SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 10/5/25

In our text today, Jesus chooses a door to communicate the wonder and richness of the gospel to us. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: The I Am Sayings of Jesus
TEXT: John 10:9
TITLE: I Am The Door
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Jesus says I am the door. Anyone who enters through me will get it all—abundance today and eternity tomorrow.

POINTS:
I. A Promise of Eternal Life
II. An Offer of Abundance

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes and text emphasis are taken directly from the pastor’s notes.

ILLUSTRATION: the door of reconciliation in Ireland, “chance your arm”

“Doors don't typically get that kind of notoriety or carry that type of significance. At the end of the day, a door is, well, a door. Yet, in our text today, Jesus chooses a door to communicate the wonder and richness of the gospel to us.”

“Imagine if every time we walked through a door, we thought of God's love for us in the gospel.”

“Jesus has just healed a man who had been blind from birth in Ch. 9. As this man celebrated and worshiped God for his new life, the Pharisees didn't handle it well. They condemned Jesus and cast out the healed man. In Chapter 10, Jesus responds to the Pharisees. To make his point, Jesus talks about a shepherd and his sheep, very familiar imagery in the agrarian society of first-century Palestine.”

“In 1-5, Jesus contrasts himself with the Pharisees, who are likened to robbers and thieves. His point is that he is the great shepherd calling his flock to himself. He calls his sheep, and his sheep hear and respond to his voice. More on that next week. In 6, John tells us the Pharisees aren't getting Jesus' point. So, in 7, Jesus says, 'Let me put it another way.'“

“Now, key to the text is the sheepfold Jesus mentions in 1. A sheepfold was a pen meant to protect the sheep at night. There were two kinds of sheepfolds: CITY and COUNTRY. Next week, we will talk about the CITY sheepfold. It's the country sheepfold Jesus has in mind in our text today. A country sheepfold was a small, sometimes ad hoc pen with a small entrance where the sheep would spend the night for protection. Because a sheepfold didn't have an actual door, the shepherd would actually sleep in the opening, literally becoming the door. If a sheep wanted to get in or out of that pen, it had to go through the shepherd, who had become a human door.”

“Jesus is pretty straightforward—I am the door. Note the singularity. He doesn't say—I am A door or one of many doors. He says—I am THE door.”

“Notice what the door is not. The door is not certain behavior. It's not the sacraments. It's not the creeds. The door is not homeschooling. It's not a specific doctrine. The door is not your family. It's not a particular upbringing. It's not your parents or your spouse's faith. There is only one door, and that door is Jesus.”

“This is about as anti-American as you can get. We live in a pluralistic society where the default belief is that there are many ways to God. They say we are all on a spiritual journey and Jesus is just one option. To believe anything different is to be an arrogant, unloving, close-minded person. But the Bible is clear. Jesus will say the same thing in Chapter 14.”

“The exclusive claim that Jesus is the only way to God isn't our design. We don't determine the nature of the door. We're not in charge of the door. God is. And when Jesus says I AM the door, he speaks with the authority of God because he is himself God in the flesh.”

“This is critical for courage and confidence in evangelism. It's not arrogant and judgmental to give people truth. Don't believe that lie. It's loving. What's arrogant is to think you can come to God in the way you choose. What's unloving is to let someone believe they can because that makes them author of their salvation and a robber and thief trying to enter the kingdom of God through another door.”

“Now, notice what Jesus says in 9—I am the door. If anyone enters by me he will be saved. Saved from what? John 3:16 tells us. We are saved from perishing. We are saved from being eternally condemned by God for our sins. We are saved from His holy judgment and divine wrath that is expressed in eternal hell.”

“How is this possible? Jumping down to next week's text in 11—Jesus lays down his life for his sheep. On the cross, Jesus stood in my place. I was the sinner, I was the one deserving condemnation. But he chose to be my substitute, bearing all my sins and absorbing God's wrath meant for me. God treated Jesus as if he had lived my life of sin. And now he treats me as if I have lived Christ's life of righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).”

