Thinking Rightly About God

In a culture that deeply embraces religious pluralism and tolerates every path, how do we respond to Jesus’s clear claim to be the exclusive door to salvation?

In this sermon on John 10:1–21, Lead Pastor Neil McClendon launches a two-part study exploring what it means to think rightly about God. Setting the text against the backdrop of John 9—where religious leaders rejected a miraculous healing because it disrupted their authority—Pastor Neil tackles the foundational question: Is Jesus really the only way to God? Examining the modern shift away from absolute truth, the message contrasts the false promises of religious pluralism with the true, life-giving freedom and provision found only in Jesus Christ.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Context of John 9 and 10: Understanding how religious systems often blind people to the powerful, transformative work of God.
• Confronting Religious Pluralism: Defining the modern belief that all religions are equally valid and contrasting it with the explicit claims of Christ.
• The Danger of Cultural Compromise: Unpacking how commercialized and psychologized mindsets dilute the authority of Scripture to avoid offending culture.
• Jesus as the Door: Seeing why Jesus defines anyone who tries to bypass Him as a thief or a robber rather than a true shepherd or follower.
• The Marks of True Faith: Discovering how a relationship with Christ is meant to be characterized by profound spiritual freedom and rich, divine provision.

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This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.

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That's a pretty gift. Yes, Lord. We don't just sing that and say that. We understand the implications of that. Because Jesus, you said, if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto myself. And so the church is not here to try to do something that only Jesus can do. Our responsibility is to lift you up, to make much of you so people can see and comprehend you with their intellect and with their eyes, with their emotions and every fiber of their being. They can see you for who you are as you are. And so the church, we we we we just confess, God, we're here to get out of the way. And let people just get a load of you. And so today, God, reveal yourself in mercy. The Bible says you're rich in mercy. So we appeal to that which you are richest in, and that is mercy. And let us see and savor you for who you are. This is our prayer, God. Make it our experience, we pray in Jesus' name. And everyone said, Amen. Amen. You can have a seat. If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take and open up to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. If you forgot your Bible or you don't have one, there should be one on your row. I'm on page 896. I want to talk to you this morning about thinking rightly about God. Thinking rightly about God. Now, when it comes to the Bible and God and Christianity and religion and stuff, people typically have a lot of questions. And so, uh, and I get that, and those questions are welcome here. But today, I want us to begin. I'm going to divide this sermon into two parts. Part one this Sunday, part one next, second part next Sunday. Uh, but but there's five questions that kind of tumble out of the text this morning in John chapter 10, verses 1 to 21. Now, before I start reading uh in John chapter 10, I want to give you the context or the background, because everything that happens in the Bible, everything you read in the Bible, happens in what is called context, in a certain context. And so if you miss the context, it's easy to misunderstand what is being said. So let me just give you a little rewind because we took a break from John at the end of November. We did Advent, and then we did a four-part series on our core values, and now we're picking up where we left off. John chapter 9. This is what has just happened. This is the backdrop against which chapter 10 happens. John chapter 9, Jesus rolls into a city, and there's a blind guy who've been blind from birth, and the disciples give Jesus a pop quiz. Hey, hey, whose fault is it this guy's blind? Is it his sin or his parents' sin? Because we want to get down to understand the cause. And Jesus said, neither. He's this way so that the works of God might be manifest in him, that God would be glorified in him. And so Jesus puts mud on the guy's eyes and says, Go wash in the pull of saloon. And the Bible says he went and he washed and he came back seen. Sometimes, not sometimes, you the Bible teaches that you have to obey Jesus to experience what Jesus promises. Hello. I'll talk this part over here. All right, one more time. Because we live in a culture, we just want to get all the Jesus stuff and say, leave me alone. Doesn't work that way. And so, but everybody freaks out. I mean, the blind guy gets healed. And I say, everybody, the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees is what they were called. These keep these cats believe the Bible and they're mad about it. Now, they realize, and this is what they did not want to get out, that God can do things that religion and religious people never can. And let me say that again. God can do things that religion and religious people never can and never will be able to do. Well, they freaked out. They're like, oh, they asked the guy, hey, how what happened to you? You were born blind and you've been coming and listening to us talk forever and nothing happened here. And he's like, Who did this? He goes, I don't know. All I know is that I was blind, but now I see. Sound familiar? And the guy's like, oh, well, that can't happen. So they got his