10-18-2026 - I AM- STORIES OF THE STAFF - Psalm 23; John 10

Lou Hernández

14 hours ago

14 min read

MESSAGE BY PASTOR ROB INRIG

FROM BETHANY BAPTIST IN RICHMOND, BC

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I invite you to pray and make this prayer personal. Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father, Almighty God,

We come before You as a community, lifting up our hearts in unity for our brothers and sisters who are walking through seasons of deep need. You are the God who sees us. Lord, You are Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals. We ask that You lay Your restorative hand upon everyone in this group

(Vicky O, Nancy R, Tere G, Stevie A, Sócrates D, mamá de Sara H, Margarita G, Rosy Ch, Patricia L, Lina J, Manuel D, Silvia H, Magda-, Miguel H.L, Manuel D.H, Alicia G. Margarita G, Brianda M, Alejandro M, Natalia M, María Elena C, Óscar N.D, Luis Carlos V. Laci N, Alicia R. Jesse R. Kristine Tantoco.)

Lord, trials and exhaustion can heavy the spirit. For those experiencing doubt, spiritual dryness, or weariness, we ask for a powerful outpouring of Your Holy Spirit. Remind them of Your unchanging promises.

Lord, You have not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. We lift up those who are paralyzed by anxiety, dreading the future, or overwhelmed by their circumstances.

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Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture Ps 100:3 .... Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care Ps 95:6,7

He will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God. And they will live securely for then His greatness will reach to the ends of the earth and He will be their peace .... The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me besides still water. He restores my soul Micah 5:4,5, Ps 23:1-3

I AM the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me - just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep .... For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe every tear from their eyes Jn 10:14,15, Rev 7:17

I AM - STORIES OF THE STAFF

Hardly impressive is it? A tool fit for ﬁelds and hilltops, doing work only a few would choose. You see it in the hands of a man, strong and independent, guiding creatures that are weak and dependent. He, chiseled and weather-worn; they wooly and oblivious. Cute yet rather mindless. Backdrops are set on Galilean hilltops by night and lush meadows by day. A staff marking the care and protection of a shepherd.

But make no mistake — the staff has a much richer history than guiding sheep. It’s been in the

hands of those who’ve guided nations and overthrown kingdoms. Today we represent a nation’s authority with crowns, weaponry or financial dominance but compared with this staff, those are poor representations of authority. This staff has accompanied the commissioning of shepherds to be kings and farmers to be prophets. Most times it’s on view where few notice - in fields or on hillsides — a working instrument belonging to a working man doing menial tasks, he and they, unnoticed and unappreciated. But God has a unique way of turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. He transforming the lowly and ill equipped into God empowered warriors.

It hardly seems sensible that this staff would mean anything to us in a fast moving, technological driven world. An alphabetic world of AI, 5K, and EV’s. But let me assure you, it does!

So this morning I want to consider the staff of God in our lives in terms of: how God rescues, how God relates, how God leads and how God reigns and how will we respond to this.

The psalmist used the image of a staff to represent the strength and promise of God’s presence, Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me Ps 23:4. To David, the shepherd, the staff had been there when danger lurked. It reached out when correction was needed - held tight when difficulties came and held high when the scattered were lost. In those times, the value of the staff drawing the sheep closer to the Master. Drawing sheep like us, close to Him giving us His light in the darkness we experience, caring for us when we find it hard to see, giving provision in times of hunger. The Shepherd with us!

In the hand of the Master, that STAFF REPRESENTS GOD’S RESCUE:

The primary thing that differentiates a staff from a walking stick is its characteristic crook. For most of a shepherd’s tasks, any long branch will suffice as he went before the sheep, checking pasture land to ensure safe grazing. Inspecting holes where predators might lurk – most commonly, venomous snakes. Clearing away harmful vegetation and for stubborn sheep, a quick disciplining strike to remind sheep to stay far from danger. Sometimes those things needed redirecting us to right paths. But for the fallen, for the almost out of reach, for the injured without hope – the staff’s crook in the shepherd’s outstretched arm designed for RESCUE not duty.

