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[0:00] The scripture reading today comes from the book of John, chapter 3, verse 1 to 21. Please follow along on your Bible. Bulletin are on the screen. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

[0:16] This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God. For no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.

[0:31] Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

[0:43] Nicodemus said to him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

[1:05] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again.

[1:15] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit.

[1:29] Nicodemus said to him, How can these things be? Jesus answered him, Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

[1:39] Truly, truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.

[1:51] If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

[2:05] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

[2:26] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be safe through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

[2:46] And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world, and people love the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

[3:06] But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen, that his works have been carried out in God. This is the Word of God. Great. Thanks, Anastasia.

[3:18] It was a long reading, but thank you for reading to us, and thanks for staying with us. I have a question for us this morning. The question is, do you believe people can really change?

[3:32] Do you believe people can really change? Here is a quote from a movie called The Usual Suspects. I think it's 1995. Very young Kevin Spacey.

[3:44] I don't necessarily recommend the movie, but still. Kevin Spacey plays a character called Roger King, and this is what he says. A man can't change what he is.

[3:55] He can convince anyone he's someone else, but never himself. What do you think? Can people really change? Maybe you're someone who thinks the more things change, the more they stay the same.

[4:08] Maybe you're someone who thinks that people can try, they can alter a little bit on the surface level, but deep inside who we are is set. Our DNA, our genes, our disposition, our nature, our nurture is set.

[4:22] There's not much we can do about it. Well, we are continuing through John's Gospel. As Anastasia read to us, we're in John chapter 3, and we're working through John's Gospel. Why?

[4:33] Because Christians believe that Christianity is all about seeing Jesus, believing in Jesus, trusting in Jesus, and John wants us to do that. John wants us to help, wants to help us see Jesus and trust in him, and we want to grow in that more and more as the years go by, not less and less.

[4:50] And John wants to help us with that. And so we're in John's Gospel, and we are wanting to see Jesus and believe and trust in him. And this morning, we come to this very famous passage in John chapter 3, where Jesus interacts with a man called Nicodemus.

[5:05] And in this passage, we're going to see two things, two very, very simple things. The first is, the problem and its challenges. There's a problem, and the problem has some challenges. And secondly, the solution and his invitation.

[5:18] There's a problem, and this comes with challenges. There's a solution, and the solution invites us to respond. Okay, so let's dive in and take a look. The problem and its challenges.

[5:31] Keep your Bible open. We're going to look at this passage a bit. So this man called Nicodemus comes to Jesus, and he comes to him. Nicodemus, as we will discover, is a very well-respected member of society and of the religious body.

[5:48] And he comes to Jesus at night. Why does he come at night? Well, we're not sure. It could be that there's a sinister motive. In John's Gospel, night and darkness often signify something a little bit suspicious.

[6:02] So it could be that he's got ulterior motives, or it could be that he's wanting to come and ask Jesus. He's a spiritual seeker. He's got questions about Jesus, but he wants to come and explore more without giving away his identity.

[6:16] He's a Pharisee. He's a leader of the religious group. He doesn't want to expose himself too much. But either way, he comes to Jesus at night, and he comes with a question. Now, John doesn't exactly record his question, but it's not hard to guess what his question is.

[6:31] Essentially, Nicodemus wants to know, Jesus, who are you really? Look what he says. He says, Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher that has come from God because nobody could do the signs that you do unless God is with him.

[6:44] In other words, Jesus, we've seen you. We've been watching you. We are paying close attention to you. And we see there's something unique about you. We see that there's something divine about you.

[6:56] But the question is, is there more? We know that you are a wise teacher. You know God's word. But are you more than just a teacher?

[7:06] Are you the prophet that we've been waiting for? Are you possibly the Messiah? Jesus, who are you? But of course, Jesus, as he so often does, completely interrupts Nicodemus along with his assumptions and he throws the challenge back at Nicodemus.

[7:26] Look at what Jesus is. So Nicodemus comes and says, Rabbi, we know you're a teacher and he's about to get to his question. He hasn't even yet got to his question. And Jesus interrupts him, challenges him, saying, Now, by the way, this is not John's main point, so a side comment here.

[7:50] This is very, very typical of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, both in the Gospels and in our lives, loves to interrupt, to challenge, and to confront you.

[8:03] Throughout the Gospels and throughout our lives, Jesus challenges our assumptions and our presuppositions, both about himself, what we view himself, and about life in general. And Nicodemus comes to him and as Nicodemus finds out, Jesus is very seldom willing to just answer our questions quietly, neatly, and in a well-packaged format.

