New Beginning // Pastor Ilya

I do want to remind our church is in a 21-day fast and there are five options of fasting. We kind of want to break them down for each and every one of you and that is a water fast. It's for people who only drink water and don't eat or drink anything except water.

Recommended but also not recommended for a long extended period of time. You have to allow the Lord to lead you and it's a personal decision that each person needs to make. Number two is the liquid fast. It's when you drink water, but you also add either, you know, some juice or other things.

Some people add other things to it. But you also have to be careful just because it's a liquid fast. You can't be just drinking anything because then what's going to happen is you're going to be spending time on the restroom pleading God for mercy. So, use discretion, use wisdom, ask the doctor of all doctors, ChatGPT, is this allowed, is this healthy, is this good?

The third one is the partial fast is when you go from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Now, Muslims love to kind of eat a lot before 6:00 a.m. and eat a lot after 6 p.m. We don't do it like that. So, this doesn't mean that you look at the clock and you eat your heaviest breakfast you can possibly eat.

It just simply means you eat one meal after 6:00 p.m. Again, if you're eating that meal, the point isn't to make a seven-course meal. You’re fasting. You're pressing in. You're not trying to kill hunger. You're actually trying to keep hungry. Fourthly, is Daniel fast. It's for people who eat no sweets, no meats, no dairy, only fruits, nuts, vegetables, and water.

It's not technically a fast, but it is a point of abstinence from certain types of foods that bring pleasure and satisfaction. And it does honor God. And the last one is the non-food fast. It's for people who are pregnant, those who are teens, women who are nursing, pregnant, or people on medication or people who have a job right now that requires intensity.

Like I was, you know, there yesterday at the construction. And I was telling some of the guys like, "Make sure you're not fasting because like I need you to finish this. I don't want you to drop from the ladder." It's like, "Well, I was fasting." No, that's not going to please the Lord.

So, there are seasons in our life you just can't fast. You just got to eat. You need a lot of food. And so, and there's no guilt or shame in that. Now, I do want to mention two things about it. Number one is that you're not locked into one option.

I did find though myself, I would start with water fast and I would gravitate to each level every like 3 days. Anytime I did that I would usually stop fasting by like second week. So typically, if you can you know stay till the end for whatever you committed but there are situations where you will start one week, and you'll do a liquid fast next week you'll do a from morning to evening fast.

Just make sure that you stick with that as your determined goal but there's no legalism to it. So, if you start with one and you move to another one there is not one scripture in the Bible that says thou shalt not eat for 21 days. So, you have liberty.

In fact, our God is more eat. He wants to bless us with food. So, heaven is going to be a place of food. We're not going to be starving. But because of the flesh, because of the world we live in, Jesus tells us that we ought to practice the discipline of abstaining from food for spiritual reasons.

The second thing is this. Let's just say that you did a and I have to explain this. Let's just say you did a 7 days a liquid fast, absolutely no food, and then you decided, you know what? I'm going to switch next week. I'm just going to do one meal a day.

Your first meal that night cannot be full meal or you will experience the full wrath of your stomach. You might end up in ER and you actually might permanently damage your digestive system. And this is not a scary thought. I can tell you stories of people I know in our church who fasted for a long time and went and took more than they should have end up in ER and some have till this day a problem in their body they can't cure.

So, fasting how you exit when you go on water even for three days. How you exit please use wisdom. This is where gluttony comes out faster than anything else. You think you crush the flesh during fasting? How you exit the fast will really show if the flesh is still in control.

And I have testimonies. I've done three days one time one time, and I was coming out of the three-day fast and going to Olive Garden. I thought I'm just going to get soup. You know, chicken Gnocchi soup. That thing is so thick. That's not a soup. And I remember I'm eating first 20 minutes feels so good.

And after that your stomach and I'm like one more. And next two hours I'm at home. God, I will never do it again. I promise. I I'm so sorry. Lord, would you please heal me? Just this time, Lord. Just this time. I know I did the foolish thing.

But you know my story when I did seven days on water and then I ate six or seven cinnamon rolls. Yeah. I started with soup though. But because I started with soup, I said soup opened the stomach. Now I can feed it with a flood of truckload of cinnamon rolls.

And yeah, and the next 40 minutes, you know. So, it's a very practice wisdom. Please do not do this thing where you went on water for a week or you went on the liquid for a week and because this is the time where some people start switching. Please practice wisdom.

You know there's no legalism. There's no pressure in what you fast, how you fast, but make sure that you practice wisdom. Otherwise, you're going to blame God. You're going to blame me or other people like, "Well, these people got me into fasting." But nobody got you into eating six burgers after a 7-day liquid fast.

