Sermon #605

What does it mean to be born again?  We know what it means to be born.  I recently celebrated a birthday, and it's an annual reminder of an event that is momentous in my life, and yet I don't remember it actually happening.  Modern day evangelists often accuse Christians of not being born again because they don't remember the exact day, hour, and minute that it happened.  Surely something as momentous as an encounter with God would be worth remembering!  Yet what we see in today's lesson is that we have as much to do with being born again as we have to do with being born at all, which is to say, not at all.  We don't decide when to be born, and we don't demand of God to be born again.  Jesus said that unless we are born again we cannot even see the kingdom of God.  Why ask for something you cannot see, do not know exists?  No, the act of regeneration is entirely a work of God, but the response afterward is faith based on sight - being able to see the kingdom and trusting in Christ alone for our salvation.

1 John 5:1-12

Recorded at Hudson UMC on May 5, 2024

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S.D.G.