Nicodemus is one of my favorite characters in Scripture. He wants to know the truth… and he’s also afraid to be found searching (at first, anyway). The fact that he’s there at the cross, and at the tomb, helping prepare Jesus’s lifeless body for burial, gives us a beautiful peek into the journey his heart and mind have taken with Jesus. But earlier in his journey of faith, he wonders deeply… What is this phrase: “born again?” … It just doesn’t make sense… How can someone enter again into his/her mother’s womb, after s/he was born? It’s just not physically impossible! As the mother of two adult children, I hear you, Nicodemus!
Our second Covenant Affirmation says, “We affirm the necessity of the new birth,” and it’s a super important one, while also a “bit” confusing. Rest assured, friends, you don’t need to fully and completely understand this in order to experience and live it! The truth is, if you are in Christ, you the new creation is in you! Your life is no longer your own, but Christ lives in you! Some of you understand this, and some of you are scratching your heads. It’s OK. We get to unpack this together, looking at what new life looks and sounds and feels like.
Join us on July 9th, which is also communion Sunday, as explore together this new life that we are invited into!
Pastor Char
***Message notes can be found here.