Second Sunday in Lent
What follows is a worship service which, I pray, you can participate in at a time(s) that are convenient to you. This 'service' will take about forty five (45) minutes.
I pray that you will feel called to ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE in this service.
The text that is in regular typeface (that is what you are reading at the moment) is to be read quietly, while the text that is in bold face (like you are reading right now) is meant to be read aloud.
Opening Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we commence our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
A Call To Worship:
We meet in the name of God,
Creator of the universe,
source of true humanity,
mother and father of all. Amen.
An Assurance of Forgiveness:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
The Sentence For Today (let us say aloud):
The Lord himself watches over you; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Our first reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Our second reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Gradual Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we raise out voices in praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
Listen to David speak to this gospel
or, if you prefer, you can read the sermon, below:
Sermon for Second Sunday in Lent, 1st Mar 2026
Welcome sisters and brothers and peace be with you. May the words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. <Amen>
A few weeks ago, I was helping someone set up their computer. You know how that goes. She’d forgotten the password. Then she couldn’t remember the email linked to the account. Then the verification code was sent to an old phone she no longer owned. After about forty minutes of frustration, she sighed and said, “I wish I could just start over. Like … er … being born again into the digital world.”
That phrase, “born again”, made us laugh, but it also stuck with me because long before computers, passwords, and two-factor authentication, someone else wished for a fresh start. Not digitally - but spiritually.
And that brings us to our gospel reading today; John 3:1-17, one of the most well-known passages in the Bible, but let’s delve a little deeper.
I have always thought of Nicodemus as “A Good Man in the Dark”. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a devout leader of the Jews.” Nicodemus is not a villain. He’s not hostile. He’s not trying to trap Jesus. He’s religious, educated, respected, and sincere.
Yet he comes to Jesus at night.
Why at night? Perhaps he’s cautious. Perhaps he doesn’t want to be seen. Perhaps he’s wrestling with doubts that don’t fit neatly into his public religious image. Whatever the reason, Nicodemus represents many people - good people who sense that something is missing but aren’t quite sure how to put a name to it.
Notice how Nicodemus begins with respect saying, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God.” <PAUSE>
Jesus responds, as He often does, by answering the question Nicodemus hasn’t yet asked.
“Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
In one sentence, Jesus gently but firmly tells Nicodemus: being religious is not the same as being “reborn”.
Understandably, this baffles Nicodemus. “How Can Anyone Be Born After Growing Old?” and Nicodemus is being refreshingly literal.
“Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”
It sounds ridiculous, and it’s meant to. Nicodemus is thinking in categories he understands: effort, achievement, lineage, law … ah … but Jesus is inviting him into a reality that, Nicodemus, he cannot yet understand or control.
Jesus clarifies, “What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Jesus is explaining for Nicodemus, and all of humanity, that this is NOT about starting life over biologically. It’s about receiving a new life spiritually.
This is NOT self-improvement, NOT Not moral fine-tuning, NOT upgrades to any current religious operating systems.
This is about transformation that comes from God, not from us. <PAUSE>
Then Jesus then uses a truly beautiful image, “The wind blows where it chooses … so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
In both Hebrew and Greek, the same word is used for wind, breath, and spirit. You can’t see the wind, you can’t control it, but you CAN see its effects.
Faith, Jesus says, works just like that.
This is deeply unsettling for Nicodemus - and perhaps also for us, because we prefer systems we can manage. We like checklists. We like knowing where we stand! However, the Spirit does not fit neatly into our categories.
To be born again -born from above - is to let go of the illusion of control and have FAITH that God is doing something new in us, even when we don’t fully understand it! <PAUSE>
Nicodemus, like many people to this day, is still struggling with this: “How can these things be?”
And Jesus responds with both honesty and grace. He tells Nicodemus that spiritual truth cannot be grasped purely through human reasoning.
Then Jesus points forward - to the cross- using an image Nicodemus would know well.
Just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the wilderness so that the dying could live, so the Son of Man will be lifted up, so that all who believe may have eternal life.
This is where the conversation reaches its heart and then come perhaps the most famous words in all of Scripture:
“For God so loved the world…” <PAUSE>
Jesus does not say, “God so loved the righteous.” or “God so loved the morally successful.” or “God so loved those who got it right.”
Jesus says: “the world.”
The confused. The broken. The religious insider who still feels empty. The outsider who feels unworthy. Nicodemus. Us.
God’s response to a world lost in darkness is not condemnation, but love. <PAUSE>
You see, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
This matters. This REALLY matters, because as we journey together through this Lenten period Christ reminds us here that The cross is not a proof that God is angry with the world … It is proof that God refuses to give up on it. <PAUSE>
Being born again is not about trying harder. It’s about receiving a new identity - as someone deeply loved by God.