parents. They said, he wasn't really born blind, right? He's been faking this whole time. Religion just turns people go crazy. They're just like, this is impossible. And his parents are like, hey, he's old enough because they didn't want to get kicked out of the religious country club. They said, hey, if you kick us out of uh out of temple, we can't come and be a part of this. This is the only friends we have. They said, you ask him. They brought the guy back again. And they said, hey, give glory to God. We know that this guy's crazy. He's a maniac. He goes, I don't know if he's crazy. I don't know if he's a maniac. Stop me if this sounds familiar, but I was blind, but now I see. Look at me. You don't have to know all the verses in the Bible. But the greatest testimony you can have about God is how God has changed your life. And these people were incense. They're like, oh, oh. And Jesus hears them arguing. He says, hey, don't worry about that cat that was blind and can see. That ain't no problem. That's just a Tuesday for me. What you guys should be concerned about is people that can see but are really blind. And they're like, I think you're talking about us. Jesus picks it up. Chapter 10, verse 1. Truly, truly I say to you, Translation, I'm talking to you. Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. He will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. If I am the good I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand, and he cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, and that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord, and I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I received from my father. There was again division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, He has a demon and is insane. Why listen to him? Others said, Uh, these are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind? We'll stop right there. As I said a minute ago, everyone has questions when it comes to the Bible. But the Bible comes to us this morning with a series of five questions. I'm just going to talk about one of them this morning. And the first question that the Bible brings to us is in verse 1 and 2, and then again in verses 7, 8, and 9. And the question is simply this Is Jesus really the only way to God? Is Jesus really the only way to God? Now, on the surface, this sounds like a simple issue, but in reality, it's much more necessary than ever before that we grasp the implications of this truth. Because let me say up front, unapologetically and clearly, the Bible teaches, and we as a church believe that Jesus Christ is the only way a person can have a relationship with God. We believe that. Now we don't apologize for that. That doesn't mean we don't welcome your questions. That doesn't mean we don't, I mean, we don't you can come and say, hey, well, what about this? Uh, but this is so important that we understand this, especially in this multicultural, pluralistic society that we live in. A recent survey by the Barnett Institute found that half of millennials, 47%, agree at least somewhat, that it is wrong to share one's personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in the hopes that they will one day share the same faith. Now, I ask you this question: if Jesus was really the only way, wouldn't you want to share this news with people? See, because the issue is not evangelism. The issue is that we are ebbing and flowing away from a biblical understanding of who Jesus is, of the exclusive nature of Christianity. We're living in a time where we talk about borders and boundaries a lot. The only place we want borders is around our evangelism and our mission. We don't want it around a morality, we don't run it around any state. But when it comes to the evangelical, to the person that believes that Jesus is the only way, which by the way, Jesus believed the same thing about himself. He says, and we'll get to it in about four chapters in John chapter 14, about verse 6, he says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through me. Now, why is that a big deal? It's a big deal because we live in a day and age uh that practices what's called religious pluralism. Now, let me just give you a little uh uh uh uh uh I don't know what the right word is, a little disclaimer here. Uh I'm not trying to sound nerdy this morning, but I'm just laying a foundation for for what we're gonna get into even more so next next week. But but just stay with me this morning, okay? Can you stay with me? Don't check out and be like, oh, that's a big word right there. Uh what I mean when I say religious pluralism, here's what I mean. This refers to the belief in two or more religions as being equally valid or acceptable. More than that, more than mere tolerance, religious pluralism accepts multiple paths to God or God's as a possibility. Now, if you see all that, let me just say this. Here's a phrase you'd never expect a preacher to say. If you want to see this in action, watch the Grammys tonight. Because when people say, I want to thank God, now, now, now, now this is your assignment, this is your application from the sermon. Try to have a really interesting conversation this week. That's harder than you think. Just back, think, think on your this past week. How many truly interesting conversations did you have? Most of them are about, hey, what do you want to eat? What does this kid's got anything? Work, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You can sleepwalk through your pretty much through your own whole week if you're not careful. Here's the great thing about Christianity in this culture is that you don't have to put forth much effort to get into a really interesting conversation. Uh, and and