Listen

“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”

John 3:16-17

Think

We have probably heard the verse John 3:16 quite a bit in our churches, even memorized it as kids, and sometimes hearing something repeated so many times can make us forget how incredible it is. Jesus says: God sent the Son so that we could have eternal life instead of death, and even better than that, the Son came not to judge the world, as we deserve, but so that we could be saved.

This is the Good News! The Spirit works in us, through no effort of our own, and helps us to be born anew in Christ, forever changing the way we look at the world and other people. This verse is part of a larger conversation about entering God’s kingdom. The kingdom of God is something we should look forward to, but it is also something that is already here among us, a kingdom that we should be working towards here on earth with our brothers and sisters. What an incredible opportunity we have to be a part of God’s kingdom!

Kristen Pope

Pray

Gracious God, too often I forget how incredible your gift to us is, that you gave your Son just so that I could live. I pray that I will hear John 3:16 from this point forward as if I am hearing it for the first time, so that I might give you the glory you deserve. Amen.

Go

Allow yourself to be open to the Spirit’s work in your heart.

Get comfortable with not knowing all the answers, placing your trust in God.

Go forth, born anew in the promise of God’s unconditional love.