The Good News!

Devotional

Day 1: Fourfold Good News: God's love, gift, faith, promise.

John 3:16 is unpacked into four clear moves: God’s motivation (his unconditional love), God’s action (he gave his only Son), humanity’s response (whoever believes), and God’s promise (eternal life). This verse is the concise good news that calls people to trust a loving Father who acted on behalf of sinners and promises forever with him—learn the four parts so you can tell the story simply and faithfully to others. [48:55]

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Reflection: Which of the four components of John 3:16 (God’s love, God’s gift, your believing, God’s promise) do you find hardest to accept right now? Write that one down, pray for five minutes asking God to help you trust him in that area, and choose one small step you will take today to receive that truth (read a related verse, tell a friend, or verbalize a confession of faith).

Day 2: Saved by grace through faith, not works.

Salvation is presented as God’s gift: grace comes first and faith receives it, and any good works flow out of that new identity rather than earning it. This truth frees people from trying to perform for God and invites them instead to live out the good works God prepared because they have already been made new in Christ. [01:10:52]

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Reflection: Name one concrete "good work" you think God may have prepared for you this week (a phone call, a meal, a listening ear, a service project). Commit to the first practical step toward it today—send the message, set the time, or show up—and ask God to use your new life for his purposes.

Day 3: God’s love reached us while we were sinners.

God’s love is proactive and costly—he loved people while they were still enemies and acted first by sending Christ to die for them. This means no one must qualify or clean up before receiving God’s love; his affection and rescue begin even in our worst places and move toward redemption and healing. [52:32]

Romans 5:8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Reflection: Think of one person you currently find hard to love or someone you consider an “enemy.” Spend five minutes praying Romans 5:8 back to God, asking him to open your eyes to see that person as he sees them, and then do one specific act of unexpected kindness toward him or her today.

Day 4: Jesus empathizes—tempted like us yet sinless.

Jesus is described as a great high priest who passed through the heavens and can sympathize with human weakness because he was tempted in every way yet remained without sin. That means you can bring your real struggles, shame, and temptations to him—not to be condemned, but to be understood, strengthened, and set free through his mercy. [59:06]

Hebrews 4:14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Reflection: Identify one current temptation, weakness, or burden you are facing; bring it before Jesus in prayer right now, write one sentence describing how he understands your struggle, and choose one practical next step to resist it today (turn off an app, set a boundary, call a trusted friend, or remove a stumbling block).

Day 5: Resurrection validates the gospel and secures hope.

The resurrection is the non-negotiable hinge of Christian hope—without Christ raised, preaching and faith collapse; because he rose, believers have assurance of forgiveness and future resurrection. This truth changes how life and death are faced, giving courage to live and to proclaim the good news with confidence. [01:07:59]

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:14)
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)

Reflection: If you have doubts about the resurrection, write out a short spoken confession right now—“I believe Jesus rose from the dead.”—say it aloud, then spend ten minutes reading one resurrection account (John 20 or Luke 24), and text or tell one person today how this hope changes the way you live.

Sermon Summary

We began by quieting our hearts and remembering Jesus’ call to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him. From there I shared why we’re entering a new season focused on the Good News: because it brings hope, healing, purpose, identity, forgiveness, and most of all a living relationship with God through Jesus by the Holy Spirit. I prayed that God would give us clarity to understand the Good News, compassion to share it, and courage to proclaim it as we pursue our mission to love our neighbors well.

I explained where “good news” comes from—Old English “good-spell,” the Greek euangelion—and then anchored our whole time in John 3:16. That verse gives us a simple, powerful framework: God’s motivation (love), God’s action (He gave His Son), our response (believe), and God’s promise (eternal life). We lingered over the Father’s love: He loved us first, not after we cleaned up; He did not spare His own Son; even when we were dead in trespasses, He made us alive with Christ and seated us with Him.

We traced the action of God in giving His Son—promised 700 years beforehand, born of a virgin, named Jesus because He saves. The Son’s mission required humility: God became man, fully identifying with our weakness without sin. Because He was sinless, He could bear our sin as our substitute. Jesus died as a ransom, like a grain of wheat that dies to multiply life, and by His wounds we are healed. I clarified that Jesus did not go suffer in hell; He told the thief, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise,” and pronounced, “It is finished.”

We celebrated the resurrection as the centerpiece: without it, faith is empty; with it, our hope is sure. Then we came to our response: whoever believes receives the right to become children of God. Salvation is by grace through faith, not by works; the thief on the cross did no religious performance, yet entered paradise—pure grace. Finally, we rested in God’s promise: those who look to the Son and believe have eternal life now and will be raised on the last day. I invited anyone ready to believe to confess Jesus as Lord, trust His resurrection, and begin a new life with Him today.

