Sermon notes 👇

I’ve not really considered Hanukkah much in the past.

But perhaps we should consider it, along with its questions of who is leading us - who we are following.

Perhaps we should consider what might be corrupt in our hearts - who or what we are being led by.

We are all very different people.

Some of us may look to money for satisfaction, some may look to power - political or otherwise.

Some may look to accomplishments, while others may look to their reputation - whether that be a reputation as somebody important or a reputation of somebody who gives and serves.

All of those things can lead us away from Christ if we look to them to be our satisfaction and our life.

So I think the question for us to consider this morning is this - who or what wants your attention?

Who or what pulls your heart away from Christ?

Who or what pulls you in a way that promises satisfaction that Jesus somehow can’t fulfill…or won’t fulfill?

And then consider this:

Is that something or someone a good shepherd? Is it laying it’s life out for you and protecting you?

Or, could it possibly have climbed over the wall of the pin…could it be a wolf luring you away in order to use you to satisfy its own hunger?

Everything that shepherd's you away from Christ wants to use you and destroy you.

But Jesus came to lay down His life for His sheep, and He did.

And He took His own life up again. And He has defeated death, that wolf that would devour us, so that we could live that eternal life now and forever with Him.

Who are you following? Is it anyone or anything other than Christ?