Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

1. When Rabbis Disagree
2. Day in the Life of an EMT
3. Second Childhood, by Fanny Howe
4. On resisting evil, LGBT and the United Methodist Church

1. What does it mean to you to be born again?
2. In what ways does the ‘lifting up of Jesus’ reveal the nature of God?
3. What does eternal life even mean?
4. What does it mean that salvation applies to “the world”?

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IMAGE

1. Old Chunk of Coal, by Johnny Cash
2. I’ll Bet on You, by Toad the Wet Sprocket
3. All Things in Time, by Toad the Wet Sprocket
4. Save Your Day, Jose Gonzalez
5. To Save Me, by M. Ward
6. Resistance, by Queensryche
7. Turn My Head, by Live
8. Cranes in the Sky, by Solange
9. When the Night Turns Cold, by Tobias Froberg
10. A New Law, by Derek Webb
11. Lifted Up, by Passion Pit
12. Believe (Nobody Knows), by My Morning Jacket
13. Believe You’re Mine, by Nada Surf
14. Heaven Knows, by Miner
15. I Don’t Know, by Nick Hakim
16. She Only Knows, by Starflyer 59
17. Night Sky, by CHVRCHES
18. I Can’t Stand You Anymore, Sleigh Bells
19. The Ghost of You, by My Chemical Romance
20. New Awakening, by Mortification

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HAIKU

This freedom
kills apathy dead
to love all.