Regeneration

1 · Icebreaker · 7 min

Open the room

What is something you noticed was alive only because you had seen it dead — a plant, a neighborhood, a friendship, a field in spring?

Leader. Contrast, not their conversion story. The book already asked what changed when they came alive. Say that passing is allowed, especially the first few weeks.

2 · The word · 8 min

See it, then say it

Definition, from the book

Regeneration is being born again through the Holy Spirit. It is a supernatural work of God in which a spiritually dead person is made alive.

In the original language

Greek palingenesia — rebirth, regeneration. Also zōopoieō — to make alive.

Memory verse · Titus 3:5

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.

Together, open the flashcard for Regeneration. Say the word, the definition, and the verse once. Then put the phone away.

3 · Open the Bible · 15 min

John 3:3–8

Second Corinthians 5:17 was the reflection text, with its put-off and put-on. Nicodemus hears that entering the kingdom requires a birth from above, and that the Spirit is as free as wind.

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old?” … Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Have two readers if you can. Bibles open. The excerpt is only here so a forgotten Bible does not stop the night.

From the passage

1. 1.Nicodemus is a serious religious teacher. What, according to Jesus, can he still not do unless he is born again?Core

   Leader. See and enter the kingdom. Religion without new birth leaves him outside. This humbles the competent.

2. 2.Jesus compares the Spirit to wind. What can you tell about the wind, and what can you not control?

   Leader. You hear the sound and see the effects. You do not steer the Spirit. New birth is God’s act. The effects are visible later.

4 · Around the room · 20 min

A conversation this chapter did not assign

1. 3.Ezekiel 36:26–27 promises a new heart and God’s Spirit, causing people to walk in His ways. How is that different from deciding to be a better version of the old heart?Core

   Leader. The material changes. God does not motivate the dead half of the tree. He gives life. Obedience follows the new heart. It does not create it.

2. 4.Titus 3:5 says the washing of regeneration is mercy, not works done by us in righteousness. What “works done in righteousness” do people still offer as the reason God made them alive?

   Leader. A prayer prayed well, a raised hand, a moral cleanup before believing. Those may accompany. They do not cause.

3. 5.John 3:8 says you hear the sound. What is the sound of new birth in an ordinary week — not a spectacular story, a real one?

   Leader. New desires, a conscience that wakes up, love for a people you used to avoid, hunger for the word. Affirm quiet stories. Do not rank them against dramatic ones.

5 · Say it · 5 min

In one sentence

Regeneration means the Holy Spirit makes a dead person alive. It is new birth, and it is God’s work.

Ask for two volunteers, not the whole circle. They may look at the sentence, then try it without looking. Clumsy and true is the goal.

6 · Pray · 8 min

Leave silence between these

1. Thank the Spirit for any true life in the room.
2. Pray for someone who is still only the dead half of the tree.
3. Ask that the sound of new life would be obvious in this group without becoming a performance.