Look and Live!

Please open up your Bibles this morning to the Gospel of John.

Some of you may be here for the first time and think that we just happened to pick John 316 because it's Easter Sunday,

but we've actually been walking through the Gospel of John for a few months now together and in God's providence.

As I laid out the preaching schedule, I realized that here on Easter Sunday,

we'd have the opportunity to preach from one of, if not the most cherished, beloved, summary verses of the Gospel message in the entire Bible.

So if you would, open up your Bibles to John chapter 3. We're going to read from verses 13 through 16.

John 3 · chapter mention

If you didn't bring your own Bible with you, we have a few Bibles there in the seat backs in front of you,

and you can find this passage on page 835 of those Bibles there in front of you.

Either way, I encourage you to have the Bible open because we're looking to the Word of God and not just listening to what I had to say this morning.

So if you would, John 3 verses 13 through 16. Follow along with me as I read.

John 3:13–16

Jesus says,

No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,

that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

This is good news.

This is the Word of God.

Let's bow and pray once more.

Father, we thank you for your perfect Word.

That is inerrant, it's infallible, it's living, and it's active.

And we pray now as it goes forth, would it accomplish the purposes for which you send it.

We pray in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

Friday evening, we gathered here for our Good Friday service just a couple of evenings ago

as we reflected on the death of Christ on the cross.

And the text that we considered here was 1 Corinthians 1 verse 18, which says this.

1 Corinthians 1:18

It says,

There is an eternal difference here between those who are perishing on one hand and those who are being saved on the other.

And the difference is how you view the word of the cross, the message of the gospel.

Is it foolishness to you or is it the very power of God for your salvation?

I love the story of Gaylord Kambarami.

Maybe you've heard this story before.

Mr. Kambarami was the general secretary of the Bible Society of Zimbabwe.

And he tells the story of how he once tried to sell a copy of the New Testament to a man who,

at least on the surface, appeared interested in what he was selling.

What turned out to be the case was, in fact, the man was not interested in the message of the book.

He was actually interested in the paper.

To his natural eyes, this word of God was just another book.

And he had a bad habit of smoking.

And so to his natural eyes, the size of the pages and the texture of the paper

was just the right size and material for rolling up his cigarettes.

And so Mr. Kambarami, he was confident that he wouldn't be able to change this man's mind,

but even more confident in the power of the message of the gospel, he made this man a deal.

He said, I will give you this book for free on one condition,

that you read every page before you smoke it.

15 years went by.

People didn't see each other, speak to each other, didn't know what had happened.

Mr. Kambarami attended a convention in Zimbabwe where the speaker was a church evangelist.

And to his surprise, the speaker looked out and singled him out from the audience.

And he said, this man doesn't remember me, but I remember him.

About 15 years ago, he tried to sell me a New Testament.

And when I told him that I would just use the pages to smoke and roll cigarettes,

he said, I'll make you a deal.

You read each page before you smoke it.

Well, I smoked through Matthew.

I smoked through Mark.

And then I smoked through Luke.

But when I got to chapter 3 of John, verse 16, I couldn't smoke anymore.

He said, my life was changed forever.

The message that that page proclaimed.

Friends, the message of the gospel is powerful to save any who would believe it.

This is what we profess this morning.

So I will make you a deal that if you will listen intently for the next 30 minutes or so

to what I have to say from this book, from what we're about to hear from the chapter that we're talking about in John,

if you will truly believe the message of the gospel this morning, then I guarantee that you too will be changed.

We're jumping in the middle here to a conversation that Jesus is having with a man named Nicodemus.

Nicodemus, and he's laid out for him the one necessary condition for anyone to enter into the kingdom of God.

Jesus gave this requirement to Nicodemus, and he gives it to us here this morning.

A humanly impossible requirement.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus' last recorded words to this requirement, you see it there in John 3, verse 9.

John 3:9

He said, how can these things be?

How can these things be?

Our passage this morning, our verses that we're going to see here in just a few minutes,

is Jesus' response to this question.

He says, it's not by your goodness, not by your heritage, it's not by your works.

It is only by believing the message of the gospel.

By believing the good news of Jesus Christ.

And we see that good news here this morning in four parts.

If you're taking notes, this is going to be our outline this morning.

