.
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He's saying, I have everything that I
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need under the shepherd's, and I will
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not lack what is essential. In essence, he's saying, I will not lack what I need for the life God has called me to live. I'm gonna say that one more time. I will not lack what I need for the life God has called me to live. That's what David is saying. Okay, I want to interrupt this regularly scheduled sermon so you can engage in a verbal exercise.
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Come on.
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Would you just say this? Say, I will not lack what I need for the life God has called me to live.
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Say it with your chest. Say, I will not lack what I need for the life God has called me to live. Oh, don't forget that last part. God has called me to live. Not my neighbor to live. Not my co worker to live. Not my auntie to live. Is there anybody in here that's ready to walk in the peace of being thankful that God. God made you the way he made you? I'm tired of being depressed because I'm playing comparison God. Thank you for making me the way you made me. If I was supposed to be taller, he would have made me taller. If I was supposed to be faster, he would have made me faster. If I was supposed to be another ethnicity, he would have made me another ethnicity. I am wonderfully and fearfully made. I'm thankful the shepherd made me. Somebody take a praise break and thank God for making you the way he made you. Thank you for these teeth. Thank you for this hair. Even if I bought it, it's still mine.
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He says I lack nothing. In other words, here's what he's saying. I've got contentment. Contentment. Ooh. I think contentment is the fruit of stillness that people that have gotten still with the Lord, they'll be content. Does that define your life? Contentment. Look at what Paul wrote to Timothy in First Timothy, Chapter 6, Verse 6. He said these words, but godliness with contentment is great gain. In other words, there's a benefit to just being. Later, Paul would tell us how he got contentment. Let's look at it in Philippians, chapter four. He says, I'm not Saying this because I am in need, for I have. I have what I have won. Oh, that means this didn't come naturally. This wasn't automatic. I had to learn to be content, whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. Keep going. I have learned. There it is again. The secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all. That's the part we like. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. See, we forget that first part we love. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Don't we love that part? We say it in the boardroom before the meeting. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. We stay before we bench press. I can do all things through Christ. Not realizing that verse is not really about achievement. It's about contentment. And where is Paul writing that from? A jail cell in an environment that nothing around him substantiates why he should be content. But he knows that contentment is an inside job, not something that comes from the outside. He says, I got everything I need. So what? He makes me lie down in green pastures. It's interesting. I used to always read that part of the Psalm, and I thought that that meant that the shepherd would, like, sit on the sheep or something. Like make them lie down. Come on. That's kind of like forceful language. Make you lie down. Hey, you better lay down. I've even said, sometimes your life will get so busy if you don't take a break, you will break and he'll make you lay down. But that's actually not what the Psalms is talking about. There's a book by Philip Keller called A Shepherd looks at the 23rd Psalm. And because he was a shepherd, he gives us some insight. He says, you can't make sheep lie down. Their legs ain't even that big. It's not like you can push on them. You can't make them lay down. He said sheep will only lay down if these four things are taken care of. Number one, you have to calm their fear. If sheep are afraid, they will not lay down. He said, number two, you got to take care of their friction with other sheep. If they got issues with the sheep that's in the cubicle next to them, if there's any tension in the sheep that they married, they gonna have a difficult time laying down. He said, you also gotta take care of the flies because they attract a lot of flies and Although it's a little thing, it will bother them, he said. And lastly, you gotta take care of their food, because if they are hungry, they will not lay down. Doesn't that sound a lot like us? Doesn't that sound like the things that we need our shepherd to take care of? But how does our shepherd take care of it? Does he just remove it? Ooh, I found out when it comes to fear, God often removes fear not by changing my situation, but by letting me know he is there with me in the situation. Can anybody testify? Have you ever had the situation not change? All of a sudden you became aware that the shepherd was. Was with you. I used to think that God removed the friction by moving the people. And sometimes he does. And that's when we thank God.
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Oh, you moving. Oh, no. Wow.
