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Church of The Nazarene Harrisonburg Campus

For One: Part 4 Harrisonburg

Part 4- Jesus and Nicodemus

John 3:1-2

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

WHATS A PHARISEE?

WHO IS NICODEMUS? (RULER/POWERFUL/WEALTHY)

NICODEMUS MEANS “VICTORIOUS PEOPLE”

John 3:3-11

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.

John 3:14-15

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

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John 20:21

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Isaiah 45:22

“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.

Jesus & Nicodemus (The Chosen)

https://www.bible.com/events/49311109

Church of the Nazarene – East Rock

For One Part 4 East Rock

You must be born again…

Welcome to our teaching series called “For One”.

Throughout this teaching series we are seeking to know and understand the power of Jesus’ one at a time pursuit of people. We believe that Jesus came to save the whole word, and that through his life, death, and resurrection, he has made the pathway to salvation and eternal life open to us.

Jesus is for everyone.

During his earthly ministry, many times we see Jesus fulfilling this worldwide redemption mission, one person at a time.

Jesus is for one.

So, what would it look like for you and I to adopt that same model for our lives? So many times, our focus is on our country or our community, and that’s not a bad thing. But what would it look like for us to be for one, like Jesus was?

That’s what Jesus did, and it transformed the lives of many people in the gospels.

Today as we continue in part 4 our teaching series, we are going to look at the story of Nicodemus. One of the most well known one-on-one conversations in the bible.

John 3:1-2

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

We are introduced to Nicodemus as a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council.

The Pharisee’s were an elite group of people who had sworn to uphold all of the law and the extra oral traditions that went with it. They separated themselves from most normal life so they could be perfectly in line with every letter of the law.

The Jewish Ruling Council was also known as the Sanhedrin. This was the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jewish people. It was like the supreme court of the Jews. And Nicodemus is there.

He is a portrait of the best of the best in the Jewish mind, and he is coming to ask Jesus some questions.

John 3:3-4

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

“Like for real, how is someone supposed to be born a second time as an adult?” That’s basically Nicodemus’s question back to Jesus. One of the most prestigious religious leaders in all of Israel isn’t getting it.

But Jesus is clear- VERY truly I tell you- he adds extra emphasis- No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.

What Jesus is pointing to is an altogether different kind of birth, not from our mothers, but from above, the spiritual realm

This idea of again can literally mean a second time, or it can also mean from above. Here it seems to be referring to both. To see the kingdom of God, something new and from another source, must be born, must come alive inside of us.

John 3:5-8

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Much scholarly debate exists trying to tease out what exactly water and spirit means, but there is a clear reference in the Old Testament that seems like the clearest connection.

Ezekiel 36:25-27 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

God was describing what the new work of Messiah would be like.

It would be a washing a cleansing from sin. He would put a new spirit within his people, and they would be made new, having a new heart. With all this NEW, it’s like being born all over again. Completely different.

Fast forward to Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus. Jesus says, if you don’t have that cleansing from sin and spiritual birth from the Lord- you aren’t going to be in the kingdom of God. You won’t see it or participate in it.

John 3:9-15

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

How much Nicodemus left understanding that night, we may never know. For Jesus, this born-again idea was a basic understanding that he felt was easy to see in the scriptures. But yet, Nicodemus had missed it, he was still confused.

In one more attempt to help Nicodemus, Jesus likens his work to the story of Numbers 21 where the people are sinning by grumbling against God. In response the Lord sends venomous snakes among the people, causing many people to die. The cure for them was that they would look to Moses and this bronze serpent being lifted on a pole. It was a look of faith.

Jesus tells Nicodemus, that in the same way, when He, Jesus, is lifted up on the cross, all those who look to him in faith will be saved. Those who are experiencing the sting and bite of sin, those dying in sin, if they will look to HIM, will experience the new birth and have eternal life in Christ.

This is really the answer to Nicodemus’ question: How can these things be? How can this new birth happen?