[8:27] Jesus often comes and he confronts us, he challenges us, he interrupts us. And why is that? Because Jesus doesn't just want to affirm us, he wants to form us.

[8:37] He doesn't just want to comfort us, he wants to confront us. And he wants us to help us to see reality as it really is. And that means he's going to confront us more than comfort us, he's going to challenge us.

[8:50] And that's what he does with Nicodemus. So Nicodemus comes with this question and Jesus retorts with this profoundly remarkable challenge. He says, unless you are born again, you cannot even see God's kingdom.

[9:02] And again, verse 5, he says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter God's kingdom. Now, here's the question. What does Jesus mean when he says you must be born again?

[9:18] What does that mean? My guess is that for maybe some of us, we would have heard that phrase before. I remember many, many years ago, somebody came to me and said, I didn't know the person very well, and they said, Kevin, are you one of those reborn types of Christians?

[9:32] Christians, right? He kind of heard this phrase, but didn't really know what it meant and wanted to know whether I was part of this weird cult that call ourselves reborn, born again Christians. What does it mean? Well, depending on your experience, some people think that to be born again means you are emotionally unstable, maybe you have emotional problems, and now they've had some kind of emotional experience, and now you're an emotional fanatic, right?

[10:00] Jesus has come, you've had a spiritual experience, and now you're an emotional fanatic. Jesus has come to make you emotionally all over the place, maybe a bit unstable with a religious bent.

[10:11] For other people, when you hear the word born again, maybe we think that means to take on some kind of strict moral regimen, right? Everything's now black and white, there's no gray.

[10:25] Either you can do it or you can't do it, and you take on the strict, moral, authoritarian worldview where everything is just black and white. And so now you're morally fanatical, right?

[10:38] But what does Jesus mean? When Jesus says you must be born again, he says it three times, verse 3, verse 5, verse 7, you must be born again. Jesus is obviously not talking about physical birth, okay?

[10:49] He's not saying you must go back into your mom's womb. He's not talking about a style or a type of Christianity like emotional or charismatic versus reformed and stoic.

[11:01] He's not talking about modern versus traditional. He's not talking about a type of Christianity. He's not talking about a type of personality or a type of Christian. When Jesus says you must be born again to see God's kingdom, he's describing a profoundly, profoundly fundamental change that must take place deep inside your inner being.

[11:24] at a most basic and fundamental level, Jesus is saying who you are needs to be profoundly changed and reorientated. Jesus wants to recalibrate in a profound way who we are.

[11:39] And he says that every single person that wishes to experience God or know God must go through this profound changed experience in their lives.

[11:50] So Jesus is making a very, very important point here that every person who either thinks of themselves as a Christian or is exploring the claims of Christianity or working out whether they want to follow Jesus must grapple or wrestle with this call that Jesus is which is that you must be profoundly changed deep, deep in your soul and your being and your heart in order to know God.

[12:17] In order to be a Christian. In order to be a follower of Christ. that Christianity Jesus says has nothing to do with moral self-improvement moral enhancement religious duty social etiquette it has everything to do with this radical transformation that takes place in the most fundamental part of our personhood and our being.

[12:43] John Calvin comments and he writes this he says by saying one must be born again Jesus means not amendment or improvement or adjustment of a part of one's life but the thorough renewal of the whole of one's nature there's nothing in us that is not defective and need of renewal.

[13:04] This is what Jesus is saying he comes to Nicodemus and he says Nicodemus you're coming to me and you're asking for a new teaching or a new insight or a new perspective that's not what I've come to give you I've come to fundamentally change who you are you must be born again otherwise it's not going to work you must be changed Michael Lawrence writes this he says Jesus has not come to simply make us nice he's come to make us altogether new altogether new and over and over again the scriptures are going to tell us that anyone that's seeking to become a follower of Jesus anyone who calls himself a Christian must wrestle with this profound confrontational challenge Jesus you must be born again you must be changed something of who you are your personhood must be so changed that it's almost it's akin or it's similar to becoming a whole new person it's like your old person must die and something radically new must come about okay do you understand what Jesus is saying here now this immediately throws up two very profound challenges for Nicodemus and I think they challenge this for us as well look at what these challenges are the first one is social standing counts for nothing for someone like