ILLUSTRATION: Houdini and jail cell in British Isles

“Jesus is saying to you right now, by faith, lay all your efforts and strategies down and lean all your weight on me. Believe in me and you will be saved. There is no other way—I am the door to eternal life.”

“In 9, Jesus says those who enter God's presence through him will go in and out and find pasture. Again, rich imagery of sheep life. Freely moving about, going in for safety and out for food and nourishment in the pastures. But Jesus sums up the meaning of going in and out and finding pasture with just one word at the end of 10—Abundance. I came as the door that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

“We could translate it as extraordinary or, better yet, over the top. I came that you may have life that is over the top. (Grammarly suggested I change over the top to abundant). Jesus is saying I came that you may have life that you couldn't imagine in your wildest dreams.”

“Jesus is not talking about a life absent of health or financial problems. An abundant life is not about having a lot of stuff. Jesus' words are not an apologetic for a prosperity gospel. It's not a lifetime exemption from sorrow and suffering. The very one who promises an over-the-top life also promises a life of trials and persecution. And Jesus isn't saying live your best life now. We aren't pursuing Utopia in this life. The ultimate, over-the-top life awaits us in heaven. However, Jesus' promise is also for today. The going in and out and finding pasture in 9 is a picture of our everyday life in Christ.”

“There are numerous words in the Greek for life. The one Jesus uses in 10 is ‘zoe’. More than mere quantity, it denotes a quality of life lived in the present. That quality is a life abundant with God's presence, power, and promises. It's a life abundant with:
- Abiding joy in the midst of challenging health situations
- Inward peace, even when you are about to lose it all
- Genuine satisfaction amid change, loss, and sorrow
- Spiritual strength when life has left you fragile
- Ephesians 1 says it's a life filled with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies”

“See, trials will occur. Loss will come. Suffering will happen. I don't have to tell you this. And I don't have to tell you how much our trials, loss, and suffering cloud our vision of the abundance we have in Christ. We need to preach this to ourselves and one another tirelessly: When you are in Christ, you can rise above it all because His Spirit lives in you as his adopted child, giving you joy, strength, and hope every day as you go in and out, finding pasture, a life of spiritual abundance that transcends all earthly matters.”

ILLUSTRATION: Father and Son's art collection—Whoever gets the son gets it all!

“Jesus says I am the door. Anyone who enters through me, will get it all—abundance today and eternity tomorrow.”

APPLICATION:
Q. By faith, have you entered through the door? Have you believed in Jesus? You've been attending church for years. You've seen the door. You've heard of the door. You can articulate the door. But have you placed your faith in Jesus, who is the door?

Q. Let me ask you: In times of trial, what do you fall back on? What do you depend on for your happiness? How would you define abundance?

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
John 14:6
Acts 4:12

QUOTES:
Charles Spurgeon - “Jesus has selected this emblem, I should think, partly that it may often come before our notice. You will not go out of this place without seeing a door; you will not get into your own house without seeing a door; and when you are inside, you will not get into your parlor without seeing a door; and when you go up to bed, you must pass through the door. When you rise tomorrow morning and start to go out to your work, you will have to open a door, — two doors probably; and, when you reach your work, there is pretty sure to be another door to be entered. Doors meet your gaze almost everywhere, so our Lord Jesus Christ seems to say to you, "I will meet you wherever you are; anywhere and everywhere, I will speak with you, and plead with you. I will make the door of every room in your house, and the door of every cupboard, too, to preach a little sermon to you, as you shall be reminded by it that 'I am the door'"

SONGS FROM THIS SUNDAY:
Rejoice
My Soul Will Wait (Psalm 62)
There is One Gospel
Rise My Soul The Lord Is Risen
We Receive

NEXT WEEK’S PASSAGE:
I Am the Good Shepherd - John 10:11

THE BOOK OF THE QUARTER: