{"id":107955,"date":"2025-11-02T09:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/?p=107955"},"modified":"2025-11-02T09:10:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T14:10:00","slug":"a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: God Loves You"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Pastor Wayne Sibrava, Living Water Baptist Church —<\/span><\/p>\n

The singular most familiar verse in all of God\u2019s Word is John 3:16 <\/b>and it says: For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. <\/b>This one verse summarizes all of the Word of God. This verse states the fact that God does love you. It is a powerful verse. You can have  <\/span><\/p>\n

eternal life; the verse promises that you will not perish. I am continually struck by the reality of this one verse, especially when I think about the first 18 years of my life and the brokenness that I endured.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, the love of God is powerful, but four truths need to be kept in mind concerning God\u2019s love. First <\/b>and foremost, God\u2019s love is unconditional. Notice, \u201cFor this is how God loved the world<\/b>.\u201d God loves this world (the people) and He has demonstrated that love by giving us Jesus as a sacrifice and as payment for our sin. <\/span><\/p>\n

Second<\/b>, God\u2019s love is confrontational<\/b>. Notice, \u201cwho believes in Him.\u201d <\/b>A person must believe in Jesus, God\u2019s only begotten Son, or face the consequences. <\/span><\/p>\n

Third<\/b>, God\u2019s love is selfless. Notice, \u201cHe gave his one and only Son.<\/b>\u201d In spite of mankind\u2019s sin, God still gave Himself in the person of His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fourth<\/b>, God\u2019s love is sacrificial<\/b>. Notice, \u201cHe gave his one and only Son.\u201d <\/b>In spite of our sin, God has provided the way for our sins to be forgiven. God\u2019s love is unconditional<\/b>, confrontational<\/b>, selfless, <\/b>and sacrificial<\/b>.  <\/span><\/p>\n

In 1974, over 51 years ago, I went on a journey trying to figure out life and where I fit in. My journey took me to Lackland and Sheppard Air Force Bases. I ended up at Travis AFB in Fairfield, California. As a result of becoming the roommate of someone whose life had purpose and meaning, I was invited to his church, where I heard the message of John 3:16 clearly. <\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

As a result of the message, I believed <\/b>in Jesus, repented <\/b>of my sin, and asked <\/b>Jesus to save me. Now my heart\u2019s desire is to help as many as I can to trust in Jesus as their Savior as well.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Billy Graham\u2019s son Franklin Graham put it this way: \u201cGod loves you and He wants to forgive you. He wants to cleanse you. He wants to set you free, but the only way is through the Cross. Jesus Christ came and shed His blood on the Cross for you. You\u2019ve got to come to God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pastor Wayne Sibrava, Living Water Baptist Church — The singular most familiar verse in all of God\u2019s Word is John 3:16 and it says:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":107139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nA Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: God Loves You - Owego Pennysaver Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: God Loves You - Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Pastor Wayne Sibrava, Living Water Baptist Church — The singular most familiar verse in all of God\u2019s Word is John 3:16 and it says:...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Owego Pennysaver Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/The-Owego-Pennysaver-49179420591\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-02T14:10:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/18091016\/Faith_Column-1-e1768745416422.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"237\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"psadvert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/\",\"name\":\"A Pastor\u2019s Thoughts: God Loves You - Owego Pennysaver Press\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/18091016\/Faith_Column-1-e1768745416422.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-02T14:10:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/#\/schema\/person\/e03684194434956dfb61f5ffcbc19492\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.owegopennysaver.com\/PS\/2025\/11\/02\/a-pastors-thoughts-god-loves-you\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/18091016\/Faith_Column-1-e1768745416422.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/d28r85ckdoaa46.cloudfront.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/07\/18091016\/Faith_Column-1-e1768745416422.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":237,\"caption\":\"Pictured is Pastor Wayne Sibrava, Living Water Baptist Church. 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