First Lutheran Church of Little Rock

(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) The Gospel lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
His Son and our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
(D) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:

Gracious and Loving God, we gather in Your presence today, drawn by the
words of Jesus in John 15, where He calls us to abide in His love, just as
He abides in Your love.
We are grateful for this divine love, a love so profound that it transcends
understanding, a love that calls us friends rather than servants because
Jesus has made known to us everything that You have told Him.
Lord, we acknowledge the beauty and depth of this relationship, rooted in
love and chosen by You.
We thank You for choosing us to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and
for the promise that whatever we ask in Jesus’ name, You will give us.
Help us to embody this love not only in our words but through our actions,
living out the commandment Jesus gave us: to love each other as He has
loved us.
In our worship today, remind us of the sacrificial love of Christ, who laid
down His life for us, so that we might live through Him.
May this truth resonate deeply in our hearts and inspire us to love others
sacrificially and generously.
Teach us to maintain our connection to Jesus, the true vine, so that our
lives might be fruitful, reflecting Your grace and truth in all that we do.
Lord, as we continue in prayer, fellowship, and worship this day,
strengthen our commitment to live out this commandment of love.
Help us to be bearers of Your peace, agents of Your grace, and witnesses to
Your transformative love.
May our community be a reflection of the love that You have poured out on
us, and may our relationships be marked by the selflessness and joy that
comes from abiding in You.
We ask these things in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who with You
and the Holy Spirit reigns forever in perfect unity and love. Amen.