So, practice wisdom. If you choose to transition from water or liquid fast to eating once a day, don't start with your regular food. It can hurt your stomach. Begin with something light like soup and then don't eat heavy stuff, please, because it will hurt your stomach. This Saturday, we're going to have a kids zone open house.

It's going to be our first look at the spaces created for our children. It will happen from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. from 2 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. And then last one is that we will be moving this week. A lot of our storage that we have outside a lot of the things that we have in our offices.

So pretty much most of the things from this church will be moved from Wednesday to Friday 400 pm to 6 7 pm and then Saturday will be a full day from 9 to 3 p.m. So, for those of you who've been kind of waiting for a whole year to wait for that like final week to come in.

I want to help and serve. This is the answer to that prayer. And so, we would love to see you join us this week. Help us to move this stuff. Let's make it all possible. It's a different when you walk into that building and you have a skin in the game.

You know, it's different for me when I'm sitting, you know, worshiping today and I remember when the Lord encountered me here. I remember when, you know, me and other people would walk around and pray here and it's a very special when you contribute to the to the God's house your time, your treasures, and also your volunteering hours.

So, thank you for doing that, church. And today it's my pleasure and honor to welcome to the pulpit not only a person that started with us, with me or more like I think started, I started with him HungryGen, we came up with the word HungryGen both of us, Hungry Generation.

Our church name was good news church that's our pastor's name and then we just came up with our own youth group name that became the church eventually and not only he has been here from the beginning, but he was the reason with his dad and with their family why there was a beginning here.

And at the particular season, which was about 3 years ago, he and his wife felt the call to now begin to pioneer HungryGen in a different location. And so, some of you don't even know him yet because you've been coming here and there's a lot of new faces.

And so now they're leading HungryGen Everett that's doing really, really, really well. This is a very bittersweet moment for both of us because both of us have so much memories on every pew in every square inch of this building. There's so much stuff here. It's an emotional moment for me, but it's a beautiful moment.

And I think there was nobody better to be able to close this time in this building than Pastor Illia. So would you help me welcome Pastor Illia as he brings the word today from both sanctuaries and online. And now I don't know if I want you to play some music cuz I'll be like crying instead of preaching here.

Thank you, Pastor Lad. I was wondering this week how would I be able to actually do this today because 
((applause))
 Well, we got this. So many great memories here. So many great things that the Lord has done. so many moments where really kind of we thought like are we going to make it?

Is anything going to become of this place? Is there anything going to become of us some immigrant boys that don't even speak English that look weird that go they go out we were passionate to evangelize. We go out to the mall and streets dress all this in this interesting, you know, Russian leather coats with, you know, remember back those days was was popular flipping the collar out.

And so, with these thick accents in the dark valleys in the mall, we would be like, "Hey, you do you know about Jesus? Do you want to meet him tonight?" you know, people are running away from us and so I don't blame them. I don't blame them. And so, we tried.

Dan remembers some of them. And so a lot of great memories, a lot of great things and a lot of moments, a lot of moments of morning prayers, evening prayers, midweek prayers, Friday night prayers, all night prayers, starting from 10:00 a.m. until 3 4 5 6 in the morning just seeking the Lord, asking for revival, asking for all of you.

We didn't know you back then, but we were believing carrying faith in our heart that day will come that we will see many people saved. I mean we prayed radical and crazy prayers. Lord give us revival or we die. You know, it sounds crazy now, but it really that was a heart.

Yeah, maybe it was immature. Yeah, it was maybe, you know, funny and foolish, but that's that was our prayers and that's what we were believing God for, what we were fighting for. and 20 years later to see all of this, what's happening in Everett, what's happening in Spokane, what's about to happen in Renton, what is going to be happen in Yakima, what's going to be happen in Portland, in Vancouver, what's going to be happen in many other cities.

And there are there are extended family that you don't even know, for example, we planted a church in Romania a year ago that is doing really well right now and they're like our extended cousin that are under our covering. There are other churches that have been planted out of this house that are these pastors are under this covering that you don't even know of, but the influence is spreading all across the world. and those prayers, those cries are for revival, those cries, Lord, use us.

Lord, if you can if you can use us, please do. God heard them. God heard them. God answered them. God is answering them. and God is going to continue to answer them as long as we don't give up, as long as we don't settle for comfortable, as long as we don't settle for average, as long as we choose to keep a heart full of fire for the Lord, as long as deep in our hearts, we live a life of surrender.

