For God SO Loved

McKenna came to Green Campus Chapel on Friday, September 30th.  It was a big day.  One of our armed servicemen was being honored and welcomed home from Iraq.  It was also Zoo Day for several of our classes, and we were handing out awards for Entertainment Book sales.  The school was buzzing with activity.

In the midst of all the excitement, McKenna wanted to talk with me about something she'd memorized.  Now most two, three and four year olds are just a bit (and some are "a lot a bit") shy of bald-headed guys who are school administrators.  Not McKenna.  She confidently recited John 3:16, not just in words but in song as well.  "WOW!" I thought, "That was awesome!"

I decided to "press my luck" with McKenna.  I mean after all she wasn't hiding behind her mom or dad like most small children, so I popped the question.  "Hey McKenna," I asked, "What would you think about singing your song for the whole school?"

She looked at me for about two seconds, and then surprised me by agreeing to do it!  We worked it out about me picking her up, so the other kids could see her.  She also agreed to sing straight into the microphone.

The moment of truth came, and there we were in front of about 250 people at chapel.  McKenna belted it right out: "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."

And of course, all this got me to thinkin' about a verse from the Bible.  The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans: "For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes... (Romans 1:16)"

So here’s the question: “Why do we adults and teenagers become so hesitant about sharing the Good News (Gospel) about Jesus?”  Maybe, just maybe, we begin to value what other people think about us, more than what is true and more than what God has done for us in Jesus.

What’s that mean?  Just this: we start thinking it’s more important to be liked and comfortable than to be honest and Christ-like.  Now there are a couple of things that happen when we start to think like this. 

First, we become selfish with what God has given us in our friendship with Him through Jesus.  In other words, I care more about me than I care about you.  I think this really silly thought, “As long as I have my friendship with God, it doesn’t matter if He loves anyone else or not!  And it doesn’t matter if anyone else knows about Him or not!”  This idea is the beginning of all kinds of wrong thinking and wrong behavior.  The idea is called: self-centeredness.  It means that I act like I am the center of everything

But, there’s a second problem too: we begin to be afraid.  Yep, we start to spend a lot of time worrying about what other people think of us.  This can really get in the way of being interested in what God thinks.

WOWIE!  How do we stay away from those two really horrible problems?  Simple!  Remember McKenna’s Song, and “sing it out loud” like she did!  We have to live as though what God has done for us through the gift of His one and only Son, Jesus, is not only true, but also that it is the most important thing.  Read Hebrews 12:1-2; it says that we are to “fix our eyes on Jesus.”

We’ll need help to do this, so let’s pray about it!  Father, in Heaven, we don’t want to be selfish and afraid.  We admit that sometimes we are.  Forgive us.  Help us live today thinking about Jesus who died at the cross so that we could be in a friendship with You.  And help us, dear Lord, to share, by how we live and what we say, that You are the most important thing!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Proud of you,

Pastor Wilson       

PS: Hey McKenna, thanks for the song!