Introduction

(A) Our text for this morning is right in the middle of Jesus’ farewell
message to his disciples, John 13–17, which makes His words extraordinary.
(1) For in just a few hours, Jesus will experience betrayal, abandonment,
and unlawful arrest.
(2) Then He will experience cruel abuse and execution.
(3) Yet Jesus speaks of both His and the Father’s love.
(4) This is especially noticeable in the use of the Greek noun for love
(ἀγάπη) four times and the verb for love (ἀγαπάω) five times in the text.
(B) In last Sunday’s Gospel from John 15:1–8), Jesus spoke of his
relationship with his disciples and with us using the vine-branches
analogy.
(1) He is the vine; we are the branches.
(2) The branches cannot exist without connection to the vine.
(3) In today’s text, Jesus expands on this analogy, specifically pointing
out the relationships of Jesus and the Father, Jesus and the disciples, and
the disciples to one another.
(4) And each of these relationships consists of each one loving the other.
(5) So that’s the focus of Jesus’ message to us today too.
(6) Our text teaches us that The Love of Christ Compels Us to Love.
(I) We fail to keep Christ’s command to love.
(A) We all know how sweet love is, but Jesus also gives us a command to
love:
John 15:9–10, 12, 16 (NASB95)
9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My
love.
10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have
kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved
you.
John 15:16 (NASB95)
16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would
go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you
ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
(1) How well do we fit these descriptions?
(B) How are you doing with these commandments?
Jesus says:
John 15:10 (NASB95)
10 “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have
kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
(1) Because of our sinful nature, we break the commandments continuously
and constantly, so how could we possible abide in his love?
(2) Each one of us has our pet sins:
(a) Thoughts of lust
(b) Harsh words
(c) Violent temper
(C) Using Jesus’ analogy, as branches, how connected are we to the vine?
(1) Only when it is convenient for us, when it fits our schedule?
(D) How can we abide in his love if that connection is weak?
(1) We hardly love others as we are loved by Christ.
(2) We live in a world where the mindset is“after me, you first” prevails.
(3) Are we bearing abiding fruit?
(4) Jesus says to “go and bear fruit,” which might indicate the intention
to witness to others so that they may come to faith in Christ.
(5) That’s one of the most important ways we can love our neighbor.
(6) How evident is that fruit of yours?
(E) Jesus’ words certainly do not describe those who are unbelievers, those
branches who are cut off from the vine.
(1) Apart from faith in Christ, we are all spiritually blind, spiritually
dead, and enemies of God
2 Corinthians 4:4 (NASB95)
4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory
of Christ, who is the image of God.
Ephesians 2:1 (NASB95)
1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
Romans 5:10 (NASB95)
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death
of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His
life.
(2) We all inherited this sinful nature from Adam and Eve.
(3) Because of this and the resulting actual sins of which we are guilty,
we deserve both physical death and eternal punishment in hell.
(F) We have all failed to keep Jesus’ command to love.
(II) But in that same love Christ calls us to repent and forgives us.
(A) Christ does not want us to perish spiritually and eternally, and in
love He calls us to repent.
(1) When we do repent, it is by God enabling us.
(2) He warns us by His Law—like the words we just heard—but then He makes
His loving purpose immediately evident as well.
(B) The Augsburg Confession teaches:
(1) True repentance is nothing else than to have contrition and sorrow, or
terror, on account of sin, and yet at the same time to believe the Gospel
and absolution (namely, that sin has been forgiven and grace has been
obtained through Christ), and this faith will comfort the heart and again
set it at rest. (AC XII 3–5, Tappert, German)
(C) When we repent, then God forgives us of our sinful nature and all of
our actual sins.
(1) He forgives us for the sake of Jesus Christ.
(2) How does He do that?
(3) By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes:
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB95)
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him.
(4) Sin was destroyed at Calvary even as Christ carried all of it for all
of mankind in His own body.
(5) At the cross, Jesus is your substitute.
(6) He suffered and died in your place to pay the penalty for your sins and
satisfy the wrath of God.
(7) And every Sunday we proclaim the Easter message that Jesus rose again
from the dead, victorious over sin, Satan and death, bringing us new life
in the face of death.
(8) And so forgiveness, life, and salvation are available through faith in
Christ Jesus.
John 15:13 (NASB95)
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his
friends.
(9) Christ has proved His great love for us by laying down His life for us,
and now He declares us His friends!
(III) Then Christ’s love transforms us to love too.
(A) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord has declared us:
(1) to be forgiven of our sins,
(2) saved from death and the fire of hell,
(3) and given the gift of living eternally in heaven with Him.
(B) Yet even more than all that, the love of Christ is transformational.
(1) The evidence of faith in Christ is seen in the changes that take place
in our lives.
(2) Scripture uses words like:
(a) born again,
(b) rebirth,
(c) regeneration,
(d) renewal,
(e) and transformation to describe what Christ’s love does to us.
(3) We are not only free from sin and the effects of sin, but we are free
also from the power of sin.
(4) We are thus:
(a) free to keep His commandments,
(b) free to abide in His love,
(c) and free to bear abiding fruit—that is, free to witness, as Peter
proclaims in today’s First Reading:
Acts 10:43 (NASB95)
43 “Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who
believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”
(C) The Augsburg Confession declares:
(1) “sin has been forgiven and grace has been obtained through Christ.”
(2) It goes on to say:
(a) “Amendment of life and the forsaking of sin should then follow” (AC XII
6, Tappert, German).
(b) When we have been loved by Christ’s forgiveness, we love too.
(D) In order to strengthen and increase our faith, love, and obedience, God
gives us the Means of Grace, his Word and Sacraments.
(1) The Word of God transforms us as it’s:
(a) read,
(b) spoken,
(c) expounded upon,
(d) and prayed individually and in groups as in this Divine Service.
(2) The Word of God connected to the water of Holy Baptism drowns the old
Adam and raises us to a new life of love.
(3) The Word of God in Holy Absolution gives comfort and consolation in
having the forgiveness of sins applied personally and individually.
(4) The Word of God together with bread and wine nourishes us for living
lives of God’s love with the true body and true blood of Christ given and
shed for us.
(5) Obedience to God’s command to love does not earn His love, but rather
it is evidence that flows from God’s love applied to us individually in
these Means of Grace.
(6) As we heard in today’s Epistle:
1 John 5:3 (NASB95)
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His
commandments are not burdensome.

Conclusion

(A) In Book Two of the classic Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien,
there’s a critical and striking scene.
(1) The “Company of the Ring,” consisting of four hobbits, a dwarf, an elf,
and three men, one of whom is a wizard named Gandalf, are in the dark halls
of the Mines of Moria.
(2) They make their way to an exit gate across the dangerously narrow stone
Bridge of Khazad-Dûm.
(3) Here they encounter a Balrog, a menacing creature of fire and shadow.
(4) So that his partners might escape, Gandalf, the wizard, stands on the
bridge between his companions and the Balrog.
(5) He calls out to the creature that it cannot pass.
(6) The creature then jumps on the bridge with him.
(7) Gandalf strikes the bridge with his staff, and the bridge cracks and
breaks, causing the Balrog to fall off into the abyss.
(8) But as it does, it snaps its whip, which catches Gandalf around the
knees, dragging him off the bridge into the deep chasm.
(B) There are many more examples in history and literature of loving so
much as to give one’s life for a friend.
(1) But no sacrifice comes near that of Christ’s love for us!
(2) As we learned during the Lenten season:
Romans 5:8, 10 (NASB95)
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death
of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His
life.
(C) Our sermon text for this morning began with Jesus saying:
John 15:9 (NASB95)
9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
(1) Jesus spoke all the words of today’s Gospel so that His joy may be in
us and that our joy may be full.
(2) Indeed, we ought to rejoice while abiding in His great love!
(D) Later on in our text for this morning, Jesus also said:
John 15:13 (NASB95)
13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his
friends.
(1) That is exactly what Jesus did for us on the cross!
(2) Thanks to be God that our heavenly Father loved us so much that He sent
His Son to die to save us!
(3) May we love others as He has loved us! Amen.
(E) Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word that speaks so powerfully into
our lives.

