Our staff are reading and reflecting on Kelly Kapic’s new book entitled God So Loved, He Gave: Entering the Movement of Divine Generosity.” Mike Murphy, our worship director, has written a song on John 3:16-21 for the mini sermon series that was preached by our three campus ministers on the implications of John 3:16.

How is the Lord calling  you particularly to engage in this movement? Here are a few nuggets from the book to get you thinking…

“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.” In John 3:16, we come face to face with the biggest contradiction in the Bible: God reclaims everything by giving everything away.

Out of His love for a broken and defiant world, God gives. He gives this gift. It’s a little strange. Don’t we normally give gifts to celebrate an achievement or to mark a joyous occasion, such as a birthday, anniversary, graduation, or something along those lines? Occasionally we give a gift after a misdeed, as when a man sends flowers to a woman as a peace offering for some failing on his part. But here the innocent and offended party is the one who gives the gift: God has done nothing wrong, nor have we achieved anything worth celebrating. God looks at his rebellious creation, defined by its resistance to him and what does he do? He gives a gift, the Gift.

Believing in the Gift, we live out of God’s generosity toward us. Out of his radical love for us, we can love others, even our enemies. As recipients of God’s great treasure, we become people who give our treasures, including our time and talents, for the sake of the world. We emulate God’s extravagant love for the world, following the path of his Son, the path of the cross. As those who have been forgiven, we forgive. As people who have experienced new life, we take the side of life, justice, and peace rather than that of death, abuse, and chaos.