Waterstone Church Sermon Podcast · Waterstone Church

In the Night

March 1, 2026·50 min·5 clips

Jesus tells Nicodemus you can't fix yourself—you need to be born again from above.

This sermon from Waterstone Church, delivered by lead pastor Paul, explores the biblical story of Nicodemus from John chapter 3. Pastor Paul connects this ancient encounter to modern struggles with purpose and self-worth. The message opens with a church announcement about discontinuing Saturday services and moving to two Sunday services, starting March 21st. Paul explains the new "sit one and serve one" initiative, encouraging congregants to both attend and volunteer. He then introduces the concept of "project self," a term borrowed from pastor John Mark Comer, describing the cultural belief that we must constantly improve ourselves. Paul illustrates this with examples like watching HGTV on vacation, which creates an exhausting to-do list. He references figures like John D. Rockefeller and Tom Brady to highlight how success often leaves a lingering emptiness. The sermon focuses on Nicodemus, a Pharisee and Jewish ruler who visited Jesus at night, feeling spiritually unfulfilled despite his religious and social achievements. Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be "born again," which also means "born from above," emphasizing this is a spiritual rebirth received from God, not achieved through human effort. Pastor Paul contrasts this with a "renovation" project, arguing that spiritual life requires entirely new creation, not self-improvement. He explains Jesus's reference to "water and the Spirit" as a callback to the promise in Ezekiel 36 about God giving a new heart. The analogy of the wind is used to describe the Spirit's uncontrollable nature, challenging human desires for control. Jesus references the Old Testament story from Numbers 21, where Israelites bitten by venomous snakes were healed by looking at a bronze snake on a pole. Pastor Paul frames sin and death as a similar venom that humans cannot cure through willpower or self-help. The core insight is that the deepest human hunger is for a new kind of life, not a better version of the current one, which only God can provide. A surprising claim is that even supermodels, held as cultural ideals, reportedly feel insecure about their looks. The sermon concludes by linking the Nicodemus story to John 3:16, positioning Jesus as the solution to the human condition, much like the bronze snake was the solution to the venom. The tone is pastoral, conversational, and instructional, using personal anecdotes and pop culture references to make theological concepts relatable. This episode would appeal to Christians seeking a practical, applicable Bible teaching, particularly those feeling weary from self-improvement culture. Listeners with no interest in evangelical Christian theology or biblical exposition would likely want to skip it.

As heard by us

A steady John 3 sermon that keeps grace, not effort, at the center.

Waterstone Sermon Podcast keeps John 3 at the center and stays with Nicodemus, new birth, and Ezekiel 36 long enough for the point to land. The message comes back again and again to the same idea: entry into the kingdom is not built by effort, pedigree, or moral polish, but…

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Why you'd press play

If you want John 3 explained without the fog, start here.

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