Lord, not my will but your will. Lord, my life is not my own, but my life belongs to you. God will always use us. He will always do his will through us. And we will look back and we will wonder how is it that some immigrant boy who couldn't speak English who had passion and desire for God now is known around the world preaching the gospel opening the churches blessing people throughout different nations, through YouTube, through Instagram, through Facebook, through travels, and through all of the other means that the Lord has opened up for our church, for our ministry, for our pastors.

And God is faithful. That's all I can say. Amen. Let's put our hands together for Jesus. God is faithful. God is faithful. Today I want to just share a few thoughts with you and I think it's the message would be appropriate that I called a new beginnings a new beginning there's something as I was praying for the church for HungryGen Everett and for our team for my life I was asking Lord what is what is the new year going to bring 2026?

What are we stepping into? What should we prepare for? What should I be declaring? What should I be prophesying into our church, into our lives, into our ministry? And I felt deeply in my heart deposit this word new beginning. New beginnings. And I want to share a few thoughts with you today as best as I can. and then lead you into some prayers to prepare you to enter a new beginning because I believe that not only as a church as HungryGen we have we are entering, or we have entered into a new phase building wise, systems, structures, teams, planting churches, but I believe you are who are the part who is a part of this house.

You are to entering in your life into the new beginning. There are certain things that you have been fighting for in your life. Certain things you've been believing for in your life. Certain things that perhaps you fought, you believed, you hoped, you had faith for, and things did not work out and you either buried it or about to bury it.

And I want to prophesy and declare, and I want to speak into your life that this year God wants to give you a new beginning in your life. He wants to give you a new beginning in your marriage. He wants to give you a new beginning in your finances.

He wants to give you a new beginning in your health. He wants to give you a new beginning in your call. Some of you who felt like you were not you have not been seen. Some of you that have felt like you've been neglected. Some of you that have felt like I have nothing to offer, but I feel the cold burn in my life.

But I I it seems like there's no path forward. There's no way to be utilized for me. I want to tell you that God is opening new horizons. God has opened a new season. And God is opening and giving you a new beginning. Isaiah 43 says this verses 18 and 19.

Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. See, I am doing a new thing. Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past because God has a new thing for you. Don't dwell on the disappointment. Don't dwell on that delay.

Don't dwell on that unanswered prayer. Don't dwell on that plan that you have made up in your head that this is how God was going to do it. This is how the prayer is going to be answered. This is what's going to happen. If this happens and this happens, then that's how things will turn out.

I want to tell you that sometimes a seed has to die. Die to its own ambition. Die to its own plans. die to its own die to its own ideas, die to its ego, die to its self-sufficiency and self-dependence. And when it dies, it enters a new beginning.

And that's how it is in our life. Sometimes we fight, we fight, we kind of create this plan, we bring this plan before God. God blessed this. But sometimes it's not the plan that we bring to God. It's good. It's proper. We teach that, you know, we have to give God something to work with.

You can't just come empty. Lord, bless me. I'm going to sit on the couch and eat Doritos and watch Netflix and I'm going to become a millionaire. I'm going to become a business owner. I'm going to earn a degree. No, no. We got to there's things we have to do.

But there are sometimes when we create these plans, this grand vision and we say, "God, right here, use it like this. No other way because we don't see any other way." And God has this whole new thing, new life. And then un until this dies, until your ambitions, your goals, your pride, your ideas of how God's going to go through and and use you and move through you until death dies, then a new life can't form that multiplies, that grows, that feeds, that is that there is that that becomes a great blessing.

Amen. The story that I want to use for you the story that I want to use in this message and share with you comes from Ruth. Ruth it's in the book of Ruth obviously a short book few chapters and I want you to look with me at her story at her story.

And I'm just gonna this whole book is full of I've preached from this book many times. This this story is full of very interesting and good lesson some golden nuggets for us. I'm just going to pick few. The story of Ruth for those of you who don't know what it is.

Let me just kind of summarize it for you quickly and then we're going to go from there. Story of Ruth goes like this. Naomi and her husband, they were in Bethlehem. They lived in Israel. And then what happened was a famine came to the land. And because of the famine, they left Israel.

They left the promised land. They left the land of the covenant. and they went into a foreign land, the land that worshiped idols, the land that was actually often times at war with Israel with at war with the promise with the promised land with their covenant. And Ruth Naomi, her husband, and two of her sons, they left out to land of Moab.

This is where they settled. And her husband shortly I think it was 10 years. No her husband shortly after that died and then her sons were married and shortly after that well 10 years after that both of her sons died and then Naomi was left by herself with two daughter-in-laws.

