Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And everyone said, Amen. So we are in our Lent and Easter series right now. We're calling it the reversal as we look at just that. We look at how Christ, through the power of the gospel,

brings about the great reversal. We're seeing how the gospel brings us back to everything good. Now listen, if you listen to me preach long enough, you probably realize that I don't typically gravitate towards preaching the more well-known passages and books of the Bible. I like to go to the places that are more what I call remote.

But for this sermon series, we're looking at what is probably the most famous, well-known book of the entire Bible, the Gospel of John. So I'm stepping outside my comfort zone. If I can do it, you can do it too. So let's go ahead and just open our Bibles right now to the Gospel of John. Up and now until, from now until Easter, this is the book that we'll be in. But today we're looking at not just one of the most well-known books of the Bible,

we're looking at one of the most well-known passages of the Bible. And that's when Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be born again. But, but, but I'm really concerned about something right now. I'm highly concerned that many of us just tuned out because what Christian doesn't know the passage

about being born again?

Pastor, we learned that in Sunday school. Pastor, we know that story. If that's you, let me just say something in love to you right now. You have to open yourself up right now to the fact that the Holy Spirit may just do a new work right here and right now with an old passage. So even though you may know the story, you may be able to even recite this story.

I'm telling you, by the power and presence of the Spirit, there is always an eternal truth to be mined whenever we come to the pages of Scripture. So maybe for just a moment, let's approach this passage with a humble heart, fresh eyes, and open mind to see what God has for us today. Now, common mistake, the Gospel of John was not written by John the Baptist. The Gospel of John was written by John the Apostle, the man who lived, walked, and talked with Jesus for three years, the youngest of all the disciples.

And the Gospel of John records probably arguably one of, if not the, most famous things that Jesus ever said, that we must be born again. What that means, we're going to see this today, what that means is that we can be brought from brokenness to renewal. So jump to chapter three. As we look at the first three verses, or I'm sorry, the first eight

verses here today. Now real quickly before we read this, because this is such a well-known, culturally well-known passage, I asked a bunch of my friends who are not Christians what they thought of if someone were to tell them that they were born again. I asked like four or five of my friends who are not Christians and they don't really know each other. And it was odd that they all basically said the exact same

thing. I'll summarize. But I asked I asked four or five of my non-Christian friends, what do you think when someone tells you they're born again? You want to know what they said? They all basically said, well, I would think that that means that they are a religious conservative.

I'll tell you right now, I'm not saying be ashamed of the fact that you're conservative, but I'm saying that is not the point of Jesus telling us to be born again. We're not born again to go from broken to religious. We're born again is, if that's what Christians are projecting to this world, that to be born again means that you are

a religious conservative, then maybe you didn't learn the lesson in Sunday school. And maybe we need to look at this again with a humble heart, open mind, and fresh eyes. And so I'm gonna ask you, if you are able, would you please stand for the reading of God's word,

the gospel according to John chapter 3 verses 1 to 8. Would you hear God's Word? Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 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. Jesus answered him, truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

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 spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh.

That which is born of spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear it 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. Amen. This is God's word. Would you please remain standing as we say a quick prayer? Father of glory, by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, would you please help us to look at this well-known passage again with a humble heart, fresh eyes, and an open

mind. Help us to see the Sunday school truth that is here, but also help us to know the eternal truth and the eternal value that we may have missed along the way. Lord I pray that everyone here may know the beauty of the great reversal that comes when we are born again. For we pray these things in Jesus mighty name. And everyone said, Amen.

Amen. Go ahead and have a seat. Very simple, short, beautiful truth for us here this morning. Our main idea is simply this. The gospel brings us from broken to religious. It brings us from broken to renewed, to born again. Not renewal as in you need to get the tabs on your truck renewed.

Renewed as in we are born again. We are made new. We are reborn. But before we move on, the question's already being begged right here. Why do we even need to be born again? Well, I think you might know exactly why. Because you know when you look out in the world, things are broken out there.

You know when you look in the mirror or even more, even more truthfully, when you look in your own hearts, you know that you're not perfect. But listen, it's more than just not being perfect, and it's more than just the world being a bad place. There is a deep, deep, profound brokenness out there, and in here, and the Bible calls this sin,

and the scriptures tell us that sin, sin kills. Sin may seem sweet, but it actually is a killer. Sin leads to death. That for us who are in our sin, we are dead in our sins. Now listen, sins are not just actions against God. I think most people understand that.

