06-05-16 The Most Well-Known Verse part 1

Weekly Sunday Sermon from Pastor Kevin Goins

Series: The Gospel of John

Bulletin Notes:

If someone asked you to quote John 3:16, chances are youwould not need a Bible to do it.  Many,if not most, Christians have committed this verse to memory.  But what if someone asked you why this versemeans so much to so many?  Sometimes athing can be so obvious to us that we stop seeing it.  And that, I believe, is what happens to manyChristians when we read or hear John 3:16. The significance of this verse is so obvious we no longer give it ourattention.  That’s why we need to look atit in a more in-depth way than we normally do.

I   To beginwith, we need to admit what a ________ ________ lies before us.

As challenging as this verse is, weneed to wade into the depth of what it has to say for two crucial reasons:

1.     It will ____________ our lives by reminding us________ __________ is our salvation.

2.     If we can become familiar with this verse, itwill give us all we will ever need to _________ our __________.

II  Before we jump into the words ofthis verse, we need to answer an important question:  ______ _______ these words?

               There are two reasons to believethat these are the words of Jesus:

1.     Verses 10-21 are ___________; there is no__________ in thought; no interruptions.

2.     Scholars agree that there are no stylistic____________ which would suggest two different ______________.

III  That brings us to the second point weneed to make:  John 3:16 is the_____________ to a _______________.

IV  What is the answer to thatquestion?  It all begins with ________;John writes, “_______ _______ .....”

V   But we must understand that this isabout far more than simply saying, “_________ ______ God for sendingJesus.”  It all begins with God becauseit actually is _____ _________ _________.