Category: John 3:16

1 John 3:1, 16-20 NLT/NIV
1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him…16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. 19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

In this covenant of love, we are now witnesses who bear testimony of God’s saving grace. His love transforms us into a new reality in Christ. We have new identities as children of God! May we be the beautiful feet that carry the good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ to our cities and campuses.

Prayer: God, in obedience to your greatest command to love you and love others, we live as your children, your ambassadors of love to testify of all you’ve done. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Because of Jesus” by Charity Gayle (click here).

– AW

Romans 8:32 NLT
32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?

Matthew 6:25-33 NLT
25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Prayer: God, thank you for intervening in our lives and sending Jesus that we might be rescued from the path of destruction and saved into your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “I Have A Savior” by CeCe Winans (click here).

– AW

 

John 3:16 NIV
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

“If someone were to ask you on the street, ‘what is the gospel,’ you could recite John 3:16 and it would convey the heart of what the gospel is all about — God’s love. Wrapped up in this one verse is the story of God’s love. And this is precisely how John 3:16 starts. ‘For God so loved.’ The object of God’s love is ‘the world.’ God’s love is for every human being in creation, which means God’s love is for you and I…In the 19th century, an English preacher named Charles Spurgeon said this about John 3:16: ‘I cannot preach from this text anything but a simple gospel sermon.’” (P. Wayne)

God so loved the world, not because we were loveable, merited his love or proved worthy of it – God’s love is sourced within himself because God is love. And we are promised that nothing can separate us from his love.

Romans 8:38 NLT
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Prayer: God, thank you for your great, expansive love for us and nothing in all creation can separate us from your love revealed in Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “How Great Thou Art” by Matt Redman (click here).

– AW

 

 

Let’s confess aloud the Apostles’ Creed:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
Amen.

“Faith is an ongoing relationship and therefore like a marathon. The Jesus Creed is not for someone who believed, in the past, but someone who believes. Christians are called believers not believeders” (S. McKnight, The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others)

As Christians, our confession is that we believe, have ongoing faith and trust in our Triune God. Jesus’ expectation and what he wants from us is to believe in him, and this expresses a relationship with him, rather than trying to achieve moral perfection.

Prayer: Lord, you came into the world to live, die, rise and ascend, so we might know life everlasting. By your Spirit, help us to walk this life, putting one foot in front of the other, in relationship with you, in the body of Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Jesus” by Chris Tomlin (click here).

– AW