This morning, I want to share a word from God with you, but I desire that you receive it from God, because I want you to understand that you are in the best church. You are a part of the best church: the church of Jesus Christ. In the church of Jesus Christ, there is no problem of nationality, no problem of language, and it is because of Jesus Christ our Lord. I am going to preach a message this morning... and no one told me how long I have to preach. I have another service at 3pm, so I suppose I can preach until about 2pm.

The word I would like to share with you today is from the book of Genesis. Although I'm sure you all have this memorized, I want you to open your Bibles to Genesis 1:1. We are going to read from verses 1-4.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Sprit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness." (Genesis 1:1-4)

In the first place, today I want us all to understand that everything around us, the beautiful as well as the ugly, was created by the Lord. I don't care what Darwin said, I didn't come from a monkey. Based on the characteristics we have, we humans are unlike any other animal in the entire world. We are the only creatures that have the ability to worship God. There is no animal that has the ability to worship God and give their heart to God. There is nothing in nature that can be like that. Regardless of what man says, I believe that God is the creator, because I believe what the Bible says.

It says that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, but we find that something happens between verses one and two in Genesis. I don't know what you think, but I think that God is a god of perfection. In the second verse, we can see that the earth was a disaster: a complete mess. If this is so, then something happened between the two verses. Some theologians maintain that when Satan rebelled against the Lord, he was thrown out of God's presence and one third of the angels fell with him. I am not sure if this happened during the time between the first and second verses of Genesis, but I do know that something happened and the earth was disorganized and empty in the beginning...but God was there. It says that the Sprit of God moved and He gave the word, and when He gave His word, the light was split from the darkness. His powerful word changed the situation and made the light shine again.

Today, we are in a very similar situation. The world is in chaos. Why is the world in chaos? Because we have taken God from the schools - we do not pray in school or read the word of God in school. We have taken the word of God from the courts - the Ten Commandments no longer cover our courts. There is a proposal now to remove the phrase "in God we trust" from the American dollar - we are trying to take God from our economy. The family is removing God from the home. We no longer have time for God in our lives. We can do many things, but we must return to God, so that this unorganized land may once again become organized.

We will start with the year 2006. I believe that this is a year of new beginnings. Why? Because the numbers in the Bible have significance. If you add 2 and 6, you get the number 8. The number 8 in the Bible speaks of new beginnings. The circumcision of males born in Israel was performed on the eighth day after birth. King David was the eighth son of Jesse. Jesus was resurrected on the eighth day. All of this tells us of the importance of the eighth day. Eight was the number of people that survived the great flood, and they started a new generation on the earth. The name "Jesus" in Greek is represented by the number 888. That is why I am telling you that 2006 is a year of new beginnings. I know that God is testing His church with new challenges. I know that Pastor pat has many new ideas in mind with which to challenge you.

A few weeks ago, when we had our dinner together, a man asked me, "Pastor, is your work in the church easy? Because you come in the morning and hear Pastor Pat's message and then preach it again in the afternoon?" And I said... "sometimes." I think a few days ago, Pastor Pat looked at me and said, "You are the same age as my father." Really, I was not that happy about it. But I understand that God sent Pastor Pat to navigate this ship, which is Faith Community Church, through very difficult times. Everything around us speaks of distractions. But, your pastor has in his heart that you would grow. We need to grow. And you know what? I find the challenge in the word of God that this is the moment, this is the time [for us to act], because the world cannot continue this way. We need to understand that the Lord has to intervene in our lives. And I want to tell you something: Jesus is coming soon. We must be ready. There is no place for sleeping people. There is no place in Christ's church for busy people. This is the time to carry the word of God to the entire world. You and I have this responsibility. You can say "well, Pastor Pat is the one in charge of that... or Pastor Dennis, or the worship team." You - do this with me... come on, like this (pointing index finger). Put your finger in front of your face (point at yourself), and say with me "I am called to share the word of God."

I want to challenge you. It is God's time for this church.

I don't know how many of you are older than me, but I have been a Christian for 56 years and 9 months. Because I am a third generation pastor in my family, I was born into a Christian home and grew up in a parochial school; I can say that I have been a Christian for 56 years and 9 months. The truth is that one day, when I was eleven, the pastor that preached in the church that I attended, gave a sermon that spoke [directly] to me. He made me see that Jesus Christ came to save the sinners. I believed him, and I think that I was the first one to run to the altar when he did the altar call. What I remember is that I went to the front crying and crying. The pastor and some other members of the congregation prayed for me. I returned to my house crying and laid down in my bed, [still] crying. My mother came to my bedside, and she put her hand on me saying "Jesus Christ has now forgiven you." The next morning, when I awoke, I saw a new world around me. It appeared as if something had changed in my life. I was only 11 years old. I had always been in church, playing in the church, eating at church, basically living in the church. But I had to understand that I too needed my savior.

Therefore, if you are listening to me today and you don't specifically remember a day when you gave your heart to Christ, it doesn't matter if you have been a card-carrying member of a church for your entire life, you must be sure that your name is written in the book of life. You need to be sure that God has cleansed your heart and made you a new creation.