Her one of the one of her names was Ruth the other one was Orpa. At some point she heard that God visited Israel again and there was plenty of bread and she decided since she has nothing, she lost everything. She decided to get back to her people decided to go back to Bethlehem which was called the house of bread and two of her daughters they decided to go with her.

One of the daughters Orf and eventually often be after being talked to Naomi was encouraged to stay. Well, both of them were encouraged to stay, but Orpa eventually decided to stay. Ruth decided to go with Naomi and her life changed. And this is where I want to talk about here quickly.

Number one, I want you to write this down. Don't abandon your promise when times get hard. Don't abandon your promise when times get hard. See, Bethlehem was a house of bread. But temporarily there was lack of bread in the house. There was lack of lack of provision in the house.

Nation of Israel was a nation of covenant. It was a nation of promise. It was a promised land for Israelites. It was the land that was given to them by God. And often times that's what happens in in in our lives when we are when God gives us a promise when we are going towards something along the path, we encounter difficulties along the path we encounter lack we encounter shortage along the path we sometimes can encounter delays along the path we encounter we can encounter resistance.

Yes, it still is the promised land. It still is God's plan for us. It's still what God has purposed for us. But we encounter some challenges in our promised land. God has promised you to finish your finish your school, finish your college to be the first person in your family that actually is educated and has a degree.

But on your way to getting that degree, you lost your scholarship. on a way to getting that degree. Maybe you weren't planning to be pregnant, but you are pregnant now and now what do I do? Do I stop my school? But this was a promised land. It's becoming much harder on the way to on the way to get that degree.

You lost a job and now you can't pay your bills and, but you know it's a promised land. You know it's what God has given you. And sometimes things get hard as you are trying to live out your promise. God has promised you that you will be well and you'll be prosperous that you're going to have more than enough for yourself.

I mean for your family and you're not just going to be a blessed person but you're going to be a blessing, and you started that business and maybe things were started doing well but then you hit some rough times. Maybe it's due to economy that has nothing to do with you.

Maybe it's due to some things that maybe you even did wrong in a business or people did wrong to you. They cheated you. They have you know didn't they didn't pay you and now you're facing existential crisis. Now you're facing, hey, do I stick through this? Do I keep pushing one more month?

Do I keep pushing one more week? Or do I give up? Do I just roll this all up and I go back and get 8 to5 job? Nothing wrong with 8 to5 job. But if God has given you this as a promise, what do you do? It could be in the area of your calling.

You received many prophetic words. You're going to be an evangelist to the nations. You will be a pastor. You'll be a mighty prophet of God. And you are fire for it. You are excited about it. You're pursuing it. You're like, "Yes." and you're beginning to go along your calling, but then you're not getting the opportunities.

You're not being noticed. You're not being recognized. You're not being promoted. You are actually being put further and further in the back. And you, it feels like instead of you progressing forward, instead of you being the Bethlehem, the house of bread of abundance, you actually lack that bread.

You actually don't have you feel like you don't have what it takes to get through. Yeah, you hit famine in your in the area of your calling. Listen my friends, this is real life. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. We live in a broken world, broken society.

Sin have ruined things and put things upside down. And what do you do in those moments? And Naomi and her husband and her sons, they leave the promised land. They abandon what God has called them to do, where God him where God called them to be at. And I want to encourage you today.

I want us to learn from the story of Ruth is that don't give up. Keep persevering. Keep pushing. Keep trusting God. Stay in your promised land. Don't leave when things get hard. You get married. You've been wanting to get married for so long. Finally, you are married. Wow.

So good. Honeymoon stage. Honeymoon stage is over. And there's some frictions. There's some things that now you're beginning to encounter. And then you get to the point where like, man, did I did I make a mistake? Did I marry the wrong person? You know what? It started to be a Bethlehem, a house of bread.

What it started to be a what it started to be so abundant and so wonderful. And you're on the seventh cloud. Now you feel like you're living in hell. Now, I'm just trying to be real. Do you abandon your promise, your covenant? Do you abandon what God has given you?

Or do you stay and weather the storm? Do you stay and fight for go for what God has promised you? Don't abandon your promised land. Number two, what I see is that don't let hard times lead you to compromise. That's good. Don't let hard times lead you to compromise.

See, they leave the land of their God. They leave the land of their covenant. They leave the land of their promise. And they go to the land where they worshiped idols. They go to the land where there was no temple, where there was no way to worship God.

Remember at that time Jews, they worshiped God in a temple. They were commanded the Lord to go to the temple certain amount of times a year and bring sacrifice and all of the other stuff. But now they're in a foreign land. Now they're in the land of other gods.