like, like, for example, tonight, people say, I want to thank God. You ask people, hey, when you thank God, tell me about the God that you thank. I want to know what he's like. And they'll be like, oh, you know, God, you know, the big guy, the man upstairs. Just it's this impersonal being that just leaves me alone. Let's me do what I want until something bad happens, and then I want someone to shake my fist at and blame and make him responsible. But I don't want him to be responsible or have authority over my morality or my money. But I just, when I need help, that's when I want him to, and they'll tell you that's the God I believe in. Now, this is where you you turn a normal conversation interesting. You just say, Hey, what if that's not the God of the Bible and that's no God at all? That's just a figment of your imagination. Then it's on. See, some of y'all think, hey, you got a big personality, you're outgoing, you're kind of obnoxious, you enjoy things like that. No, I don't. No, I don't. I was talking to a man, Jesus says right here in John 10, verses 1 and 2, truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in another way, that man is a thief and a robber. I'm not very original. I'm talking to a man, and he said, Hey, you know, basically, I mean, we disagree. You think that there's one way, I think that's narrow-minded and bigoted and racist. And I'm like, why is racism getting jammed into everything nowadays? This is free. If everything's racism, nothing's racism. It just is losing its effect. Now, I'm not saying racism doesn't exist. Of course it does. But my friend, we're talking, and he's like, oh, you know, I just I just think that you know that there's more than one way. And and you can't change my mind. And I say, I'm not here to change your mind. This is how you make the dialogue interesting. I said, I'm not here to change your mind. Let me just ask you, are you more comfortable being considered a thief or a robber? And he's like, What has that got to do? See, here's how you get better at conversations. People should not know what's fixed to come out of your mouth. Yes, men, it's like talking to your wife, okay? You're saying, Oh, don't check out on me. Oh. At least the one I'm married to. We'll be having a conversation, and then the longer it goes, the deeper it gets, and I'm just kind of like, I don't, I don't know how you got, okay. So I said, What are you most comfortable doing? You most comfortable being a thief or a robber? And he's like, What's that got to do with this conversation? Well, Jesus, not Neil, but Jesus said, anybody right here, anybody that tries to get in another way, that tries to get around the door, get around the exclusive reality of Jesus is the only way to God, and they want to climb over and get there another way. Jesus said that man's a thief or a robber. Which one do you want to be? Well, I've never read that. Where's that in the Bible? John chapter 10, first two verses. Well, we just disagree. No, no, no. We, you're talking about you and Jesus? Because I don't make me response to what Jesus said. I'm here to advocate for what he said and not apologize. See, you want me to apologize for being right about this. You should apologize for being wrong. And he's just like, well, we need to talk about something else. Okay. So before we leave this, thief or robber, which one do I think about you? See, here's the problem with your evangelism. Everybody knows what you're gonna say. And then they shut you down with a couple of their little religious pluralistic phrases. You say, Well, what do you mean? Here's three things that religious pluralism says. Now, I put that definition up there. Some of you got your phone out and was like, Yeah, okay, I'll take that, but I have no idea what it means. Here's what it sounds like. Here's the first statement that religious pluralism says if we live a good life, then we get to the afterlife. Isn't this what all religions teach? Actually, not all religions talk about afterlife, only the monotheistic ones. For other religions, they have no afterlife, it's they talk about reincarnation or the transmigration of identity. It's not about it's just about higher consciousness, the higher level of being. You get up to nirvana, which was a great rock group in the 90s. But but but it's this uh it it it's it's this this level that you through through cycles of reincarnation, that's not the afterlife, that's just doing this life all over again. No thank you. I'm not interested. Don't want to do high school all over again. The second statement that they make is simply this aren't all religions the same and basically teach the same things. Uh all religions are fundamentally different and superficially alike in very limited ways. Let me say that again. All religions are fundamentally different and superficially alike in very limited ways. I mean, they're religion and they have a they have a belief about God and the afterlife or the higher state of being. Uh, but the but the quickly, pretty quickly you see differences. Let me just give you, let me demonstrate how untrue this statement is by just looking at Hinduism and asking, who or what is God? Now, in in Hinduism, Brahman is God. And this is just just hear this against the backdrop of Jesus, who left the sanctity of heaven, came to earth, was born of a virgin, laid in a manger, lived a sinless life, hung out with people, had his own disciples that doubted him, dies on the cross in our place for our sins. Then he rises from the dead, just like he said he would, because he we'll get into next week in chapter 17 or 18 here, John 10. He says, Hey, I no one takes my life from me. I lay it down and I take it back up. After three days, Jesus