{"id":25155,"date":"2020-07-09T14:45:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T18:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=25155"},"modified":"2020-11-12T10:10:22","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T15:10:22","slug":"pastors-ponderings-whats-john-316-really-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=25155","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Ponderings: What’s John 3:16 Really Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 3:16.\u00a0 We’ve memorized it.\u00a0 The words are so familiar.\u00a0 Most of us have memorized it.\u00a0 We even seen football fans holding a “3:16” sign in the stands behind the endzone during field goal attempts.\u00a0 But- do we really know what it means?\u00a0 Do we really appreciate its significance?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Pastor Jim offered the following thoughts on 7\/9\/20…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Greetings Friends:<\/span><\/em>
\n\u00a0
\nPLEASE READ: John 3:16<\/p>\n

\n

“For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<\/span><\/p>\n

John\u00a03:16<\/a><\/span> was the very first Bible verse I memorized as a child.\u00a0 I was only 5 years old and it was during a 2-week Vacation Bible School.\u00a0 I earned a red book mark which had all of the books of the Bible printed on it.\u00a0 I remember being so proud and how proud my parents were that I memorized my first verse of Scripture.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps John 3:16 was the first verse of Scripture you memorized as well.\u00a0 Along with <\/span>Psalm 23<\/a><\/span> (and possibly <\/span>Matthew\u00a06:9-13<\/a><\/span>, “The Lord’s Prayer”) it is probably the most known of all the verses in Scripture.\u00a0 \"\"<\/span>
\n\u00a0
\nJesus said,<\/span> “For God so loved the world\u2026<\/span><\/em>” (John 3:16a).\u00a0 The word “so loved<\/span>” indicates the depth of God’s love. It describes the manner of\u00a0God’s love for\u00a0all humanity. It is a deep love that motivated\u00a0God to send His Son, Jesus, to be born into human history, live a perfect sinless life, die on a cross, and be resurrected. This is God’s love!\u00a0 It is a love which is undeserved and unconditional, but it is a love which God has for you and me!\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\nIn this verse notice\u00a0the object of God\u2019s great love:\u00a0the world<\/span>.\u00a0This means all of us,\u00a0everyone, including you and me,\u00a0are loved by God!\u00a0\u00a0By its very definition, this love is no ordinary love, but is a special love that seeks to give itself away on behalf of the objects of the beloved. We see this love demonstrated in the life of Jesus.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nSisters and Brothers, regardless of the curve balls life may have delivered or are delivering to you, wherever you find yourself today, whatever fears may be confronting you, you need to know today that God loves you! No one is beyond the scope of God’s love! What hope it gives us to realize that Scripture reminds us that no circumstance can separate us from the love God has for us. Consider such verses as Romans 8:38-39<\/a><\/span> or Romans\u00a05:8.<\/a><\/span> \u00a0\u00a0 \"\"
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The great late theologian Karl Barth is reported to have said, in part, “The greatest thought to grip the human mind is this: ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so!'”\u00a0 This sums up\u00a0John 3:16\u00a0wonderfully.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nRemember these words throughout the day. If you have not, why not memorize this verse and reflect upon it often. Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life<\/span><\/em>” (John 3:16).<\/span><\/p>\n

Shalom,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Pastor Jim<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

+\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 +<\/span><\/p>\n

For more Pastor’s Ponderings, click this button:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pastor’s Ponderings<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve heard John 3:16 over and over. We’ve memorized it. We even see people wearing “3:16” T-Shirts! But do we really appreciate its meaning? In an email on 7\/9\/20, Pastor Jim offered these thoughts on this amazing verse. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[148],"class_list":["post-25155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-ponderings","tag-godslove"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25155"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25162,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25155\/revisions\/25162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}