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You've been sensing some transition. Oh, that. That's. Oh, wow, that's great. But he doesn't always do that. Sometimes he'll mature you. Sometimes he'll expose the pride in your heart. Sometimes he'll show you that you need to give the grace to other people that you want in your life. The flies, the little things that distract us. Sometimes he doesn't remove it, but he'll just focus our attention back on him. The food and the hunger. He does not remove our hunger and our desire by giving us everything we want, but more so by showing us that he is everything that we need. And once they lay down. Y' all can play. Make this sound real spiritual. Once they lay down in green pastures. Do I stay in the green pastures all day? He's gotta lead me beside. What kind of waters? Still waters. He leads me beside still waters. He leads me beside still waters. He leads me. In other words, I'm not gonna stumble on still waters. I will not find still waters by accident. I have to be led to the still waters. I wonder if the reason you haven't gotten around the still waters that can restore your soul is because you refuse to be led by your shepherd. Stop complaining about not having still waters if you refuse to be led by your shepherd.
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Sheep don't even know where the water is. They have to trust that the shepherd knows where the water is. So they gotta walk thirsty. Trust him that he knows the place that will refresh me. He knows the job that will refresh me. He knows the relationship that will refresh me. He knows those are places that will bring me refreshing. I gotta follow him. He leads me besides still waters.
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And many of us don't get to the still waters because we refuse to be Led. Oh. Sheep have to get water to survive. Like me and you. They can go sometime without food, but
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they have to have water.
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Even though they are mostly made of water, 70% they have still need to be satisfied by water that is outside of them. Maybe that's a picture of humanity.
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We have to be fulfilled with something outside of us.
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And we need the shepherd to lead us to still waters. Why? Why still waters? Because if the waters aren't still and they're rushing real fast, the sheep will not only be afraid, but if they try to drink from water that is
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rushing too fast, all of a sudden,
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they will fall in, and they the weight of their wool will make them start drowning in a place that they sought to get refreshing from. I know you can't say anything, but have you ever gone to something that
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you thought would refresh you? Now all of a sudden you're drowning in it. You ever gone to a relationship that you thought would refresh you? Now you're drowning in it. Oh, I know you can't say anything. Some of us are drowning in things that we thought would refresh us. Drowning in addiction, drowning. Drowning in busyness, drowning in worry, drowning in debt. We need the shepherd to pull us out of the situations we're in.
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When you're drowning in something you thought would refresh you, all of a sudden, the only thing you can do is say, help, get me out. But some of us aren't drowning. The sheep have another proclivity. Sometimes because the shepherd has taken too long to take you to the still waters, sheep will stop and settle for polluted puddles. And so, since I don't want to wait for the shepherd to take me to the clean water, I'm just gonna drink the polluted puddle.
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And the problem with drinking the polluted puddle, it tastes real good. A little bit. It refreshes a little bit. But you don't even realize you got
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a parasite on the inside of you
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from where you tried to get refreshing. Some of us have things that are still stuck to us now, even though we tried to have it refresh us in past seasons.
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Okay, I'm gonna close with this. I told you. I told you, right? I told you. Bruno is my favorite dog. Right? Told you that. I told you. I don't like Theo. Okay, here's why I don't like Theo. Theo does something that Bruno doesn't do. Theo does something that drives me crazy. In our house, my kids never finish their water bottles. We got bougie water. They don't finish it. They only drink about half of it. And I'm always saying, finish the water. Sometimes I channel my Nigerian. Dad, can you finish this entire bottle of water? This is not cheap. They don't finish it. So here's what I do. I've adjusted. I will take those unfinished bottles of water and I will pour them in fields dark bowl. Okay. He has the most amazing fresh water that he can drink from. This dog, especially in the summer, will come in from running around outside.
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And instead of going to the place
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that I prepared for him. That is fresh.
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That is amazing. Guess where he goes? Straight to the toilet. I will hear him in the house if you don't get out of that toilet, Theo.
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And then he comes out looking at me like he wasn't doing anything.
