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.
A new heart is not the result of human effort — it’s the result of divine intervention.
You can’t perform your own heart transplant. You can’t fix what only God can replace.
And when God says, “I will,” your past can’t say, “You won’t.” Your failures can’t say, “You can’t.” Your fears can’t say, “Not you.”
This year, God is not asking you to try harder — He’s asking you to trust deeper. Because the heart work begins with Him.
POINT 2 — “A New Heart Begins Where We Surrender”
Psalm 51:10 —
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
If Ezekiel shows us God’s initiative, Psalm 51 shows us our posture. David is not standing tall — he is bowed low. He is not defending himself — he is exposing himself. He is not hiding — he is surrendering.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.”
That word “create” is the same Hebrew word used in Genesis 1 — bara — meaning to create out of nothing. David is saying, “God, I don’t need a touch-up. I need a do-over. I need You to start from scratch.”
The Bible says in:
• James 4:6 — “6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
“A new heart comes to those who bow, not those who boast.”
• 1 John 1:9 NET — “9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgivin] us our sins and cleansing[c] us from all unrighteousness.”
“Cleansing follows confession.”
• Psalm 34:18 — “18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
“God meets us in our honesty.”
A new heart begins where excuses end. A new heart begins where pride breaks. A new heart begins where we stop pretending and start presenting ourselves before God. God will not heal what we hide. But the moment we uncover it, He begins to recover it. David teaches us that surrender is not weakness — it is the doorway to renewal. And this year, God is calling us to a deeper honesty — not to shame us, but to shape us.
POINT 3 — “A New Heart Produces a New Life”
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.
When God gives you a new heart, He doesn’t just change how you feel — He changes how you function. He doesn’t just adjust your emotions — He redirects your entire life. Ezekiel says God removes the heart of stone — the cold, stubborn, unresponsive heart — and gives a heart of flesh — a heart that beats again, responds again, loves again.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 — “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
New heart ? new creation ? new life.
• Galatians 5:22-23 — “22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
The fruit of the Spirit flows from a renewed heart.
• Proverbs 4:23 — “23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
When the heart changes, everything changes.
A new heart produces new desires. New desires produce new decisions. New decisions produce a new direction. New direction produces a new destiny. A stony heart can’t forgive. A stony heart can’t worship. A stony heart can’t grow. But a new heart beats with heaven’s rhythm. A new heart responds to God’s voice.
A new heart produces a new life.
This is not behavior modification — this is spiritual transformation.
CONCLUSION — “Let God Make You New”
So as we step into this new year, hear the promise of the Lord: “I will give you a new heart.” Not a repaired heart. Not a recycled heart. Not a temporarily improved heart. A new heart. A heart that can feel again. A heart that can believe again. A heart that can forgive again. A heart that can hope again.
Maybe this is the year God softens what has been hardened. Maybe this is the year God revives what has been numb. Maybe this is the year God restores what has been broken. And maybe — just maybe — this is the year you discover that God wasn’t just giving you a new year… He was preparing to give you a new heart.
Lets Pray
Father, we thank You for meeting us in this moment. Thank You for speaking to us through Your Word, for reminding us that You are still the God who gives new hearts and renews weary spirits. As we prepare to leave this place, we ask You to seal this message deep within us. Lord, take every stony place and make it soft again.
Take every broken place and make it whole again. Take every weary place and breathe life into it again.
Create in us clean hearts, O God. Renew a right spirit within us. Let the work You’ve begun today continue throughout this week — shaping us, stretching us, transforming us from the inside out. Help us to walk in the newness You’ve promised. Help us to trust Your hand, surrender to Your voice, and follow Your leading.
And let our lives reflect the evidence of a God who still restores, still renews, and still makes all things new.
As we go, cover us with Your grace, surround us with Your peace, and empower us with Your Spirit.
And may the new heart You are forming in us beat in rhythm with Your will.
In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
