J 316 Part 3
5-Day Bible Reading Plan and Devotional Guide
Based on the Themes of John 3:16-21
Sunday September27, 2026
See the full sermon here.
Day 1: The Doctor Who Is Not Afraid of You
Reading: Mark 2:15-17 — Jesus dines with tax collectors and sinners, declaring that he came not for the healthy but for the sick.
Devotional: There is a kind of shame that keeps us from seeking help. We convince ourselves that our brokenness is too much, our record too long, our failures too familiar. But Jesus walked directly into rooms full of broken people and sat down at the table. He was not repelled. He was not surprised. He came specifically for those who knew they needed a physician. Today, stop performing wellness you do not have. The Great Physician already knows your condition, and he is not afraid of it. Come as you are, honestly and without pretense, and let him begin his work.
Reflection Question: Are you approaching Jesus for relief from pain, or are you trusting him enough to pursue genuine restoration?
Day 2: So Loved
Reading: John 3:16-17 — God's love for the world is so great that he gave his only Son, not to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him.
Devotional: The word "so" in John 3:16 carries the full weight of divine obsession. This was not a reluctant sacrifice or a calculated transaction. This was a God so consumed with love for his creation that he gave what was most precious to him on your behalf. The gospel does not begin with what you must do for God. It begins with what God has already done for you. Isaiah describes it as something that pleased God to do for your sake. Receive that today. Let the magnitude of being loved that deeply settle into the places inside you that still feel unworthy of it.
Reflection Question: In what areas of your life do you still struggle to believe that God's love for you is unconditional and complete?
Day 3: Redeemed and Restored
Reading: Colossians 1:19-20 — God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself through Christ, making peace by the blood of the cross.
Devotional: Redemption is the moment your debt is paid. Restoration is the moment your life is made better than it was before the debt existed. Many believers stop at redemption, grateful to be forgiven but unaware that God's plan extends further. He is not simply rescuing individuals from destruction. He is reconciling all of creation back to himself. That means your neighborhood matters. Your family relationships matter. The marginalized, the overlooked, the forgotten — they are all included in God's restoration agenda. You are not just saved from something. You are sent toward something. The full gospel calls you into the work of restoration right now, in the world around you.
Reflection Question: Where in your community or relationships is God calling you to participate in his work of restoration?
Day 4: Coming Into the Light
Reading: John 3:19-21 — Light has come into the world, and those who practice what is true come to the light so that their works may be seen as carried out in God.
Devotional: Darkness does not expose itself willingly. It hides, it justifies, and it slowly becomes familiar. But light does not negotiate with darkness — it simply overcomes it, every time. Jesus did not come as the light to shame you publicly and walk away. He came to lead you out. The first step toward that freedom is letting the light in, which often begins with honest confession. James 5:16 describes how confessing to a trusted brother or sister opens the door to healing. What you carry in secret loses its power when it is brought into the light. The darkness is not your identity. It is simply something that needs to be exposed so healing can begin.
Reflection Question: Is there something you have been carrying in darkness that God is inviting you to bring into the light today?
Day 5: Lord, Not Just Teacher
Reading: 1 Peter 5:10 — After suffering for a little while, the God of all grace will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Devotional: Judas walked with Jesus, heard his teaching, witnessed his miracles, and still only ever called him Teacher. There is a difference between admiring Jesus and surrendering to him as Lord. When he is only your teacher, you take what is useful and leave the rest. When he is Lord, he has access to everything, including what you have been hiding, what you have been protecting, and what you are afraid to change. The integrity check will come. The darkness will test what you declared in the light. But those who stay, who keep showing up, who refuse to quit on what God has spoken, will find that he is faithful to restore and establish them completely.
Reflection Question: In what specific area of your life do you need to move Jesus from Teacher to Lord, and what would genuine surrender look like there?
Based on the Themes of John 3:16-21
Sunday September27, 2026
See the full sermon here.
Day 1: The Doctor Who Is Not Afraid of You
Reading: Mark 2:15-17 — Jesus dines with tax collectors and sinners, declaring that he came not for the healthy but for the sick.
Devotional: There is a kind of shame that keeps us from seeking help. We convince ourselves that our brokenness is too much, our record too long, our failures too familiar. But Jesus walked directly into rooms full of broken people and sat down at the table. He was not repelled. He was not surprised. He came specifically for those who knew they needed a physician. Today, stop performing wellness you do not have. The Great Physician already knows your condition, and he is not afraid of it. Come as you are, honestly and without pretense, and let him begin his work.
Reflection Question: Are you approaching Jesus for relief from pain, or are you trusting him enough to pursue genuine restoration?
Day 2: So Loved
Reading: John 3:16-17 — God's love for the world is so great that he gave his only Son, not to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through him.
Devotional: The word "so" in John 3:16 carries the full weight of divine obsession. This was not a reluctant sacrifice or a calculated transaction. This was a God so consumed with love for his creation that he gave what was most precious to him on your behalf. The gospel does not begin with what you must do for God. It begins with what God has already done for you. Isaiah describes it as something that pleased God to do for your sake. Receive that today. Let the magnitude of being loved that deeply settle into the places inside you that still feel unworthy of it.
Reflection Question: In what areas of your life do you still struggle to believe that God's love for you is unconditional and complete?
Day 3: Redeemed and Restored
Reading: Colossians 1:19-20 — God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself through Christ, making peace by the blood of the cross.
Devotional: Redemption is the moment your debt is paid. Restoration is the moment your life is made better than it was before the debt existed. Many believers stop at redemption, grateful to be forgiven but unaware that God's plan extends further. He is not simply rescuing individuals from destruction. He is reconciling all of creation back to himself. That means your neighborhood matters. Your family relationships matter. The marginalized, the overlooked, the forgotten — they are all included in God's restoration agenda. You are not just saved from something. You are sent toward something. The full gospel calls you into the work of restoration right now, in the world around you.
Reflection Question: Where in your community or relationships is God calling you to participate in his work of restoration?
Day 4: Coming Into the Light
Reading: John 3:19-21 — Light has come into the world, and those who practice what is true come to the light so that their works may be seen as carried out in God.
Devotional: Darkness does not expose itself willingly. It hides, it justifies, and it slowly becomes familiar. But light does not negotiate with darkness — it simply overcomes it, every time. Jesus did not come as the light to shame you publicly and walk away. He came to lead you out. The first step toward that freedom is letting the light in, which often begins with honest confession. James 5:16 describes how confessing to a trusted brother or sister opens the door to healing. What you carry in secret loses its power when it is brought into the light. The darkness is not your identity. It is simply something that needs to be exposed so healing can begin.
Reflection Question: Is there something you have been carrying in darkness that God is inviting you to bring into the light today?
Day 5: Lord, Not Just Teacher
Reading: 1 Peter 5:10 — After suffering for a little while, the God of all grace will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
Devotional: Judas walked with Jesus, heard his teaching, witnessed his miracles, and still only ever called him Teacher. There is a difference between admiring Jesus and surrendering to him as Lord. When he is only your teacher, you take what is useful and leave the rest. When he is Lord, he has access to everything, including what you have been hiding, what you have been protecting, and what you are afraid to change. The integrity check will come. The darkness will test what you declared in the light. But those who stay, who keep showing up, who refuse to quit on what God has spoken, will find that he is faithful to restore and establish them completely.
Reflection Question: In what specific area of your life do you need to move Jesus from Teacher to Lord, and what would genuine surrender look like there?
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