Sin is not just action against God. Sin, capital S, sin is the current state of things. Sin is the state of the world and is the state of any person not been made new by the blood of Jesus. We both have sin and we both actually sin and listen

The solution to our brokenness the solution to the brokenness out there is so much more It's not about fixing things. I Think it's pretty clear. We've proven we cannot fix things No amount of receiving education or winning elections is fixing anything We cannot fix this. It has to be made new.

That includes you, that includes me, and that includes the world. And this is what Jesus means when he says that we need to be born again. We need to be made new.

We need a renewal to our lives. Most people in our world, in our culture, Christian, non-Christian, have heard the term born again. But let's ask what Jesus means. Let's go back to the source. So eight verses today, we'll look at three things from this passage.

And the first one is this. As we consider going from brokenness to renewal, first thing is this. Go to Him personally. Go to Him personally. We just asked it. What does Jesus mean?

Not what does the culture think, but what does Jesus say? We need to listen to him personally, but I will tell you right now, this is really hard in our world. There's a recent conversation that happened on a podcast between two people,

and I really, really wanted to listen to this podcast. And it was a conversation that happened between a man named Charlie Kirk and Gavin Newsom. Charlie Kirk is among the most prominent young conservative voices in the American landscape. And Gavin Newsom, of course,

is the Democratic liberal governor of the state of California. They sat down for a conversation and did a podcast together, and I really wanted to listen to their conversation. So what did I do?

I jumped online and I tried to find it. But do you know what I found first? I found an infinite number of videos and voices all talking about the conversation, but I had a hard time finding the actual podcast. What I found was soundbites and opinions. What I found was reaction videos and commentary, but I couldn't find the source. Why? Because that's our world. We are more concerned with what people think

about what happened than what actually happens. And we are told what to think and how to respond before we even get a chance to investigate ourselves. And in fact, that comes with a lot of suspicion in our day. If you actually want to investigate for yourself before you come up with an opinion,

that comes with a lot of suspicion because the cultural leaders are telling us exactly what to think about everything that happens. And if you don't buy in, then you will pay the consequences culturally for that. But I'm telling you, go to Jesus personally. Because this happens in religion too. We're told what to think and how to think. But the beauty about the

Christian faith is we will freely give you the source. We got Bibles here, we got plenty of Bibles here. If you don't have one, I will get you one today. And you can open it up and you can read this for yourself. I will tell you right now, don't believe what I say about Jesus. You go to Him personally. That's what Nicodemus does. Let's look at the first couple verses here. John chapter 3 verses 1 and 2. Verse 1. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Right off the bat, we're given three important things about Nicodemus. Real quickly, number one, he was a Pharisee.

Pharisees were the highly respected religious leaders of their day. Yes, Jesus calls them out for their hypocrisy, but you cannot deny they were respected among the people. Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Secondly, his name, Nicodemus, that's not a Jewish Pharisee. So what happened was is during Jesus' time, Jews from the upper class would give their children both Greek names and Jewish names. But the fact that Nicodemus is going by his Greek name probably signifies his status or at least his affinity for Greek culture and Greek philosophy. It also says that he's a ruler of the Jews. Now what that means is he was part of a group known as the Sanhedrin. He was part of the Sanhedrin.

This was the governing body of the Jews at that time. So let's put it into our context. Let's put it into a little bit more relatable terms. Nicodemus was a highly respected pastor who came from the upper class who sat on city council. Now I don't know if that makes you love him or hate him, But either way, you cannot deny the fact that this man had profound influence in his time. And yet, he comes to Jesus personally. Verse 2, this man came to Jesus by night.

Didn't want anyone to see it, did you, Nicodemus? He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these things that you do unless God is with him. Again, I tell you what, love him or hate him, Nicodemus does what so many people are unwilling to do,

he goes to Jesus personally.

But when he does,

this is where the story takes an interesting turn. So this highly respected leader and influencer of the people comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness to speak with Jesus but was it really just to say Jesus we know that God is with you I think if you read this text you'll see that that seems like the sort of acknowledgment that was a setup for something else that Nicodemus wanted

to say but Jesus doesn't give him time to say it because Jesus does what Jesus does. He's like, Nicodemus, let me stop you right there, my man. It's almost like Jesus is saying, Nicodemus, you're right in saying that I'm from God, you're right in recognizing my miracles, but stop right there because don't you dare think that I'm just a teacher. And this is where, when we go to Jesus personally, this is where we need to learn from him carefully.

I just want to say real quickly,

to my friends and people in the house right here right now who are not Christians, number one, I'm so happy that you're here. It makes me very happy that you're here. I pray I say something of eternal value to you. But if you're not a Christian, I want you to hear me.