We see four life-changing truths of the gospel.

Four life-changing truths of the gospel.

We'll see the problem, the provision, the power, and the proof.

The problem, the provision, the power, and the proof.

First, we see here our great problem.

How can these things be?

This was Nicodemus' question.

Well, Jesus says in chapter 3, verse 13, that he is the one, he is the only one who has ascended up into heaven.

The only one who has descended from heaven.

So if we would learn anything about what it means to be born again, anything about what it means to enter the kingdom of God,

we must come and listen to him.

Listen to his authoritative voice.

And here's what he says, verse 14.

Look there.

I love this.

Here's this Pharisee who has spent his entire life devoted to the Old Testament scriptures seeking to understand God's word.

And Jesus here sums it up in a sentence.

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,

that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

What is he talking about?

This is a reference that Nicodemus would have understood, but it's probably less familiar to us.

He's referring a story from the book of Numbers chapter 21.

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

So I'm going to read that story to us.

You can turn there if you'd like.

Numbers chapter 21.

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

And we'll see what Jesus is saying.

Here in Numbers 21, the people of Israel have come out of Egypt.

They've come out of their slavery in Egypt.

They're wandering in the wilderness.

And here's what happens starting in verse 4.

It says,

Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people.

And they bit the people, so that many of the people of Israel died.

And the people came to Moses and said,

We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you.

Pray to the Lord that he take away the serpents from us.

So Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord said to Moses,

Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole,

And everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live.

So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole,

And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

Now, I would be willing to bet that most of us in the room this morning

Have not been attacked by a big brood of fiery serpents like this event here in Numbers.

But I want us to see several lessons here from this account

Because we share the same essential problem that the Israelites had here in the wilderness.

This is an illustration of our sin.

So lesson number one, sin is foolishness.

Sin is foolishness.

There is nothing rational.

There is nothing logical about sin.

And since we are here on the outside of this story,

We can, from the outside looking in,

See all of this very clearly.

That it's foolish.

Do you see what was going on here?

These people are complaining that their deliverance from slavery is taking too long.

How foolish is this?

It says verse 4, Numbers 21,

They became impatient on the way.

God has just brought them out of their harsh slavery.

He's brought them through the Red Sea.

He's brought judgment on their enemies.

And in their foolish sin, they get impatient.

And what was their complaint?

They don't like the food.

They're hangry.

Verse 5, look there.

The people spoke against God and against Moses.

Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness?

For there is no food and no water,

And we loathe this worthless food.

Do you hear that?

There is no food,

And we hate this food.

This is foolish.

That's not really true.

What is true is that they are simply not content with God's plan,

Not content with God's provision,

Not content with God being God.

This is sin,

And this is foolish.

Lesson number two.

Sin brings disastrous consequence.

Sin brings disastrous consequence.

What happened?

Verse 6,

Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people,

And they bit the people,

So that many of the people of Israel died.

This is quick and immediate consequence for sin.

Some of y'all I know don't mind snakes.

I've seen some of you move towards snakes before.

That's not how we roll in my house.

That's not how we handle it.

There's no such thing as a good snake in our house.

A few years ago I was in the garage with one of my sons,

And he was digging through the toys,

And he picked up a helmet that had been there for who knows how long.

I'm not sure.

He picked it up off the ground.

He tipped it up over his head.

You see where this is going?

And the snake came out of the helmet on top of his head,

Bounced off his head onto his foot,

Slithered away.

This was the judgment of God.

I'm not sure who sinned in that moment.

This was our worst nightmare.

My wife didn't go outside the whole summer.

I think we realized that summer that the water behind our house was prime territory for an abundance of serpents in our backyard.

I think I might have killed 20 or 30 snakes that summer.

If you're snake friendly, I don't even feel the need to apologize to you.

My wife did not go outside.

It was terrible.

But that was not even a fraction of what's happening here in numbers.

Of what this must have been like.

Fiery serpents,

Venomous,

Deadly,

Dangerous,

Not just a few,

But enough to come upon the whole people of Israel.

Angry,

Ready to strike.

This is clear,

Immediate,

Visible consequence for the people's sin.

And it says many of the people of Israel died.

This is shocking to us when we read it.

Why?

It's because we don't often see sin and consequence this closely together.

