Prepare your heart for our Sunday Morning Gathering by looking through these suggestions that will assist you in making the most of our time together.
You will find tangible suggestions for putting scripture to action in your personal life and in our corporate body, links to the songs we will sing, and lyrics for you to prepare for our corporate singing.
Critically Think
- Read John 3:1-10.
- What do we learn about Nicodemus in verses 1 and 10? What would these descriptions imply?
- Why would Nicodemus come to Jesus by night, rather than the day? (Cf. John 7:47-52) How might his words to Jesus in verse 2 help explain this?
- What is Nicodemus’s conclusion of who Jesus is based on the two titles he uses for Him?
- What is Jesus’s answer to Nicodemus’s compliment? How do His words contrast with Nicodemus’s words?
- What point is Jesus making in verse 3?
- What is Nicodemus’s response to Jesus’s answer? What kind of attitude is present in his response, based on his words?
- How does Jesus begin to answer Nicodemus’s retort in verse 5? How does it relate to His original answer in verse 3?
- Despite Jesus’s statement that Nicodemus shouldn’t be amazed, how does Nicodemus respond in verse 9? How does this response differ from his original response in verse 4?
- How does Jesus answer Nicodemus’s question in verse 10? How does this contrast with
verse 2? What is the implied answer to his question?
Prayerfully Meditate
- Although Jesus will explain Himself more in the verses to come, what basic ideas are present in the words “is born again”?
- Read Daniel 2:44 and 7:13-14, 18, and 27. What was the Jewish expectation for God’s kingdom? Read Matt. 21:43-46, Luke 18:9-14, 18-26. Who was expecting to be part of that kingdom in Jesus’s day?
- How do verses 6-8, along with passages such as Ezekiel 36:22-28 and Jesus’s remark in
verse 10, define what “water and the Spirit” refer to? - What is Jesus’s connection between being born of water and the Spirit and the kingdom of God? What is the gravity of this statement, considering the nature of its Old Testament roots and the person to whom Jesus is speaking?
Intentionally Act
- How does this passage apply to us, today?
- How could this passage be applied to your personal evangelism?
- Who can you pray for evangelistically in light of this passage?
- What can you thank God for in light of this passage?
- Click the links below to find the lyrics and recordings of the songs planned for our gathering this Sunday; learn the songs, study the lyrics and sing them with others.
- Pray for those leading our corporate gathering this week and for the Holy Spirit’s work as the Word of God is further explained and applied: Joel Conrad: music; Ben Gardner: elder prayer & scripture reading; Bret Capranica: teaching.
Songs for Sunday
Morning Gathering
- How Rich a Treasure We Possess (sheetmusic)
- O Fount of Love (sheetmusic)
- There Is One Gospel (sheetmusic)
- Jesus I am Resting, Resting (sheetmusic)
- O Great God (sheetmusic)
Lyrics
Follow this link for a copy of this weeks Sunday morning lyric slides.