1 John 4:16; Psalm 86:15; 1 John 4:7-8

God is the definition of love, and He loves us deeply. God's love for us is reliable, everlasting, and has no limits! He loved us before we were born, and there is nothing we can do to earn His love; it is given to us freely. God still loves us when we do wrong, or when we feel shame. God loves us even when we reject Him or if we deny His existence! God not only loves you, but He loves the entire world—every person in every culture and religion! God's love is the most inclusive love in the universe. No one can escape His love.

1 John 3:4; Isaiah 59:2

Sin is a problem every person has; a problem we all share. It happens when we miss the target of perfect love—God’s love. Sin is disobedience to God and includes of both wrongful actions and even certain thoughts. It includes lawlessness, hateful behavior, violence, and failing to do what is right. Sin creates division between our friends and us, and between God and us. We as
humans have a tendency or bias to commit sin. We begin life, and before long, start going our own way rather than following God’s way
because of sin. All the problems of the human race, big and small, come from sin. Our sin doesn’t stop God from loving us; however, when we sin, we move away from God and create distance between us.

Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 3:18; Romans 6:9-10

Although our sin divides us from God, the separation is not the end of the story. While we were separated because of sin, God showed His perfect love by sending Jesus, His Son, to live a sinless life and die a sacrificial death for us. God’s perfect love resulted in the perfect action to pay for our sin: He erased it and reconnected us to Himself. Not only did Jesus demonstrate God’s perfect love by dying, He also demonstrated His perfect power by conquering death and coming back to life. Through His death and new life, we also have hope for a new life!

John 3:16; Hebrews 11:6; Romans 10:9-10

God’s perfect love accomplished perfect justice through Jesus, yet that same love also gives us a choice to have faith in God or not. Faith is our belief, our firm conviction, of things we do not see. God does not force belief upon us; His love allows us to make the decision. Jesus paid the price to save us from our sin, but to receive that salvation we must put our faith in God. We do that by making Jesus our Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead. When we put our trust in God, we have faith. Our faith enables us to receive God’s grace.

2 Corinthians 5:15; John 14:28; Acts 1:8

Jesus died for our sin, but He also died so that we could have a better life by living a selfless life—a life focused on God and His perfect love. It’s hard to live unselfishly but God sent the Holy Spirit to help us! Like Jesus, the Holy Spirit is part of God. The Holy Spirit teaches us and gives us passion for God. The Holy Spirit also gives us power to be who God wants us to be and to do what God wants us to do. We can hear from the Holy Spirit through prayer and reading God’s Word—the Bible. The power of the Holy Spirit is most often experienced in gatherings with other followers of Christ—the Church.