said, I'm done taking my life back up. He rises from the dead. He appears to this guy, Thomas, who's doubt one of the disciples, is like, I'm not going to believe unless he appears to me myself. And so Jesus, after he rises from the dead, he's not held down by the law of physics. He walks to a wall and says, Here I am, get a load of me. He says, How we know it's not a ghost? He goes, Give me some fish, I'll eat it. And he eats the food right in front of him. And Thomas, like, uh, well, I see, uh, uh, well, Jesus I was up late reading on the internet, you know, I got carried away with that whole doubt thing. You ain't mad, are you? You we cool? We cool? Yeah, by the way, one of the things you should see in here, this is free, is how gracious Jesus is for people who don't believe him. Look down at verse 6 or 7. He realizes they don't understand the figure of speech that I'm using. And he's not like you talking to your kids. He doesn't get louder and use gestures. How can you guys not get this? No. He's like, oh, you guys don't understand. Let me explain to you. I'm the door. Look what he says there. Talk about the exclusive nature. Truly, truly, verse 7, I say to you, I'm the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers. But the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and to go in and out and find pasture. We'll come to that in just a minute when we end. What am I saying? Here's a Brahman. This is what you got the personal nature of Jesus, and then you got a Hinduism, this Brahman, this concept of God is this there's one supreme, impersonal reality called Brahman. Brahman is the source of all things, but it's not a personal creator. Brahman is rather the divine essence of all that exists. Brahman is impersonal, eternal, and beyond all human comprehension. So when people say, this is not an attack on Hinduism. Uh when people say, well, aren't all religions basically the same? Absolutely not. Here's the third thing. This will sound a lot more familiar. This is what religious pluralism sounds like. It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere. This is an expression that is based on the act of belief rather than the object of belief. The act of belief, just as I believe. It doesn't matter what I believe. I mean, he's absolutely absolute truth. That that's just, I mean, really? Come on. My God's a God of love. It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere. Unless you're sincerely wrong. And in this view, sincerity makes anything okay and believable. In the Old Testament, God rejected religious pluralism the same way he does today. If you go back to Orthodox Jew, they quote the Shema from Deuteronomy 6.4 every day. They get up and they pray this prayer. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. The Lord our God is one God. It's very monotheistic, not a religion, but God. Look at the Ten Commandments, you shall have no other gods before me. And because what John Calvin said is right, the human heart is an idol factory. We manufacture things to just worship, okay? The second commandment say, you shall not make for yourself a graven image. You shall not come up with something to fixate on and focus on and say, hey, that's kind of my thing. God has always condemned that. Religious pluralism has been around for it's not new, it's been around forever. God didn't tolerate it, and God's people shouldn't tolerate it because when you do, you're compromising the truth and the only hope that people have of knowing God, finding forgiveness, and going to heaven when they die. Religious pluralism uh rejects the idea that one religious system is the absolute truth. They say, hey, Jesus is a way, but he's not the way. So when people talk about God, you might want to just sharpen the focus, dial the lens in a little bit, and say, okay, when you talk about God, tell me about the God you're referring to. What is he like? Well, when you say God, I want to make sure that we're thinking the same thing. Because here's the thinking, here's the progression of motivation behind religious pluralism. And man, that just sounded nerdy. Amen. Here's the progression of motivation. Here's where their motivation starts off, and here's where we end up. It sounds like this without the existence of absolutes or absolute truth, there can be no standard. Without a universal standard, there can be no guilt. Without guilt, there can be no accountability. Without accountability, there can be no judgment. Without judgment, there can be no consequence. And without consequence, there need be no restraint. And that's where we live nowadays. That's the culture we live in. Hey, don't be hating on me. Don't be judging me. Who are you to tell me what to do? I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I love you enough to tell you what the truth is. And if the truth is what sets you free, everything else is a lie or just a socially acceptable form of bondage. See, here's how we gotta do. This is why Paul, the Apostle Paul, talked to people like he did. He was always around really smart, unbelieving people, people that were religious but but didn't have a relationship with God. They were in love with their own ideas. And we we in the church have got to get better at talking like Paul did in Athens than Peter did at Pentecost. Peter is talking to basically religious people who know all the stories, and they're like, oh man, you know what? That's true. We live in a post-Christian culture nowadays. People are educated with an anti-God bias. And so when you bring up God, they roll their eyes, like, oh my gosh, you're one of those people. Thank you very much. So we got to get better. Like Paul's in Acts chapter 17. He's talking to these people in