We Christians, we don't always get it right. We don't do it perfectly, and we're not all that we should be.

But Jesus is.

So look past what social media says about him, look past the cultural expectations that surround him, look past Christians who don't do it perfectly, and would you please just consider Jesus and learn from him carefully. All that Nicodemus can get out is, we know you're from God, and then

verse 3 happens, and verse 3 again is among, if not the most famous thing that Jesus ever said. Jesus answered him, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of the, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So whatever Nicodemus was there for, this is the conversation he's now getting. And I can almost see the surprise on Nicodemus' face as Jesus not just takes control of the conversation,

but he takes it in a new direction. Verse four, Nicodemus said to him, I'm sure with a little bit of bewilderment on his face,

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? Listen, that may sound silly, but that's an honest and fair question. That's an honest, fair response to what Jesus just said.

But notice, Jesus does not clarify. Jesus dives deeper. Verse 5, Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. So listen here, Nicodemus tries to get Jesus to make this teaching a little bit more palatable,

but Jesus goes on to make it more profound. Unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Hold on a second, I thought this was the Jesus who welcomes everybody. Sure seems like he's drawing a line in the sand right now.

What does this mean, being born of water and spirit? Water and spirit, now this is where our Baptist friends are going to get a little excited because every time they see the word water in the Bible they're going to think it means baptism. Not always the case actually my friends. You can't really get that from this passage. Jesus isn't speaking about baptism. When Jesus speaks of being born of water and spirit, I think if you look at the context, the context points more to the notion that Jesus is answering Nicodemus and he's trying to draw a distinction between natural

birth and spiritual rebirth. It's like Jesus is saying, you can't just be born, you have to be born again. Unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is, verse six, that which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of spirit is of the spirit. That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Meaning, Jesus is saying,

you get to be part of the kingdom of humans if you're born of a human. But you can only be part of the kingdom of God if you're born of God. So here's the question. What does this mean? And also, how do we even do this? Well, this is where we must remember if you have a question on the Bible, the first thing you should do is not Google it. You got a question on the Bible, keep reading. You got a question on the Bible, just keep reading. Go to him personally. Learn from him carefully. And thirdly, as we think about going from brokenness to renewal, believe in him specifically.

Jesus continues this conversation with Nicodemus. Look at verse 7. Notice this. I'm gonna pull something out here that I think is kind of fantastic. Verse 7, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. Verse 8, the wind blows where it wishes, you hear it 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. Now listen, this is where Jesus brings the conversation so deep that we're not just below the surface, we are in a whole new world, Aladdin. What Jesus is telling us...

It wasn't that funny. We are. You need to understand what Jesus is telling us is something even greater than if he was opening and unveiling the secrets of the universe. It's even greater than that. What Jesus is doing is he's showing us how to enter the kingdom of God and that is greater. But what Jesus says here, this part always gets me. Sometimes you just gotta be a little bit more patient when you read the Bible. There's some interesting things here. This part always gets me. Jesus is like, don't marvel at this. And then he goes on to talk about how marvelous it is. This

is what's so beautiful about this. He talks about how mysterious this is. How can we not marvel at this? Look at verse 7 and 8 again. Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirits." It's like, okay, Jesus, what's going on here? But I'll tell you, this is what I love about the teachings of Jesus. Jesus just has this way of making the mysterious so relatable. He's like, listen, I know you may, you might not fully understand this,

but there's already so much you don't fully understand and yet accept. You know the wind, you hear the wind, it comes over you, but you can't control it. In our prideful world, you know, we talk about harnessing the power of the wind. That's a joke. We don't harness the power of the wind. We can barely tap into it, but we don't control it. Jesus is like, just like the winds. What we are talking about cannot be seen,

but that doesn't mean it cannot be known, felt, or experienced. To be born again is to be born of the Spirit. We're talking about spiritual truths here. This means that by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can be made new, we can be remade,

renewed, reborn. Jesus is clear, we're talking about spiritual work here. Have you ever been there for the birth of a baby? They come out kinda gross. They need to be washed. Newborn babies need washing,

but they don't wash themselves. And likewise, born-again Christians don't wash ourselves. This is the power of the Spirit in our lives, that spiritually we are washed of our sins so that we can have a renewed life before God. And this is done by the power of the Spirit and by the washing with the blood of Jesus. Now listen to me.

If you've been at church for a long time, you just heard that and you just passed over what I just said. But if you're unfamiliar with what I just said, that sounds everything from weird to gross. Washed with the blood of Jesus? What are you even talking about? Here's what we mean when we talk about being washed with the blood of Jesus.

