You Must Be Born Again

Mark: Good morning, good morning, here we are. Hello. Good to be with you. Excited to share the word today. I want to say a quick hello to our friends online as well and down in the Family Center. Hello Family Center, my people. I'm there with them quite a bit. Hello, hello. Let's open the word together. We're going to be in John 3 today. If you have your Bibles, open in John 3. We're going to read quite a bit. It's a really rich dialogue there. So we'll start from verse 1. I'm gonna continue from where Pastor Josh was a couple weeks ago and he talked about new creation. Were you here for that? All right, it was so good. If you want more after this morning and you were not here, you should go back and watch that because these messages will go together. ⁓ We're gonna be in John 3. If you're there, say I'm there. All right, come on. You're responsive today. It's gonna be good. Okay. John 3 verse 1, let's read there. 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. And Jesus answered him, truly, truly I say to you, unless, can you say unless? Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Let's pray, we're gonna read some more, but let's pray together. Can you just lift up your hand and bless the preacher this morning? Come on, say, God speak to me through this Brazilian today. Lord Jesus, release your word this morning. I pray that you would open up the scriptures, not only the printed, but the living scriptures, the living word. I pray for the spirit of God to speak to us. Pray for ears to hear and a heart to know, for eyes to see, for truth to be revealed and for transformation to happen. That is what you do, Lord. We welcome you, Holy Spirit, afloat today in this room, in the family center, even online, that you would touch us today and make us more like you in your name. Amen. Amen. Let's start again. Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna unpack this passage. I'm gonna talk to you today about the new birth, being born again. This is why Jesus tells him here right off the bat, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So I'm gonna unpack this passage, then we're gonna hit some questions that usually come up about being born again. And then we're gonna do that together. So let's start again. Chapter three, now there was a man of the Pharisees. Can you say Pharisees? That's important, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. So it's introducing a character here. John is mentioning this guy and we know three things about this man right off the bat. He is a Pharisee, his name is Nicodemus, he is a ruler of the Jews. So he's a leader, he's influential. So a Pharisee here, if he's a leader of the Jews and a Pharisee, you would know about this man that by age 13, for example, he would have memorized the Torah. By the time he was an adult, he would have known by memory the whole Old Testament. He would have fasted twice a week. He would have tithed from everything he had and a lot more. Do you know anybody that does that? Nicodemus is that man. His name is also a Greek name, which gives us even more reason to know this man is probably a man with higher social. ⁓ echelon and pedigree and so he's coming in as a leader of the Jews so he's a Jew, he's a Pharisee and he's probably a very influential man. So he comes to Jesus by night why does he do that? Probably a couple reasons. The first he didn't want to be seen with Jesus, probable. The second is he wanted privacy. He wanted to have Jesus's full attention. So he shows up and he's like rabbi. We know that you are a teacher come from God. No one can do these things that you do unless God is with him. And Jesus cuts right through the introduction and right off the bat, he shoots him straight and he says, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. He cannot see the kingdom of God. Why does he use the word see, the term see? See speaks about perception. speaks about your ability to engage because you perceive it. Speaks about your sensibilities. Have ever heard somebody say after they were born again, they were like, it's like I heard the gospel for the first time. Or they were raised in church and they were like, you know what, I was growing up and then I went to this camp and then the gospel was preached and then I was saved. I can't believe my church didn't preach the gospel. I've never heard that. Now we do need the preaching of the gospel, but odds are that you were sitting there, you just couldn't see the gospel being preached. because you weren't yet awakened by the Spirit to see. And so he's saying, unless you're born again, you cannot see, you cannot perceive the kingdom. And he continues, Nicodemus responds, you can see where he is, he says, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? And Jesus answered, truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now he's using the term enter. You cannot see and you cannot enter. See speaks about. perception and enter speaks about partaking, participating, accessing, entering in. So both things are true. Jesus, this is our red letters. He's saying you cannot enter unless you're born again. That which is born of the flesh is what? And that which is born of the Spirit is what? Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born again. And the word you here is you in the plural. So you can say, do not marvel when I say to you, y'all must be born again. So, Southern. You know, actually, what do you think about, when I say born again, what comes to your mind? To a lot of people, you actually get a Southern thing. It's like, it's kind of funny. It's like this like rustic, like, are you born again? Like, you almost need to change your voice, right? It's like the word testimony, I don't know why. People can't just say testimony, they say testimony. It's like, anyways. Why am I saying this right now? Okay. What you saying? You almost be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound. I am from the south, by the way. You're like, this guy's Brazilian, he can't talk like that. I am like. deep in the south. I'm from South America and south of South America. So I'm from the south, okay? And I did live in Oklahoma for four years. All right? Okay, here we go. You must be born again. You all must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear it sound, but you do not know where it comes from. So you know, the word wind here is neoma, which is the same word for spirit. So he's using them interchangeably. He's saying those spirit blows and the wind moves and you're born of the spirit. And so he says, you hear it sound, you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. Wow. You may not be able to see it, but you see its impact. It's like the kingdom. You may not be able to see the kingdom of God, but you can see when the kingdom of God is. manifest. You can see its impact. It's like the wind when it hits the tree, right? It's the spirit. So he's saying, you all must be born again. In a lot of ways, being born again, it is the beginning, but nonetheless, it is crucial to our faith. From the beginning, everything comes. It's like thinking about being born again as simply a moment or our past, but it's not only that, it is actually the origin of the new life. And it's helpful to think of that that way because he's saying that which is born of the flesh is flesh. So everything that originates from the flesh is flesh and what originates from the spirit is spirit. So the source of the birth impacts what is birthed. The nature of what it's birthed. Are you with me here? So the source matters. The origin matters. And what a remarkable dialogue he has with this man. Nicodemus is showing up. And as a good leader of the Jews and ⁓ Pharisee, he would have shown up before Jesus and he's probably thinking here that being born in Israel is enough to earn him entrance into the kingdom of God. covenant that God made with Abraham, the Pharisees would use that often to say we are the descendants of Abraham, meaning we are the people. Do you know where I was born, Jesus? You're saying I must be born again. Like, here's my passport. I was born right here. I'm a Hebrew. I'm a Jew. And Jesus right off the bat is saying, I know where you're coming from, man, but unless you're born again, You cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. So he's cutting through all the qualifications and the things that Nicodemus is coming into this conversation with. You could say just by the introduction of Nicodemus here that this was a man that had a decent moral standing. And he had good religious performance. Right off the bat, Jesus is saying your religiosity and your works and your own morality is not enough to give you entrance into the kingdom. Not even your racial identity where you were born. Now listen, if you read Romans 9 to 11, you know that God has a special plan for Israel. And I believe that fully. But if you read, even if you go down John chapter three, you will see that Jesus is saying, if you believe him, you're saved. If you don't, you already condemned. There's only one way to the Father. He's saying, it's not your passport, it's not your religiosity, it's not your morality, it's not what you do or don't do your good works. It is being born again. John the Baptist said to the Pharisees in the desert, he said, All y'all," he said, y'all again, y'all need to repent. And he says, you say to yourself, we are the descendants of Abraham. He said, even from these rocks, God can raise up children of Abraham. So Jesus is picking up the conversation from the same place that his cousin and forerunner was addressing Israel. So he shattered Nicodemus's Jewish assumption. And so Nicodemus is still trying to figure out his way through what Jesus is saying. And you know, at that time, this is very interesting, at that time in Israel, as I was digging into this passage, there were actually teachers and rabbis that would teach the Jewish people that Abraham would sit at the gates of hell to watch the people that were going in, in case one of his descendants tried to get in the wrong door. And he'd be like, hey you. You're one of us, man, back out of there. Go upstairs. So they would teach that being a descendant of Abraham was like a guarantee that you are entering into the kingdom. I just wanna give you context to see how big of a deal this was for Nicodemus, who is a leader who gave his whole life to this thing, and now he's like, wait, I have to be born again? So there's not just some random guy coming to Jesus. This is Jesus saying to a major leader like, even you, you need to be born again. Let's go down to verse 16 here. You guys will recognize this one. John 3.16. Are you there? For God so loved the world. Now the world there is cosmos. It means everything that was created by God he loved. That means every tribe, every nation, every tongue, every color, rich, poor, old, young. He loved all of them. He's not saying God so loved Israel, although that is true. He's saying God so loved the world. that he gave his only son or his only begotten son. As soon as Jesus hit that term, a hyper Lincoln, Nicodemus' head went and Genesis 22, who is the only begotten son? That is Isaac. So he's saying, God so loved the world, just like Abraham gave Isaac, my father is giving me for your sake. And if you go to Hebrews 11, for example, the Bible uses that same term to say that Abraham gave his only son, his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. That's good news. Thank you, God. But in order that the world might be saved through him, thank you, God. Hallelujah. 