John 3:14-21     NT p. 89

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

15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.

21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

LET US PRAY:

INTRODUCTION:

Iva Foster sent me an essay that I had seen a couple of years ago but had forgotten about. It was written by an eight year old boy by the name of Danny Dutton from Chula Vista, California.

"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes these to put in place of the ones that dies so there will be enough people to take care of the things here on earth. He doesn't make grownups. Just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that up to the mothers and fathers. I think it works out pretty good.

God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, as some people, like preachers and things, pray other times besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV on account of this. As He hears everything, not only prayers, there must be a terrible lot of noise going into His ears unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.

God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere. Which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your parents head and ask for something they said you couldn't have.

Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.

Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and doing miracles and trying to teach people about God who didn't want to learn. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they cursified Him. But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK.

His Dad appreciated everything He had done and all His hard work on earth, so He tole Him He didn't have to go on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing which things are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of himself without bothering God about. Like a secretary -- only more important, of course.

You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they've got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time. You should always go to Sunday School because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!

Don't skip Sunday School to do something you think will be more fun, like going to the beach. That is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon, anyway.

If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you like to camp, but God can. It's good to know He's around when you're scared of the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown in the real deep water by big kids. But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases. And that's why I believe in God."

I think Danny Dutton has a pretty good understanding of Jesus and why he came.

I. THIS IS WHY WE'RE HERE:

A. Our passage this morning is probably the most famous passage of all time. We know verse 16 by heart. We see it plastered at all kinds of sporting events. John 3:16. Martin Luther called it the Gospel in Miniature.

I think Luther was right. But I think it's more than just the Gospel in miniature, I think it's God's Divine blueprint. I think it's God's Design for the salvation of the world.

This passage is why we're here. It sums up the mission and ministry of Jesus. It sums up the purpose of the church. It sums up all of salvation history. It sums up God's creative purpose. This is why we're here.

B. You and I have experienced the love expressed here.

In an old a Dennis the Menace cartoon, Dennis and his little friend Joey are leaving Mrs. Wilson's house, their hands full of cookies. Joey says, "I wonder what we did to deserve this." Dennis answers, "Look, Joey. Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but because she's nice."

Hank Ketcham, creator of Dennis the Menace, has captured the whole concept of God's Grace in that one little cartoon. It isn't because of what we do, it's because of God. And to put it as simply as possible, it's because God loves us. That's who God is and what God does. And God loves us so much that God sent Jesus.

This passage is God's Design and it's why we're here, today. It's the reason why we gather to worship. You and I have experienced the gift of God's love, grace and forgiveness through Jesus.

II. THIS IS WHY WE'RE CALLED:

A. This passage is also the motivation behind our call as a Church and as individual Christians. God's Design was that we know God's love through Jesus. God's Desire is that we live that love and tell others. This is why we're called.

On Art Linkletter's version of the TV show, 'Kids Say The Darndest Things,' he once interviewed a little girl who was about 6 or 7. He asked her "What does love look like?'"

The little girl answered "It's when I let Johnny get in front of me at the drinking fountain line."

Art Linkletter smiled and said, "Well, you must love Johnny very much." But the little girl responded, "No, I don't even like him."

I think that little girl knows what love is. And it think it's probably because she has experienced the love of God.

B. You and I have not only experienced it, we've given our hearts to the one who loves us this much. And in giving our hearts, we are trying to live out that love in the world, every day. And part of the living out of that love, is sharing that love with others.

We know the secret of the universe. But it's not really a secret, is it? It only remains a secret if we don't tell it. And Jesus said, "Go and tell it." That's our call and that's our commission. And this passage is why we are called.

III. THIS IS WHY WE'RE CALLED TO BUILD:

But it's also why we're called to build. I've only been here for 15 months but one of the things I've discovered is that this Church has a mission and a vision. Those are two key characteristics of a growing and vital church. And when a church has both a mission and a vision that they believe is from God, watch out. God's fixin' to do something incredible. I think we're at that stage. Let me tell you why.

I have been involved in a building or remodeling program in almost every church I've ever served. I've worked with half a dozen different Building Committees. But I have never worked with one like the one we have here. God's presence can be felt in the middle of all that we have done.

In past Building Committees, I've gone home worn out from trying to keep peace amongst the two or three groups that were fighting to have their way and only their way. I've seen fights over types of carpet and the color of paint. I've heard endless angry debates over the placement of the kitchen sink.

But none of that has happened here. I go home pumped, telling Mary how the presence of the Holy Spirit could be felt in the meeting. I want you to know that.

You have selected and appointed a fantastic group of people. Their purpose is to serve you and glorify God. Every decision we have made has been done through consensus. The only thing we have voted on has been the hiring of the architect. This building committee gathers, prays and discusses. They don't argue. They treat each other with love and respect. And everyone's point of view is heard, then discussed and decided on through consensus.

Why? I think it's because this church has a mission and vision for God's ministry in this community. We are not relocating and building for ourselves. Oh, don't get me wrong. We will thoroughly enjoy the wider halls, the updated kitchen facilities and the large Worship Area but that's not why we're building.

We are undertaking this task is response to God's call. And that call is to reach other people with the love, grace and forgiveness of that we have experienced through Jesus. This is why we're called to build.

CONCLUSION:

Scripture teaches us that God is in the delivery business. God delivered the children of Israel from the hands of the Egyptians. Our passage mentions a time when God delivered them from venomous snakes. Over and over again God delivered God's people from the hands of their enemies. And through Jesus God delivered us from sin and death. Today and until we complete the building program, we need to trust fully and completely in God's Delivery Power. Because I believe that God will deliver us. I believe that one day, you and I will be worshipping together in a new Worship Center and spending time in study and fellowship together in a new Education Building.

Of course, that means that we have to be a part of God's delivery system by delivering the goods ourselves. In other words we have to trust the Author and Creator of this passage.

We have to trust God. We have to pray and listen. We have to offer ourselves to God's service just as Christ offered Himself for us. We have to be willing to make a sacrifice.

And we have to take the passage for our campaign seriously and have faith together. It doesn't take much faith. Just a little. Faith the size of a mustard seed. But when we have that kind of faith, Jesus says, "Nothing will be impossible."

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Bibliography

1. Hank Ketcham

2. Emphasis, March-April 2000, Sermon Prep Version. (CSS Publishing, Lima, OH)

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