[14:21] Nicodemus this is obviously a remarkable challenge because who is Nicodemus Nicodemus is not just anybody he's a man of profound social standing look at verse 1 verse 1 says there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews so Nicodemus is a member of high social standing both in society both in the religious group as well as in the political group he's probably a member of the Sanhedrin which is like the religious court over Jerusalem he is a member that's very high regarded he's probably wealthy he has high social standing but look at what verse 10 says verse 10 Jesus says are you not the teacher in Israel in other words here is somebody that all of Israel had a had a high reputation as someone who could explain the scriptures who knew the scriptures so people travel from all of Israel to come and consult his wisdom his expertise here is like a professor a doctor professor reverend

[15:25] Nicodemus both politically socially religiously he's very highly regarded and yet Jesus tells him that nothing less than a radical transformation is what he needs Jesus comes to this guy that has it all together and he says Nicodemus unless you are changed you're in deep trouble and that's profoundly challenging listen to what D.A.

[15:50] Carson says he says what must be grasped from Jesus insistence on the new birth as the prerequisite for entering his kingdom is the fact that this truth is applied to a man of the caliber of Nicodemus if Nicodemus with all his knowledge his gifts his understanding his position his integrity cannot enter the kingdom by virtue of his standing or religious works what hope is there for anyone who seeks salvation along such lines even for Nicodemus there must have been radical transformation the generation of new life comparable with physical birth now friends this is obviously challenging for Nicodemus but I think this is challenging for us as well and the reason is because we live in Hong Kong what is Hong Kong Hong Kong is a city that is comprised of some of the leading people in the world if you live in Hong Kong statistically you're way more educated way more financially wealth way more upwardly mobile than almost every other country in the world

[16:51] Hong Kong is by nature are some of the most sophisticated educated most upwardly mobile people on the planet and so we face the same challenge as Nicodemus we have it all together we've got our numerous degrees we've got our career path lined up and Jesus comes to each one of us and looks us in the eye and he says you you must be born again otherwise you have no place in my kingdom that's a profound challenge but here's the other challenge what Jesus is saying to Nicodemus and saying to all of us is that this transformation can only come about by God this is nothing that Nicodemus himself can do Jesus telling us entrance in his kingdom is not grounded upon anything we do or we achieve it's intervention is by God alone it's not a moral self improvement project it's not a call to greater church attendance although that's not a bad thing Jesus is not saying hey if you give to the building fund you know

[17:53] I can organize your way into the kingdom no no none of those things there's nothing that Nicodemus can do this is only something that God can do look at verse 6 so that which is born of the flesh is flesh that which is born of the spirit is spirit he says you want to be spiritually reborn you want to be born of the spirit only God can do that Nicodemus you can go on a pilgrimage to the highest place in the temple you can go on a 40 day fast you can beat yourself with whips and go on sackcloth and ashes there's nothing you can do only God's spirit can do this look again look what he says in verse 12 there's another one he says if I have told you earthly things and you do not believe them how are you going to believe if I tell you heavenly things Jesus is saying Nicodemus I've got a message for you but it's beyond your grasp you can't even understand what I'm talking about it's beyond your reach there is a solution you need to be born again but you don't even know what I'm talking about and Nicodemus is one of the leading theologians and academics in Israel if he can't get it what hope do any of us have it it's kind of like imagine somebody's on a boat and they fall off overboard right and they're now in the water and you've got to pull them up and you see the sharks are starting to circle you see the fin coming through the water and you think we've got to get this person up fast and you throw a rope overboard but the rope's too short and so they're in the water and they're trying to grasp they're trying to grab but the rope is a meter too short and there's no way they're going to reach it and the sharks are coming in what is their situation it's hopeless

[19:33] Jesus is saying I'm trying to throw a rope to you I'm trying to help you but you can't even grasp it's beyond your reach there's no ways that you can find out and then look what he says Jesus just to just to make things worse he says he says you must be born from above now if you've got an NIV Bible or an ESV Bible there should be a little footnote at the bottom that's connected to the word again verse 3 Jesus says I say to you unless one is born again and then there's a footnote and again in verse 7 he says do not marvel that I say to you you must be born again and there's a little footnote in my Bible the footnote says this either born again or born from above the Greek is purposefully ambiguous and can mean either again or from above in fact that word the Greek word anathon in most of the New Testament it means the word above or on top of something Jesus saying here he uses this plain words and he says

