Bible Study: October 21, 2026

Prayer

As always, we'll begin with a prayer. Is there any great thing from the past week you'd like to mention for us to praise/pray about? Perhaps a prayer was answered since our last meeting, or maybe something wonderful happened that you want to praise God for by sharing with us? Afterwards, we can also discuss prayer requests for any challenges and for the people we know who are close to our hearts.

Praise

"Nicodemus"

by The Oh, Hellos

I was a child when I was born, But I am old and weathered now

My bones are tired, my coat is torn, And I am bending to the plow

But I have heard a whisper on the wind, Of a kingdom coming down

And I am looking for a friend, To turn my world around

How can a man be born again

When he is old and gray?

Can he return to the womb

And start another day?

Oh, the wind it blows where it will

And you can hear the sound

But you cannot tell where it comes from

Or where it's going now

So I am coming in the night, To see the man who heals the blind

I'm looking for a little light, To chase the shadows from my mind

For I have seen the signs You perform, And I know You come from God

But my heart is caught up in a storm, And I am sinking in the mud

You say the flesh can only give birth to flesh, But the Spirit gives birth to spirit

You say I must be born from above, But I don't know how to reach it

Oh, lift me up like the serpent in the wild, So that I might see and believe

Break through the dark and make me a child, And give me eyes to see

Passage: John 3:1-21

3 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ² 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 unless God is with that person.” ³ Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”⁴ 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?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’⁸ The wind^[e] 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.” ⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ 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. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ “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."

 Poem

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you;

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I;

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.

Christina Rossetti

Ponder

1. What first grabs your attention or stirs your feelings in this nighttime scene (or song or poem)? What may be drawing you into the conversation? Is it the time? The characters? The titles given to both characters? Maybe it’s the words or tone of Jesus again, again against a religious teacher? As we asked last week, what do you notice without yet trying to explain it

2. Nicodemus comes to Jesus and makes a declaration about Jesus because of His 'signs'. But is Nicodemus right or wrong? Look caerfully at Jesus's answer, but also look at the last line of our previous bible study that connects to the start of this story. What is John saying here about "knowing" who Jesus is?

3. Track the pronouns in this short story (3:2–12). There just may be more people here than we first think. Where is Jesus speaking to Nicodemus as a single person (you-singular), and where does he widen to you-plural and to we/our? What might that shift suggest about who is included in this conversation?

4. Jesus talks about the 'wind' blowing here, but is there more behind what He's saying than simply talking about 'the wind'? What point is Jesus trying to make here with Nicodemus? have you ever felt the affects of the 'wind' like that before? What happened?

   
   

5. Where do you see the Spirit currently blowing in Surrey and the Lower Mainland? And how do you think we can engage with it?

   
   

6. When John uses the word 'world', he may not mean what you think he means. He doesn't mean 'the world so big' but actually the world so loved and broken. And now, every time you see the word 'world' in John, you can remember that. It's God's way of saying, "I love you all, broken bits and all". Think for a moment about other times John uses the same word in his Gospel. Does that maybe change how you hear it?

Purposeful Prayer

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