Sabbath: Growing in Christ
Read for This Week’s Study: John 3:1-15; 2 Cor. 5:17; John 15:4-10; Matt. 6:9-13; Luke 9:23-24. 
Memory Text: Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (John 3:3, NKJV). Nicodemus felt drawn to Christ but dared not visit Him openly. He greeted Jesus politely, acknowledging Him as a teacher from God. The Master knew that behind this courteous greeting was a seeker of truth; therefore, wasting no time, He told Nicodemus that he did not need theoretical knowledge as much as he did spiritual regeneration, a new birth. This concept was hard for Nicodemus to grasp. Because of his descent from Abraham, he was sure he had a place in God’s kingdom; plus, as a strict Pharisee, he surely deserved the favor of God, right? So, why did he need such a radical change? Patiently, Jesus explained that spiritual transformation is a supernatural work produced by the Holy Spirit. Though we cannot see or understand how it happens, we can perceive the results. We call it conversion, a new life in Christ. Though we should always remember how the Lord called us and converted us, our challenge is to steadfastly abide in Him daily so that He can transform us more and more into His image. *Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 9.
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I like the last part of this lesson. We should remember when God called us and Converted us! We call ourselves Christians, but are we? Step back and look at yourself in the mirror. How do others see you? How do we act? How do we speak? Do others really see Jesus in us? We have to abide in him daily. Daily I take up my cross and follow him. I work in a warehouse that is not a Christian place. This lesson has really hit home already and it's only Sabbath's lesson. It's all about Jesus folks. Would we seek to see God at night also, would he interfere with our life style? On thing my Pastor has told us is when he repairs a sermon, he is preaching to himself first then us. I am also talking about myself!!!
What happens if you were once born again! Then you go back! And you want to be born again, do you have to be baptised again .?? Pliz help
The sacrament of the Eucharist cover this, foot washing is act of re-baptism.
Yrs my friend ,Baptized again is necessary if you walked away from Jesus and the church,Its better to be washed clean again,God Bless you
What comes to my mind is the parable of the prodigal son. When you are truly born again, you are born into the family of God. Your spirit is renewed so that the Holy Spirit can come and live in you. Once in, He never leaves. When the prodigal son returned to his Father, there was no need to be reborn, the Father welcomed him back with open arms, and said, my son was dead, now he is alive again. Every time we turn back to sin, the Holy Spirit is still there waiting for us to come back and follow Him. When we follow Him we are then truly alive; however, if we stray from Him then we are dead in our own sins. I believe that the Spirit is always there for us after we are born again and it is up to us to follow Him.
Thank you so much the saints of the kingdom for your comments. I'm renewed this morning. When the prodigal son came back there was no need to be reborn again. But he was welcomed with warm arms full of love, a feast on top of it. This shows that God does not forget about us when we are astray but is always waiting for us to turn back to Him so He can take us back.
It is the working of the Holy spirit to renew the lives of all who shall surrender to his working. Every changed life is as a result of the Holy spirit, who renews our understanding and experience with Jesus as a loving savior.
To the person who asked about being baptized again...the baptism is a declaration of what God has done in one's heart and a burial of a person that has died (your old self)...if you have backslidden, it would be a resurrection of the old self woiuldn't it? If the old self has since been crucified again, you may desire to be rebaptized, and that is good. I don't think there's anywhere in the bible that says you MUST be rebaptized, but if it helps you put the past to rest, do it.
growimg with christ iz an expression of daily life on what christ has, is, and will do. prayer invites the holy spirit to bring total change to our lives according to Gods word and will, and Gods will is found i his word thus the essence of bible study.
The concept of growth is an inseparable variable/equation of life both physical and spiritual. As physical growth needs proper nourishment, nature, exercise, education etc, so our spiritual life needs proper spirital nourishment to grow
The last couple of weeks we have spent our time on considering how we are saved now we turn our attention on how a saved person lives. That is something that is very important because it is extremely obvious in the Bible that rebels will not be allowed in Heaven; only those who have been converted will be there.
To me it is about being a citizen of a new country who abides by the rules and the standards of that country. So this week we will be learning how that change in the way we do things comes about – how we can fit into a completely new environment.
The Grace of God is sufficient to all, though we have fallen. we die daily with Christ, giving us a spiritual baptism that He promised
The story of Nicodemus and Jesus and the conversation thereon suggested that we might know alot about the Bible but can still misunderstand salvation.This night visit to Jesus by Nicodemus( who was a political leader and a wealthy person) by any standards shows us clearly that he recognized who Jesus was, but he still did not acknowledge Christ as the Messiah! And when he was told that he had to be born again, he couldn't understand what Jesus meant- may be he wonderedwhta being born again meant.As Christians, we must really know what Jesus meant by being born of water and the Spirit( without which the Holy Spirit cannot live in us)
To my understanding growing in christ is just the daily confession of sins to Jesus and have the desire to the bread of life and by doing so we start walk into the root Jesus walked therein.
"Being born again" I love it when someone says the death of old self and the birth of a new self. The bible says the dead know nothing their remembrance is over they have no share to the living. Then WHY am I doing my old acts after I'm reborn in Christ. What can help me to leave forget my old lifestyle of an unborn again person?