Come Alive!

Welcome to Waypoint! I am Pastor Matthew

We are so glad that you are here with us on our first official Sunday.

The team that you see serving you here this morning is committed to you and to this church.

They’ve been working tirelessly for a couple of months preparing for this morning

And we feel blessed to have you with us today, sharing it together.

At waypoint, we exist to point each other to Jesus.

One of the ways that we do that is through sound, Biblical teaching.

What you are going to hear from this platform is the Bible.

Whether I’m up here teaching or it’s another part of the Waypoint team, this isn’t about us, it is about your relationship with Jesus, and so we’re going to point you over and over to God’s Word.

And I will always invite you not to just take my word for it.

If you have children in our children’s ministry, they are hearing the same text today and a similar message so that you can teach your children and talk as a family

You probably saw that we have kids’ listening guides for those that stay in the service. We are all doing this together.

Go home and read for yourselves, talk as a family, wrestle with what I’ve said and test the truth.

And then, go apply it.

This is a big deal at Waypoint. We don’t want to just hear the truth, we want to be changed by it

What good does it do me to hear it if I don’t do anything about it?

My goal in every message is the same goal you should have every time you read the Bible

Whether you’ve studied the Bible for years and years or you are brand new and just checking the Bible out for the first time, there are three basic questions we ask that help us:

First, What does it say? In other words,

What do I observe about what I’m reading? What is happening in the story or the passage? Who talks? What do they say?

NEXT, What does it mean? In other words,

What’s the point? What is the take away

Is there a command to obey? Is there a sin to confess? Is there a truth to learn?

FINALLY, What am I going to do because of it?

We should never come away from the Bible without marching orders of some type.

The Bible is a living book, and it will always draw us towards change that God is calling us to.

So, with these three things in Mind, I would ask you to open your Bibles to John, chapter 3

If you need to borrow one you can snag one off of the welcome table

If you don’t own a Bible, let us know you need a Bible after the service so we can get you one.

This morning, we’re starting in a brand new series called “The Way to Jesus”

We’re going to take a close look at some interactions that Jesus had with people in the Bible that point us to what it means to follow Him.

So, this morning we’re looking at the first of these interactions, and as you find your place, let me ask you a question:

What does it mean to truly be alive?

Is it simply breathing in and out?

If we look at medical terminology and definitions, we start to talk about brain function or quality of life.

Is that it?

Is life the experiences that we have each day? Is it our relationships and interactions with each other?

Is it the feeling of the next big rush? Is it a sense of accomplishment? Is it happiness?

What does it mean to be truly alive, and who gets to define that for us?

I would argue that God is the one who invented life, and so He is the one that gets to define it.

In John chapter 3, Jesus has a conversation with a man named Nicodemus about spiritual life

Jesus told Nicodemus the path to real life is through rebirth.

Let’s look at their conversation together:

John 3:1–21 CSB

There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended 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, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

Pray, invite them to sit

Jesus wants you to know that the path to real life is through rebirth

And there are three keys in His conversation with Nicodemus that will teach us what rebirth is and why we need it.

We can relate to Nicodemus, can’t we

Nicodemus isn’t a bad guy. In fact, he is a good man.

He is a teacher of God’s people, who is supposed to show them how to follow God

He had seen Jesus and knew that He was doing miracles and that miracles come from God.

But Jesus was pushing his understanding. He was different than the rest of the religious world around them.

To Nicodemus, a relationship with God was transactional

If you do good, God blesses you and good happens to you

If you do bad, God punishes you and you deserve it.

There are a lot of us, that if you’re honest, you think like this.

You’re hoping that in the end, your good will outweigh your bad

You think of yourself as a good person, and you try to earn the approval of God and others

Or maybe, also like Nicodemus, you see religion as this list of rules that you have to keep and follow.

Look at verse 1 with me:

John 3:1–4 CSB

There was a man from the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.” Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

I love that Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night

Maybe he is trying to avoid the crowds

Maybe he is trying to avoid the attention of the other religious leaders

They knew Jesus was from God, but it wasn’t the most popular thing for him to be saying out loud

Whichever it is, Nicodemus comes to Jesus looking for answers that he expects to fit into the mold of the pharisees.

follow the rules, and God will bless you

Break the rules, and God will smite you

But Jesus turns these thoughts upside down. He gives us a completely different picture of real life through rebirth and Nicodemus is confused

How can I be born again?

The concept blows our minds, doesn’t it? Can a grown man be born again?

But Jesus is using a physical picture to point us to a spiritual reality. Look at verse 5

John 3:5–8 CSB

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again. The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

The first key to understanding rebirth is this

Rebirth is a new beginning only God can give you.

Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh and whatever is Spirit is Spirit-What did Jesus mean by this?

As long as I can remember, I have loved Ford Mustangs.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get to own one, but I love them.

They are hardened American muscle you’ll always hear coming

There are lots of sports cars out there, but nothing quite like a mustang.

A few years ago, I read about something horrible.

It is a kit that you can buy to make your Mazda Miata look like a classic Mustang

That’s hilarious, isn’t it?

Because as much as it might look like a mustang, that car will always be a Miata.

If you don’t believe it, take it out and race it against a real Mustang.

You can change the car’s appearance, but you can’t change what it is

Friends, you can’t change yourself. You can try harder, do more good things, and follow all the religious rules that you want to, and none of those things can give you spiritual life because you still are a human being that breaks God’s Law.