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 begotten son of God. So again, he's hitting the Abraham thing and he's saying, you know, Abraham gave Isaac and that marked a nation. The father is giving me and that's gonna invite the whole world into a covenant. He loved the whole world. And so when Nicodemus opened up the conversation, he said, I know that you are a teacher that comes from God. Now, after these statements, he can't just be a teacher that came from God, because if you believe him, you're saved. If you don't, you already condemned. C.S. Lewis would say, if this Jesus thing is for real, then believing him is of the uttermost importance, or it's craziness. What it can't be is partially important. It cannot be partially important. It cannot be half important. And so Nicodemus no longer has an option to just say you are prophet or you are a good teacher or you are a philosopher, which a lot of people nowadays would subscribe to Jesus as that. But really, if you read his statements, he did not give us that option. What a lot of us, you know, don't realize about this verse, John 3.16, even though it is one of the most popular verses ever, maybe the main ⁓ most popular one, is that this verse is actually in red letters. When people quote it, they say, John 3.16, and maybe they think, well, John wrote these words. Well, you know what? This is actually Jesus saying this. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, whoever believes in him, would not perish but have eternal life. Now Jesus is saying this long before he went to the cross. He's already talking about that he's given as an offering. He's referring to the Abraham thing from the beginning. What does that tell us about our savior? That he lived his whole life as an offering for humanity. The cross didn't just happen on Calvary, it was a way of life for Jesus. He's a cruciform king. He's saying, I came and the Father is giving me like Abraham gave Isaac for the whole world. Years before his encouvery, when he's talking to Nicodemus. Okay? So. That puts it into perspective, the red letters here. You must be born again. Or God so loved the world. This is not just... historical records of somebody else saying it. This is Jesus teaching somebody what is true about following him. So we're gonna hit some questions about the new birth. And we're gonna pray together at the end. Here's some questions we're gonna talk about. What is the new birth? How does it happen? Why do we need to be born again? And how do we know that we have been born again? What is it? How does it happen? Why do we need it? And how do we know that we've been born again? So we're gonna hit those questions. And I think for a lot of people, they're like, you know, I believed and I prayed and my circumstances or my emotions didn't change. Now I want to tell you, if you fully received and believed, if the core of your nature is changed, then from that core, everything else will eventually change. We're going to talk about that a little more. So what is the new birth? We have to look back into the original birth. We have to look back to ⁓ the initial nature that God has given us. You have to go all the way back to Genesis, which is honestly one of my favorite books of the Bible. If you know me, I just I'm like. If you want to grow in the things of God, sit with Genesis. Because again, it is not just our past, it is our origin. So everything comes, the genetic form of everything that exists comes from Genesis. And so you have to look back at Genesis. And God created Adam and Eve and He said, it is very good. Exclamation. Everything else, it's good, it's good. Creates Adam and Eve, it is very good. And he rests. for a day and he enters into relationship with them. And then he says, if you eat of this one tree, you will surely die. You can eat of everything else, but this one tree, you will surely die. You know the story, Genesis 3, they eat of the tree, but they didn't just drop dead right there. God said, you will surely die. So what happened? The wages of sin is death. The moment they sinned, Death became inevitable and entered into the human experience, entered into the human nature, the sinful nature, right? The fall of man. And now death is inevitable because the wages of sin is death and everybody is born out of Adam, then they're born in sin, and then they need to be born again, a new birth. And so from Genesis all the way to Matthew, you see the cycles of sin and you see animal sacrifices and you see Israel trying to follow God and the law who wants to show them a way to God but also shows them that they need a savior and then you get to the birth of Jesus in the Gospels and you see that when Jesus was born His birth Was different than any other birth all the way from Adam The sin of man was carried through the seed of men The sin of man was carried on through the seed of