Thank You for the assurance that as Your children, born of God, we have the
victory through our faith in Jesus Christ.
Help us to embody this faith in every aspect of our lives, loving You and
Your commandments, and loving each other as You have loved us.
Lord, strengthen us by Your Spirit to overcome the challenges of this
world, holding fast to the truth of Jesus who came by water and blood.
May this truth resonate deeply within us, guiding us in all our actions and
decisions.
As we depart from this place, keep us steadfast in our faith and fervent in
love, that we may be true witnesses of Your grace and power in the world.
We ask all this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
Hebrews 13:20–21 (NASB95)
20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of
the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which
is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory
forever and ever. Amen.
In the Name of the Father…Amen.

(A) In the Name of the Father…Amen.
(B) The Gospel lesson serves as our sermon text for this morning.
(C) Grace, mercy, and peace be yours from God our heavenly Father through
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
(D) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray:
Loving God, we come before You in the spirit of the words from 1 John 3,
where we are taught about the depth of Your love, a love so profound that
Jesus laid down His life for us.
This scripture not only defines love in the ultimate sense but also calls
us to embody that love in our actions and the truth of God’s truth.
We acknowledge, O Lord, that Your love is not merely in word or speech but
in truth and action.
As we reflect on the sacrificial love of Christ, help us to grasp the
breadth and length, the height and depth of such love, and inspire us to
love one another earnestly, following Jesus’ example.
Guide us, Father, to put our faith into action, caring for those in need
and being bearers of Your peace and love in every aspect of our lives.
Help us to live in the assurance that comes from abiding in You and You in
us, through the Spirit You have given us.
We pray for the courage to face the challenges of living out this love in a
world that often rejects selfless acts and sacrificial living.
Strengthen us to be Your hands and feet, showing love not only in words but
through our deeds and truth.
In our worship today, may we be reminded of the confidence we have before
You—that if our hearts condemn us, You are greater than our hearts, and You
know everything.
Help us to rely not on our understanding but on Your vast, unfathomable
love that transcends our doubts and fears. Amen.
(E) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
Introduction