[20:34] Nicodemus if you want to be in my kingdom you must be born from above you must be born from born in heaven born of the spirit born of God but that is a problem right because Jesus is saying something needs to happen to your soul that can only happen if you get to heaven if you get to reach to heaven you get God to do it then maybe you can be born again but the problem is who of us can get to heaven I mean none of us can get there right there's no Cathay Pacific flights going to heaven Joe maybe you can arrange something about that and talk to the Cathay guys but Jesus is saying there's something you need to do but you can't get there it's beyond your reach it's beyond your grasp how are you going to get born again we sang earlier how great the chasm that lay between us how high the mountain I could not climb that's what Jesus is saying you want to be saved you've got to be born again but sorry it's too high for you there's a chasm that's too deep and Jesus and for the first time

[21:37] Nicodemus hears this and he's a little startled and he he doesn't really understand what Jesus is saying so Jesus tries again he says Nicodemus you must be born of water and born of the spirit that's a quote from Ezekiel 36 he's saying you must have happened to you what Ezekiel said would happen which is that God moves into your life and changes you from the inside you've got to be washed of your sin that's what the water means you've got the Holy Spirit it's got to make you new on the inside you'll be born of water and the spirit God's got to change you on the inside and so he says for the third time I'm not trying to make you new I'm trying to make you I'm not trying to make you nice I'm going to make you new this is not refined religion this is renewed souls for the third time do not marvel that I say to you you must be born again now this presents another question for us here is the question if this is what Jesus is saying means to be a Christian means deep and profound spiritual change transformation in our lives this profound inward transformation not just surface level change how do you know whether that change has taken place you see if

[22:52] Jesus says listen this is what it means to be a Christian go to church at least three Sundays a month and you know tithe if you can attend a small group okay there's a checklist you can you can work out yes I made it I haven't made it but what Jesus is talking about is a profound inward change that there's no blood test you can take hey do I have like spiritual DNA in my veins right there's no spiritual DNA test that you can say whether you in the kingdom or not so here's the question how do you know whether you are born again how do you know whether you really are saved maybe you're just going through the motions and you're doing all the outward stuff but there's been no inward personal change how do you know whether you're really saved well Jesus wants to help us and so look what he says in verse 8 he says the wind blows wherever it wishes you hear it sound but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes so does everyone so it is with everyone who is born of the spirit Jesus point is you can't see the wind but you can see its effects when it's come right maybe you walk in the mountain!

[24:10] or you see the leaves in the street or the trash gets blown over right you can't see the wind but you can see its effects you can't see when it's done something Jesus saying you can't necessarily see you don't you know your eyes don't change color your blood doesn't change to a different type when you become born again but everybody does see the effects in your life because you change so profoundly that it can't just stay inside you there must be fruit there must be a change Jesus saying those of us that have been born in the spirit who have been made spiritually new will show the effects in our life we will live differently we will behave differently we will think and speak differently and it will be obvious to those around us that God has done something inside of us and changed us friends this is a real challenge those of us that consider ourselves Christians this morning we must ask ourselves the question where is the evidence point are we truly saved are we truly born again has

[25:19] Jesus really changed us in such a deep and profound way that those around us would be able to tell I know we have the youth in with us this morning maybe you grew! from this high you have been told the gospel and you know the Bible backwards are you born again?

[25:37] Are you born of the Spirit? Has Jesus really changed your life? Is there any fruit or evidence? Dear friends I want to ask you are you truly a Christian?

[25:49] Have your desires changed? Maybe ask ourselves have our attitudes changed? Has the way that we handle challenge or difficulty in life changed? have our ambitions changed?

[26:02] The things we live for? What we look up to? What we look to for rest and peace and security? how we handle money has that changed?

[26:13] Are our relationships different? How we handle offense? How we reconcile with people that hurt us? Friends are we more humble? Are we confessing more freely?

[26:26] Are we more vulnerable and transparent because of Christ and the gospel? This is the challenge that Jesus confronts us with. Anyone that wants to see or enter the kingdom of God must be born of my spirit.

[26:43] The problem and its challenge. But thankfully Jesus like he always does doesn't just leave us there. And so Jesus brings us the solution and his invitation.

[26:54] And so listen to what he says. Jesus wants to invite us to see the solution to our problem. And throughout the Bible from beginning to end God's message is consistent and clear.

[27:06] His message is all human beings have a problem. And Jesus Christ is the profound solution.

[27:17] Charles Spurgeon used to say this. I have a great need for a savior and I have a great savior for my need. And that's what Jesus comes to tell us. He comes to give us the solution and his invitation.