Jesus spoke a lot about the shepherd and in fact, He is described as the Good Shepherd, the True Shepherd and the Great Shepherd Jn 10: 2,11; Heb 13:20. Speaking to His disciples, He warned about many false shepherds who would come in His name. These ones would wear the appearance of a shepherd convincing the unguarded they’d be taken to good places, their safety assured. But if you look at what they hold, you’ll see staffs having no crook. The poles they hold may beat down some weeds, poke down some holes. They may be used to drive the sheep compelling them to move, even at times mesmerizing them but what they can’t do is rescue. Rescue never able to be offered by those who carry these.

Some here wondering, what does a Shepherd and some sheep have to do with the world I’m in? A world of challenge and stress; a world of hurt.

But the Bible tells us, All we like sheep have gone astray Is 53:6 , God telling us that even the strongest and best of us are sheep in need of rescue who can’t do life without a Shepherd.

This Shepherd is the Chosen One upon Whom God laid the iniquity of us all Is 53:6, this telling us Jesus is the only One who can make us acceptable to God. Other shepherds will try to convince us otherwise - that all paths and all shepherds are similar. But don’t be deceived, there is only One Shepherd who has a staff that rescues and only One whose heart is to rescue that rescue coming with the price of suffering and the giving of His life. Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd who became the sacrificial Lamb of God, laying down his life for the sheep, in order that we might live. He taking on Himself our sin, our wrongs to pay what we cannot.

This staff tells me that God wants us to know more than rescue. In the hand of the Master, THE STAFF REPRESENTS GOD’S RELATIONSHIP:

This Shepherd doesn’t just save me, rub my head, then send me off as just another nameless part of the flock, indistinguishable from all the other wooly whites. Forgotten. Unknown. Unnamed. No, God’s heart is to dwell with us - we see that in the opening pages of Genesis, promised that in the closing pages of Revelation and made witness of that in the pages in between. Not distant but God telling us that in Christ, He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out Jn 10:3. Telling us we were designed by Him, crafted by Him and loved by Him.

INTIMATELY. PASSIONATELY. UNIQUELY. He saves us to KNOW us in a:

RELATIONSHIP OF INTIMACY AND CARE as He pulls us close

What that means is that God with us knows my markings and characteristics. He knows the junk I get into, sees the dirt that is smeared and where my life is all matted up. Knowing this, He cleans me up and helps me be who He wants me to be.

As He brings me close to Him, He lowers the staff to inspect the wounds of the day, healing me in my hidden places, in my covered over places. In the places I look so good but in truth, where insecurities and doubts hide, they covering up so much hurt, so much pain. He seeing what lies beneath, His healing oil applied to make me well.

It’s a Relationship that Provides as He pulls down vegetation that’s beyond my reach. His provision of ‘bread’ that always satisfies. We pursuing feasts of meat, onions and garlic Num 11:5 that despite appearance leave us hungry. He feeding me on His Word that gives me strength to stand.

And He providing as He stills waters so His sheep can drink and be refreshed. In the surround of rushing waters that confuse and cause fear, He giving me a place of peace. He lying me down, as anxieties threaten to overwhelm. Providing in places where there seems to be no provision.

RELATIONSHIP THAT PROTECTS

This Shepherd protecting as He gently prods us away from stripped bare grazing places we continually stay in. When He lifts our head to help us see where we are and that it’s time to move on and starting feeding in fresh places. Places where life will be restored. Places that will cause us to run again no matter how long it’s been since we last ran.

Sometimes He prods because there’s been too much feeding and not enough moving. Satisfied with what we’ve found, we’ve forgotten to help others find what they need. With that He reminds sheep to follow where He leads and as we do, others will see and join in.

Sometimes He strikes when we wander into places of harm. His strike reminding that despite what we think, on our own we are no more than sheep walking in places where serpents wait.

