[Feb 15, 2026] His Encounters Part 1

Before I dig into this, when you hear the word religion or somebody might say, well, I'm not religious. What that what that really means is because the word religion just means to adhere to a set of beliefs that define your religion. To be religious is to practice certain things to that express what you believe. But being religious can be something that leads us into darkness without even realizing it. Jesus didn't come to create a religion. He came to rescue humanity. He came to open the eyes of not just the Jewish people, but the entire world. [00:05:48] (47 seconds)  #NotJustReligion

Because Jesus didn't just come to make believers, he came to make followers. Believing and following go hand in hand. They're not two separate things. It starts with belief, but that belief is I'm gonna follow Jesus. I'm gonna put into practice the kind of life that he said was the abundant life. Following Jesus is not easy sometimes because you have to make hard decisions and, but it's worth it. Following Jesus is the the best decision any of us can ever make. And if you've never done that, you can agree with him today. You don't we don't make Jesus Lord and savior and say, I make you my lord and savior. He already is. [00:23:23] (45 seconds)  #FollowNotJustBelieve

But here's what I wanna say to you. Most people's, being born from above, it's not dramatic. Maybe you were raised in church and all your life you've believed and you followed Jesus. The evidence that someone is born from above is that they believe in Jesus, that they trust in Jesus, that they follow Jesus, that they look to put into practice the words of Jesus. [00:22:19] (30 seconds)  #BornFromAboveEvidence

Then he goes on to say a little later that the light has come into the darkness but the darkness did not comprehend it. It goes on to say in chapter one that Jesus came to his own, the Jewish people, but they didn't receive him. But then in verse 11 he says, to those who received Jesus, he gave the right to become the children of God. Not born of the flesh or by the will of the flesh, but by the will of God. [00:04:09] (33 seconds)  #ChildrenByGodsWill

God told Moses, when you get to the Red Sea, lift up your staff and I will divide the waters with with my wind. This is so important to understand this context part of these words, you gotta be born again, born from above, born of water in the spirit. In Exodus 14, Moses gets to the Red Sea. He holds up his staff. God blows his wind and divides the waters and they walk through dry ground towards the promised land. [00:15:56] (32 seconds)  #RedSeaRebirth

Ezekiel 36, God, through the prophet Ezekiel says that he was going to remove their heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh that was no longer stubborn but now could be responsive to their god. Responsive. And that he was gonna sprinkle clean water on them, another symbol of water in the spirit. So this religious man with a religious problem, he needs a real solution. He needs a real solution. [00:17:34] (32 seconds)  #HeartOfFlesh

We just agree with him. We agree with him and we say, lord, I believe you're the savior. I'm trusting you for salvation and I wanna follow you. I wanna give my allegiance to you. Will you stand with me? [00:24:07] (22 seconds)  #IChooseToFollow

Today, we get to listen in to a conversation between Jesus and a man named Nicodemus in John chapter three. We get to listen in to this conversation that was recorded for us in one of the most famous chapters is John chapter three because of John three sixteen. We're in this series called the Christ where we're just looking at Jesus' title as the Christ. It's not his last name. It's his it's who he is. He's the Messiah, the anointed one, the king of kings. He's our deliverer. [00:02:17] (40 seconds)  #JesusIsTheChrist