But if you are a child of God and you are here this morning, it is a time of new beginnings for you. It is time for you to realize that God has a lot for all of you to do. You may say that "I'm old. This Hispanic preacher is trying to tell me stuff that I already know." But I am telling you, the Lord wants to use you. It does not matter if your spouse tells you that you are old and fat. It does not matter what your spouse says. The Lord has made you a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come. If you are worried about your health, or if you are worried about your hair loss, or if you, my sister, are worried about your little rolls of fat... let me tell you something: don't waste your money on medical procedures because within a few days, in the blink of an eye, you and I will be transformed and given bodies of 15 and 16-year-olds. The cancer will be gone, your fatness will be gone, you will have new teeth, and the Lord will make everything new.

The Holy Sprit split the light from the darkness when the world began, and we still need it in our lives today, separating the light from the darkness. The light shines and we need that light to impact this world in which we live today. Two days ago, a little boy went into a church with a revolver and he died. This occurred only 8 hours from here! Not in Africa, not in Argentina. Although it happens in Argentina and in Africa as well, this is happening in our own backyards. Our youth need Jesus Christ. Our sons and daughters need Jesus Christ. Our churches need Jesus Christ, who still separates the light from the darkness.

Please open your Bibles to Haggai Chapter 2. I want you to receive this word for you. Don't think about your spouse, your kids, or anyone else. This word is for you today, on January 15th, 2006. 2006 is the year of new beginnings.

"Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it seem to you like nothing? 'Be strong, O Zerubbabel,' declares the Lord. 'Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jahozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of this land,' declares the Lord, 'and work, for I am with you,' declares the Lord Almighty. 'This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.' This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'In a little while I will once more shake all nations and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the Lord Almighty. 'The silver is mine and the gold is mine,' declares the Lord Almighty. 'The glory of this present house will be greater than that of the former house,' says the Lord Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the Lord Almighty." (Haggai 2:1-9)

This is what the Lord wants to do with you today. He is not only talking about this beautiful building, but also about your body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In this year, 2006, God wants to fill this house with glory. He wants to fill your homes with glory. He wants to fill your schools with glory. He wants to fill our courts with glory. He wants to fill Washington with glory. He wants to fill this world with glory, but He wants to start with you, with each one of us.

But, you know what? God was once born in a manger. He once withstood the stench of the manger, where He was born. But this time, when He comes, He will not be coming back to that same manger. He will come in all His glory and I believe that He will come in a short time. But before this, the prophet Haggai says, if you see that what God did with you in the past as great, you will not believe what He still has yet to do with you. Today, God wants to do even better things with you now - even greater things with you. Don't say, "Its not possible, I don't think so, I don't believe, I'm too old, I'm too young, I'm too fat, I have this and that, my husband left me..." None of those excuses work. Because I want to tell you something this morning: the glory of God is going to come down and fill your life, because God has ordained this as a year of new beginnings.

Is anyone here ready to receive this challenge this morning? Are you ready? Maybe this means you will have to leave the things that you did in the past. Maybe you will have to say "I don't understand what Pastor Pat wants to do, but I am going to try it. I am going to help." If the pastor starts a new program, you be the first one in line, because you learned this morning that this is the year of new beginnings. The old has gone and the new has come. The glory of the past is gone. The past is always more comfortable. But, you know what? The Lord wants to remove us from our comfort zones. He does not want us to be comfortable; He wants to bring you his glory amidst all this. Do you want that? You may say... "ok Pastor, I am comfortable. I like going to church on Sundays, I like listening to the worship team, but Pastor, I am ok with myself." You know what? The Holy Sprit is a gentleman. And if you you tell Him "I'm ok like this." You might as well sing "it is well with my soul" and sit down. That doesn't mean that the song is bad, but you know, the Lord wants to fill you with his glory. Pastor Pat was teaching us that we need to take what we learn here in church outside.

I have a friend in heaven, who used to go up the mountain to speak to God and come back down. The glory of God would still be shining in his face when he came back down the mountain. The glory of God would so shine in his face that the children of Israel would say "please cover yourself with something, because you are blinding us." You know, I believe that this is coming. The same glory of God is going to fill us. I am not speaking of religion, I am not speaking of formality, I am speaking of the glory of God. I want to tell you something this morning: we need the glory of God. The Hispanic church needs the glory of God; the American church needs the glory of God... because the only thing that is going to unite us is the glory of God. The glory of God makes us forget where we come from, how much we have, the color of our skin, and the glory of God makes all of us one.

This morning, I would like us all to stand up, bow our heads, and keep in mind that you can have one of two mentalities: I want to walk on this path of new beginning, or I want to stay comfortable, in the same place. You can tell the Lord: "Lord, I don't understand too much of what the Pastor said today, but I need your glory in my life." If you have that desire in your heart, surrender yourself to the Lord and ask him to do His work in your life.

Faith Community Church • 800 Grayson Parkway • PO Box 160 • Grayson, GA 30017 • Phone: (770) 995-7020 • Fax: (770) 995-8060 • E-Mail: info@faithgrayson.org