Two verses, quickly, that will help us with this:

Romans 3:23 CSB

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

This simply tells us that all of us are in this boat. Each and everyone of us has done wrong and we can’t make up for it on our own

James 2:10 CSB

For whoever keeps the entire law, and yet stumbles at one point, is guilty of breaking it all.

This says if you broke one of God’s laws, you are just as guilty as the guy who broke all of them.

See, it doesn’t matter how hard you try, you and I can’t undo the wrong we’ve done and we can’t make ourselves good enough.

We need a new nature. We need a new birth into a new life.

Jesus says you have to be born of water and Spirit:

Water, here, is a symbol of your life being purified. You have to be washed clean from the wrong you have done.

The Spirit here is the Holy Spirit, it is the Spirit of God

In other words, Rebirth is a purifying act of God to cleanse you of your sins

It is something only God can do for you, and it will change everything about you

Jesus says we shouldn’t be amazed, and He uses the example of the wind

You can’t see the wind or control it. The Spirit of God is the same. HE is in control, not you.

You had ZERO control over your birth the first time. What makes you think REBIRTH should be any different?

Let’s continue. Look at verse 9:

John 3:9–16 CSB

“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus. “Are you a teacher of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. “Truly I tell you, we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended 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, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Nicodemus is still confused because he is looking at this with earthly eyes, not spiritual ones

And Jesus calls him out because, as a Jewish leader and teacher, this should have been clear to him

And then Jesus drives this point home with a teaching Nicodemus should have known well.

In the Old Testament, in the Book of Numbers 21, there is a story about snakes

God had delivered His people from slavery and oppression in Egypt

But the people rebelled against God over and over

And in Numbers 21, they rebel again, complaining about the food God was giving them and the situation they were in

So, God sends these poisonous snakes who begin biting the people and many died

So, the people go to their leader, Moses, and Moses prays to God for the people

God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent and to put it on a standard

Anyone who was dying that looked at the standard would live. And this is what it looked like

John 3:14–16 CSB

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

This passage contains one of the best known verses in the Bible, John 3:16.

It is quoted by movie stars, athletes, and Christmas cards

But what it points us to is the second key to understanding rebirth, and it’s this:

Rebirth is a personal gift from a lovingGod that only comes through belief in Jesus

Just like those people getting bit by snakes, you and I are dying

Just like their rebellion brought the snakes, our sin against God is bringing us death

And just like those people, God has given us a standard to look to for life.

Romans 6:23 CSB

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus was pointing to the cross, where He would die to pay the price of our sins so that we could be reborn

We can have eternal life with God through belief in Jesus

God’s love is not abstract-

it’s personal.

God loves you and gave His Son, Jesus, to die for your sins. This is the heart of the Gospel, that God’s love is the answer to your spiritual need.

Believing in Jesus is the only way to be reborn. It is only through Him that you can receive eternal life.

Rebirth is a new beginning that only God can give you. It is a personal gift from a loving God that only comes through belief in Jesus. Let’s look at the third key together, starting in verse 17

John 3:17–21 CSB

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

It’s funny to me that Christians are often accused of being judgmental, when Jesus said He came to save the world and not to condemn it.

The message of the Gospel is one of love and Hope. Jesus died to free us from sin and death, not to judge us for it.

The problem isn’t with the heart of God-the problem is with our response towards Jesus!

John 3:19–21 CSB

This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”

Jesus is the light of the world-there is no darkness in Him

The problem is that people often prefer the darkness because their deeds are evil

Light exposes our wrongdoings so that they can be cleansed from our lives.

Many people like their sin, even though it is their sin that is killing them and will bring God’s judgment on them

so, they choose to stay in the darkness

And, so what you are left with is a choice, and this is the third key to rebirth:

You must choose to receive the gift of new life

God will not force rebirth and new life on anyone

The gift of salvation in Jesus Christ is available to anyone who chooses to believe

You must choose between walking in the light of Jesus and the eternal life He brings or staying in the darkness of sin that brings separation from God.

I told you at the beginning today that I am here to point you to Jesus

This is not about religion, it is about a relationship

It’s about trusting Jesus as the Son of God who died for your sins and was raised to life

And this morning, if you are ready, you can be reborn: Here’s how

Acknowledge your need: Admit you are spiritually dead without Jesus and that you can’t fix your own life. Choose, with His help to leave that life of death behind you.

Believe in Jesus: Trust in His death, resurrection, and His promise of eternal life

Confess your belief that He is the Son of God and make Him the King, the boss in your life. Receive His grace and forgiveness, and you will be reborn- as a child of God.

Today, Jesus is offering you rebirth and new life.

You don’t have to stay in darkness and you can’t do it on your own

You can be born again

You can experience His grace and forgiveness right now.

Today, you can have eternal life.

Will you choose to believe in Jesus?

Our worship team is going to come and lead us in a song

Before they sing, I’m going to lead us in a prayer, and I invite you to pray with me

And if today, you have decided you want to follow Jesus, I want you to do one of two things

I’ll be at the welcome table right after the service. Come talk with me so I can pray with you and share in your joy this morning and talk about next steps

scan that qr code on the back of your chair and go to Next Steps

Fill out a request to have coffee with me, and let me know of your decision so that I can meet with you to talk about what comes next.

Maybe, this morning, you are already a follower of Jesus, But He is calling you to go deeper

I’d love to connect with you this morning as well!

Additionally, there are some next steps available in the connections center to help you as well.

PRAY