[27:30] And look at what he says here in verse 13. Remember Jesus said you must be born of above? Well look what he says in verse 13.

[27:41] He says no one has ascended into heaven or been into heaven except the one who has descended from heaven the son of man. Remember what Jesus said Nicodemus you must be born from above but there's a problem how are you ever going to get there?

[27:57] How high is the mountain? too high is the mountain? You must be born from above but you can't get there but now what did he say but he who is above has come down to us no one has gone to heaven that's the problem so heaven has come down to us no one has descended to heaven except the one who is descended from heaven the son of man Jesus is heaven who has come down to us to bring us what we so desperately need but have no way of obtaining ourselves and why would Jesus do this why would God leave the comfort of heaven the community of the trinity leave his glory and above and come down to earth to be with us well verse 16 tells us what does verse 16 say the most famous verse!

[28:46] in the Bible for God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him need not perish but have eternal life friends why did Jesus come because he loves people like you and me that were lost in our sin and were lost in this chasm that was too great and were too far down that couldn't reach heaven for God so loved you and you and you and me and thus that he left heaven to come down to die on the cross for us that we might know him and be reconciled to him God did not send his son to condemn the world Jesus didn't just come to point the finger and say you dirty rotten scoundrel you dirty sinner fix yourself up Jesus didn't just come to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him the rest of the passage tells us we are!

[29:47] Because of our sin every human being our natural state is that we are hopeless and helpless because of our rebellion that's why we need a savior to change us to renew us in Jesus we have a great savior for our need for God so loved us that he left the glory of heaven the community of the trinity the divine laid aside his divine glory took on flesh and blood made himself executed on a cross that he might save us bring us the salvation that we need friends you must be born of above but no one can ascend to heaven so heaven has come down to us for God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life so here's the last question how do we how does this happen to us on the words of Nicodemus in verse 9 how can these things be how can this happen well Jesus wants to tell us and so look what he says in verse 14 he says just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life

[31:07] Jesus here is talking about a story in the old testament from numbers 21 you know a thousand three hundred years before God's people are traveling from Egypt into the promised land and they're walking they're walking walking sorry through the wilderness for 40 years and they camp and they stop and they camp and they move on for 40 years they're in the wilderness and at one point God's people are always their sin and rebellion is always getting the better of them and at one point God's people are rebellious they've turned away from God and God wants to bring them back to him and so he wants them to see the consequences for sin is always death and he wants them to see this and to feel this one of the problems with sin is we sin now and we don't see any consequences and we think oh it's fine I can get away with it but actually the consequence of death is coming but God wants them to see that the consequence is a little closer and so he brings snakes serpents into the campsite and suddenly there are all these venomous snakes and whenever somebody's bitten by a snake they slowly begin to die but God doesn't want to destroy his people he wants to save them he wants to wake them up and so his point isn't to kill them his point is to rescue them so he tells Moses

[32:23] Moses this is what you must do in the middle of the campsite I want you to erect a wooden pole and then make a bronze serpent a snake and put it around that pole so there's a wooden pole maybe it's got you know wood on the side like a kind of cross like figure and there's a bronze snake that is put around that pole and he says if anybody is bitten by a snake all they need to do is get out of their tent and look to that pole and if they can look to that pole in faith in trust believing that as they look to it God is going to heal them God will heal them and save them and so Moses builds this pole he puts a bronze snake on it and anyone that's bitten looks to the pole and as they look saying God I need you if they look with a measure of faith or trust God will heal them and save them friends look at what Jesus says here just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up in John's gospel whenever Jesus uses the words lifted up he's always talking about the cross it's always a reference to Jesus being lifted up on the cross just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so that anyone who looked on that wooden pole in faith believing and trusting

[33:41] God could heal and save them would be saved so must the son of man be lifted up on the cross so that anyone who looks upon him in faith believing and trusting that God will save them will be saved will be born from above friends just like the Israelites in the wilderness we're actually all in the same boat all of us have sinned and rebelled against God all of us are in desperate situation all of us the consequences are disastrous and friends maybe our sin is very obvious and the effects the brokenness is very obvious in our lives friends maybe for some of us we're like Nicodemus our sin is very hidden and our lives look like we've got it all together but Jesus says all of us are affected and infected by the venom of sin but friends just like the Israelites only had to look to the one that was lifted up so Jesus says all we need to do is to look to the one that was lifted on the cross and believe in him don't look to Jesus as a teacher don't look to Jesus as a guru don't look to Jesus for emotional upliftment believe in him trust in him bank your life on him look to him as your only hope in life and death and you will be changed profoundly deeply born again born of above made new saved forever and what Jesus says to Nicodemus is what he says to all of us he hasn't come to initiate new religion he hasn't come to bring about a self-improvement project he hasn't come to help us get in touch with our inner selves

