1 Samuel 16:11-13
“So [Samuel] asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’  ‘There is still the youngest,’ Jesse answered, ‘but he is tending the sheep.’…Then the Lord said ‘Rise and anoint him; he is the one.’  So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed [David]…and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.”

Luke 2:8-9a, 16-17a
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them…So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word…”

John 10:27-28
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”

Great Shepherd, glory to you in the highest!

You are the Lamb that shepherds us, and when you call, all flock-tenders become sheep. We are created to live by the sound of your voice.

Open our unimaginative hearts to hear you say, “Follow me!”  Guide us with your loving hand to safe pasture, and draw those on the hillside of faith into their true calling.

Humbly we ask this for the sake of Jesus, our sacrificial Lamb and the shepherd who laid down his life for his precious sheep.

Listen to ‘What Child is This?’ by Elaine Davis