shawnethomas

In London, England there is a 70-foot high red granite obelisk called “Cleopatra’s
Needle” that stands beside the Thames River.  In the 1870’s it was given to Britain by Egypt.  When they moved it to England and set it up, they put a “time vault” at the base they constructed for it, with all kinds of representative clothes, toys, etc. from their culture for future generations to uncover.  They also appointed a committee to select what they considered to be the single greatest verse of scripture to put into that vault as well. The committee chose John 3:16, and put that verse into the vault, translated into the 215 known languages of that day.

Last week we saw by way of introduction why John 3:16 is such an important verse that people would put it in time capsules, and on signs at football games, and in every kind of imaginable place. It is perhaps not only the single greatest verse of scripture, but quite arguably also the greatest sentence ever spoken in human vocabulary! We saw last week just WHY it is so important: it is a succinct summary of the fundamentals of faith in one sentence, which can lead a person to salvation. So today we want to begin to study this great verse word by word, and phrase by phrase for the next several Sunday mornings.  This verse begins with these important words: “For God …”. Continue reading →