In fact, we often act surprised when we read scripture and we see punishment for sin.

This seems severe to us,

but we have to realize the seriousness of sin.

And until we do,

This will never make sense to us.

The cross will never make sense to us.

Sin is rebellion against God.

And we're told the wages of sin is death.

If you have sinned even once,

You have earned death for your sin.

Anything short of that is mercy.

Sin brings disastrous consequence.

And the reason that this sort of quick consequence surprises us is because in God's patient mercy,

He often withholds the punishment that sin deserves.

And we are so accustomed to the mercy of God that we're surprised by judgment.

But if we truly understood the seriousness of our sin,

Church, we would be surprised by mercy.

All of us live in a flood of incredible mercy.

But friend, do not be deceived into thinking that God's mercy towards sinners will last forever.

Because lesson number three,

All of our sin,

All of our rebellion,

Is an offense to God.

And it will be dealt with.

Ultimately, this event in Numbers chapter 21 is a picture of God's holy wrath against sin.

Numbers 21 · chapter mention

Some sin carries immediate consequence.

All sin carries eternal consequence.

God is just.

He will judge all sin.

We think that we can hide our sin from God like Adam and Eve hide ourselves in the bushes.

We cannot hide anything from God.

And the day is coming when all will be exposed.

And we all will give an account.

This is a great problem for sinners like me.

And like you.

Our greatest problem.

We need to see.

It's not stress.

It's not our jobs.

It's not our relationships.

It's not our financial situation.

It's not whatever political drama happens to be going on this week.

Our greatest problem.

The greatest problem for sinners.

Is the wrath of God that stands against you in your sin.

Our greatest problem.

Is that we must be born again of the spirit of God.

Washed clean by his spirit.

Or we cannot enter the kingdom of God.

So where do we turn?

We have a great problem.

But second.

The second gospel truth here is that God has made a greater provision.

Second.

God has made a greater provision.

The unbelievably good news of the gospel is that God himself has provided all that we need in order to be saved from his wrath against our sin.

Think back again to Numbers 21.

The Israelites are perishing.

The snakes are biting.

The people are feeling the searing pain and consequence for their guilt and their sin.

Look what he says to Moses in verse 8.

Chapter 21.

Numbers.

He says,

Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole.

And everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live.

So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole.

And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

The Lord provided a way of escape.

And this is incredible.

He does not have to do this.

He does not need to do this.

He's not compelled or constrained by any external cause to make him do this.

He's not compelled by our goodness, by our deserving, by our earning.

It is simply in his sheer heart of mercy and grace towards sinners that he chooses to provide exactly what we need to live.

He provides one effective way to be saved.

One effective way.

One way.

Some people take issue with this.

They want what they call the freedom of options.

To live and to worship how they want to be and to do and to live and to act however they please and all paths be equal.

The Israelites could have chosen any path they wanted.

They could have climbed to higher ground.

They could have shook the snakes off of their feet.

They could have called out the name of any false god of Egypt that they wanted.

And the result would have been that they would perish.

There is one path here.

One provision.

But when you are perishing and someone provides one cure, one cure is all you need.

If it is effective.

And we see here that it was.

The provision of God here in Numbers is that if any were bitten by this fiery serpent that they might simply look at the bronze serpent and they would live.

Now, do you see the comparison that Jesus is making here for us?

Flip back to John chapter 3 if you've been in Numbers.

John 3 · chapter mention

Flip back there to John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

Look at verse 14.

Here's the comparison.

Jesus says,

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

One effective provision for salvation that sinners like me and like you might not perish.

Jesus is showing us that this story of sin and salvation in the Old Testament was a pointer.

It was an indicator.

It was a shadow to which Jesus is the reality.

He's showing us that he and he alone is the true lasting provision of God for the salvation of sinners.

He and he alone.

That there is salvation in no one else.

There is no other name given among men by which we must be saved.

What Jesus is doing here is he's taking this blurry black and white image of sin and salvation from the Old Testament.

And he's showing us how he magnifies it, enhances it, enlarges it in full color, high definition in himself at the cross.

Just as the Israelites looked upon this image of their curse, they looked upon the very image of that which afflicted them.

They saw it with their eyes.

God's provision held up, lifted up.

They looked upon this gracious provision of God and escaped the wrath of God.

