2. Happy Mother’s Day We honor You today !

3. Every person in Heaven will have been born a second time without a mother.

4. John 3:3-6 Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" 5 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

5. Heaven is a holy place where the holy God lives. Only the holy may live with Him.

6. I. The problem is that no one is free from the stain of sin. So... No one is holy. Can no one live with God ?

7. God creates man perfect, but like Eve, all people choose to sin. Ecclesiastes 7: 29 Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

8. There are no exceptions, everyone sins. Romans 3: 10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one” ( Psalms 14: 3 ) Romans 3: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ( Ecclesiastes7: 20 )

9. There is nothing man can do to cleanse himself from sin. Proverbs 20: 9 Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”? Psalms 49: 7-8 No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him — 8 For the redemption of his soul is costly,

10. The consequences of sin is spiritual death, i.e., separation from God. Ezekiel 18: 4 Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

11. Nahum 1: 3 The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

12. II. God has provided a way to cleanse men from the stain of sin. God can make us holy.

13. We deserve to be cast aside and separated from God, but God offers reconciliation.

14. II Corinthians 5: 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

15. Ephesians 2: 12-13 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

16. In order to receive that reconciliation God requires that one be “ born again.”

17. John 3: 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3: 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

18. III. What does it mean to be “born again ?” to be “born of the Spirit?”

19. The new birth can occur because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I Peter 1: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

20. The new birth happens through the inspired “word of God. ” I Peter 1: 22-23 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, 23 for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.

21. IV. How is one physically born into a spiritual family ?

22. The new birth results from obedience to the living and enduring word of God.

23. Romans 6: 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?

24. Romans 6: 17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin you became the servants of righteousness.

25. What is the teaching from the word of God that one must obey in order to be freed from sin?

26. Romans 6: 3 – 7 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. – continued

27. Romans 6: 3 – 7 — continuation 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin.

28. When one is baptized he/she is received into the family of God. Galatians 2: 26-27 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

29. Baptism is the act of calling on the Lord to save you. Romans 10: 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Acts 22: 16 ‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’

30. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. I Corinthians 11: 26