FRIDAY

SCRIPTURE: John 3:16-17

As we come to the end of the week, let’s return to the Key Verse we began the week with. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16-17). Having now had the opportunity to think more deeply about this throughout the week, how does this passage speak with richer meaning about the way and the reason that God came into the world through the life and ministry of Jesus?

• What new insights have you gained this week as you think about how God’s love for the world was expressed through becoming one of us and revealing to us what was on the heart of God?

• What deeper insights have you gained into the message of verse 17 that clarify God’s intentions and desires for us? How does this help correct distortions that can sometimes happen in our understanding of God’s character or our picture of what God is like?

• Where are the growing edges for you as you think about what it means to genuinely believe and live in the light of what was revealed about God through Jesus? To what extent do you really live aware that there is ‘no condemnation’ in how God sees you?

• How do the various images we reflected on that Jesus used in John 3 (birth, wind, uplifted snakes, and no condemnation) add richness to what it looks like to follow Jesus? Which of those images do you resonate with the most, and why?

• As you think through your reflections this week, what do you sense God inviting you to consider, more fully embrace, or perhaps is nudging you toward? Continue to reflect as you prepare for Sabbath as a time for celebrating and deepening your experience of faith.