So must we behold the man upon the cross.

My sin upon his shoulders.

The call here is to behold the image of our sin lifted up.

We must look to what he accomplished on the cross and see it with eyes of faith.

And we will live.

Church, the only way that we can be saved from the wrath of God is if Jesus bears it in our place.

This is what Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5.21.

This might be my favorite verse in the Bible.

No sin will be found in the kingdom of God.

Not a trace.

If you have a trace of sin's venom running through your veins, you will not enter.

How many cures do you need for your sickness?

One effective provision.

We praise God.

The good news of the gospel is that God gave his only son.

Christ became sin for us.

That any who look to him in faith might not perish but have eternal life.

Church, this is the power of God for salvation.

The power of God for salvation.

This is our third truth of the gospel this morning.

We see the great power of salvation.

Look to verse 16, John chapter 3.

John 3 · chapter mention

And here we come to this precious and beautiful and familiar summary of the gospel.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.

That whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

How can this be?

How can this be?

How is it true that if we simply believe in this man Jesus that we will have eternal life?

How can this be?

It's because this message of the gospel is the power of God for salvation to any who would believe.

Do you believe?

Do you believe this message?

Through faith.

Through faith.

Sinners like me and you are united to Jesus Christ.

You know, faith is not simply believing intellectually.

It's just a fact like you believe any other fact to be true that has no bearing on your life whatsoever.

Like we believe the Eiffel Tower stands in Paris.

No, this faith, this believing in Jesus Christ is an all-in personal trust in the person and work of Christ.

An all-in personal trust that unless this Savior bleeds and dies and rises for me,

that I cannot be saved,

that He has died for me,

that He has risen for me.

So now the life I live,

I live by faith

in the Son of God who loved me

and gave Himself for me.

That is the faith of a Christian.

I think we need to demystify faith.

It's such a precious biblical word,

a precious Christian term,

but culturally it's been so watered down

that it just means absolutely nothing.

Just have faith.

Just believe.

My faith is as good as your faith.

Faith is what saves you.

That's not what this is.

That's not what Christ is saying.

Faith is not the power for salvation.

Faith is a channel.

It's a power cable.

It connects you and your life

to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ

so that if you are connected to Him by faith,

the life that He lives is yours,

the death that He dies to sin in your place is yours,

and the life that He lives

through His resurrection from the grave

by faith is yours.

Faith trusts Christ alone

to be the power of God

for your forgiveness,

for your joy,

for your hope,

for your peace,

and for your eternal life.

This is what He says here in verse 16.

Whoever believes in Him

might not perish

but have eternal life.

Someone asked me this week

what my Easter text was going to be.

I told him it was going to be John 3,

13 through 16,

and he asked,

well, how are you going to tie that into Easter?

Here it is.

Apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ

from the dead,

there is no power for salvation.

If Christ is not risen from the grave,

actually, truly,

a fact of history

that He died and He rose,

our hope of eternal life is in vain.

There is no eternal life

apart from the eternal life

that Christ offers

through the power of His resurrection.

The fact that He lives

means that we live in Him

by faith.

We can no more perish

than Christ Jesus can perish again

if we are united to Him by faith.

The grace,

the grave cannot have us

because it could not have Him.

Sin will not conquer us

because He took its best blow

and rendered it powerless

if we are united to Him

by faith.

That's a big if, church.

A necessary if.

In this verse,

John 3.16,

there is both

an incredible availability

and an undeniable exclusivity here.

People want to emphasize

one or the other,

pit them both against each other.

They are both here

and both are precious.

Do not pit them against each other.

It is undeniably clear

that this salvation

is made available

to the whole world.

Whosoever would believe.

And this is,

this is something that would have been

just absolutely stunning

to Nicodemus.

The Jewish understanding

was,

was that God's love,

His covenant love

was only reserved for the Jews.

Now,

only the Jewish people

were included

in the love of God.

Out of all the peoples

of the world,

it was the Jews.

But here,

John tells us,

God so loved

the world.

Not just you,

Nicodemus.

Not just the Jews.

Not just all

and allians.

Even some of those people

from Mount Pleasant.

And Hugee.

in McClellanville.

Some of the transplants

from up north even

might get in on this.

Even me.

Even you.

