(Preached at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church, Morganton, NC, 9-11-16)
In 1991 Cheryl & I moved to Beggs, Oklahoma, into the parsonage of the First Baptist Church there. What was at that time the parsonage sat on the top of a big hill, and the first time I pulled out of the driveway I noticed that I could look down that hill at a view the whole town, and then over across a pretty valley, to some hills beyond town. It was a striking and very beautiful view! When I got down to the church, some of the folks were there to meet with me, and I said something to them about that incredible view from the top of the hill? I’ll never forget their response: they said, “What view?” They either had never noticed it, or more likely, they had gotten so used to it that it didn’t mean anything too them any more. That day I vowed that as long as I lived in Beggs, I would never take that view for granted, but appreciate it each time I stood there — and I did.
Unfortunately, we as human beings have a tendency to take a lot of things for granted: our family, our health, our freedom — many things. And this verse that we are looking at this morning is one of them. John 3:16 is perhaps the single greatest sentence that has ever been spoken or written in all the human vocabulary. But like the view from that hill in Beggs Oklahoma — it has become so commonplace that many of us just take it for granted.
That is one of the reasons why I felt convicted to begin a series today on John 3:16. Now someone may say, “Why would we study John 3:16? Everyone already knows that verse. Many of us have it memorized.” It is true that many of us do “know” this verse – but have you really thought about what it means recently? Is it possible that you are taking it for granted — or that you have never really looked in-depth into what God is trying to tell YOU through it? Next Sunday we will start looking at this great verse word-by-word and phrase-by-phrase. But this morning I want us just to think about this verse by way of overview.. Why would we do a several week study of just ONE verse in the Bible? Why is this verse so important? For several reasons: Continue reading →
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