For God So Loved

Leader: Today our verse in “Ten For Life” is John 3:16. (All of a sudden the music theme from “NFL On Fox” or “Monday Night Football” begins playing. Referee Ricky comes running in blowing his whistle over and over) Hey there Referee Ricky!

Ricky: (blows whistle) Hey there, yourself!

Leader: You seem pretty amped up today! What has you so excited?

Ricky: I will tell you exactly what has me so excited! I started a new club!

Leader: Really? What kind of club!

Ricky: It’s a club for Referees. It’s called Christian Referees Are Magnificent People—or C.R.A.M.P.!

Leader: Wait...Cramp?

Ricky: That’s right! We are “stretching” each other by teaching lessons from the word of God, and you know what happens when you don’t stretch a muscle, right?

Leader: You get a cramp?

Ricky: (blows his whistle) Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! So, we named our Bible study C.R.A.M.P.! Christian Referees Are Magnificent People! And NO ONE who is not a Christian is allowed in!

Leader: Wait! You won’t allow anyone who is not a Christian to even attend?

Ricky: No way! It’s for the “special” people only! The other day we caught one of the other referees who wasn’t a Christian trying to come in and listen to our Bible Lesson. He was actually sitting by the door listening to our lesson on “Loving Your Neighbor”. As soon as we saw him over there we jumped up and (blows whistle) called a FOUL on him! Threw him out of the room!

Leader: That doesn’t sound very nice!

Ricky: It’s what we had to do! We can’t be letting the “non-special” people come into the club. It’s a club for CHRISTIAN referees!

Leader: Yes, but how will any of the other referees ever know about God’s love for them if they aren’t allowed to come in and hear about it?

Ricky: Well, they will have to hear about it some other way! I mean, it’s not like they are as “special” to God as we are. After all, we are Christians. God likes us a whole lot more than those “other” people.

Leader: Ricky! I think you are wrong!

Ricky: (blows whistle) Don’t tell ME I’m wrong! I know a thing or two about the Bible!

Leader: Really? What does the Bible say in John 3:16?

Ricky: That’s an easy one! I’ve seen that one held up in the end zone at football games!

Leader: OK, well what does it say?

Ricky: It says...uh…it says…ummmmm—I can’t quite remember!

Leader: Well, then I want you to watch the screens as Dr. Boing and Dr. VonHinklesnot tell us this week’s Power Verse! It’s one you need to memorize!

Ricky: Wow! I never realized that. So, God loves EVERYONE?

Leader: That’s right! God loves everyone in the world exactly the same! He created everyone and loves everyone—so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for their sins!

Ricky: I guess it is high time I blew the whistle on ME, then (blows whistle). I have committed a foul worse than anyone. I actually tried to keep someone away from experiencing God’s love by thinking that God loved me more than them. That’s a foul that is WAY out of bounds!

Leader: Well, I am glad you learned your lesson today!

Ricky: Me, too! I better go try to find that other referee and tell him he can come to C.R.A.M.P. any time he wants! See you later! (theme song plays as he runs out of the room blowing his whistle)

(hold up the tape measure) Does anyone know what this is? (allow response) That’s right! It’s a tape measure. What are some of the things I can measure with a tape measure? (allow responses) Good job! If I am building something I can measure how long a board is, where I should make my cut with the saw, and stuff like that!

(hold up measuring cups) What about these? What are some of the things I can measure with these measuring cups? (allow responses) That’s right! If I am doing some cooking I can measure the ingredients such as milk, flour, and other things!

(hold up the watch) What can I measure with this watch? (allow responses) That’s correct! I can measure time—maybe how fast I run a race or how long it takes me to take a test! I can measure time with this watch!

I have a question for you! What can I use to measure God’s love? (hold up the heart-shaped construction paper) Could I use a watch? A tape measure? Measuring cups? Anything? No, there is nothing I can use to measure God’s love because it is bigger than anything you or I could ever imagine.

Our verse today teaches us all about that. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” There are several lessons we can learn from this amazing verse…

God created each and every one of us. He wants to have a relationship with us. He LOVES us! Our verse teaches us that God loves the WHOLE WORLD, not just certain people. There is nothing that you can do to make God love you any more than He already does. AND, there is nothing you can do to make God love you any less. He loves EVERYONE. (take the magic marker and write the word “EVERYONE” across the heart-shaped construction paper; hold it up as you continue talking)

God loves rich people and poor people, black people and white people, tall people and short people, American people and Japanese people, Christian people and Non-Christian people. God loves EVERYONE the same. And, He wants EVERYONE to go to Heaven. How do we know? Our verse teaches us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

We are God’s children. God loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for us. Jesus was beaten and nailed to a cross to pay the price for our sins. When we understand what Jesus went through on the cross, we can start to understand how BIG God’s love is for us.

Let me tell you a story. One day, a mommy left her baby in her crib to take a nap and she went downstairs to start dinner. While she was making dinner the mommy smelled smoke and began searching for where it was coming from. She looked in the kitchen, the laundry room and finally in the basement. She finally realized that the smoke was coming from upstairs in her baby’s room where her baby was asleep. She flew upstairs and grabbed her baby daughter out of her crib and ran downstairs to safety. The baby girl was fine but the mommy had serious burns on her hands and had to go to the hospital. The little girl was saved from the fire by her mommy.

When you are severely burned, a burn can leave terrible marks and scars on a person's skin. The mommy in this story had hands that looked terrible with a lot of scars for the rest of her life. As the little girl grew up, she didn't notice that her mommy's hands were very scarred and had been burned. But one day, she did notice and asked her mommy why her hands were ugly and did not look beautiful like her friend's mother's hands.

The mommy became sad and told the little girl the story of why her hands had been burned. She told her about the fire and grabbing her out of her crib and how scared she was that her baby would not be okay. The little girl became very quiet and a smile grew quickly on her face. She told her mommy, "You have the most beautiful hands I have ever seen". Once the little girl knew the story of her mommy's love and sacrifice for her, she saw her mommy's ugly hands as beautiful. She understood that her mommy ran into a burning room to save her. Her mommy's hands now represented love– a bigger love than she could ever imagine.

Boys and girls, God sent His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for each of you. He was beaten, tortured and nailed to the cross. The scars on Jesus' hands represents God’s love for you. He loves you so much that he was willing to die on a cross for all you. The great news is that Jesus didn't not stay on the cross or in the tomb where he was taken. Jesus rose from the dead and he is still alive today. If you ask Him, He will forgive you of your sins so that you can have eternal life in Heaven like our scripture verse says.

God’s love is BIG! It can’t be measured! But, it can be felt! God wants each of you to experience His love today!

1. What was today’s Big Idea? Answer: “God Sent His Son To Save The World!”

2. What was the name of Referee Ricky’s club? Answer: C.R.A.M.P.

3. What did Referee Ricky do to the non-Christian referee who tried to come into his club? Answer: kicked him out

4. Can God’s love be measured? Answer: No

5. True or False: God loves certain people more than others. Answer: False

6. In the story we told, what happened to the Mommy’s hands? Answer: they were burned

7. After the little girl heard the story of how her Mommy’s hands were burned, how did she feel about how her Mommy’s hands looked? Answer: she thought they were beautiful

8. Today we learned: “God Loves ______________.” Answer: Everyone

9. Today we also learned: “God Loves Us So Much He Sent ____________.” Answer: Jesus

10. Where was our Power Verse found? Answer: John 3:16