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Set the Scene
- Journals
- Moment of centering (Centering Prayer or deep breathing)
- Listen to, or read (on handout) the Gospel meditatively, and put yourself into the scene.Use senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste) to imagine yourself in the Gospel story.
- Pray for the Spirit to speak to you what you need to hear today.

First reading from the Gospel according to John (Chapter 3, verses 1-17)
There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could do these miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.”3 Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.”4 Nicodemus asked, “How is it possible for an adult to be born? It’s impossible to enter the mother’s womb for a second time and be born, isn’t it?”5 Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’8 God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It’s the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus said, “How are these things possible?”10 “Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things? 11 I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you don’t receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Human One. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. 17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Contemplation
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. This is a symbol that Nicodemus was in the dark spiritually. Are you in the dark about anything? Is this causing you to feel uneasy or anxious in any way? Jesus surprises Nicodemus by telling him that he needs to be reborn spiritually. Are you being invited by Jesus into a new beginning this morning? What does the cross that Jesus was lifted up on tell you about how much God loves and values you?How does it make you feel to know that God is not interested in condemning and judging you? Prayerfully reflect this passage and feel free to journal.

Second reading from the Gospel according to John(Chapter 3, verses 1-17)
There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could do these miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.”3 Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.”4 Nicodemus asked, “How is it possible for an adult to be born? It’s impossible to enter the mother’s womb for a second time and be born, isn’t it?”5 Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’8 God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It’s the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”9 Nicodemus said, “How are these things possible?”10 “Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things? 11 I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you don’t receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Human One. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. 16 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. 17 God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Contemplation
How is Christ speaking directly to you today through this passage?Is the Spirit inviting you to act on anything you have heard?Take a moment now to have a prayerful conversation with God about it. Feel free to journal.

Series: Course Correction
Title: Real Life
Text: John 3:1-17

What keeps you up at night?

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Jewish leader. 2 He came to Jesus at night…. John 3:1-2a (CEB)

By saying Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, John is saying that, even though Nicodemus was a religious leader, he was really in the dark about a lot of spiritual things.

It is a form of judgment and self-condemnation

“I assure you, unless someone is born anew, it’s not possible to see God’s kingdom.” John 3:3 (CEB)

Instead, Jesus is inviting me to experience a spiritual rebirth which will give me a whole new perspective.

I am going to be lifted up on a cross, and when people look up to see me, they will see God’s humble love which will heal and restore them.

To be spiritually reborn, I need to change my focus. Instead of dwelling on all that I think I have to do but am inadequate to do with my own abilities and strength, I need to look at what God’s love has done for me in Christ.
It is a shift from pride in my own efforts, to trust, surrender, faithfulness, and most of all humility. The way of Christ always involves a cross where we put to death our endless frustration of having to earn our worth. The cross shows us our worth. Jesus humbled himself to the point of death on a cross to show us how much we are valued and loved.

But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (CEB)

Even when I’m up at night worrying, I’m being invited to focus on the cross and the humble love of God. I’m being invited to let go of my pride in thinking that I have to be capable enough to handle everything. When I’m stuck there, I’m dying spiritually. But when I look up at the cross and see how much God thinks I’m worth. I am able to trust in this love enough to surrender all of my striving and simply rest in this love. It is at that moment, I am spiritually reborn. I need to be spiritually reborn on a daily basis.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. John 3:16 (CEB)

Being in the dark, up at night, playing the worry games is not life the way God intended it to be lived. When I’m stuck focused on myself and what I think I can or can’t do, that is a dead life. But when I look up at the cross and place my trust, not in Kevin, but in Christ, I’m instantly free. Peace comes flooding in, joy returns, serenity comes back, and I can go back to sleep knowing that when I wake up, all I have to do is trust that love and live faithfully according to it. That is the real eternal kind of life we can all enjoy now. We can all share in the kind of life God enjoys.

God doesn’t play the condemnation game.

God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. John 3:17 (CEB)

And when I listen to what Jesus is whispering to me in my darkest hours and put my trust back in Him, I am reborn into real life as God intended it to be.

Songs from Today's Service:

The Lion and the Lamb by Leeland
That's Why We Praise Him by Tommy Walker
How He Loves by John Mark McMillan
I Lift My Eyes Up (Psalm 121) by Vineyard
This Is How Much by Tommy Walker