Athens, and he's kind of gone the double-decker tour bus riding around the city of Athens, sees idols everywhere. And he gets back from the tour and he looks at all these guys and he's like, hey, I was walking around your city today, hanging out, had a slice of pizza, and then I went to Starbucks, and I saw this. And of all the idols I saw, one of them had this inscription to an unknown God. And they're like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. They covered all their bases. They had Buddha and Allah and Muhammad, they had all these idols. All this stuff everywhere. And he says, hey, this one that says to an unknown God, what you guys worship is something unknown I want to tell you about. And they're like, oh yeah, go ahead. And he starts talking. And their minds are blown and their hearts are pounding in their chest. And he goes on and on and on. And he says, and by the way, God's determined the exact places that men should live. And he, God is so personal. He's not this impersonal reality out there that's beyond human comprehension. No, no, no, no. He wants to be understood. He inspired men to record the Bible because he wants to be understood. He wants you to know him. Matter of fact, the Bible says, hey, these things have I written so that you may know that you have eternal life. How personal is God willing to be? That's not the question. The question you got to ask yourself is, how personal are you willing to be with this personal God? Paul's getting very personal. He's talking to these people. He says, hey, this God, he lifts off all these great things that he has done. He says, What you worship is something unknown. I will make known to you the God who created all this, and he goes down. And it's getting more and more and more personal. Then in Acts 17, about verse 30 and 31, Paul says this the times of ignorance God overlooked. Now, what does that mean? He's loving these people enough to say, you're wrong. You've been living in ignorance. And this personal God is so patient. He's overlooked this. But now he commands all people everywhere to repent because he's fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. And so I ask you again, do you believe that Jesus is the only way to God? Because the consistent teaching of the Bible is yes. And Paul graciously says to these intellectual, religiously hostile, hostile to all forms of religion, organized religion is the cause of all the wars in the history of the world. I got told that recently. Organized religion. I was like, who told you this was organized? But that's what people think. Because they go to college, they get a degree, and they get infected by these people that are anti-God and they come out and they're just kind of like, well, this is nihilistic and fatalistic. Let's just make all the money we can and live for ourselves. And we wonder why we are the most medicated people that ever walked the planet. Because we are disconnected from the God of peace. We don't know forgiveness. We're becoming more and more ruthless. And every time you turn on your TV, one group or party is appealing to your unrest. And yet the God of the Bible stands up and says, Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and you'll find rest for your souls. You're like, oh my goodness. What works against accepting this truth is what uh man named John Piper wrote a book in 2010 called Jesus, the only way to God. I wonder what that book's about. And by the way, I tell you that he talks in the book about the commercialized, psychologized temperament. Now, they tell you when you go to seminary where they teach you how to preach, I'm not sure they can teach you how to preach, but anyway, uh I think that's something God puts on people. But they tell you don't use quotes. If you use a quote, use a short one and use just one. I'm fixed to break that rule. I'm gonna give you three long quotes. Don't try to write it down because it is like, and by the way, if you have children, you should get the book and buy the book and catechize your children. It means teach your children with this book because our multicultural, pluralistic society is uh deathly afraid of offending anybody. It is so good. You're gonna you wanna rip out the pages and just roll them up and smoke them just to ingest it, to get it in your head and in your lungs. Your kids should walk in the kitchen and you and your mom are just sitting there just slow smoking. What is that? It's a page out of this book. This is so good. What about breakfast? Mama ain't cooking breakfast today. Mama getting her smoke on, okay? Now get out there and catch the bus. I'm not taking you to school either. This is so thought-provoking, I gotta think about it. Now, when's the last time you read something that was that pro well, doesn't stop right there? Read something, period. And besides People magazine, you read for free in line at the grocery store. Oh, it's my turn putting that back. Ma'am, you want the magazine? No. I've licked my fingers and touched all the pages. I'm gonna put it back now. Awesome. Yeah. This is the again, religious pluralism. We've lost the courage because we have this commercialized, psychologized temperament. Here's the first quote that Piper says The commercialized mindset moves away from personal conviction toward pragmatic effectiveness. It feels that if the consumer is unhappy with the presentation, there must be something wrong with it. When this feeling becomes overriding, it circles around and redefines the truth being presented so that the presentation can be made enjoyable. If the claim that Jesus is the only way of salvation offends people, the commercialized mindset will either not talk about it or stop believing it. Here's the