“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” – [John 3:3 - KJV]

How can we be born again?
The plan of salvation is right in the Bible. God gives us His clear plan for being “born again.”

First, we must acknowledge God as the Creator of everything and accept our humble position in God’s creation.

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” – [Revelation 4:11 - KJV]

Next, we must realize that we are sinners; we are condemned to death.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” – [Romans 6:23 - KJV]

This includes eternal separation from God.

But God loved each of us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus, to bear our sin and die in out place.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – [Romans 5:8 - KJV]

Although we cannot understand how, God said our sins were laid upon Jesus and He dies in out place. Jesus became out substitute.

In the Bible, a jailer asked his prisoners, Paul and Silas:

“…Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” [Acts 16:30-31 - KJV]

It’s very clear in the Bible; believe in Jesus as the one who bore your sins, dies in your place, was buried, and whom God resurrected. It’s Christ’s blood and resurrection that assured us of everlasting life when we call on Him as out Lord and Savior.

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” – [Romans 10:13 - KJV]

“Whosoever” includes each and every one of us.

Therefor, if you understand that you are a sinner, and you believe that Jesus Christ came as the one and only Redeemer of sin, then you understand the plan of salvation. The question is, are you ready to implement the plan by receiving God’s gift of His Son, Jesus Christ? If so, believe in Christ, repent of your sins, and commit the rest of your life to His as Lord.

Let me mention two of my resolutions:

1.) For 2008, my resolution was to pray for all the families of our members every week. And even though I missed it three or four times, I want you to know that I have prayed for all of you on a weekly basis.

This year, I want to up the ante a little bit. My resolution for 2009 is not only to pray for you weekly, but also to give you a phone call on a regular basis (probably once every three months or so) to inquire about how you and your family are doing spiritually, so I can pray for you more intelligently. So, expect a phone call from me every once in a while. If I leave a message, please call back. My desire is to be of greater service to you in your journey of faith. Allow me do that and weʼll both be blessed (Hebrews 13:17).

2) Iʼm also resolving to pray for opportunities to share Jesus with people one on one. I tend to interact mostly with church people, so Iʼm asking God to put more people in my life (or at least for me to recognize it when He does). One way Iʼm looking forward to this is in my new role as Petaluma Police Chaplain, which will start sometime this year.

But Iʼm also praying for the person I wrote down on the card. I hope youʼre doing the same as we work together to help people find Jesus in 2009. What a great year weʼll have as we share our faith in our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! May we be a great blessing to the kingdom of God!

— Loving you in the Lord,

Pastor Bill Linton