man. So everyone who is born from Adam and Eve is born with a sinful nature. The Bible says, all have seen and have fallen short of the glory of God. But Jesus is not born of natural seed. That's why it was huge for the church fathers and the early apostles and their teaching that you as a church have to grapple with the reality he was born of a virgin. Because he's not born of natural seed. So he's born of Mary, but the seed, the Bible says is that Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she conceived. And it says, you shall call this child holy because he is the son of God. And so the first one born of the Spirit was Jesus. When you read the Bible, the more you read it, you realize He doesn't ask us to do anything that He didn't do first. He's preeminent in everything. He's the firstborn, the creation, He's the firstborn of the Spirit, He's the firstborn from the dead, He's preeminent. And so when He's talking in Nicodemus, He's saying, must be born from the Spirit. He was born from the Spirit, literally. But now He's talking about a spiritual reality that we can enter into. You hear Him saying here? Because he says that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. So again, the source of the birth impacts the nature of what's birthed. We're just painting a context here, okay? 1 Corinthians, Paul says it this way. He says, 1 Corinthians 15, I think we have that one up there. Verse 45, he says, it is written, the first man Adam became a living being, the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. So the seed of the first Adam can reproduce and give life to your being, to your natural body. But that which comes from Jesus can give life to your spirit. So the first Adam in the garden, Genesis 3, everything went south, again south, everything went south with him. Why are we going anyways, South is good guys. Why do we say that about South? All right. But the last Adam is a life-giving spirit. And that is important. I remember when I was coming into the faith, I was like, how come like what Jesus did 2000 years in Calvary actually changes my life today? Have you ever had that question? I mean, I'm coming into the faith, I'm like, okay, that was like 2000 years ago. And I remember, I don't know if it was from the word, but I know it's from the Lord. I don't know if I was reading the word, it just came into my mind. I'm like, just like Adam changed the course of history with one act, how much more would the obedience of Jesus change everything when he went to the cross? So you see this contrast when you go to Hebrews, when you go to the letters of Paul, he talks about the first Adam and the last Adam. So the first Adam gave birth. to natural creation, the second Adam came to give birth to a new creation. Again, go back to Pastor Josh two weeks ago, he's gonna teach a lot more on that if you can watch it, if you weren't here. So he came to give new creation. He is a life-giving spirit. hehe So that's the context of the new birth. What is the new birth? And then now you may ask the question, how do you get born again? How do we get born again? Couple chapters before that, John was very straightforward with the answer to that question. John 1, verse 12 and 13. He says, but to all who did receive him. Can you say receive? who believed in his name. Can you say believed? He gave the right to become children of God. Out of all the rights that people can claim out there, this is the biggest one. I have the right to be a child of God? What? That's really the right that we need to stand on, believe for, fight for, hold on to the right to be a child of God? If you receive Him and you believe Him, you have the right legally to be a child of God. Who were born not of blood. Some people are like, you don't know what my father did, what my mother did, what my grandparents did. You don't know what's in my bloodline. If you're born again, your nature is now born of him. If you're born of God, you're not born out of natural blood. You're not born of the will of the flesh, nor off the will of man, meaning this. Thinking about the circumstances of your natural birth, whether your parents wanted you or it may seem like you were an accident. God is saying there's no accident in your existence. And when you're born again, you're not just born out of the will of your parents or natural blood, the will of man, you are born of the spirit. And so he's saying, being born of the spirit here. You have the right to be a child of God. And then he says, you are born of God. you know, this teacher ⁓ and author, Tommy Tenney, he said, the only way for you to belong in the kingdom of God is for you to be born into it. So that's why when Jesus is talking in Icademus, he's saying, unless you are born again, you cannot enter. Unless you're born again, you cannot see it. It's because you need to be born into it. He's teaching that nature changes. And here's the thing about the new birth that a lot of us don't realize. We think being born again is a fresh start, is a new beginning. And that is right. But it's not only a new beginning, it is a new beginning with a new nature. So you're not just starting again with the same nature. You're literally from the core of your being now being born of the spirit. Now the spirit is the predominant source of parenting life and purpose to you as you go about your life. So my question to you is, have you received? Do you believe in his name? And if so, Romans 8 teaches us that the Holy Spirit