READ 2 Samuel 5:1-5; Psalm 23; John 10:1-8
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil; for you are with me;
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
my whole life long.
SERMON TITLE:
What Have You Learned?
The sermon juxtaposed the way of Steve Jobs and the way of King David. Steve Jobs’ in his 2005 Stanford University Commencement speech sought to answer the sermon question through his own life experience.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
PART A
1. Do you own an iPhone, iPod, or iPad?
What do you like the most about this technology?
2. Jobs spoke about the importance of trust in connecting the dots of one’s own life journey. Have you ever looked back and wondered how the dots of your life journey connected? If they do, who is the connector? Your own gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever?
3. Who do you trust to make sense of your life?
4. Jobs’ spoke of love and loss. He counseled that we need to discover what it is that we love and hold on to it. "Never Settle!" Hold on to what you love and pursue it with all the passion you can muster, even in the face of loss or failure. If you could summarize the motivating love of your life, what would it be? Who would it be? Have you ever had to settle? How have you dealt with necessary compromises?
5. How are the two great commandments of the Bible related to this: Love God with the totality of your being and your neighbor as yourself? How does love shape and form identity and destiny?
6. But then Jobs’ argued that human life is temporary. We are all going to die and be cleared away over time. Therefore, if today is the only day we have, how does that direct our present?
PART B
1. King David would have given a different answer to the question: what have you learned?
2. Consider Psalm 23
If the Lord is the shepherd of his flock and we are members of his flock, are we ever alone in our journey?
3. Do we love the Lord enough to trust that he is sovereign and knows what is best for us?
4. Do I need to surrender to the Lord’s love revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd? What might that look like in your life today?
5. Has the presence of the Good Shepherd in the valley of the shadow of death ever been with you and brought comfort and peace?
6. If you had to choose between Steve Jobs’ world view and King David’s, which would it be?
