I had the great opportunity to preach this morning at the First Baptist Church of Houlton where I serve as the Pastoral Intern and head of the Deacons. I was blessed to my mother and brother and his wife there.
I was really nervous for several days leading up to the very moment that I spoke. I was terrified actually. I had no idea how I was going to start the sermon. I did my sermon preparation so I know what the topic and direction and I prayed. Then I prayed some more. I asked the Lord just to take over and work through me for His glory and He did. I now know why the Apostle Paul said he preached with fear and trembling.
I preached on John 3:1-21 which says,
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.
2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spiritb gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘Youc must be born again.’
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”d
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things?
11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.e
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,f
15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”g
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
We all have been born into this world by being born. Our mother's brought us into our world along with our earthly fathers, but our mothers had to endure the pain and discomfort of childbirth. Even though we were born into this world as living beings doesn't mean that we are in right standing with God our Heavenly Father.
We must be born again. We need to come to the realization that we are sinners and we can't save ourselves. There is only one way into Heaven and that is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. There is no other name under Heaven in which we must be saved by and that is the name of Jesus Christ. Being a Muslim will not save you, Being a Hindu will not save you, wearing an apron, using a fancy secret handshake, and whispering a secret code into a someone's ear who is standing behind a curtain will not save you. Only Jesus Christ can save you. If you are trusting in something else other than Jesus Christ then I have bad news for you my friend you are on your way to eternal damnation and total separation from God forever.
We must be born again by placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and in Him alone. We can't add anything to His finished work and we can't add anything to it either. I preached this sermon today without notes except when I read a story about how a young teenage boy came to know Jesus Christ by listening to a poorly prepared lay minister. The teenaged boy had been convicted and had been feeling horrible for months. The boy had been brought up in church all of his life. His father was a preacher and his grandfather as well. The poorly prepared lay minister (whom I can relate to all to well I am afraid) just kept repeating his text that he had and he pointed towards the boy and said, "You look miserable and troubled, young man. Look to Jesus!" The young teenager did look to Jesus and that young man's name was Charles Spurgeon. He received Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior and was born again. He would later on become one the most well known preachers of his day and his name is still known today even though he lived in the middle to late 1800's.
Jesus Christ can change your life if you will allow Him. You need to look to Jesus Christ and receive Him as your Lord and Savior. If you haven't trusted Christ as your Lord and Savior I pray that you will before it is too late. You must be born again or you will never see the Kingdom of God.
I had a over all good response to my sermon except for one man who came up to me at the end of the service steaming mad. He had hate in his eyes and he said, "Do you have something against social clubs or something?" and I said no. He was mad I guess because of the secret handshake things I mentioned above which is what a certain "social club" uses in their rituals. He says to me, "Do you think that those people aren't Christians." I said, "I don't know their hearts. That is between them and the Lord. They need Jesus."
I just kept saying, "They need Jesus." and He final stormed off all mad. A Pastor friend of mine told me one time to beware of men who wear bow ties and this man was wearing one. I would ask you to pray for this poor man and that he would look to Jesus Christ.
The truth must be proclaimed. It would be easy. It may even get dangerous and deadly for us, but this world is not our home. We have a better place being prepared for us in our eternal home in Heaven because we have trusted Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation.
I am thankful that I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in my late twenties because my sister in law invited me to church and bought me a Bible. I remember hearing that preacher talking about Jesus. I realized I was a sinner and I needed a Savior. I needed to be born again. I received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and I am serving Him.
Lord,
I thank You for Your love and Your goodness.
I pray that people will come to know You Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen.
(Here is a link to the Facebook page of the First Baptist Church of Houlton, Maine. Look for the May 13th service to watch the video. God Bless.)
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