(A) This morning, every one of you will hear everything that is said, read,
and sung in this service.
(1) But the reality is, not every one of you will listen to everything that
is said, read, and sung in this service.
(2) Listening is much more involved than just hearing; listening takes
effort.
(3) We hear things all the time, but it’s only some of what we hear where
we actually tune in and listen.
(4) With all the technology and social media that is available today, there
is an even greater amount of voices coming at us.
(5) It can be rather overwhelming to know what “voice” to listen to.
(B) Do we always have discernment about who gets our attention?
(1) The answer is no.
(2) It stands to reason that we ought to listen to those who care about us.
(3) But do we always recognize who cares about us?
(4) What I mean is this:
(a) Who really, lovingly care for us?
(b) How do you even know?
(c) Our sermon text for today on this Good Shepherd Sunday speaks to this
quite clearly.
(d) It teaches us that Jesus Is the Shepherd Who Cares for You.
(I) Jesus cares for his sheep, unlike other shepherds.
(A) The people in Jesus’ day had heard a lot from spiritual leaders.
(1) For generations, their people had heard a lot.
(2) Long ago, there had been Moses and the prophets.
(3) They:
(a) Had been faithful, caring voices,
(b) had recorded God’s loving words in the sacred Scriptures.
(4) But in more recent years, actually for four centuries by this point,
the prophets had been silent.
(5) And those who were to teach and interpret those Scriptures faithfully
had become less than faithful.
(6) The Pharisees and the chief priests, mostly Sadducees, had become
self-serving shepherds, protecting their places of honor and caring very
little for the people.
(B) When Jesus came along, His voice was completely different.
(1) It was the voice of someone who cared:
(a) really,
(b) truly,
(c) lovingly cared.
John 10:16 (NASB95)
16 “I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also,
and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one
shepherd.
(2) How would they know to whom they should listen?
(a) Because it was not just words, as John says in our Epistle, but it was
demonstrated and backed up through Jesus’ actions—which did speak louder
than words alone.
(C) In John 10, Jesus claims that He is the:
John 10:11 (NASB95)
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the
sheep.
(1) Good (Greek: kalos) can also be translated as noble, beautiful, or
excellent.
(a) Jesus displaying on the outside what He is like on the inside.
(b) The shepherd’s job was not easy.
(1) It was tiring and hazardous.
(c) In the context of Jesus’ statement, the point of contrast is to those
bad shepherds, like the Pharisees and Sadducees, what he calls in our text
John 10:12 (NASB95)
12 “He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the
sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf
snatches them and scatters them.
(1) That person is distinguished by his lack of concern and commitment to
the sheep.
(2) When danger comes, he flees.
(3) He looks out for his own self-preservation and self-interest.
(4) The good shepherd owns the sheep, so he has a commitment to them.
(5) Unlike those other shepherds, Jesus cares for his sheep.
(6) He does everything that is necessary to protect them.
(II) Jesus cares for His sheep so much that He laid down His life for them.
(A) The feature Jesus most highlights as He describes the good shepherd is
that he:
John 10:11 (NASB95)
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the
sheep.
(B) Ordinarily, shepherds protect sheep, but they do not die for their
sheep.
(1) Jesus, the Good Shepherd, cares and loves them so much that He is
willing to come between His flock and danger.
(2) When trouble comes, the hired hand won’t take any risk.
(a) He disappears.
(b) But Jesus is willing to die for His sheep.
(C) In Jesus’ description, the key word is “for”—and it reflects His
commitment to die “for” the sheep in obedience to God’s will.
(1) The Good Shepherd has a profound commitment to the ones He loves. We
might remember a different image from Ephesians 5.
(2) Paul writes:
Ephesians 5:25 (NASB95)
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave
Himself up for her,
(3) Jesus:
(a) Gave up everything,
(b) Surrendered all,
(c) for his Bride.
(d) This is an important point.
(D) Jesus was not a victim of human conspiracies:
John 10:18 (NASB95)
18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own
initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take
it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
(1) Jesus gave Himself up to die, but He also took back His life through
His resurrection:
John 10:17 (NASB95)
17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that
I may take it again.
(2) The resurrection was just as much in God’s plan as was Jesus’
sacrificial death.
(III) Jesus cares for his sheep with acts of kindness.
(A) The term shepherd is what Jesus uses to identify himself.
(1) He really is the true Good Shepherd.
(2) But remember, shepherd is also a term used to describe those other
people who tend to God’s flock, people who have spiritual oversight.
(3) In the First Reading for today, from Acts 4, we see the contrast
between:
(a) those other shepherds, that is, the Jewish authorities who refused to
do what the Lord wanted His way, and
(b) The under shepherds of the Good Shepherd, that is, the apostles, who
were doing something they were called to do by the same Lord but were not
supposed to because the Jewish leaders said no.
(4) Peter and John were under arrest, standing before the Jewish Council.
(a) Their crime? They had just healed a lame man and were preaching to the
crowds how the resurrected Christ had made that happen.
(b) Since these Jewish leaders were the very ones who had crucified Jesus,
Peter’s message “greatly disturbed” them.
(c) They were jealous because of the people’s reaction and upset because
they were proclaiming Jesus to be alive.
(d) It must be incredibly annoying to go to all the trouble of crucifying
someone, only to have His followers pop up to tell everyone that He did not
stay dead!
(B) But Peter is quick to point out the irony of this.
(1) He asks, in effect:
(a) Why are we getting into trouble for doing something kind to someone?
(b) Do we need permission to do something kind to someone?
(c) You’re upset because of an act of kindness?
(d) What kind of people find fault with an act of kindness?
(e) Is that the kind of shepherds you are?
(f) You just saw someone healed.
(g) Peter knew that the Shepherd under whom he served cared for His sheep
by just such acts of kindness.
(h) Guess what? The Lord asks you and me those same questions.
(1) Are we listening or just hearing the words?
(C) So Peter continues:
(1) It is:
Acts 4:10 (NASB95)
10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by
the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.
(2) Jesus is the one behind this lovingly kind action.
(3) He’s:
(a) the foundation,
(b) the way,
(c) and the only Person where salvation is found.
(D) The message of the resurrection can and does transform lives.
(1) The ultimate consequence of Easter is when one’s life is radically
changed for the good.
(2) When the message of the resurrection is internalized into people’s
lives, they become different people.
(3) It begins with saving faith in Christ.
(4) Then it continues with acts of kindness just like our caring Shepherd
performs.
(IV) Jesus cares for His sheep, that is, “for you”
(A) In John 10, what John shows through Jesus’ words, and what stands out,
is the presence and care of this Shepherd, one unlike all others.
(1) It’s His willingness to lay down His life for His sheep.
(a) The sheep have come to trust their Shepherd because of what they know
through His actions for them, on their behalf.
(b) In all of His interaction with people, Jesus never closes His heart.
(c) Can we say the same?
(B) As important as such words are to us, they take on a whole new level of
importance when it comes to our relationship with God.
(1) That’s why God took the most important message any of us will ever
receive, and He perfectly translated it into human flesh, so that God’s
Word could reach us.
(a) Reach you.
(b) Reach you.
(c) Personally.
John 1:14 (NASB95)
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(C) As He has come among us and is now among us through His Spirit, He
cares.

