God So Loved the World (10a)
God so loves the whole world – loves you, sitting here in this church or watching online today. Loves your family, your friends, and your neighbors. Loves the people who used to come to church but don’t anymore. Loves the people who have never stepped inside a church. Loves the people who are hungry, and the people who feed the hungry, and the people who don’t care about the hungry as much as they should. Loves our brothers and sisters who are Jewish, Muslim, Republican, Democrat, gay, straight, citizen, immigrant, and not because they accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. God loves all of us. This isn’t just some abstract theological concept. This is personal, individual, real, concrete. Jesus Christ lived and died because God loves you. Because God loves your next-door-neighbor, and your worst enemy, and all the people you’ll never have a chance to meet.