This episode is the fourth teaching in our series “The Church Imagined” and it challenges us to further understand our identity as the church through one of Scripture’s most enduring images: The Flock of God. Psalm 23 and John 10 (along with many other passages of scripture) make it clear that we are the sheep, and Jesus is our Good Shepherd. Like real sheep, we are created to live in dependence, relationship, and community, not self-sufficiency.
The message centers on three relationships shaped by this identity:
Our relationship with God.
Jesus, our Great Shepherd, calls, leads, feeds, and protects His sheep to the point of laying down His life for us. Our role in the relationship is to listen to and follow His voice, learning to hear Him through Scripture, submission, and steadfastness.
Our relationship with one another.
Sheep are not meant to live alone. Scripture reminds us that isolation brings vulnerability, while life in the flock brings strength and growth (Hebrews 10:25; Acts 2:42). God also appoints leaders as undershepherds to care for His people under the authority of Christ, the Great Shepherd.
Our relationship with the world.
Jesus warns that as sheep, we live among predators. Spiritual and human threats are real, but we are not called to respond like wolves. Instead, we stay true to our identity as sheep and in doing so remain alert, united, and prayerful, faithfully trusting in our Shepherd’s care.
As the Church, we are the flock of God, the sheep of His pasture. When we embrace this identity, we learn how to walk closely with God, care deeply for one another, and live wisely in the world.