Jesus says: to be born again, you must believe in the work of Christ. Place your faith in his death and resurrection and receive the purity and eternal life in the spirit. Believe that you need cleansing from sin and a new spirit within. As you look to Christ in faith, that’s how these things can happen.

So, have you been born again?

Have you experienced the cleansing from sin, the freedom from it’s penalty. Have you received the new life of Christ? Have you received a new heart? Do you have the Spirit of God within you?

Friends, this is not a religious question.

Nicodemus was the most religious person any of us would have known. He followed all the rules, he prayed multiple times per day, he gave of his money, he served the church, everything, down to the letter. Perfect. Jesus looks right at him and says: You need to be born again.

Entrance into his kingdom is not an achievement of man, no, its step of faith. It’s by God’s grace through faith in the person and work of Christ..

Will you place your faith in the person of Christ Jesus? Will you look to him for cleansing from your sin, and the source of eternal life in you?

That’s being born again. And today friends, if you place your faith in Jesus, you confess to him that you are a sinner, ask for his forgiveness, and invite him to come into your heart, to make you alive- you too can experience this new birth.

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Church of the Nazarene – Harrisonburg

For One – Part 3

Are you paying attention?

This morning’s speaker is Brian Charette, who is a lay person who occasionally teaches for us. Brian and his wife Pam have been a part of our church for many years. Pam is a member of the Church Board.

Our beautiful, God-designed brains are fearfully and wonderfully made. One of your brain’s greatest giftings is the ability to filter out and/or ignore information and stimuli. It’s also one of your brain’s greatest challenges when it comes to the theme of this series…For ONE.

This story in focus this morning appears in all of the Synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark an Luke. We’ll focus on the version in Mark but include the other two versions below.

Mark 5:21-30

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

Mark 5:31-34

“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Two medical students from Nigeria – Serekara Christian and Daniel Koate -published a paper in 2017 in the Nigerian Biomedical Science Journal. Their goal was to diagnose the woman in the story. They wrote:

The woman with the issue of blood as reported in the Holy Bible suffered in her condition for 12 years before she was healed by Jesus Christ. This review aims at underpinning the condition to hematology, identifying the probable causes and its diagnosis. Based on the signs and symptoms associated with her condition, menorrhagia, a condition characterized with prolonged menstrual bleeding is the probable clinical condition she suffered. A low level of von Willebrand factor, other clotting factors and disorders in platelet functions can all be implicated in menorrhagia.

Under Mosaic laws a woman with an issue of blood was considered unclean and was “put apart” for 7 days. During this time anything she lay on or sat on was considered “unclean” meaning that if anyone touched one of those things he would have to wash his clothes and bathe in water to become clean again. The Mosaic law also specified that if a woman had an issue of blood that lasted longer than 7 days that all the days of her issue were considered unclean, and she must be treated as such. This means that this woman had probably been unclean for 12 years and that she had to live “put apart” from others for all that time.

Sometimes, we are called to pursue the ONE – searching as did the woman with the lost coin and shepherd with the lost sheep. But sometimes, the ONE will pursue us, like the woman with the issue of blood or the prodigal son. The question is, when the latter occurs, will we be paying attention?

Pastor Kevin’s first teaching series – “For One” is based on the lost and found stories of Luke 15, which follow.

Luke 15:1-32

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “ ‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ ”

Here are the other two versions of the story of the Woman with the Issue of Blood.

Luke 8:40-48

Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him. Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell at Jesus’ feet, pleading with him to come to his house because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying. As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Matthew 9:18-22

While he was saying this, a synagogue leader came and knelt before him and said, “My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live.” Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

Establish COTN as Your Church on the App

In this YouVersion Bible app, we encourage you to set up COTN as your church. It’s a simple process and will open up opportunities to stay connected to us!

https://help.youversion.com/l/en/article/y03uerubo8-mychurch

Giving at COTN

If you ever have questions or need help with online giving, please let us know: finance@cotnaz.org Thank you for your partnership in building the Kingdom of Christ as you impact others!

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