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Scripture: John 3:16Clear all

John 3:16 · WEB

16For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

335 results found

📖sermon illustrationUniversal

Dirk Willems and the Thief Catcher - Anabaptist (John 3:16)

In 1569, Dutch Anabaptist Dirk Willems was fleeing authorities who would execute him for his faith. He crossed a frozen pond; the ice held his slight frame. His pursuer, heavier, broke through and beg

John 3:16
📖sermon illustrationUniversal

Mother Teresa's Calcutta - Catholic (John 3:16)

A journalist once watched Mother Teresa tend to a dying man covered in maggots and filth. "I wouldn't do that for a million dollars," he said. She replied, "Neither would I." The journalist was confus

John 3:16
📖sermon illustrationUniversal

The John 3:16 Sign Guy - Baptist (John 3:16)

For decades, a man named Rollen Stewart appeared at major sporting events holding a sign: "John 3:16." Cameras couldn't avoid him. Millions saw those numbers without knowing what they meant—and many l

John 3:16
📖sermon illustrationUniversal

The Presence That Changed Everything - Charismatic (John 3:16)

A woman walked into a Vineyard church service skeptical and guarded. She didn't come for theology—her life was falling apart, and a friend had dragged her there. During worship, she felt something she

John 3:16
📖sermon illustrationUniversal

The Son Is the Point - Christocentric (John 3:16)

Karl Barth, arguably the 20th century's greatest theologian, was once asked to summarize his massive Church Dogmatics—thousands of pages of dense theology. He paused, then replied: "Jesus loves me, th

John 3:16
📖sermon illustrationUniversal

Luther's Tower Discovery - Lutheran (John 3:16)

Martin Luther spent years terrified of God. He fasted, confessed for hours, punished his body—trying to earn divine favor. Nothing worked; he only felt more condemned. Then, studying Romans in the tow

John 3:16
💬theological quoteProsperity

Charles Spurgeon on Whosoever Will - Baptist (John 3:16)

"Whosoever—I love that word. It means me. It means you. It opens wide the gate of mercy. None are excluded except those who exclude themselves. Come, for God so loved that He gave, and whosoever belie

whosoeverinvitationpersonalJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteMainline

John Wesley on Universal Atonement - Wesleyan (John 3:16)

"Nothing in the Christian system is of greater consequence than the doctrine of the Atonement. God so loved the world—the whole world, every soul He has made—that He gave His only Son to the end that

universal atonementwhosoeverworldJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteContemplative

Jack Hayford on Encountering God's Love - Charismatic (John 3:16)

"John 3:16 is not just theology to be understood but love to be encountered. When the Holy Spirit makes this verse alive in your heart, you don't just know God loves the world—you KNOW God loves YOU.

encounterHoly SpiritpersonalJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteNon-denom

N.T. Wright on God's Rescue Operation - Anglican (John 3:16)

"John 3:16 is not about God rescuing people from the world, but about God loving the world so much that he sends his Son to rescue and redeem it. The goal is not escape but transformation—God putting

rescueworldtransformationJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteOrthodox

Smith Wigglesworth on God's Love and Power - Pentecostal (John 3:16)

"God so loved that He gave. And when you have really grasped that God so loved YOU, you will never be the same. His love is a consuming fire that fills you with power to live and witness." — Smith Wig

experiencepowertransformationJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteBaptist

John Chrysostom on the Incomprehensible Gift - Orthodox (John 3:16)

"Consider how great a gift it is that He gave—His only-begotten Son. Not a servant, not an angel, not an archangel, but His own Son. And for whom? For ungrateful enemies. This is the wonder of God's l

giftonly-begottenwonderJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteReformed

Walter Brueggemann on God's World-Embracing Love - Progressive (John 3:16)

"The God of the Bible is not a God who is contained in heaven, but rather a God whose love moves toward the world in all its messiness." — Walter Brueggemann. God so loved THE WORLD—not just souls, no

worldinclusive loveincarnationalJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteAnabaptist

Stanley Hauerwas on Love That Creates Community - Anabaptist (John 3:16)

"God's love is not simply a feeling but rather an action that creates a people capable of witnessing to the world that God would have the world saved through the love shown in Christ." — Stanley Hauer

communitywitnessembodied loveJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteWesleyan

Howard Thurman on God's Love for the Disinherited - Black Church (John 3:16)

"The religion of Jesus makes the love of God the ultimate ground of trust and security. God so loved the world—including those whom the world despises—that He gave His Son for ALL. There is no one out

disinheritedmarginalizedallJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteAnglican

Pope Benedict XVI on Love as God's Identity - Catholic (John 3:16)

"God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God. These words from the First Letter of John express with remarkable clarity the heart of the Christian faith: the Christian image of God and the re

God is lovedivine identityChristian faithJohn 3:16
adults
💬theological quoteUniversal

Martin Luther on the Gospel in Miniature - Lutheran (John 3:16)

"This text is rightly called the gospel in miniature because it contains the entire sum of the Christian doctrine in a brief compass: God so loved... that He gave... that whoever believes... shall not

John 3:16
💬theological quoteUniversal

Gustavo Gutiérrez on God's Preferential Love - Liberation (John 3:16)

"God so loved the world—but we must ask: what does this love look like in a world of injustice? God's love is not neutral. It takes sides with the poor, the oppressed, the forgotten. To believe in Joh

John 3:16
💬theological quoteUniversal

John Calvin on the Magnitude of Divine Love - Reformed (John 3:16)

"This is a remarkable commendation of faith, that it frees us from everlasting destruction... And he has employed the universal term whosoever, both to invite all indiscriminately to partake of life,

John 3:16
💬theological quoteUniversal

D.L. Moody on Urgency of the Gospel - Dispensational (John 3:16)

"God has given us a lifeboat in John 3:16. While the ship is sinking, we must rescue all we can. Time is short. Whoever believes shall not perish—but those who reject will perish. The urgency of the g

John 3:16
💬theological quoteUniversal

C.S. Lewis on God's Love - Traditional (John 3:16)

"God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them." — C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves. Lewis captures the stunning generosity of John 3:1

John 3:16
💬theological quoteUniversal

Karl Barth on Christ as God's "Yes" - Christocentric (John 3:16)

"In Jesus Christ God has said Yes to humanity. The giving of the Son is the great divine Yes that precedes and grounds every other word from God. John 3:16 is not merely information about salvation; i

John 3:16
💬theological quoteUniversal

Lesslie Newbigin on God's Sending Love - Missional (John 3:16)

"Mission is not essentially an action by which the church puts forth its own power and wisdom to conquer the world around it; it is an action of God, putting forth the power of his Spirit to bring the

John 3:16
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