Organization
It took me less than 5 minutes to get my first list of verses then I spent another 5 mintues chewing them over, after that I took a nap and when I woke up I had an idea I wanted to pursue. This particular phrase got me to thinking, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves ". I wondered, Why sheep, why does God want his people to be like sheep?" In order to answer that I needed to know what the Bible had to say about sheep, what it means to be one. I went to Strong's Concordance and looked up sheep and found this, "any four footed, tame animal accustomed to graze", I also looked it up in the dictionary and found this, "A person regarded as timid, weak, or submissive. One who is easily swayed or led." Next I went to BibleGateway.com and searched on sheep and found these verses:
John 10:12
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Ezekiel 34:12
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
Jeremiah 23:1
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Psalm 44:22
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves
Matthew 9:36
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Psalm 95:7
For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice
Psalm 100:3
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Matthew 25:32
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
John 21:16
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
These weren't all the references to sheep, it took a little picking and choosing to come up with the ones that seemed significant to my questions. I read them over and didn't come up with anything right away so I goofed off for a while.
After a short break I read my verses over again and weeded out the ones that were repetitious or didn't help answer my questions until my list looked like this:
John 10:12
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves
Matthew 9:36
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Psalm 100:3
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
John 21:16
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
I re-read my selected verses and took another break, when I came back I was ready to start sorting. I read through my list again and started putting them together in a sort of order.
Psalm 100:3
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Matthew 9:36
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
John 21:16
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
John 10:12
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
I also looked up a couple of words in Strong's:
Wise - prudent, i.e. mindful of one's interests
Serpent - With the ancients, the serpent was an emblem of cunning and wisdom. The serpent who deceived Eve was regarded by the Jews as the devil.
Harmless - Of the mind, without a mixture of evil, free from guile, innocent, simple
That's it. The sermon is basically done. I won't explain exactly why I picked those verses and put them in that order, I'll let you discover why in my last post in this series, the finished sermon, "All We Like Sheep." Once you found your list, it's all a matter of personality, all a matter of what you're looking for or what you want to say. The Bible can say anything about anything if you put the verses in the right order, getting them to listen is where you come in. I was never that great of a preacher, my sermons weren't usually memorable but, then, of the countless sermons I heard I remember only bits and pieces of less than a handful. This series is last minute, get you by stuff, or good starter material for those just getting into the preaching game, if you want to be great, that takes effort, style and talent.
John 10:12
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Ezekiel 34:12
As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
Jeremiah 23:1
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
Psalm 44:22
Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves
Matthew 9:36
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Psalm 95:7
For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice
Psalm 100:3
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Matthew 25:32
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
John 21:16
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
These weren't all the references to sheep, it took a little picking and choosing to come up with the ones that seemed significant to my questions. I read them over and didn't come up with anything right away so I goofed off for a while.
After a short break I read my verses over again and weeded out the ones that were repetitious or didn't help answer my questions until my list looked like this:
John 10:12
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves
Matthew 9:36
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Psalm 100:3
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
John 21:16
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
I re-read my selected verses and took another break, when I came back I was ready to start sorting. I read through my list again and started putting them together in a sort of order.
Psalm 100:3
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Matthew 9:36
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
John 21:16
He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
John 10:4
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
Matthew 10:16
Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
John 10:12
But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
I also looked up a couple of words in Strong's:
Wise - prudent, i.e. mindful of one's interests
Serpent - With the ancients, the serpent was an emblem of cunning and wisdom. The serpent who deceived Eve was regarded by the Jews as the devil.
Harmless - Of the mind, without a mixture of evil, free from guile, innocent, simple
That's it. The sermon is basically done. I won't explain exactly why I picked those verses and put them in that order, I'll let you discover why in my last post in this series, the finished sermon, "All We Like Sheep." Once you found your list, it's all a matter of personality, all a matter of what you're looking for or what you want to say. The Bible can say anything about anything if you put the verses in the right order, getting them to listen is where you come in. I was never that great of a preacher, my sermons weren't usually memorable but, then, of the countless sermons I heard I remember only bits and pieces of less than a handful. This series is last minute, get you by stuff, or good starter material for those just getting into the preaching game, if you want to be great, that takes effort, style and talent.
Posted by RevrendZ - 10/01/2005 05:55:00 PM
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