second one. The psychologized mindset defines love as whatever the other person feels is loving. The effect is the same as with the commercialized mindset. If a person or a group finds your summons to believe on Jesus for salvation to be arrogant instead of humble and loving, then if you have the psychologized mindset, you will feel guilty and apologetic. It must be your fault. If this mindset becomes overriding, it too will circle around and change not only the presentation, but if necessary, the thing presented so that the other person will not feel unloved. See, where we are, beloved, is that we're presenting a God that doesn't have, we've we've stripped him of all the power, all his attributes of dominion and authority and power over all of humanity that he created. And so you're holding up a savior to people, quote unquote, that doesn't have the power to save because you've neutered God and the gospel. And people just, ah, he loves you. I ask you this question: what comfort is it to be loved by a God that does not have the capacity to change the way you do life? And here's the last quote. In this way, the unhappy consumer and the offended listener take on a power that once belonged only to the Bible. There's an epidemic fear of man behind these two mindsets. In the name of marketing savvy or sensitive communication, cowardice capitulates to the world, and we surrender the offensive truth of Christ's uniqueness and supremacy. John Piper, Jesus, the only way to God must you hear the gospel to be saved. Highly recommended. Deeply thought-provoking. Not a big book, not a hard book. He just puts together words that we normally don't put together. And that's why I'm just like, ah, you gotta think about that. I suggest tearing out a page and just firing it up. That'll get the ball rolling. Now, are you still with me? Now, if you're visiting today, I'm not always this nerdy. I just want to lay a foundation because we are losing the gospel because we've allowed culture to define and describe God. And we got to just come back and say, that's what the Bible says to us. Okay, if I'm the good shepherd, Jesus is saying today, are you willing to believe what I believe about myself, that I'm the only way, that I'm the door, the door, not a door, not one of the options on the buffet of religions. I am the only way, Jesus says. There are a few things that you can believe in this pluralistic world that'll have more consequence than the biblical truth that Jesus is the only way to God. And this is exactly what the Bible calls us to believe. Not as a statement of hate, but as a statement of hope. Let's end on this question. The only way. Because if you're a thinking person, you're thinking, man, what's that going to mean for me? Hey, I get it. I get it. It means things for me. And the only way for us to get beyond what this will mean for you is to think about what it will mean for everyone you know and love who tries to get in another way. What it will mean for them now in this life? Christianity is not about, oh, I just go to go ahead when I die. No, no, no. What it will mean now. That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians, if only in this life we have hope in Christ, we're to be pitied above all men. If this is about your best life now, you should be pitied more than anybody else. Your friends should weep when you show up at work tomorrow. They should be like, oh, there's the bill. Oh, that guy believes in something that's only going to help him get ahead in this life. How tragic. Eternity is going to be so disappointing for him. You got to think about what it means for them now and what it'll mean then. Some of you are like, how do you find the courage to have time? It's not courage. I just believe this. Jesus Christ is the only way to God. It's the only way to find forgiveness. And because that applies to me, I apply it to every waiter or waitress that waits on me in our city. And we have awkward conversation. I've had waiters send other waiters and say, oh, he didn't want to be your waiter anymore. You made him mad. I get a discount. My tea's been empty for 20 minutes. Yeah, he's mad at you. Happened right up the road up here. Don't take that personal. The person said, Hey, we all got our own God, you know, as long as you're sincere. If we all got our own God, that means in the Pantheon of God, there's as there can be as many gods as there are people. Yeah, whatever works for you. Are you more comfortable being a thief or a robber? What'd you say? You're trying to get in another way besides the door. Jesus says he's the door. I mean, I'm not here for religion. No, neither am I. You think Jesus died to make you more religious? Not the gospel. So let's just end today. We'll pick up next week. This is just question number one. We have four more. And they're shorter. But I'll give you a little preview. Here's the second one. How did God design this relationship to be? How did God design this relationship to be? And I'll give you a hand because he says, hey, I'm the door. I'm the door. My sheep hear my voice. And then he says this: they go in and out and they find pasture. See, if you're thinking, oh, Christianity, religion is about jamming you up, telling you don't do that, do that. No, no, no. It's characterized by two things freedom and provision. They go in and out. Freedom. If you're a Christian, you should be the freest cat anybody knows. Yes. Absolutely. I was at a birthday party last night, and the guy that was kind of on the venue, he's talking about, he will go around and check on everybody. And he said, walked by our table and said, Yeah, I'm gonna go to the house. I got some chocolate white lightning up there. I was like, Is that possible?

