Author name: Pastor Burns

John 10:18 “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” Only Jesus could say these words. Many men have died for noble causes, but none had the authority to rise again by their own power.…

John 10:17 “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.” Jesus wasn’t forced to the cross. He wasn’t a victim of circumstance. He willingly chose to lay down His life. This is why the Father delights in the Son—because His love led Him to obedience.

John 10:16 “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” When Jesus spoke of “other sheep,” He was talking about us—Gentiles who were once outside of the promises of Israel but are

John 10:15 “As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus pulls back the curtain here and shows us something amazing. The same closeness that exists between Him and the Father is the closeness He shares with His sheep. Think of it—eternal fellowship,

John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” One of the most comforting truths of the Christian life is this: Jesus knows His sheep personally. He doesn’t deal with us in bulk, as if we were just another face in the crowd. He knows our names, our

John 10:12–13 “But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth… The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.” We live in a world filled with “hirelings” — people, systems, and even

John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” When Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd, He wasn’t speaking in vague, poetic terms. He was declaring His willingness to give the ultimate sacrifice — His own life — for the safety of His sheep. Shepherds in Israel would

Luke 13:5  “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” It’s easy to assume that tragedy strikes only those who somehow “deserve” it more than others. But in Luke 13, Jesus confronted that dangerous assumption head-on. When the crowd brought up the Galileans who had been killed by Pilate, or the

Ephesians 1:1 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus.” When Paul wrote to the Ephesian believers, he addressed them as “saints” and “faithful in Christ Jesus.” That phrase—in Christ—is more than a theological tag. It is the

Ephesians 6:13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” The “evil day” doesn’t show up with a warning. It comes when temptation catches you off guard, when trials stack up, when confusion clouds your mind. That’s