20230305 Born From Above
Guest Speaker - Gloria Dei • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsNotes
Transcript
Handout
Welcome - on this Second Sunday in Lent. I am pastor Mike, the guest speaker this morning. Our worship this morning will consist of singing, responsive readings, the reading of Gd’s word, and the taking of Communion.
Holy Moment
Let The River Flow
Prayer - Holy God and Lord of Heaven, we thank you for Your presence as we gather together as brothers and sisters in Christ to worship in spirit and in truth. May we lift high the name of Jesus in song, may your Spirit challenge and convict us through the reading and study of your word, and may we at the Lord’s table experience communion with the true and living God. Thank you that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. May we experience the abiding and eternal presence which You have promised and may we leave this place with a renewed desire to serve you and to glorify your name. In the name of or Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ we pray, Amen
Gathering Song: LBW 489 Wide Open are Your Hands
Confession and Forgiveness:
P: Blessed be the Holy Trinity, one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whose voice is upon the waters, whose mercy is poured out upon all people, whose goodness cascades over all creation.
C: Amen
P: Let us confess our sin, trusting in the abundant grace of God.
Silence is kept for reflection.
P: Holy God,
C: You search us and know us. You are acquainted with all our ways. We confess that our hearts are burdened by sin – our own sins and the broken systems that bind us. We turn inward, failing to
follow your outward way of love. We distrust those who are not like us. We exploit the earth and its resources and fail to consider generations to come. Forgive us, gracious God, for all we have
done and left undone. Even before the words are on our tongues, you know them; receive them in your divine mercy. Amen
P: How vast is God’s grace! Through the power and promise of Christ Jesus, our sins are washed away and we are claimed as God’s own beloved. Indeed, we are forgiven. In the wake of God’s forgiveness, we are called to be the beloved community living out Christ’s justice and the Spirit’s reconciling peace.
C: Amen
Greeting
P: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
C: And also with you.
Kyrie – With One Voice, Setting 4; page 12
A: In peace, in peace let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
A: For the peace from above, and for our salvation, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
A: For the peace of the whole world, the well-being of the church of God, and for the unity of all, let us
pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
A: For this holy house, and for all who offer here their worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord.
C: Lord, have mercy.
A: Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.
C: Amen
Hymn of Praise - This is the Feast, With One Voice, Setting 4; page 15
C: This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia. Alleluia. Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was
slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God. Power and riches, wisdom and strength, and
honor and blessing and glory are his. This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia. Alleluia.
Sing with all the people of God, and join in the hymn of all creation: Blessing and honor, glory and
might to God and the Lamb forever. Amen. This is the feast of victory for our God, Alleluia.
Alleluia. For the Lamb, the Lamb who was slain has begun his reign. Alleluia. This is the feast of
victory for our God. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Amen
Prayer of the Day
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Let us pray. O God, our leader and guide,
C: in the waters of baptism you bring us to new birth to live as your children. Strengthen our faith in your promises, that by your Spirit we may lift up your life to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen
Lessons
Genesis 12:1-4a
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I
will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you
will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the
families of the earth shall be blessed.”
4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was
justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say?
“Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to one who works, wages are not
reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5 But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly,
such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the
law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null
and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his
descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the
father of all of us, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”)—in the presence of the God
in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
If you are able please stand for the reading of the gospel
Pastor - John 3:1-17
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him,
“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do
apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of
God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown
old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell
you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is
flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from
above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes
from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can
these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these
things?
11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive
our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you
about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son
of Man. 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that
whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not
perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might
be saved through him.
This is the reading of God’s word. Let us pray: Father in Heaven, as we open your word may we also open our hearts. May your Spirit do a work of grace, increasing our faith as we hear the word of God. Amen
Message: “Born from Above” Pastor Mike Thorburn
Introduction:
This morning’s message is entitled, Born From Above. If someone asks you this week, what was the message about, the answer I would like you to give them is this:
The Holy Spirit brings us to faith in Jesus Christ by his work of regeneration, by giving us the new birth.
Just as Jesus was sent by the Father to accomplish our salvation by his obedient and sinless life, His substitutionary death, and his victorious resurrection, the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father to give us the new birth.
If we could shorten this explanation of what the main point of the message is, it would be this: you are not born again because you have faith, you have faith because you are born again.
Of the 27 books of the new testament, the writings of the apostle John are the final 5 with the Gospel of John written in 85AD, the 3 letters written next and finally, the Revelation written in 96AD
John tells us the purpose of his gospel in John 20:31
31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 1:1-18 The first 18 verses of John chapter 1 serve as both an introduction to the Gospel of John and as a summary of John’s gospel.
John refers to Jesus as the Word of God, and after telling us that the Word of God has come into the world he writes this in John 1:12-13
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Notice what we are told, we are not children of God by blood, that is, we do not inherit from our parents; or the will of the flesh or the will of man, in other words, we do not naturally desire to become children, we are children of God because we have been born of God.
What we see in John chapter 3 then is an explanation of John 1:13; an explanation of what it means to be born of God.
What does it mean to be “born of God”?
Scottish theologian and pastor Sinclair Ferguson refers to his former pastor, William Still of Aberdeen, who once posted a sign that said, “You must be born anothen.” The church was on a bus route and people would get off the bus in order to tell the pastor that there was a typo. But the pastor had done this on purpose so that he could talk to people about what the greek word anothen meant.
(1) The admission of Nicodemus (John 3:1-2)
1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 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.”
You are a teacher from God
(2) The explanation of Jesus (John 3:3)
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
You must be born again - born anothen - the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom Matthew 27:51 -
ἄνωθεν as something that comes downwards from above.
