A New Heart For A New Year

WELCOME

Good morning, family. This is the second Sunday of the New Year, and it’s a blessing to see each of you in the house of the Lord today. As we step into this new year, we’re not just gathering out of routine — we’re gathering with expectation. Because whenever God calls His people together, He’s preparing to do something in us, not just around us.

Some of us walked in today carrying joy. Some walked in carrying questions. Some walked in carrying weight. However you came, you are welcome here — and you are seen by God.

Today, we are going to lean into a promise that speaks straight to the core of who we are: God is still giving new hearts. He’s still renewing spirits. He’s still transforming lives from the inside out. And if you’re willing, if you’re open, if you’re ready — God has something fresh for you today.

So take a breath. Settle your spirit. And prepare your heart for what God wants to do.

Welcome to worship. Welcome to renewal. Welcome to a place where God is making all things new — starting with us.

Let’s Pray

Lord, we come before You this morning with gratitude in our hearts and anticipation in our spirits. Thank You for gathering us in this sacred space where Your presence meets our need and Your mercy meets our humanity.

As we step into this new season, we ask You to do what only You can do — renew us from the inside out. Remove the weight of yesterday. Quiet the noise of our worries. Open our hearts so we can receive the fresh work You desire to do in us today.

Father, breathe on us again. Soften what has grown hard. Revive what has grown weary. Restore what has been broken. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. Let Your Word shape us, let Your Spirit transform us, and let Your love anchor us. We surrender this service to You. Have Your way in our worship. Have Your way in our minds. Have Your way in our hearts. And when we leave this place, let us leave changed — carrying the evidence of a God who still gives new hearts.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

Scriptures: Ezekiel 36:26; Psalm 51:10

INTRODUCTION

God Doesn’t Just Refresh Us… He Rebuilds Us . A new year often makes us think about new habits, new goals, and new routines. But God is not interested in simply giving us a spiritual tune-up. He’s not offering a motivational reset. He’s offering a transformation.

In Ezekiel 36:26, God says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.”

In Psalm 51:10, David cries, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.”

Two voices. Two moments. One truth: God specializes in heart work.

A new song is what God puts in your mouth. A new heart is what God puts in your chest. And before God changes your year, He wants to change your heart.

This brings me to my first point.

POINT 1 — “God Starts the Heart Work”

Ezekiel 36:26

26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Family, before we talk about what needs to change in us, we must first acknowledge the God who begins the change for us. Ezekiel 36:26 is not a command — it’s a divine declaration. God doesn’t say, “Get it together.” He says, “I will give you a new heart.”

This is the language of grace. This is the sound of mercy. This is the heartbeat of a God who moves first. God is not waiting for you to figure things out on your own. He steps into the mess, the history, the habits, the hardness — and says, “Let Me work.”

• Philippians 1:6 — “6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

God doesn’t just start the work — He finishes it.

• Jeremiah 24:7 — “7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”

Again, God is the giver. God is the initiator.

• Psalm 139:23-24 — “23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

David invites God to search his heart, because he knows only God can reveal and heal what’s inside.