You see,

this provision of God

is so powerful

that His effectiveness

is not drained

or lessened

or weakened

in the slightest

by making it available

to all the peoples

of the world.

Distance is no issue.

Any who hear this message

and believe

from Jerusalem

to Judea

to the ends of the earth

may not perish

but have eternal life.

Ability is no issue.

The world would rank

and rate you

based on your usefulness.

But God says,

Any who would look

and believe in my Son

may have eternal life.

The weak and the poor

to the rich

and successful.

Resources are no issue.

Stature is no issue.

Sinfulness is no issue.

This is unbelievably powerful.

It does not matter

how far you have gone,

how deeply you have rebelled,

what you have done.

If you would simply look

with eyes of faith

and believe

and trust

in this risen Savior,

you will be forgiven.

You will have eternal life.

That message

is proclaimed

to all who would hear it.

Yet,

there is also

undeniable

exclusivity

here.

Only

those

who believe

in Christ

will be saved.

Only

those

who look

to Jesus Christ

alone

for their salvation

will inherit

eternal life.

Why are not all saved?

Not all look.

Not all

trust.

Not all

believe.

And this

type of all

in personal

trusting and

believing

does not

come from us.

It can't.

It's a gift

of God.

We're saved

by grace

through faith

and this

is not

from yourselves.

It is a gift

of God

that no one

may boast.

The great evangelist

D.L.

Moody

he said

it like

this.

He said

written

on the

outside

of the

gate

of heaven

are the

words

whosoever

may come

and on

the inside

of the

gate

it reads

chosen

before the

foundation

of the

world.

Church

so long

as we

are here

on the

outside

of the

gate

our

responsibility

is to

proclaim

this

message

of hope

far

and wide

to any

who would

hear.