testifies in our spirit that we are children of God. If you haven't, you can literally pray right now. You can say, Lord, I let go of my ways. I let go of the flesh. I let go of sin. And I believe I receive to be born again. And that's the good news. If you're coming in like Nicodemus and you have status, religiosity, good morals, you're seen by others in a good light and you're coming in with somewhat of a good upbringing and you look good and you are pretty put together, good news, you must be born again. But if you're coming in and you feel like you were born into a mess in a lot of ways, dysfunction, divorce, addiction, fear, you grew up in that and you lived that out and you've seen the consequences of that and you come before God. You know the good news? You can be born again. Not only get a fresh start with Jesus, but a new start with a new nature. That's the good news. Come on. So why do we need to be born again? Open with me in 1 Peter. First Peter. being chapter one. So we talked about what is the new birth, how do you get born again, and now why do we need to be born again? 1 Peter chapter 1, let's read verses 3 to 5. Alright. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be... What? Okay, let's just pause here. This is praise. He's opening up the letter saying, let's give glory to God. Blessed be the God. and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again. Are you in touch with the mercy of God? The only reason he caused you to be born again, he was merciful. That's why Paul says in Romans 12, he said, in light of God's great mercy, offer yourselves as living sacrifices. There's something about being in touch with the mercy of God. He's so merciful. We didn't deserve none of this, we deserved hell. And he showed up, he made a way, he became flesh, he lived life, he was born of a virgin, he lived his whole life blameless and sinless, went to a cross he did not deserve so that he can cause us to be born again, born of God like we were intended to live as his children. From the beginning, the mercy of God. In light of God's great mercy, I beseech you brothers, sisters, offer yourselves as living sacrifice. Okay, according to his great mercy, I love that. according to His great mercy. to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable. Can you say that word, imperishable? So you know your body right now, it's perishing, but your spirit is now born of a seed that is imperishable. Meaning Jesus in the new creation went forward and gave you the seed of that new creation into your spirit. So no, you are already walking towards the kingdom of God, the new heavens, the new earth, because in your spirit you have an imperishable seed. Remember why he said to Nicodemus, he gave his only begotten son, whoever believes in him would not. And now He has given us an imperishable seed. From the seed everything else comes. Okay, where were we? In Perishm. undefiled and unfading. Wow! This seed is imperishable, is undefiled and unfading. Kept in heaven for you. who by God's power being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Let's go. So we're already experiencing this in part, at the return of Christ one day, even our very natural bodies will be transformed into a new nature. So he's saying this seed is being guarded through faith, but on that day, even your perishable bodies will not be. perishable anymore, you'll get a glorious body, a new body, the resurrection. He will teach on this, the resurrection of your body. Wow. All right, verse 23. Let's go down a little bit. Since you have been born again. not of a perishable seed but of imperishable through the living and abiding word of God. Why is it so important that we're opening up the word and I'm preaching the word to you? Because this word has the ability to bring about a new birth. The word of God is alive and active, spirit and truth. And so he's saying through the word of God you receive this. So why do we need to be born again? Because we are born into a perishable reality and now being born again we receive that which is imperishable if God is eternal then in order for us to be with him forever we need to receive that which is eternal imperishable the other translation for the word imperishable is immortal meaning it goes beyond death okay To belong to the heavenly kingdom, one must be born into it. Only that which is born of God lasts forever. Remember, born of flesh is flesh and born of spirit is spirit. But now we are born again into God's family. Lastly, how do we know if we are born again? I think a lot of people get hung up on this question. There's mystery involved, but there's also a lot that the Bible says. and you access this thing by faith, but since there is mystery, the enemy can try to come and confuse people about it. Like, you know, am I really born again? Was I really, have ever seen that or ever felt that? So there are some things that the Bible is very clear about when it comes to the new birth. Let's open in John 19. ⁓ We're gonna look at a little passage there. But St. Augustine said this, he said that as a born again Christian, The loves of your heart will be reordered. As a born-again Christian, the loves of your heart will be reordered. So we talked about from John one, if you receive him, you believe him, then you have the right to be a child of God. You know what that looks like? It looks like you loving Jesus and hating sin. If you love Jesus, you gave your life to Jesus, you confess him as your savior and