Shepherd | Week 1

Pastor Bill Bush · Sep 13, 2020

Big Idea

The answer to worry is to believe that God will take care of you.

Worry is like fog — a small concern that, left unchecked, fills our whole mind and paralyzes us. Psalm 23 offers a simple hope: God is our Shepherd who provides, protects, guides, and corrects, and He can be trusted to take care of us, even through death itself.

Key points

1
1Worry is unhelpful, unreasonable, unhealthy, and unnecessary
Pastor Bill compares worry to revving a car engine in park — it wastes energy and goes nowhere. He notes worry is unreasonable because either you can act on a concern (so act) or you can't (so it's pointless), and studies show worry can even shorten your life, yet Psalm 23 shows it's ultimately unnecessary.
2
2Psalm 23 is part of a prophetic trilogy pointing to Jesus as our Shepherd
Pastor Bill explains that Psalms 22, 23, and 24 form the 'Shepherd Psalms' — 22 is Jesus on the cross (the past), 23 is the Shepherd walking with us now (the present), and 24 is resurrection hope (the future). David likely wrote it late in his reign, stressed and worried over his own failures and his family's rebellion, yet found hope in God as Shepherd.
3
3To let God be your Shepherd, you first have to accept Jesus as Lord
Pastor Bill points out that the Lord is not automatically your shepherd — the shepherd must first be your Lord. Drawing on John 10, he explains that Jesus' sheep know Him, listen to Him, and follow Him, and that the root of worry, going back to Genesis 3, is trying to control your own life instead of trusting God.
4
4Begin praying about everything, and actually let go of your cares
Using 1 Peter 5:7, Pastor Bill notes the Greek word for cast means to drop and walk away, not to reel back in like a fisherman constantly checking his lines. He illustrates this with his own story of spilling tea on his shirt before service and worrying, then catching himself and giving the small worry to God.
5
5Consider one day at a time instead of borrowing tomorrow's trouble
From Matthew 6, Pastor Bill explains Jesus' teaching not to worry about tomorrow because today has enough to deal with on its own, and that God gives us all of our needs, not all of our greeds.
6
6Even walking through death, the Shepherd is with us
Pastor Bill tells the story of evangelist Wilbert Chapman praying with a dying ten-year-old boy, teaching him to hold his finger while saying 'The Lord is my shepherd.' The boy was found dead two days later still clasping that finger, having walked into eternity holding the hand of his Shepherd.

Application

Pastor Bill frames it as the ABCs of making Jesus your Shepherd: accept, begin, and consider.

Accept Jesus as your Lord
Whether you already believe in Jesus or have never truly surrendered to Him, ask whether the shepherd is actually your Lord day to day, and yield control of your life to Him rather than just claiming Him as advisor.
Begin praying about everything
Bring even the small, seemingly silly worries to God, and actually drop your cares on Him instead of reeling them back in like a fisherman checking his lines.
Consider one day at a time
Stop borrowing tomorrow's trouble; deal with what God is asking of you today, and trust that He provides what you need, not everything you want.

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“actually Psalms 22, 23, and 24 are a trilogy of Psalms. He invented God invented the trilogy. So he's it's a trilogy of Psalms that they're called the Shepherd Psalms”
From the transcript
“Psalms 22 is about past Jesus, for us the past, what He did is it's Jesus on the cross. Jesus quoted Psalm 22. Lot of the line, things He said when He was on the cross comes out of Psalm 22”
From the transcript
“Psalms 23, what we're gonna be in the next few weeks is called the Shepherd's Lying, that's the present. So that was the the past was the Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep”
From the transcript
“And then Psalms 24 is about resurrection and hope. Not just Jesus' resurrection, but our hope that we have eternal life, and so it's past, present, future”
From the transcript
“And so in Psalms 23, he writes this beautiful picture of God, of who he is”
From the transcript
“And so in Psalms 23, he writes this beautiful picture of God, of who he is. Matter of fact, it's a really beautiful it reminds me of the story”
From the transcript
“just kind of I just wanna read the whole Psalms 23. And I think for some of us, just doing that might help no matter what you're worried about”
From the transcript
“Because in John 10, He talks about Jesus talks about being the good shepherd, and He talks about being our shepherd, and He says something about us as sheep”
From the transcript
“It says in first Peter five seven that we should cast our cares. Talk to him. Cast our cares on him. The problem is that word cast in the Greek literally means just to drop”
From the transcript
“In Matthew six, Jesus is talking about how we everybody worries about what's gonna where are you gonna get food? Are gonna eat this? Where are gonna there's all and he says, that's what the world does”
From the transcript
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are right there with me”

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Day 1

There is one verse that can stop a worrier cold if you let it land: 'The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.' Six words into it, everything changes — or at least, everything could. Pastor Bill pointed out something easy to miss: the word 'Lord' carries the whole weight of the sentence. Not 'the Lord is my helper' or 'my advisor,' but my shepherd. A shepherd doesn't consult the sheep on the route. The sheep trust the shepherd knows the way, knows the danger, and knows what the flock needs before they do. That kind of trust isn't passive — it's a daily, deliberate choice to follow rather than wander off and figure things out alone. The honest question the sermon puts in front of us is not 'do you believe in God?' Most of us would say yes. The question is sharper: is the shepherd actually your Lord? Because if He is, then the second half of that verse is the logical result — you have all that you need. Not all that you want. Not all that you feared you'd lose. What you actually need. That is either the most comforting promise in Scripture or the most convicting one, depending on how tightly we're still gripping the shepherd's crook ourselves.

For reflection

When you picture yourself as one of God's sheep, does the image feel like rest — or does part of you still want to be the one holding the crook?

Pray

Pray for an honest look at where you are still trying to shepherd your own life, and ask Jesus to be Lord of that specific place today.

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Pastor Bill opened with a vivid image: worry is like fog — it starts small but can expand until it blocks out everything. This message invites us to look honestly at what worry really is, and what — or Who — actually clears it.

Discussion questions

1
Pastor Bill described worry as fog — something that takes a small concern and expands it until it paralyzes us. What makes that image feel accurate to you, and what does it suggest about the way worry actually works in our lives?
2
In Psalm 23:1, the whole psalm hinges on a single claim: 'The Lord is my shepherd.' Pastor Bill drew out a pointed distinction — the Lord is not your shepherd unless the shepherd is your Lord. What do you think that distinction is really getting at?
3
In John 10, Jesus describes His sheep as those who know Him, listen to Him, and follow Him. How do you think those three things work together — and what happens when one of them is missing?
4
Pastor Bill traced worry — and sin more broadly — back to a desire to control our own lives rather than trust God, connecting it to the original lie that God is somehow holding out on us. How does seeing worry as a control issue, rather than just a feelings issue, change the way we might think about it?
5
First Peter 5:7 says to cast your cares on God. Pastor Bill described the tendency to cast a worry and then immediately reel it back in. What do you think genuine release actually looks like in practice — what might help people move from going through the motion to really letting something go?
6
Pastor Bill ended with what he called the ultimate anchor: even death itself loses its power when the Lord is our shepherd, because He walks with us through the darkest valley and into eternity. How does the hope Psalm 23:4 points to shape the way we approach the smaller fears we carry day to day?

Pray together

Surrendering what we're carrying to the Shepherd — and asking for the courage to actually leave it with Him

Topics

Fear of Death God as Shepherd Surrender to Jesus Trusting God Worry and Anxiety

Shepherd | Week 1

Big Idea

Key points

Application

Take it into your week

Scripture in this message

7-day devotional

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Small-group discussion guide

Open

Discussion questions

Pray together