Matt Chandler - Born of the Spirit

Well, good morning! It’s good to see you. I want to start this way: if you’re one of our first through fifth graders, please do me a favor and stand up real quick so we can see you. Be bold! If you’re tiny and your parents will let you, feel free to stand on your chair. Hey, I want to say you guys are awesome! Now, look at me for a couple of words, then we’ll sit down and get after it. We not only love that you’re here today, but we need you! Your imaginations are a vital part of the Church. God has placed innocence, joy, and delight in you, and Jesus says we need to learn from you. I love that you’re here, and I want to bless you and thank you.

I’m going to teach eight verses for about 20 minutes, and I know you can handle it. Moms and dads, I understand there’s going to be some squirming, and I’m okay with that. You should be okay with it too. Dying churches don’t have squirming problems—are you tracking with me? It’s life that leads to squirming. Now, I’m not asking you to stop parenting; just to be clear! If your kid’s yanking somebody’s hair or trying to take a lap—unless it’s because I made a solid biblical point—then they shouldn’t be laughing. Alright? Love you, kids! Why don’t you have a seat? I’ll be talking with you quite a bit throughout our time together today.

Moms and dads, I’m not just talking to the kids. And if you’re single in here, don’t let your mind drift into thinking this isn’t for you. Family Worship Weekend is about the family of faith here at the Village Church, and you, as a man or woman and part of our congregation, belong to the household of faith.

Now, if you’re one of our children, you might not even know who I am. If you have your little sheet of paper, we’re going to fill in some of those blanks together today. My name is Pastor Matt. You might be able to call me other things if your parents let you, but for today’s sake, I’m Pastor Matt. I’ve been a pastor here—the guy who teaches moms and dads most weekends of the year. I’m the one who does that, but I’m not just called Pastor Matt. Some people call me Mr. Chandler, and others call me Matt. My mother, growing up, would call me Matthew Lee. I am Uncle Matt to nine other boys and girls. I am a pastor, a teacher, a leader, a minister, and all those titles work. So you wouldn’t be wrong if you came up to me and called me Matthew Lee; it might be inappropriate, but you wouldn’t be wrong. I am that. If you said, «That’s Pastor Matt,» that’s not wrong either.

However, there are certain relationships I have that don’t use those categories for me. Let me introduce you to Norah. Norah is my youngest child, and as you can tell by this photo, she loves life. I’ll scroll through a couple more pictures—she’s sassy, she’s sweet, and she is a lot! When she is awake, she goes a thousand miles an hour, and when she is asleep, she has no other gear. She is a wonderful frenetic explosion of joy, and her mother and I are happy that God gave her to us by His grace.

This little girl has never called me Pastor Matt. She has never called me Mr. Chandler, teacher, or Uncle Matt. She calls me Daddy or Dad, and she does that because of the way we relate to one another. Are you tracking with me on that? There’s a way that she relates to me that’s different from the young boys and girls who call me Uncle Matt. She relates to me differently than those who call me Pastor Chandler or those who consider me a leader or teacher. She calls me Daddy because there’s a uniqueness in our relationship that is different from anyone else in creation, except for her older sister and brother. I might have put pictures on the screen, but they’re in that space where it’s not cool anymore.

Norah, still game! All those pictures were used by permission, by the way. If you’re like, «I can’t believe you roasted your daughter like that,» I didn’t roast her! I asked if I could use these pictures, and she answered with a robust, «Fine!» So, I went for it. We’ll see how she answers next time.

So, she relates to me in a different way than anyone else does. What we’re going to look at today in the Bible is how we’re supposed to—how we’ve been designed to—relate to Jesus Christ. If you have your Bibles, hopefully you do, we’re going to be in the book of John. If you’re filling out your little sheet, the book we’re going to be in is the Gospel of John. The chapter—big number—is three, and the little numbers…