you hate sin, you flee from sin, then you're born again. The Bible says, if you receive, you believe, you're born from him. Well, let's go to John 19. If you're there, say I'm there. I'm there. We're going to take a look at Nicodemus a couple years later. What happened to him? Okay, let's start from verse 38. After these things, what are these things? The death of Jesus, Calvary, crucifixion. After these things, Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also... who earlier had come to Jesus by night. So you see, John is writing this whole account of the gospel. He introduces him chapter three. Now towards the end, he's saying, Nicodemus, remember I talked to you about him in the beginning. He's giving us a clue here. Came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds in weight. Wow, 75 pounds in weight. I did some digging and. Current times, that would be the equivalent of an offering that costs $200,000. Nicodemus came to care for the body of Jesus and gave him an offering that was worth $200,000. Imagine that, 75 pounds of myrrh and alice to care for the body of Jesus. And you know what else? They did have Jewish burial customs, but this kind of offering would only be given to kings. 75 pounds. You would only see if you saw it, you would only see that in the burial of the king. So Nicodemus comes with 75 pounds. They take the body of Jesus, bound it in linen cloths with the spices as is the burial customs of the Jews. Now in the place where he was crucified There was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was closed at hand, they laid Jesus there. Charity, if you're around, you can come. This man that came to him by night. Now it seems like John is giving us a clue that he likely was at the cross. And now he's offering his best to Jesus. He's taking care of his body. It's very likely that he was holding on to a prophecy from Psalm 16. I it's the verse 10. It says, will not leave your Holy One in the grave. You will not let His body see the K. Psalm 16. You will not leave your Holy One in the grave or let His body see the K. So here he is preparing the body of Jesus likely for a resurrection. The same John who talked about Nicodemus, make sure that he includes this portion. You remember Nicodemus? I told you about that came to him by night. Now he's risking everything to take care of his body, believing for a resurrection, giving him his best offering. He's everything, which we sing about today. Can you stand? We're gonna pray. What an incredible gospel. Whether we come in as Nicodemus or as a nobody before him. He sees somebody in us. He says, you can be born again. As Terrence was singing today, he say it's over for a sinner and he says, no, it's not, no, it's not. Can you close your eyes? I want to pray for you. ask you that nobody move right now. It's just a holy moment. Can we just give God praise for the new birth and being his children together? Let's just do that. Thank you God for your great mercy. Come on, can we do that out loud church? You caused us to be born again. Lord, when there was no way you made a way through your very body, it was torn apart. Then you poured out your spirit. So we may be born of the Spirit, born from above, born of God, and have the right to be called children. And if children, then co-heirs with Christ. What? We give you thanks. We give you thanks. Can we do that? 30 seconds, just thank you. Thank you, God. You changed everything. Not only new beginnings, but new nature. Just receiving what you've done, not based on our religiosity. ⁓ It is possible to be around the things of God. and still not be able to see the kingdom. But when we're born again, then we can see it. We can enter into it. We have eyes to see and ears to hear. We have a heart to know. And then we can fully partake and ultimately we can sit at the table in the kingdom with our Lord and Savior and taste and see that the Lord is good. We give you thanks, God. Now you know, I got to give somebody here an opportunity. If you have not yet received, believed, or maybe you've been away from God and you need to recommit your life to Jesus. You can receive, can believe and surrender your life to Him. I gotta give you that opportunity here in the Family Center online. If you're online, text it in the video. If you're here today and you're like, I need to give my life to Jesus, I need a new life, I need to believe and receive Him. Will you just lift up your hand right now and be bold? I see that hand there, praise God. Thank you Jesus. Anybody else? Thank you Lord. Thank you Lord. Anyone else? This is real. Yes, I want to pray for you right there with your hand up. Thank you, Jesus, for my sister. Thank you now that your spirit, Lord, your spirit is upon her. That's the very reason why she took that decision. Now, I pray, Lord, a new reality for her as she goes today, new reality from the inside out, spirit alive, seeing things, opening up the Word and knowing God and a new life in Jesus' name. because of your blood. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Can we give praise to God? Thank you, Jesus. He is wonderful. All right, all right. It is amazing to be able to be called a child of God, isn't it? It is amazing, only because of Jesus, the only way. Okay, hey. This is all for you today. If you need prayer, can come to the front. We'll pray with you. But if you're ready to go, have an amazing week, an amazing Sunday. We'll see you soon.

John 3:1 John 1:12 1 Peter 1 · chapter mention