Do You Have Faith in Jesus?

John 3:9-15

Game on Oreo face game

Announcements

Fill out sticky notes for what they might have questions about, or struggles. During Small Group

Manger to the Cross event. Next Wednesday starting at 5:30. We will feed you all as normal, but everything will be done in the gym. For the students specifically, we will be giving away an Amazon gift card, a Walmart gift card, and then a pair of AirPods. For the kids, students, and adults, we will be giving away a Nintendo Switch. So if you want more people to get involved to get the switch, invite your whole family and friends, we expect it to be a ton of fun, and great time to be in the Word.

On December 20th we will have the option to go Christmas caroling. If you do not feel comfortable doing so, still come. We will hang out at the church

January 19th, which is a Friday night, we will be having our first youth night. We will play murder in the dark, eat food, maybe do a nerf war. That is from 6-10 PM.

Also i know this is way out there, but it will be here sooner than you expect. The weekend of March 8th will be our D-Now weekend. It will be a ton of fun, invite a friend. I will have more details and a sign up sheet after the new year.

Introduction

There was a man who prided himself on being exceedingly punctual. He followed a very precise routine every morning. His alarm went off at 6:30 AM. He rose briskly, shaved, showered, ate his breakfast, brushed his teeth, picked up his briefcase, got into his car, rode the ferry across to the downtown business area, got off the ferry, walked smartly to his building, marched to the elevator, rode to the seventeenth floor, hung up his coat, opened his briefcase, spread his papers out on his desk, and sat down in his chair at precisely 8:00 AM. Not 8:01 AM, not even 7:59. Always at 8:00 AM.

He followed this same routine without variation for eight years, until one morning his alarm did not go off, and he overslept fifteen minutes. When he did awake, he was panic-striken. He rushed through the shower, nicked himself when he shaved, gulped down his breakfast, only half-way brushed his teeth, grabbed up his briefcase, jumped into his car, sped to the ferry landing, jumped out of his car, and looked for the ferry.

There it was, out in the water a few feet from the dock. He said to himself, "I think that I can make it," and he ran down the dock towards the ferry at full speed. Reaching the edge of the pier he made an enormous leap out over the water and miraculously landed with a loud thud on the deck of the ferry. The captain rushed down to make sure he was alright.

The captain said, "Man, that was a tremendous leap, but if you would have just waited another minute, we would have reached the dock, and you could have walked on."

We find it so easy to put our faith in finite things. A clock is one of them. Another item we put our faith in is a boyfriend, girlfriend. Our phone for numerous different things. Fortnite for joy, sports, the list goes on. But no matter what all of those things have in common, they are not perfect. We find it easy to put our full faith in those things. But we find it hard to put our faith in someone who is infinite, and who will never fail. That person is Jesus, we will be answering today, Do you have faith in Jesus?

John 3:9–15 “Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

Pray

Review of last week after looking at verse 9. Read verse 9

Having knowledge of Jesus is not enough for salvation

We must be a born again believer to be saved

The Spirit brings the New Birth

John 20:31 “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.”

One must be born again to inherit the kingdom of God

How we do that? Faith not just knowing.

Do you believe the words of Jesus? V.9-10

John 3:9–10 “Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”

Look at How Nicodemus responds to the first set of statements Jesus lays out about being born again. Part of the recap.- He is not seeing and realizing Jesus is the promised Messiah.

V. 10 Nicodemus is the the one sent from the Jews. He is apart of the Sanhedrin- The Jewish supreme court, they dealt with knowing what is true and false happening with the Jewish community. They are the ones called to know the Tanakh.

The New Covenant that was prophesied in the Old Testament. What was it called for the Jews- Tanakh

Ezekiel 36:25–27 “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. 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. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

The importance of water. We all need water, water gives life. From a spiritual standpoint, God is where the living water flows from

Revelation 22:1–2 “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

Application

What are some things we question the Word on?

Can i really live free from sin?

Pornography

idolatry

Gossip

Can I really have hope in Jesus

Why do bad things happen to good people?

I don’t need Jesus, i got this thing figured out.

Career

School

Relationship

Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

Illustration that leads to the next point

A parent teaching their kid of what to not do.

We can believe the words of Jesus through the actions of Jesus. V.11-13

John 3:11–13 “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.”

In verse 11 the you’s are plural here in the Greek. So Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus, but who does he represent in this? The Jews and the nation of Israel.

The nation of Israel had the tendency and desire to be legalistic. Legalism is doing things to do them because they are “right”- The heart was not in right spot.

They were more concerned about the physical law, rather than the purpose of why the law was instituted. They did not have the faith that Jesus is the promised Messiah we see in the Old Testament. Ultimately Jesus is the Son of Man, look at what he gives

Have them turn in their Bibles

John 3:31–32 “He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony.”

John 6:33 “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.””

John 6:51 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.””

We have the tendency to be blind to the Word of God, and be focused on the things of Earth we talked about.

We ignore the acts of Jesus has done- we desire our flesh. But the foundation of why believe in Jesus is the resurrection.

The Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:17 “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.”

We know this through multiple different ways. For tonight we will use the transformation of the disciples.

Paul and all of the other disciples died for what they saw.

Since we can know there is a resurrection of Jesus as a fact, he proves he is God. Since he is God he all truth.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

What did Nicodemus have to know that Jesus was the Messiah.

All of the old Testament Prophecies of Jesus.- SHOW THE GRAPHIC

https://www.learnreligions.com/prophecies-of-jesus-fulfilled-

https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2019/03/the-bible-explained-with-infographics-an-interview-with-karen-sawrey/

Illustration

If i were to say i told you so. Get the weight put it in the room. I can lift 1000 pounds

Doubting Thomas which we will talk about in John 20:24-31.

Application

Search the scriptures to find of what Jesus has done. If you go to Him to find truth, he will give you the answers.

There is a book called the Case for Christ- great movie. He tries to disprove Christianity. Investigative journalist.

We must believe in Jesus to have eternal life. V. 14- 15

John 3:14–15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”

The verse 14 is a direct pull from Numbers 21. Starting verse 4.

The Israelites were really complianing, and not showing faith in the Lord once they were delivered out of the Egyptian slavery.

Numbers 21:9 “So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.”

The symbolic nature of what is happening.

They are turning their eyes to be saved.

When i fell and broke my arm at the football game Illustration.

Closing my eyes, looked up and their is an adult their. Took me to my mom, and then i got taken care of.

When we fix our eyes on Jesus and believe in what He has done, we inherit eternal life.

What has he done?- Gospel Presentation

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 10:9 “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:13 “For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.””

Jesus will take away all of the anxieties, stress, depression, identity issues, the worth, the sin struggle. We put our faith in Him, and fix our eyes on Him.

Quick Takeaways

Look to Jesus as the life giver.

We can trust the Words of Jesus, because of His actions.

Small Group Questions

Why should we have trust in the Words of Jesus?

What are some things that stop you from following Jesus fully?

Who is someone you need to share the gospel with this week?

Pray and dismiss to small groups