In the Cool of the Garden Pt. 4 // John 10 // Griffin Towle

This week, Griffin Towle shares a message from John 10 as part of the series "In the Cool of the Garden," exploring what it looks like to hear the voice of God in every part of life. Building on prior weeks covering hearing God through community and through Scripture, Griffin turns to hearing God through the voice of our Good Shepherd, tracing this theme all the way back to Eden, where God walked with Adam and Eve in intimate, ongoing relationship.Working through John 10, Griffin highlights three ways the Good Shepherd leads his flock: personally, relationally, and missionally. He contrasts the personal access Jesus offers with the way Moses once mediated God's voice for Israel, arguing that Jesus has torn the veil so that every believer now has direct, "VIP" access to God's voice in everyday life, not just on Sundays. Turning to relationship, Griffin draws on Psalm 23 and the life of David to show that trusting the Shepherd's voice requires first knowing his character, not just his instructions, posing the challenge: are we more focused on the location he's leading us to, or the leader himself? He closes with the missional dimension, using the disciples' early reluctance to share Jesus with outsiders, illustrated through his own playful "birthday cupcake" story, to show that the Shepherd's voice is never meant to be hoarded but is meant to gather "one flock" from every nation.The sermon's theological anchor is the conviction that knowing the Good Shepherd's character precedes and secures trust in his direction. Griffin states it directly: revelation of who Jesus is will always produce reassurance of where he is leading us. In other words, assurance in following God isn't found by demanding proof or seeing the whole path ahead, but by growing in relational intimacy with the One who is already, by nature, good.Ultimately, this message is an invitation to recover a posture of attentiveness, to expect God's voice not only in church gatherings but while driving, working, or going about ordinary days. Griffin calls listeners to shift their gaze from the destination to the Shepherd himself, trusting that the same God who calls each of us by name is also drawing in a wider flock, and inviting us to participate in that gathering as both sheep and sent ones.