Key Takeaways

1. God’s love moves toward sinners God did not wait for me to get better before He came near; He loved me while I was still in sin. That frees me to bring my real self to Him—no hiding, no pretending, no religious polish. When I receive love that precedes my repentance, my repentance becomes honest and joyful. This is the kind of love that can also soften my heart toward my enemies. [50:59]
2. Christ’s humility confronts our ambition God chose the path from highest glory to the lowest place, taking the form of a servant. His descent exposes how often I chase status, control, and applause. True greatness is not grasping but giving, not climbing but kneeling. If the Son of God stooped to serve, my daily ambition must be to love in the same direction. [59:06]
3. Finished work ends spiritual striving “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” and “It is finished” leave no room for earning. The cross doesn’t hand me a ladder; it hands me a Savior who already climbed it for me. Faith rests in a complete rescue, not an installment plan of spiritual performance. Assurance grows when my eyes stay on His work, not mine. [66:53]
4. Resurrection makes hope practical now If Jesus rose, then despair does not get the last word—not over my body, my story, or my future. Hope becomes a way of living: I can face loss, risk love, and work for good because death is not ultimate. The empty tomb gives courage to obey when obedience costs. My future resurrection fuels present faithfulness. [67:59]
5. The gospel’s four movements guide witness John 3:16 gives a simple, sturdy framework: love, action, response, promise. When I share, I’m not selling religion; I’m announcing what God has done in Jesus and inviting trust. Keeping these four in view protects me from drifting into moralism or vagueness. It also helps me speak with clarity, warmth, and confidence. [48:55]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[09:17] - Deny yourself; take up the cross
[44:22] - Why we’re studying the Good News
[46:15] - Prayer: clarity, compassion, courage
[47:25] - What “gospel” and “good news” mean
[48:55] - John 3:16: the four components
[50:59] - Part 1: The Father’s love
[56:09] - Part 2: He gave His Son
[59:06] - The humility of the Incarnation
[62:48] - Why Jesus died for us
[67:59] - Resurrection and our living hope
[69:21] - Part 3: Our response—believe
[70:52] - Grace saves; works follow
[74:29] - Part 4: The promise—eternal life
[76:47] - Invitation and prayer

Sermon Clips

He didn’t wait for us to get cleaned up. He didn’t wait for us to get straightened up our lives. He did not. No. God is love and he loved us first. He loved us first. Yes. His love preceives and then overcomes our sin and our mistakes. That’s a pretty good news, isn’t it? There’s more. Romans 8:32, he who did not spare his own son, he meaning God the father, who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all. [00:52:33] (32 seconds) #GodLovedUsFirst

Jesus’ mission, what was his mission on earth? It was to seek and save the lost, isn’t it? And it took him, who is God, to humble himself to become like us in order to save us. Just imagine God of the universe, the creator of heaven and earth, of all things, being born to a young couple as a baby who needed to be nursed and have his diapers changed. That’s Jesus. God who became man. Talk about humility. [00:58:27] (45 seconds) #GodBecameHuman

He didn’t sit on heavenly throne, right? Instead he came to us. This is why he can identify with us in all that we go through. Anything that we go through in life, he knows, he understands, because he became one of us. Let me ask you, do you know of any other God like that in any other religion? God becomes one of us. I mean, do you ever wonder like this? And I’ve asked this myself in times of trouble, right? Does anyone, anyone know what I’m going through right now? [01:00:20] (39 seconds) #GodUnderstandsUs

He knows all about us because he became one of us. And yet he lived without, he lived his entire life without sin. And this is super important because this is the only way he can take up the cross for the sake of our sin, to take upon our punishment as a substitute, sacrificial offering. I want us to chew on that for a while. He became like us, yet without sin, so that he can take up our sin, the sin of the world. [01:02:25] (30 seconds) #SinlessSavior

So according to these verses, Jesus died for humanity, for us, for you and me. One for all. One person to save all, to take away our sin, to redeem us, so that anyone who puts faith and trust in Jesus Christ will be forgiven, will be saved, and will be healed. This good news just gets better and better. [01:04:47] (27 seconds) #OneSaviorForAll

Here, the Bible says, no, believe in Jesus and you are saved. Then you can do the good works for the kingdom of God. Salvation is purely a gift. No one can earn it, work for it, or achieve it. So don’t even try, guys. Remember the thief on the cross? Remember, there were two thieves, one to the left and right. One of them came to faith in his last moment. [01:11:39] (27 seconds) #GraceNotPerformance

When he didn’t go to church, he didn’t attend any Bible studies, he wasn’t baptized or sing any popular worship songs, yet he was saved. He was saved. Jesus promised him entrance to paradise. That’s pure grace, guys. Pure grace. No merit, no performance, no striving, just believing what Jesus already did for us. [01:12:06] (30 seconds) #ThiefSavedByFaith

To invite Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we must, first of all, believe that Jesus is God and that God the Father raised him from the dead. That’s very important. And also confess verbally what you believe as you repent for the forgiveness of your sin. And that’s it. Then your eternity is sealed. You’ll be with God forever. You’re saved and you start your journey, your spiritual journey with Jesus. [01:13:33] (30 seconds) #BelieveAndConfess

So we come to the last part of John 3:16. We have God’s promise here, right? It says, should not perish but have eternal life. And to support this promise, we have four other verses. Yep, I’m just going to read, let the word of God speak. John 6:40, for this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have what? Eternal life. [01:14:06] (24 seconds) #PromiseOfEternalLife

``Even if it means God not being worshipped on the throne by angels, but rather being crucified on a cross, God is willing to do that because he loves people more than he loves his majesty. He left the glory and the riches of heaven. He emptied himself and he became like one of us, so he is able to identify with us no matter what we go through. He knows and he understands. Why would we want to go somewhere else? [01:16:21] (34 seconds) #GodLeftHeavenForUs

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