His name was Paul. He lived in a small town in the Pacific Northwest some
years ago. He was just a little boy when his family became the proud owners
of one of the first telephones in the neighborhood. It was one of those
wooden boxes attached to the wall with the shiny receiver hanging on the
side of the box. and the mouthpiece attached to the front. Young Paul
listened with fascination as his mom and dad used the phone. and he
discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device called a telephone
lived an amazing person.
Her name was "Information Please". and there was nothing she did not know.
Information Please could supply anybody's number. and the correct time! Paul
's first personal experience with "Information Please" came one day when he
was home alone and he whacked his finger with a hammer. The pain was
terrible and he didn't know what to do. and then he thought of the
telephone. Quickly, he pulled a footstool up to the phone, climbed up,
unhooked the receiver, held it to his ear and said: "Information Please"
into the mouthpiece. There was a click or two and then a small clear voice
spoke: "Information." "I hurt my finger," Paul wailed into the phone. "Isn't
your mother home?" "Nobody's home but me," Paul cried. "Are you bleeding?"
"No," Paul said. "I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts." "Can you
open your ice-box?" "Yes." "Then go get some ice and hold it to your
finger." Paul did and it helped a lot.
After that Paul called "Information Please for everything. She helped him
with his geography and his math. She taught him how to spell the word "fix."
She told him what to feed his pet chipmunk. And then when Paul's pet canary
died, she listened to his grief tenderly and then said: "Paul, always
remember that there are other worlds to sing in." Somehow that helped and
Paul felt better.
When Paul was nine years old, he moved with his family to Boston. and as the
years passed he missed "Information Please" very much. Some years later as
Paul was on his way out west to go to college, his plane landed in Seattle.
He dialed his hometown operator and said, "Information Please."
Miraculously, he heard that same small clear voice that he knew so well.
"Information." Paul hadn't planned this, but suddenly he blurted out: "Could
you please tell me how to spell the word "fix?" There was a long pause. Then
came the soft answer: "I guess your finger must be all healed by now." Paul
laughed. "So it's really still you. Do you have any idea how much you meant
to me during that time when I was a little boy?" "I wonder," she said, "if
you know how much your calls meant to me! I never had any children and I
used to look forward to your calls so much."
Paul told her how much he had missed her over the years and asked her if he
could call her again when he was back in the area. "Please do," she said,
"just ask for Sally." Three months later, Paul was back in Seattle. This
time a different voice answered. He asked for Sally. "Are you a friend?" the
operator asked. "Yes, a very old friend." Paul answered. "Well, I'm sorry to
have to tell you this," she said. "Sally had been working part time the last
few years because she was sick. She died 5 weeks ago." Before he could hang
up, the operator said: "Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?"
"Yes." "Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down in case you
called. Let me read it to you. It says: 'When Paul calls, tell him that I
still say: there are other worlds to sing in.' He will know what I mean."
Paul thanked her and hung up and he did know what Sally meant.
"There are other worlds to sing in." Isn't that a beautiful and powerful
thought? And that is precisely what John 3 is all about. "There are other
worlds to sing in". in this life and, yes, even beyond this life. When Jesus
said to Nicodemus that night: "You must be born again." "You must be born
from above." That's what he meant. you don't have to stay the way you are.
You can make a new start. You can have a new life. You can become a new
person. There are other worlds to sing in. First of all..
1. TO BE BORN FROM ABOVE MEANS TO COME ALIVE TO THE BIBLE.
2. TO BE BORN FROM ABOVE MEANS TO COME ALIVE TO LOVE.
3. TO BE BORN FROM ABOVE MEANS TO COME ALIVE TO ETERNAL LIFE.
The
rest of this sermon following the outline can be obtained by joining
eSermons.com. When you sign up you will get immediate access. Sermon Prep
resources are offered by www.sermons.com