(1) In the same beautiful and profound way that the Son and the Father know
each other, our Shepherd knows us and our needs:
(a) what’s truly important to you,
(b) what’s truly important to me.
(2) As we tune into His voice, not just hearing but listening, we can know
that we are listening to someone who cares.
(3) As He was for David in Psalm 23, the Lord becomes “my shepherd” too.
(4) He can be trusted to:
(a) lead,
(b) guide,
(c) renew,
(d) and restore our lives and spirits.
(e) And even when we are faced with the final enemy, death, we are assured
of His presence with us.
(f) His good words and actions are a comfort.
(g) And He will, as He promised, be with us all the days of our life.
(h) His goal is to lead us home to be with Him in the house of the Lord
forever.

Conclusion

(A) How many voices do we hear on any given day?
(1) The answer is, “A lot.”
(2) It’s the voices of people around us offering or giving us their advice,
information, or opinions on what they think we need or need to know.
(3) Then there are the voices of people we listen to on the radio, on
podcasts, on TV, and through social media.
(B) Advertising and marketing begin by stating a problem that is known or
felt.
(1) A storyline is introduced as to how our problem or issue can be
resolved by obtaining this or that product.
(2) And then we’re shown how our life or situation in the future will be
better if we buy what they are selling
(C) There are lots of voices out there, lots of things offered, but after
all is said and done, the discerning question from us should be:
(1) Who truly cares about me?
(2) Who really loves me and wants the best for me?
(3) Sadly, the self-serving motivations and expectations of other people
can be the focus.
(4) Think of the sacrifices, compromises, and resources that we have
possibly surrendered to people who may not really care about us.
(D) That is what is so different with Jesus.
John 10:14 (NASB95)
14 “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me.
(1) Jesus’ actions demonstrated that He is for us and for our benefit.
(2) What He wanted for us is what caused Him to give His life lovingly for
us.
(3) He gave His life in place of ours so we could have our greatest
spiritual needs met.
(4) His voice is one we can trust with our life, and when we follow His
voice, He will get us home.
(E) What does God want you to hear?
(1) What does God want you to hear from the voice of our Good Shepherd this
morning?
(2) Two words.
(3) Two words that are deeply profound and life changing:
(a) “for you.”
(4) They are two words spoken personally to you by your loving and caring
Good Shepherd.
(a) Spoken in the Words of Absolution.
(b) Spoken in the words in today’s readings.
(c) Spoken in today’s sermon.
(d) Spoken as ordinary bread and wine are given and shed for you—and
extraordinary things take place.
(e) Jesus gives Himself, personally, and says, “for you.”
(F) Your Shepherd goes with you today and every day. He cares for you.
Shalom! Amen.
(G) Let us pray:
Lord, as we continue to walk in the commandments of love and faith, as
Jesus taught us, let our hearts be reassured in Your presence, knowing that
we belong to the truth, and ensure our hearts in Your sight.
We ask all these things in the name of Jesus, who showed us the greatest
love of all, laying down His life for us, that we might live through Him.
Amen.
(H) Hebrews 13:20–21 (NASB95)
20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of
the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,
21 equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which
is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory
forever and ever. Amen.
(I) Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
(J) In the Name of the Father…Amen.