Stories of Faith

John 3:1-17

Connecting Questions

· What was an early memory you have of learning in a classroom?

· What has been a powerful lesson that you did not learn at school?

Prayer for Illumination

Let us pray, Loving God, we pause today grateful for this next breath. We are grateful for the chance to connect with others today for we all carry such hurts and hope. Open your Word to us. Open our hearts to let your word speak to us and change our lives. We pray in the name of the Jesus, Amen.

Context

This Sunday, we continue our worship series, Stories of Faith. These stories focus on Biblical characters who exemplify the Easter values of worship, care, learn, give, and connect and encourage us to share our own stories. The Church began with the gift of the Holy Spirit to a community of vastly different people, but all connected by faith in Jesus.

Don’t miss Pastor Kevin’s latest sermon in the Stories of Faith series. Sermons can be found at Easter.org/worship.

From Pastor Craig Koester at EntertheBible.org:

John’s Gospel presents readers with a portrait of Jesus that is at once engaging and profound. By identifying Jesus as the light of the world and good shepherd, the Gospel gives readers accessible ways to begin thinking about who Jesus is, while inviting them to go deeper, so that readers continue growing in their understanding of who Jesus is and what it means to be related to God through him. The purpose of the Gospel is that people might have faith, and faith is a relationship of trust in God and Jesus Christ. People were created for relationship with God, and as the Gospel tells the story of Jesus in compelling ways it helps to bring people into that relationship, which is true life.

Look at the Book

Open John 3. Start at the end. Many people may know John 3:16, but verse 17 is inseparable. Why?
What does it mean that God loves the world? How would the 10 Commandments fit into that love? Or not?
Why is verse 17 good news? This is telling us about the character and heart of God.
Go back to verse 1. What do we learn about him in verse 1?
It’s humbling to ask for help. When was a time you needed to do so like Nicodemus?
In verse 3, how does Nicodemus search out teaching from Jesus? Why? What title does he use for Jesus? Underline that.
The Gospel of John loves to use the word, “signs.” What do signs do for us?
Take note of what Nicodemus notices about Jesus. Jesus cannot do anything apart from what? “Immanuel” is another word for this. Where do we hear that word?
Christians disagree about the content of the dialog between Jesus and Nicodemus and what it may mean. The phrase “born again” comes from here. Try putting some of what they are saying in your own words...we are watching from the outside. What is Jesus saying and Nicodemus missing? Now read John 19:39. Where does Nicodemus show up again? What does that mean?
Verse 5 is talking about baptism. Our baptism is full of faith and mystery about what happens. What do you think happens when we are baptized?
Read John 20:30-31. Underline it. What is the point of the Gospel of John?
Learning is woven into our following of Jesus our whole life long. What might this episode with Nicodemus help us to see?
What do you want to talk about that has not been brought up yet?

Taking it Home

We are all teachers whether we realize it or not. What is one key life lesson you’d like to pass on?

What is one question you would ask Jesus directly? Why not pray and do that now?

Grow Guide | July 16, 2023