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Get out of the toilet, Theo. I gotta place for you. And I realized this dog does not have the cognitive capacity to stop going. So guess what I did. I just started closing every single bathroom door so he won't have access to the stuff that's gonna kill him. And now that the door is closed, he only has one place to go to find his refreshing. Who am I preaching to today? You ought to thank God for some closed doors. That's your shepherd trying to lead you to the place that's gonna refresh you. I wish somebody would give God some praise. If you're thankful for the shepherd that'll lead you besides Still Waters, would you get up on your feet and thank God that he's a good shepherd that is leading me
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to Still Waters? What if that closed door is a good shepherd saying, I will do whatever I need to do to get you to the place that I know will refresh you? Thank God they broke up with you. Thank God you didn't get that job. It was more pay, but it was going to cost you more peace. Thank God some doors were shut so the shepherd watch this. Could lead me. He leads me to still waters. And he leads me in the path of righteousness. I have to be led so that I can be refreshed and my soul can be restored. I'm going to ask. Heads be bowed, eyes be closed. Today. Simple question today. Is the shepherd leading your life? Is he truly leading or are you leading and you want him to co sign what you want to do? Some of us, if we're honest, we would say, hey, there's areas in my life where the shepherd is leading, but there's other areas where I am leading. And we wonder why we don't have peace and why there's so much chaos. Could be because you're leading that area, and you're not following the shepherd. Some of you, your finances would change completely if you would let the shepherd lead you, if you would trust him with your finances. It's so easy to trust him in certain other areas and let him lead in other areas. Say, oh, I got this. I know you're the shepherd, but I, I, I got this one. Is there an area where you're not letting the shepherd lead? Heads are bowed, eyes are closed today. But if that's true, I would love to give you an opportunity to respond to the good Shepherd. And hear me. Just because he's leading does not mean everything will be perfect. Which is why he says, yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. That lets you know that you will go through some valleys. But he'll be with you. His rod and his staff will comfort you. He'll prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies, with heads bowed and eyes closed. Today, how many would be so honest to say, hey, P.R. there's an area in my life where I am leading and the shepherd is not. And today I need to let him take the lead. I promise you, he has still waters for you. Would you just lift up your hand as a sign to say, I know what that area is. And today I'm gonna let the shepherd lead. Thank you, God. Thank you, Lord. Hands going up all over this place today. Thank you, Jesus. Anybody else? Head still bowed, eyes still closed, you could put it right back down. If you're here today and you've never surrendered your life to this shepherd, I'd love to give you that opportunity. His presence has been so strong all day today. He desires to have relationship with you. He's a good shepherd. Some of you don't think he's a good shepherd because you had a bad experience with some of his sheep. But please don't project the character of the sheep onto the shepherd. He is a good. He's a good shepherd. He's a good shepherd. Can the church do better? Can other sheep do better? Absolutely. But hear me. Our shepherd is good. He's good. You can trust him. So with heads bowed and eyes closed, I don't care if it's one person, because I got scripture for that. We have a shepherd that leaves the 99 to go for the 1. So if that's you today, you say, PR, I've never surrendered my life to Jesus, but today I need to give him my life. Would you lift up your hand high enough and long enough to where I could see it to say, today's my day. I see that hand. Thank you, God. Anybody else? I see that hand. Thank you, God. Yeah, you don't have to clean yourself up to come to him. He already knows. He knows that we need him. Sheep don't have any defense mechanism. All they have is the shepherd. Anybody else? Thank you, God. These altars are going to be open after service, but I just want to lead those of you who responded in this prayer. I'm going to give you the words, but you say it from your heart. Would you say this? Let's all declare it. Say, jesus, I need you today. I give up the fight. I surrender to you, Jesus. I believe that you're the son of God, that you lived the life that I was supposed to live. And you died the death that I was supposed to die. You took my place on a cross. So, Lord, today I'm responding. Forgive me of my sin. Make me brand new from this moment forward. I'm following you. You are my shepherd. I hear your voice. Where you lead, I will follow in Jesus name, Amen. Amen. Amen. Can we give God just the best hand clap of praise today? Come on, you can do better than that. Hey. If you prayed that prayer, the first thing I want to say to you is, welcome to the family. Welcome to the family.