John 3:1-17 - Genesis 12:1-4a Psalm 121 Call to Worship
Don’t forget – dry open!!!
"Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 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.”
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
“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!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 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.”
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 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. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
Lent (Lencten - Old English) means lengthening of days – Spring
Much thanks to Jim Paff, he’s a passionate servant intentional in both life and God’s word. I appreciate his sharing with you last week.
Last week, Jesus braved the wilderness. Actually, he was retracing the wilderness that humanity had failed to emerge from in victory by trusting God, unlike Adam & Eve.
In that these three themes rose to the forefront:
Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Do not put the Lord your God to the test.
And “away with you, Satan, for it is written, worship the Lord your God and serve him only!”
The message was as good for the deceiver as it was for us. Get away from yourself and come close to God.
If we do without, God will do with what we don’t have and only what we need. (daily bread according to Jesus' prayer)
After fasting 40 days and 40 nights, He was hungry. After 40 days and nights, I would be crazy. And that’s when the temptation comes, when He’s right on the precipice of victory.
There’s an everyday truth in that; there’s always an 11th hour, but Jesus shows us the right way, instead of the deceived way.
Our preparation for the DRY times centers around what we heard on Ash Wednesday
1. Epiphany’s Light Still Leads
2. The Wilderness Is a Classroom
3. Dry Times Are Not Failures; they are progress.
The Relationship between Genesis 12:1–4 and John 3, traces the movement from God’s mercy and promise to God’s provision and saving purpose for the world.
To the world, an unlikely call Genesis 12:1–4 — The Call That Creates a People
"Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him."
Genesis 12 begins with a man named Abram, a man from a family of great significance. That is Shem, son of Noah.
What is shown is a simple conversation. We’re introduced to Abram in chapter 11 after a long line of ancestors, along with their progeny and ages.
Abram has endured the loss of a brother and his father. He has taken on the weight of a nephew, and he is without a child of his own.
That weighs on him and Sarai; we see Abram had everything in front of him, but nothing to draw from except the wilderness.
This is the moment God initiates a new thing after the collapse of the human community in Genesis 3–11.
From the beginning, God forms and calls a people to Himself.
Who better than a man who is set to do life differently but the same as everyone else?
For Abram, God speaks into his emptiness and brings life and purpose—Abram and Sarai’s childlessness mirrors humanity's spiritual barrenness.
Abram does not seek God; he has nothing to seek from, he’s empty!!
However, God seeks Abram.
God’s call is missional and intentional: “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
We see that blessing isn’t private; it’s meant to be shared, as is salvation
It is the grace of God that sparks Abrams' Faith as Trustful Obedience – hope is a powerful motivator.
Abram obeys or receives the invitation without knowing the destination. Key word: obey.
He relinquishes control by walking into the unknown and trusting God’s promise more than his circumstances.
God’s Call into Lent (the wilderness, the dry times) - is the beginning of Redemption.
If we view Lent as an invitation to turn from our current trajectory or capitalize on Ash Weds as a deepening of our current trajectory, we will “Walk This Way.”
“Go from your country, Geographical, your kindred, familiarities, and your where you were weaned…”
This is not only geographical; it is spiritual.
Leaving is a form of Repentance, entering is to walk in expectation, obedient to God’s way.
Just as God calls Abram, our attention to Lent calls us to leave old patterns, detach from false securities or fallacies, step into a new identity shaped by God’s promise.
What if you lived by Deuteronomy 11:24: “Every place you set your feet I have given you.”
Abram’s journey becomes a paradigm for the church’s Lenten journey: turning, trusting, and walking.
A construct for faith that develops trust and a relationship!
Just as Jesus had shown in the wilderness. Man does NOT live on bread alone, but by every word of God.
Abram is the Prototype of receiving God’s Grace and mercy – all Abram had leaned on God’s will for him, whether he knew it or not.
Lent is not a season of earning God’s favor; it is a season of returning to the God who already favors us.
Lent anticipates Easter. Lent is the season where we sit in the tension—trusting resurrection while still walking through the wilderness.
Nicodemus, a religious leader, comes with credentials, knowledge, and scriptural standing. Jesus tells him that none of that grants entrance into God’s kingdom.
To Nico’s shock, New birth is God’s work: “Born of water and Spirit.” Not from the Pharisees permission to go into the temple.
Nicodemus’s confusion shows the limits of religious performance - Human effort cannot produce spiritual life.
The saving response is not achievement, but having faith in the Son, believing in the One lifted up.
A lesson Abram learned and modeled. The family of faith is proof.
Here is God’s universal mission, from the beginning: “God so loved the world… that the world might be saved through him.”
Jesus is saying: the life Abram stepped into by faith is now fully revealed in the Son.
Why are they mentioned in tandem? B/C Lent is a Journey of Trust,
that we indeed pick up our cross and follow Jesus, dry times and wilderness aren’t a maybe, but guaranteed!
Wilderness reveals the God who meets us wherever we think He won’t.
Even in our most desperate state, yelling, screaming, and seething.
Abram’s journey and faith both emphasize trust over certainty.
God calls us into Lent to loosen our grip on self-reliance, to embrace God’s call even when the destination is unclear,
Lent as Leaving and Receiving is as the first wedding – leave and cleave – you’re home!
Abram leaves his old life; what’s to come is righteousness.
Lent holds these together like two coats of paint.
Leaving the sin, idols, self‑sufficiency and receiving the grace of God along with a new identity, and promise.
What’s in the middle is, as Jesus says, trusting every word from God.
What if we consider Lent as the Season of God’s Initiative instead of what we want to do?
Lent is not about human striving; it is about returning to the God who has already acted.
What if we hold Lent as our call to Mission?
So, how do we do this at home, school, work, socially
Genesis 12 calls Abram to a mission that will be a blessing for the nations.
Lent forms a people who realize they are blessed by grace and therefore become a blessing.
From Lent to resurrection – the wilderness to Eden. Walk this Way
Churches are called to leave comfort zones and follow God into new mission fields.
Dependence on God: Ministry is grounded in grace, not performance charts.
Our Identity in Christ: The church is a people formed by promise, not the wiles of the world.
Letting Go – Get out! Ask God to identify what your “country, kindred, and father’s house” habits, fears, narratives, or attachments, and walk His Way
Trusting God’s Promise: Many live “in between spaces” like Abram—called but not yet seeing fulfillment. Lent trains us to trust in the promise… Walk This Way!
For a Culture of Achievement and Anxiety on the rise
Abram’s and Nico’s call and response remind communities that renewal begins with:
listening for God’s voice, stepping out in faith, trusting God to bring life where there is none.
Lent becomes a season of learning and turning to the Basics of faith:
God calls, we trust; God gives life, we receive; God blesses, we become a blessing.
We’re connected to Abram in Lent. We’re connected to Nicodemus by the sheer mystery of the call.
It is the call to leave what binds us, trust the God who calls us, and receive the promise we cannot earn.
It is the season where we discover that righteousness is a gift, not a wage; that blessing is a vocation, not a possession; and that God is still the One who calls us from death to Life.
In a world obsessed with achievement and criticism, Lent reforms the gospel of grace.
Lent is where God shows us we are People with an identity, with a purpose,
people with innate skills to serve and reflect a God who is merciful, forgiving,
slow to anger, abounding in love, and willing to exchange his righteousness for our trespasses.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
From Lent to resurrection – the wilderness to Eden. Walk this Way