unknown 33:00

Huh?

SPEAKER_02 33:01

And someone looked at me and said, What do you think? I said, I think I'm free. I don't think I'm that free. I'd be outside two days later talking to Elvis. And he goes, I've talked to him before. I don't want to know. But end with this taste in your mouth. The way God designed this relationship to be is characterized by freedom and provision. They go in and out, what's provision, and they find pasture. They find pasture. They find pasture. And the 23rd Psalm, the Lord is my shepherd. Same analogy. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pasture. He relates to you with it being better than you could ever come up with on your own. Freedom and provision. This is what this relationship is supposed to be characterized by. And this is why he says, hey, I'm it's it's just me. I'm the door. There's not a bunch of doors, I'm the door. Ask yourself this question: have you ever come through the door in the name Jesus to have a relationship with God? And if not, why would you not want that today? Let's pray together. If you're new to our church, we like to teach the Bible and then give you some space to think about it. And so just take the next minute or so. See how thought-provoking the Bible is? Man, if Jesus, is Jesus really the only way? And because that's true, what does that mean for me? And so Clyde's just gonna play for a moment. And you just think about hey, what is what are the implications of this question for my life? Let's think about that. God, we're humbled. That a God that is so right and true could be so gracious, so long-suffering, so patient with these religious guys in the Bible that didn't believe you, because you were threatening their system of controlling people with religion. You were setting captives free, you were turning over the tables and saying, You guys have just turned this into about getting money from people. Get out of here to hell with all of you. And yet you are so gracious with them. So for God to be exclusive and to be absolutely true, it's not for God to be hateful. And so we don't get to be hateful either. We get to be patient and long-suffering, winsome, and free people who are provided for. Oh, that's so good. We love that. And the reason we love that, God, is because we love you. Pray for anyone in this room that's never come through the door. I pray that even now their head and their heart are pounding, just saying, Yes, I want to know this God. Because He's available. Thank you that you're not beyond human comprehension. You're right here and you're right now. And you're just saying, Ali Ally and Free. Come out, come out wherever you are. That's the God of the Bible, and that's the God we believe in. And so we pray to you and we say thank you to you in Jesus' name. And everyone says Amen. We have a lot of different things going on in our church. Uh, we want you to be a part of those. And so in just a minute, we'll have a video that shows announcements for the week. But before that, I want to just after the video, I'll come back and speak a blessing. Then myself and some of our pastors and elders will be available down front. Uh, that is where we have our we extend our invitation. We think it's more natural to have a spiritual conversation in that environment than trying to hurry up at the end of a service while people are singing. So if you're new to our church and you're wondering, like, hey, why don't you have an invitation? We have an invitation every Sunday. Uh, we just try to do it in a natural environment. So if you're here and you're like, man, I've never come through the door, I'd like to know more about that. We'd love to talk with you, okay? But for right now, let me show you a video so you can be aware of all these opportunities for involvement that are happening here at our church.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Here's a look at what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church. This summer, Grand Parkway is sending a team to Romania to work alongside Ovidu and Adina Petrick to serve local villages and churches. During this trip, you can have the opportunity to share the gospel with a beautiful people who have suffered through the effects of poverty, communism, and religion. We invite you to pray and consider joining us this summer. The trip is June 28th through July 5th. If you would like to know more, contact Brad at Snydersl.com in order to attend an interest meeting. Commonalities is a new mobile app. The purpose of this app is for groups of people to do business together with other members in the church. If you are interested in using the app, go to the website commonalities.app on your mobile device to sign up. If you have any questions, contact commonalitiesapp at gmail.com. Online registration for our women's retreat opens up tomorrow, February 11th. The retreat will take place on March 29th through 30th here at the church. Colleen Searcy will be the speaker with Lindsay Frelick leading worship. Men's breakfast is this Tuesday at 6 a.m. in the warehouse. If there's anything you've heard today and you have questions, or you would like someone to pray with you, some of our pastors and elders will be down by the stage at the conclusion of our service.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

Introduce yourself to them, let them know you'll be praying for them as they transition, and come and join our staff this summer. Stand to your feet and speak a blessing over you. Hold your hands out. The truthful, real, compassionate God of the universe has come to set you free so that you can be free and experience provision. As you leave now, everything you enjoy was provided to you by your Heavenly Father, who loves you and is never going to run out of ways to provide for you. Depart now and rest in this reality. In the name of the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen. Bless you.