To be born again is not a “one-time” event that took place in the past; it is an ongoing invitation to live each day open to God’s renewing grace.
The good news is this:
God does not wait for us to get our lives together.
God meets us in the night, in the questions, in the confusion - and offers us new life.
Not because we deserve it, but because God so loves the world.
So, today, you feel more like Nicodemus than a spiritual hero - curious, cautious, unsure ….. take heart. Jesus welcomes honest questions. He meets us where we are and he offers not criticism and condemnation, BUT A NEW BIRTH.
May we have the courage to step into the light, trust the wind of the Spirit, and receive the life God longs to give us
I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMINE>
Pause and Reflect
Just take a moment now to pause. Bow your head, close your eyes.
Allow these words of Holy Scripture and this interpretation of them today to speak to you.
An Affirmation of Our Faith
Let us affirm our faith by saying aloud, and together, "The Apostles Creed":
... and now let us pray for the Church, the World, and Ourselves, giving thanks for God's goodness.
Let us pray aloud, and together:
Holy God, as we continue our Lenten journey make us mindful of our potential for good and for growth, as we strive for perfection in your sight despite our human failings and imperfections.
<Longer pause for personal reflection>
In response to the call today “Lord, in Your mercy” Our response is, “hear our prayer!”
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Gracious God, we recognise that the work of helping people through life can leave faith community leaders vulnerable to spiritual attack. We thank you for the leaders in our faith community and pray that they won’t allow criticism or negativity to blunt their ministry; that they will hear encouragement, and that they will always respond in love and forgiveness when difficulties arise.
<Short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Creator God, we pray for all those people in positions of authority that they may never be tempted to abuse or misuse their power. Help and guide them to show wisdom and resolve in the search for reconciliation and peace and so bring peace and prosperity to every corner of the world.
We particularly pray for the conflicts in The Holy Land, in Ukraine, around Africa and elsewhere – Lord please bring peace.
<Short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Father God, we pray for our relationships with family, friends and neighbours and we particularly pray that we never lead them into any kind of temptation. Help them to see us as a new creation, still the person that God created, but now also as an active part of God's earthly family.
<Short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Loving God, our hearts ache when we hear about the pain and suffering that some of our loved ones have to endure especially when illness has come about through the temptations of the world. Come close and bring comfort and healing to all those who suffer at this time.
Give the song of joy to all who are now on the road to recovery and recuperation and the song of thanks to all who helped them on that road.
We especially raise before You now all those who have asked for our prayers from around the world … those we know in New Zealand, in Singapore, in Argentina, in France, in Australia, in the US, in Canada, in Austria, in Ukraine, in China, in Germany, in the Czech Republic, in Syria and any others we now name aloud, or in the silence of our hearts, and those who are known only by You.
<Short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
Merciful God, you know when our hearts are broken by bereavement. You know the pain of loss because you suffered through the death of Your only son. In the midst of ongoing sorrow, help us to rejoice in the comfort of the hope, encouragement, and comfort that Your promise of eternal life brings to all who believe in Jesus.
We especially raise before you at this time our recently departed sisters and brothers, Peggy (USA), Ralph (Australia), Stanley (Australia).
<Short silence> Lord, in your Mercy: Hear our Prayer
In a moment of silence we pray for ourselves, our families, friends, for all whom we love and for our personal ministries. Make the things that we choose to do worthy of the life, death, and rising again of Your Son.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Everlasting God, may we show and share our love and trust for You wholeheartedly, today and every day, as we go out into the world and through every day of our Lenten journey.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Forth in the peace of Christ we go; Christ to the world with joy we bring; Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips, Christ in our hearts, the world’s true King.
Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN.
Remembering that we are confident to pray this day, and every day, because Jesus Christ continues to teach us:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Let us conclude our prayers by praying together and aloud:
God of mercy,
you have given us grace to pray with one heart and one voice,
and have promised to hear the prayers
of two or three who agree in your name,
fulfil now, we pray,
the prayers and longings of your people
as may be best for us and for your kingdom.
Grant us in this world to know your truth,
and in the world to come to see your glory. Amen.
The Blessing
May The Risen Lord Christ turn His face towards each and every one of you.
May He cause His light to shine upon you, and
may He grant you His peace, and
The blessing of Almighty God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you and all of those whom you love,
on this day and forever more.
A Closing Hymn:
Let us conclude our worship today by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we unite in another hymn our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
The Dismissal
Go now, go out into the world
to love and serve The Lord.
Go in peace.
AMEN, we go in the name of Christ.