[35:23] Jesus has come to die on the cross that we might be made anew change profoundly later on John's gospel we meet Nicodemus two more times the first time the Pharisees are arguing and Nicodemus is one of the Pharisees and the Pharisees are arguing should we arrest Jesus now and kill him or should we wait a little bit and Nicodemus this time no longer under the cover of darkness says guys hey we can't just arrest somebody without giving a fair trial and they will turn on Nicodemus and say who are you are you defending him what's up with you now for the first time in his life Nicodemus starts to stand up for Jesus and he takes a great risk and then later on we read another count Jesus has died on the cross and he's dead and Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea go to Pontius Pilate and say can we take his body down and give him a decent burial great risk to himself and they take him down

[36:23] Joseph gives Jesus his tomb and Nicodemus brings a pile of spices and ointments 65 pounds worth some commentators say that's what is used to anoint the body of kings and governors Nicodemus brings a profoundly expensive amount of spices and ointment to anoint his body Nicodemus is saying you're my king he saw Jesus high and lifted up and he believed in him and now he says Jesus you're my king friends what about you what about you what are you waiting for friends are you born again are you born from above has Jesus Christ the living God the Holy Spirit come inside of your life in such a profound way that you are different are those around you able to see the effects of your life like the wind because you are no longer the same there's only one thing that you need to do you need to look to the one who died on the cross for you maybe your faith is very small faith maybe you like the people in the world and say

[37:32] I'm not sure if this is going to work it feels like a bit of a risk God are you really going to save me Jesus came to show you how seriously he takes his claim friends why don't you trust in him I know that there's some of us here today that are very religious for many years you've been coming to church I know there's some of us today that are you enjoy the community you like watermark because there's a nice community and you've got your friends and you go for lunch after church friends are you saved are you born again have you been born from above have you looked to Jesus have you trusted in him have you put your hope in him are you truly saved Jesus came and died on the cross was nailed to the cross blood bled and died for you that you no longer need to be separated from him not only in this life but for all eternity in hell forever that starting today you can know him and live with him and be changed forever and ever just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up upon the cross that whoever looks to him and believes in him may have eternal life for

[38:41] God so loved you that he sent his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life let's do that now as we come to him in prayer let's pray together look Jesus thank you so much for coming to the cross for coming to earth for laying aside your glory your divinity for clothing yourself with flesh and humanity for coming in love God to save us to rescue us God how high the mountain how deep the chasm how utterly hopeless our situation was God every one of us born in sin had no way of saving ourselves no hope apart from you coming and bringing heaven to us Jesus thank you for doing that God I want to pray won't you help us to trust you God for those of us here that aren't saved that aren't Christians that God is still living our lives on our own terms

[39:42] God I pray won't you give us faith won't you help us to trust you God won't you help us to look upon you Jesus give us faith to turn to you in belief God for those of us that are Christians we pray won't you help us to marvel at the wonder of the gospel the wonder of what you've done to remember God the way that you came to us and for us and to remember your profound profound love for us God if there's anyone here that doesn't doesn't feel your love Lord I pray that the cross will preach your love to us write it on our hearts may we know that you so loved us that you left heaven to come for us to bring us into your kingdom friends we're going to sing a song now I think the song we sang earlier we're going to sing it again friends if you're not a Christian this morning I want to beg you

[40:45] I want to implore you while we sing this song why don't you come to Jesus and all you need to do is say this you just need to say Jesus my faith is small I don't understand so much there's so many things that don't make sense to me but Jesus I see now that my only hope for salvation is that you died on the cross for me Jesus you died to make me new that I may be born again born from above won't you do that in me won't you give me new life friends I want you to be saved I want to ask you don't wait another day you don't know how many days you have left on earth don't wait another day let today be the day that your life changes around that God changes you deeply can people change apart from God there's not much hope but with Jesus we can change let him change us now if you want to stay seated you can if you want to stand and sing whatever posture is appropriate if you want to get on your knees you can do that let's respond in song together love you

[42:04] Thank you.