In the hand of the Master, THE STAFF REPRESENTS GOD’S LEADING:

Wherever the shepherd went, the staff rose above all. It was the reference point - visible when the shepherd was obscured from view. The Shepherd has told us that there will be times when His presence will be unseen. When the path is difficult; when the way confuses but the presence of the Shepherd’s staff is the ever present testimony that He is leading even when He’s out of view. But the part of the staff that is to be always in our sight, is the Shepherd’s crook that saves and directs us in His truth. That Shepherd’s crook in what we are given to see, is His Word. Though He may be out of sight, His Word never is, our reminder that His rescuing love will never fail, His truth will never disappoint. The crook remains as testimony not just of who He has been, not of who He will one day be but who He is right now.

LEADING when we do not know and cannot see. God leading so we know His presence. Leading with staff held high, calling and ensuring that the path ahead can be navigated even where the shale is precarious and the footholds less than sure. Not because danger isn’t present but because He is present in the place danger tries to overcome.

All of these are accurate representations of what the staff is to mean in our lives. As reminder: the staff’s presence shouts - RESCUE. He has rescued us from death unto life. Don’t ever forget that without Christ, every one of us was lost, without hope. BUT hear the words of rescue. When you lose your way - look at the crook revealed to us at the Cross; when you think God doesn’t love you - look at the crook; when you are hurting and need someone to care - look at the crook. It’s the place He has declared His salvation and His ongoing, never failing love.

There is no more important thing we can hear this morning that Jesus Christ died on the cross to rescue us. All we need to do is to accept His rescue for our life - to admit that we are sinners in need of rescue by Jesus Christ who died on the Cross for us. To climb into the crook of His salvation that He extends to us so we may know life and know it abundantly.

The staff isn’t to pull us up and set us aside, it’s to pull us close, reassuring us of our RELATIONSHIP — that we might know the warmth, care and protection that His love provides.

Scripture reinforcing this theme as it speaks of Christ our Great Shepherd. And the more we enter into this relationship, the more we will discover the conﬁdence we can have in a Shepherd who LEADS. That He will lead us through situations our enemy intends for our destruction. Where the Shepherd leads in ways often unseen and often misunderstood. But His leading is good.

Those all are crucial understandings as we look at this staff this morning. But first understand, before we can understand the power of the staff, we must first have experienced the rescue of the staff and then before we can understand the leadership of the staff, we must understand that the purpose of the staff is to call us into relationship.

I met with someone awhile back who has a vending machine concept of God – right actions in, right rewards out. ‘Bless my family, help my business succeed, keep problems away from my door’. What he had signed up for was a partnership with a servant God who he’d include in his life as long as God responded to his beck and call. Deliver as expected and he’d extend the partnership but while the staff reminds of the comforting presence of the Shepherd, He is so much more. He is Master, who calls us to yield to His authority which is often where we get it wrong.

In the hand of the Master, THE STAFF REPRESENTS GOD’S AUTHORITY:

There are several ways to look at God’s authority. We love His authority when it speaks into the distress of what surrounds. Then staff, representing God’s protecting power, makes predators wary about attacking. But this power isn’t to be taken lightly, that if we keep it in the general vicinity of our lives that it somehow has a force field that makes everything right. Something we ignore in the everyday but reach for when things get bad. We dare not put God’s staff of authority carelessly aside because as Scripture warns, there are predators on constant watch for a time to attack. 1 Pet 5:8 tells us, Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Those are the times when our reliance on the Shepherd’s truth is tested. When we must determine how we will answer the, Did God say? whispers that come at us. Our reliance on His truth largely determined by how ‘sheep like’ we see ourselves to be. Admittedly it’s not an image that comes easy to us. We’d rather be powerful or stealthy or cunningly smart. But sheep? Sheep just nibble themselves lost - foolishly, fearfully, inattentively lost.

Wanting mastery of our life, our inclination is actually to choose ourselves lost. And therein is the problem, because the Shepherd will not force His authority upon us. If we want mastery of our lives, He will allow it. But don’t be mistaken, that choice will take some of us into some very dangerous, very parasitic ground.

As Christians, when we came to Christ, we became His. But being His and giving Him full authority are different.

When we think of submitting to God’s Lordship, we often imagine that He is going to send us to Innuvik or call us away from something we love. But when God asks for authority, He brings it closer to home, in the decisions we make, in the work we do, in the relationships we’re in - whether we forgive or hold onto offense? Whether we will obey what He calls us to or allow culture to determine how we live? Will we please Him or run after what attracts?