That Jesus Christ, on the cross, died in our place for our sins. That his blood was spilt as a penalty that we should have assumed for our own sin. Christ paid it for us. And when his blood was spilled, that's what we mean, that we are washed by his blood.

That through Christ,

through his life, death, and resurrection, through the gospel, my friends, through Christ, we are no longer lost to the brokenness of this world or to our own sin. That through Christ, we can be made new.

We can be reborn. We cannot be fixed. But by the blood of Jesus Christ we can be born again and that's better. So my friends, here's the question, plain and simple. Have you been born again? Meaning, have you traded your old life of sin and condemnation and received the free gift of salvation that is only available through Jesus Christ who willingly gave up his life for you? Have you been born again? Have you accepted what God freely offers to you? I will ask you,

I don't know why or how anyone could pass this up, what do you love more that you want to hold on to that over what God himself is giving you through the blood of his Son and through the power of the spirits. Here's my question for you, have you been born again? For me, this happened in November of 1997. I was a senior in high school and I had recently started attending a youth group

with some friends who invited me. I was going to the youth group at TVC in Hastings. I was going to there for a few months and a few months of hearing the gospel, a few months of my friends sharing the gospel with me, and it was one night after youth group had ended. Youth group was over and me and my friends, we were hanging out there late at church. Like everyone had left, all the

leaders had left, and we were just hanging out there. The 90s were a different place, I'm just telling you. That happened today. Somebody's getting written up. Like, we were just hanging out in the youth room, just me and a small group of my friends. And, uh, the janitor comes in because of course he's wanting to shut down the place so he can go home. So he, he walks into the youth room and he, me and my friends are sitting there talking and he walks in and he says, all right, boys, time to wrap it up.

Time to head home, I gotta close down the place. So we were like, okay, yeah, so we get up and we're starting to get our stuff on and he says, hold on a second.

He says, hold on a second.

He says, I feel like the Holy Spirit is leading me to ask if one of you need to be born again. I'm telling you, this is the gospel truth story. And the hair on my arms went straight up. And I knew, I knew he was talking about me. He says, does someone here need to get born again?

And I said, I think you're talking about me, sir. He looked at me and he said, I thought so. And he comes up to me, he says, son, do you know the gospel? Yeah, I know the gospel. He said, is it time for you to receive what Jesus has done for you?

Is it time for you to be born again? I said, yes, sir. He said, take a knee. So he took a knee, we took a knee, he took a knee right next to me, and my friends all gathered around me.

And I remember he looked at me and he said, boy, I'm gonna lead you in a prayer, but don't you just repeat after me. You make this prayer your own, you understand?

I said, yes.

He said, then repeat this after me. And we prayed together. And I don't remember like word for word the prayer, but it was something like this. He would say a phrase and I would say it after him. Lord, I know that I'm a sinner in need of a savior.

And Jesus, that savior is you.

And so I confess with my mouth and I believe in my heart that you died for me and you rose again. I know that I could not earn this salvation that you freely give to me now. By the blood of your sacrifice, I am now made clean and welcomed into the kingdom of God as a son of God with a place at the table prepared for me. Thank you for saving me. I give you my life now asking that you will walk with me all my days until the day you call me home in Jesus name

By the power of the Spirit. Amen

My friends I'm telling you there was no pastor there that night it was the custodian

You don't need me to be the one. What you need is Jesus. Listen to me, it was the janitor that led me to Christ,

but it was not the janitor that saved me that night.

It was Jesus Christ and him specifically, because I believed in him specifically. And my hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but holy lean on Jesus name That night by the power of the spirit. I was born again. I Was brought from brokenness to renewal well listen. Do you think I've been perfect since then? How do you know? What you're saying no for? Absolutely not

Getting saved doesn't mean you automatically becomes perfect, but it does mean that the Spirit starts working in you. You will ever be sanctified, ever be made holy until that day that you are welcomed finally fully and forever into the Kingdom of God. And that promise that I received, I'm here to tell you, it's for you to receive here and now.

Why would you ever pass this up? Jesus Christ died for you. More than that, He rose again so that you could have new life. New life forever. That very same resurrection life is available for you now and we call it renewal. You can't be fixed but you can be born again and that is better. Because the gospel brings us from brokenness to renewal and this is because of Jesus Christ. Amen? Amen? Amen. And with that would you please

stand and let's prepare our hearts to pray. stand and let's prepare our hearts to pray.

And with that, would you please stand and let's prepare our hearts to pray.