Page 1 - 2025 December / 2026 January

Southern Pennsylvania District

Church of the Brethren

REPENT and be REBORN!

Repent and be REBORN! This may seem like a strange lead in to
our end of the year Christmas Newsletter to the Southern PA
District constituency. However, on second thought, maybe not so un-
likely…..Consider Jesus’ teaching to Nicodemus in John 3, where we
find Nicodemus, a Pharisee and member of the Jewish ruling council,
seeking out Jesus in the night and acknowledging Jesus as a teacher
from God. Nicodemus had grasped the fact that Jesus would not have
been doing the healing He was doing without being from God.

In this encounter, when Nicodemus seeks out Jesus in the night, Jesus

acknowledges that no one could see the kingdom of God unless they
were born again. Jesus’ comment about being born again raises the
CONTENTS
question about how someone could be reborn as they reflect on child
birth and how that all happens. Nicodemus, sometimes like us, reflects
only on the cycle of life, where you are born from the mother’s womb
Message Pg. 1
———————————- and when it is your time, your body collapses in death. However, Jesus
wants us to GRASP the fact of entering the Kingdom of God –
District Info Pgs. 2-4 FLESH/SPIRIT. Consider the words of John 3…”Flesh gives birth
______________________
to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit”. Later in this text, Jesus
Upcoming Events Pgs. 5-6 notes that He is speaking of heavenly things here and since Nicode-
______________________ mus had not totally comprehended that Jesus was speaking of heaven-
ly things, ie…if we are REBORN (do away with the “things” in this
District News Pgs. 7-14
______________________ life) and focus or lay aside how we respond and interact with one an-
other and more importantly on how we acknowledge the gift of
Learning Opportunities Christ’s birth. CHRISTMAS, for the most part, seems to be a brief
CEU’s Pgs.15-17
——–———————–— interlude, where we come close to grasping the importance of God’s
Son being born that we might realize the heavenly realm of
Ministry News Pgs. 18-19 REBIRTH and ETERNAL life!
_______________________
REPENT and be REBORN in CELEBRATION of CHRIST’s gift to
us. Blessings and thanks to the District Board
members and others who have been patient with
the physical ministry of the DE position and may
God bestow upon each one in our District, our
DEC. 2025 Congregations, our ministry agencies, and their
JAN. 2026 leaders, the GIFT of REBIRTH especially during

this ADVENT season. God Bless ~ Georgia