Pulpit Message Introduction for Feb. 17

Pulpit Message Introduction for second Sunday in Lent
Nicodemus came to Jesus and said to him: “Rabbi, you must be a teacher who has come from God because no one could do the signs and wonders you do apart from the presence of God.” And Jesus responded to Nicodemus by saying to him: “You can’t see the Kingdom of God without being born again. You must be born from above.” This means that you can’t become a Christian by making a few minor adjustments to your life. It must be a complete turn around, a radical re-birth, a re-birth from above, which, of course means a new life from God.
There is a fascinating thing to notice here about Nicodemus. He knew his scriptures well. But for him, being religious meant knowing what to do and especially what not to do. The emphasis of his Bible study was on what people do. But Jesus changed all of that. He said that in order to see the Kingdom of God, the emphasis must shift to what God does. The new Testament makes it clear that this “new birth” is not our doing. We are “born from above”; it is God’s gift. We can’t earn it. We can only accept it in faith: So, “To Be Born From Above” means to come alive to the Bible by falling in love with Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

講壇信息介紹
尼哥底母來見耶穌，問他說：“拉比，我們知道你是由神那裏來作師傅的，因為你所行的神蹟，若沒有神同在，無人能行。”耶穌回答說：“我實實在在地告訴你：人若不重生，就不能見神的國。”意思是說，你不能只在生活上作一些調整，便說你已見到神的國了。見神的國要求人完全的回轉，徹底的再生，從上面來的再生，由神而來的新生命。
在尼哥底母身上我們看見一個奇怪的現象。他很熟聖經。但他仍然沒有見到神的國。他以為宗教就是一堆應該做和不應該做的規條。他只知道聖經要求人要做的事。卻不知道神為人作的事。耶穌完全改變他的觀念。祂說你如果要見上帝的國，你首先要看神所做的事。新約聖經很清楚告訴我們，重生不是靠人能做到甚麼，而是靠神為我們所完成的一切。我們是從上面再生的。這是神的恩典和禮物。是我們不能賺取回來的。我們只能靠著信心領受。從上而來的重生就是活讀聖經。叫我們把愛耶穌的愛活現在信仰的生命中。