this

radical

availability

of the

gospel

hope

and the

confidence

that we

have

that God

will

save

his own

ought to

compel

us to

cast our

net

far

and

wide

and

proclaim

eternal

life

to any

who would

look to

Christ

and would

listen

and believe

that if

you will

look to

Christ

in faith

you will

live

trusting

that God

will

save

even

as he

has

saved

us

who

believe

this is

a

powerful

powerful

message

church

there's a

fourth and

final

gospel truth

here

that cannot

go overlooked

fourth

we see

the greatest

proof

of the

love of

God

the

greatest

proof

love

of

God

look there

to verse

16

one more

time

because

here we

see

the

grounds

the

basis

for this

incredible

provision

of God

and it

is

shocking

for

God

so

loved

the

world

that

he

gave

his

only

son

for

God

so

loved

the

world

this

world

that

has

spat

in

his

face

the

world

that

has

rebelled

against

him

in

every

way

the

world

that

would

hang

his

son

upon

the

cross

for

God

so

loved

the

world

that

he

gave

his

only

son

that

whoever

believes

in

him

should

not

perish

but

have

eternal

life

God

loves

us

he

does

not

desire

that

any

should

perish

John

Calvin

the

great

reformer

he

says

of

this

verse

our

minds

cannot

find

calm

repose

until

we

arrive

at

the

unmerited

love

of

God

as

the

matter

of

our

salvation

must

not

be

sought

anywhere

else

than

in

Christ

so

we

must

see

whence

Christ

came

to

us

and

why

he

was

offered

to

be

our

savior

both

points

are

distinctly

stated

to

us

namely

that

faith

in

Christ

brings

life

to

all

and

that

Christ

brought

life

because

the

heavenly

father

loves

the

human

race

and

wishes

that

they

should

not

perish

there

are

many

unknown

truths

about

God

it

will

take

all

of

eternity

for

us

to

to

plunge

the

depths

of

the

mysteries

of

the

wonders

of

who

God

is

but

we

do

know

what

he

has

revealed

to

us

and

we

can

know

with

certainty

without

an

ounce

of

doubt

that

God

loves

us

he

proved

it

on the

cross

imagine

with me

for a

moment

that you

were sick

going about

your life

doing what

you want

to do

not thinking

of it

at all

and

and

suddenly

you

begin

to

notice

the

symptoms

you

become

aware

of your

sickness

that you're

you're

sick

and you

look around

you see

it's not

just

you

but it's

everyone

in your

family

everyone

in your

family

is

sick

and not

just

your

family

but

everyone

in your

neighborhood

not just

your

neighborhood

everyone

in your

community

not just

in your

community

every

individual

of

every

nation

in the

world

is sick

and it's

terminal

you don't

know how

long

you have

but you

know that

it's

serious

and this

is a

great

and terrible

problem

but

you hear

a word

somewhere

there is a

great

physician

who has

come on

his own

dime

and

developed

a cure

one

effective

cure

would that

be enough

for you

of course

it would

the word

is that

this cure

is available

it's offered

to you

free of

charge

you couldn't

afford it

if you

tried

it's simply

given

freely

to any

who would

come

it's available

to any

who would

simply

come

and receive

it

why would

you not

come

and receive

the cure

I can

think of

a few

reasons

maybe you

don't

trust

the cure

to be

effective

you look

at it

scoff

you laugh

it off

you ridicule

the cure

and count

it as

foolishness

that anyone

would trust

this with

their life

maybe you

don't yet

realize the

depth

and the

severity

of your

sickness

you assume

that maybe

you have

more time

than you

really do

who could

know

maybe you've

trusted in

another cure

you think

you found

another solution

to the

problem

and so

you self

medicate

with other

false

hopes

false

cures

that will

never

work

but maybe

you don't

come because

the truth

is deep

down

you hate

the physician

so you

rebel

against him

and you

choose rather

to die

than to come

to him

for life

but now

ask yourself

what would

this tell

you about

the doctor

no one

has compelled

him to do

this

he's not

under any

compulsion

and the

word is

that this

cure has

cost him

a great

fortune

his greatest

treasure

that the

blood of

his own

son was

spilled

to provide

this cure

for you

and anyone

else who

would come

and be

made well

what could

we conclude

but that

this physician

deeply

loves

those

who are

perishing

friend

if you

are

our

guest

this

morning

I don't

know where

you stand

with God

but I

know this

I know

that God

loves you

and I

know that

Christ

stands

now

risen

and alive

ready

and able

to provide

the cure

that you

need

for your

sin

that in

him

and in

him

alone

can we

have the

power

of eternal

life

forever

with God

so if you're

hearing these

words and you

you don't

know if you

have that

eternal life

if you

if you don't

know whether

you've been

made right

with God

would you

now turn

from your

sin and

trust and

look to

the risen

Christ

and you

will live

what do

you see

when you

consider the

message of

the gospel

to the

perishing

world

they see

foolishness

a waste

of time

a waste

of energy

worth no

more than

to be rolled

up and

smoked away

but to

those who

have been

born again

by the

grace of

God

we see

the

undeniable

irreversible

irrefutable

proof

of the

love of

God

for sinners

God

demonstrates

his own

love for

us in

this that

while we

were still

sinners

Christ

died

for us

and we

know by

the grace

of God

that no

matter what

comes against

us in

this life

whatever

struggle

whatever

temptation

whatever

hardship

whatever

loss

whatever

suffering

we are

sure that

neither

death

nor life

nor angels

nor rulers

nor things

present

nor things

to come

nor powers

nor height

nor depth

nor anything

else in

all creation

will be able

to separate

us from

the love

of God

in Christ

Jesus

our Lord

the cross

of Christ

powerfully

proves

God's love

for the world

and the

resurrection

of Christ

powerfully

secures

our experience

of that

love

in ever

increasing

depth

and delight

for the rest

of eternity

this is good

news

church

should you

ever doubt

the depth

and seriousness

of your sin

would you

remember the

message of the

gospel

the love

should you

ever doubt

the holiness

of God

his justice

would you

remember

the message

of the

gospel

will you

ever doubt

the power

of God

for the

salvation

of any

who

believes

should you

remember

the message of the gospel.

Should you ever doubt the love of God

for a sinner like you,

remember the message of the gospel.

Look to Christ and live.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you and we praise you

for your love, undeserved, unmerited,

but given freely to all

who come to Christ in faith.

We thank you for this promise of eternal life

that whosoever believes in him

should not perish but have eternal life.

We pray that if there are any here among us

this morning who don't know you,

would you give them that gift of eternal life.

And Lord, for those who do belong to you,

Father, we pray that we would be moved

and encouraged and nourished

by the love of God

and the hope of the resurrection.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.