(3) The confusion of Nicodemus (John 3:4)
4 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?”
- physical birth?
(4) The loving and patient explanation of Jesus (John 3:5-8)
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 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.”
The new birth is completely the work of the Spirit.
Born of the Spirit in verse 6 - the mysterious nature of salvation. There are times that we see the most unlikely people come to faith in Christ
Since we do not have a role in our regeneration, we only know that we’ve been born again by the results of this birth.
The first result, in John 2:3, is that the new birth enables us to see the kingdom of God, the power of God, and that Jesus is king of this kingdom.
Our sinful minds were darkened and we could not see the kingdom. Regeneration, however, illumines our darkened minds so that we can see.
Second, the Spirit produces eternal life. Jesus said in John 2:5 that one can only enter the kingdom of God through being born again.
Through the Spirit, regeneration liberates our enslaved wills. Jesus said in John 2:5 that one can only enter the kingdom of God through being born again.
Do you want to go to heaven, do you long for the Lord to return? This is the result of the new birth.
Jesus had already patiently explained this to Nicodemus: “Unless God’s Spirit opens your eyes, you cannot see the kingdom of God.
We cannot enter the kingdom of God because our will is bound, we are slaves, we are in bondage. He then says, “But the Holy Spirit comes and gives new birth and you begin to will what you could have never have willed yourself. You want Jesus and you didn’t want Jesus before.”
Third, we are born of water and the Spirit. This is not justphysical birth or baptism but the fulfilled prophecy of Ezekiel 36:25-27, the pouring out of the Spirit and the sprinkling of clean water.
Luther and others have commented on this. I would like us to build on this and go deeper.
This is the Son of God speaking. This is Jesus speaking on what it means to be born of God. This is Jesus telling us what happens at regeneration, the new birth to Nicodemus, the chief theologian of Israel, a man locked in the human perspective of salvation. This is Jesus giving God and God alone the glory for the work of grace that is done in our hearts
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
“Jesus is speaking of the transformation that takes place in our affections so that we are clean. We have the sense that we belong to the Lord. Our affections, our desires, are no longer directed downwards but are directed Christwards.” The apostle Paul would call this the fruit of the Spirit.
One last thought: John 3:16
We must never separate the teaching on the new birth in John 3:1-8, especially John 3:3 from the teaching in John 3:16, that whoever believes in him should not perish. This is the first and the great sign that we have been born again by the Holy Spirit. We don’t look downwards and inwards and proclaim that we are born again. When we are born again by the Spirit we look outward and come in faith to trust Jesus and to serve him and to love him.”
Let’s pray
Message Hymn: Be Still, My Soul
Apostles’ Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the
right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen
Praise Song: When Love Comes
Prayers of the Church
A: Let us pray for the whole people of God in Christ Jesus, and for all people according to their needs.
A: …Lord, in your mercy
C: Hear our prayer.
Prayers are concluded with
P: Into your hands, O Lord, we commend all for whom we pray, trusting in your mercy; through your
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
C: Amen
Passing of the Peace
P: The peace of the Lord be with you always.
C: And also with you.
Offering/Announcements
Offertory – With One Voice, Setting 4, Page 21
C: Let the vineyards be fruitful Lord, fill to the brim our cup of blessing. Gather a harvest from
the seeds that were sown, that we may be fed, we may be fed with the bread of life. Gather the
hopes and dreams of all; unite them with the prayers we offer. Grace our table with your
presence, and give us a foretaste of the feast to come.
Offertory prayer
A: Let us pray. Savior of the nations, come.
C: Make your home here in us. Feed is with your love, that our faith may shine ever new and our
lives reveal your light, in Jesus’ name. Amen
The Great Thanksgiving – With One Voice, Setting 4; page 22
P: The Lord be with you.
C: And also with you.
P: Lift up your hearts.
C: We lift them to the Lord.
P: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
C: It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Proper Preface:
It is indeed right and salutary that we should in all times and in all places offer thanks and
praise to you Lord, holy Father, through Christ our Lord. Sharing our life, he lived among us to reveal
your glory and love, that our darkness should give way to his own brilliant light. And so, with the church
on earth and the hosts of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, Holy, Holy – With One Voice, Setting 4; page 22
C: Holy, holy, holy Lord, Lord God of pow’r and might, heav’n and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna
in the highest. Blessed, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Words of Institution
P: In the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks; broke it, and gave
it to his disciples saying: Take and eat, this is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance
of me. Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying: This cup
is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins. DO this
for the remembrance of me.
Lord’s Prayer
C: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth
as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin
against us. Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen
Now is the time for communion. I invite those who have taken communion remain seated blessing
Agnus Dei – With One Voice, Setting 4; page 25
C: Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us, have mercy on us, have
mercy. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; have mercy on us, have mercy on us,
have mercy. Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world; Grant us peace.
Distribution Song: By His Blood
Post-Communion Prayer
P: The body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ strengthen you and keep you in his grace.
C: Amen
Post-communion Canticle, With One Voice, Setting 4; page 26
C: Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace: your word has been fulfilled. My own eyes have seen
the salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people: a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel. Glory to the Father and to the Son, glory to the Holy Spirit, as
it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen, amen, amen.
Post-Communion Prayer
A: Let us pray. God for whom we wait, you come to us in the broken bread and the cup we share. Make us
always ready to welcome Christ into our hearts, and send us forth to be your people in the world,
announcing your coming among us in Jesus Christ our Lord.
C: Amen
Benediction
P: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord
look upon you with favor and give you peace.
C: Amen
Closing Song: Here I Am
Sending
A: Go in peace.
C: Thanks be to God.
A: Share the Good News!
C: Yes, Lord, we will!