There are few better lessons in God’s authority than those depicted in the life of Moses. You know the story - Israel held captive in Egypt yet Moses spared the experience. While his people suffered, he prospered. As the king’s adopted son, he lived in the wealth of the palace BUT when it came time to intervene for his people, he abandoned the place of power for the isolation of a desert where it seemed all he could do was tend sheep. What a curious exchange - the power of a scepter for the humility of a shepherd’s crook. But what incredible lessons he was to learn!

God’s staff of authority is seen in God’s commissioning of Moses. In Exodus God promised Moses that He would deliver Israel and that He would, Stretch out His hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform 3:19

When Moses questioned his role in God’s commissioning, God responded by asking Ex 4:2, What’s in your hand? Interesting question. Tough question. Schooled to rule a nation, he now ruled sheep. As Pharaoh’s adopted son, he’d already been disqualified, exchanging a scepter for a staff and now he was being asked to even lay this down. As if he hadn’t already given up so much?

Ever been there? When what God asks of us doesn’t seem to make sense. When His authority acts differently than how a rescuing God should act.

But here’s the thing, God’s authority means taking us into places we often won’t understand. In Moses’ case, he saw himself as no more than a shepherd of sheep. God’s view different – Moses in training for the commission God was about to give.

So when God asked Moses to do something counter to the nature of the shepherd, ‘cast down his staff’, He was challenging Moses about who had authority in his life? Truth is, a shepherd is the identity in which he’s lived for a long time. It’s what he does. More importantly, it’s become who he is. So the question before him is - would he rely on all he knew or on God who knows all? Some of us may be facing the same struggle this morning as He is calling us, “What is it that is in your hands?” Lay it down. Let it go. Release your grip. Our authority or His?

When Moses obeyed, he saw what a staff under God’s power can become - a staff sufficient for all he will face, a staff that swallows every serpent Satan can bring. To be clear, I am NOT suggesting there was anything supernatural about the staff but there is plenty supernatural about any staff God empowers His people to carry.

This is only the beginning of what God will reveal as He repeatedly commands Moses to stretch out his staff. When the Nile is turned to blood, when frogs invade the land, whendust becomes gnats, when heavens rain hail, when the land is filled with locusts - Moses acting in obedience.

Probably no image more dramatically illustrates the stretching out of the staff as the parting of the Red Sea. Nothing seemed more impossible than that. But the Lord’s power and authority were undeniable as Moses responded to God’s command, Lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land Ex 16:14. Moses’ outstretched hand was the outstretched hand of God. In obeying what God has said, Moses will come to see, it’s not about a staff, or what is held onto as our identity - it’s about Him and what He want to do in and through our life. As He reminds, Behold, I am the LORD, the God of flesh; is anything to difficult for Me? Jer 32:27.

And as Moses led, he did so with a lifted staff. When Moses’ staff was lifted high, whether he could be seen or not, their leader was present. That really conveying, His God was present.

This morning what does the staff of God represent in our lives? Above all, make certain it represents Rescue - our lives lived inside the salvation of Christ’s love and power of the Cross. Our lives possessed by God’s Holy Spirit to comfort, to counsel, to transform, to empower.

But in that Rescue, know that we are saved for Relationship. As someone deeply loved. Not in some cosmic, ‘He loved the world way’, but love that speaks your name - intimately, passionately. Even as you limp in at the end of the day — feeling all beat up and bearing scars. Even when the wounding feels like too much and your worth seems too little. Never lose sight that our God is a God of Intimate Relationship

Leading in those times when we cannot see. When we are unsure of direction or are in fear of losing our balance. When our questions seem to outnumber His answers. Never lose sight that our God is a God who Leads

Our God - a God of Authority who we can trust and follow. Because He has shown us a crook that tells us all that our Shepherd loves us enough to lay down His life for the sheep. The hymn writer captured it well, ‘Trust and obey for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.’ When we are called to cross the uncrossable and to achieve the impossible, Never lose sight that our God is a God of all Authority who will always do what is best.