Now they're in the land where things are different. They're they've chosen they have betrayed their covenant and they went into the place of compromise. And while temporary, it gave him relief because Bethlehem at that moment was famished. Bethlehem at that moment, the nation of Israel at that moment, it was going through a drought.

It was going through famine. And the land of Moab offered some temporary relief. And that's how sin looks like. Sin offers often times a temporary relief. You've been going through a difficult time. You deserve to feel a little bit better. You It's been rough in your marriage. You haven't been neglected in your marriage.

You can have something here that will, you know, listen to you, that will love you, that that will you know, give you the attention you deserve, give you the pleasure that you deserve that you've been so robbed of and stolen. You can cut corners here and there. You know, you're already tight financially.

So, a little, you know, a little white lie here, a little cutting corner here and there. Nobody knows. And then here's the demonic lie. When things are better, I will make it right. And that goes to every area in our lives. in the area of our calling. Instead of when things are tough, things are hard, we go deeper in fasting, we go deeper in prayer, we go deeper into the word, we we go deeper into the Lord, we're starting to compromise.

We're starting to just live a lukewarm life appear to be spiritual but in reality, on inside and behind the scenes there is no depth no spirituality and we begin to compromise. And here's the thing, anything that Satan offers you with the right hand, with the left hand, he's going to take what your life depends on.

Moab offered them a little bit of bread and some sense of stability and security, but on the other side, it took her husband and her two sons. It took her husband and two sons. And that's how sin is. It's deceitful in its nature. He offers it's a beautiful wrapped candy, but inside is poison.

And we fall into that temptation right now here. I need it instead of what Moses said, I'd rather suffer with God's people. Then enjoy the pleasures of Egypt because of the promise that was before him. And so don't get tempted with Moab. Don't get tempted with temporary relief.

Don't get tempted by a temporary success. Don't get tempted by a shortcut. Because today you get a relief, tomorrow you get death. Are you with me? There are usually three responses that people have when they hit hard times. There are usually three responses that usually that people hit that people have when they hit hard times.

Response number one is that they blame people whether people at fault or not. Sometimes people are at fault. People caused you harm, people caused you pain, people cheated you, people promised you didn't come through. and sometimes people don't sometimes you blame people but it's not really people's fault.

You just need to lay the blame somewhere. When people have hard times, one of the three responses is blaming others. It's because of them. It's because of my parents that I'm here. It's because they didn't do this and this. That's why I'm having a hard life. It's because my boyfriend was abusive and this is the reason why I'm this way or that way the other.

This is because my girlfriend was so insecure. So, this is why I'm this way. This is because I grew up on the wrong side of the track. and this is why my future the way it is the way right now blaming others. The second thing that the second response that often people have to hard times to setback it's a a response of blaming themselves.

Blaming yourself. See, nobody forced Naomi and her husband to leave Bethlehem. It was their own decision. And I think that's probably one of the hardest things to overcome. Definitely a a very deep and very long school that I had to go through in this in this department is when it is God's promise.

It is when God gives you something and it's working well. things are doing. it's a promise of God has been prophesied over you. You prayed for it. You fasted. Finally, it's here. And then you do something to screw it up. Am I the only one or is there few here?

And then you live with this sense of guilt and shame. You know, it's the promise of God. You know, this is what God has given you. you know, this is what you should have been doing, but then you just they told you don't do this., and they, you know, you should have not done this or done this and that, and you didn't do it, and it failed, and you lost on the promise.

You lost on what God had in store for you. And then you're and then you blame yourself. And I think that's often times one of the hardest things to get over the hardest things to forgive. It's like forgive others. Why? Well, because God says you need to forgive.

It's kind of like, okay, well, I'm just going to pretend like they didn't know what they were doing and I'm just going to let it go. But see, you know yourself. often times you know the thoughts you had, you know the emotions, you know the feelings you had, you know the red flags that you had.

You should have not been in that relationship, but you ended up you got ended up and you wasted five years of your life. You could have been married to somebody else. You could have already had two kids, and you could have been enjoying it. If you would have listened to your pastor, if you would have listened to your mom and dad like this guy is no good and you're blaming yourself and That's a second response.

And third one probably is equally as difficult is when you lay blame on God. I prayed for my mom to be healed but she died from cancer. God, why? Why? I prayed for that interview to go through. Lord, please this once. Lord, I you know I don't want anything else.

Nothing. If this just this once you can come through. If I can just get this job of my dream. If I can just get secure this contract of my dream. If I can only get that promotion. If I can only get that position. If I can only be put in that place, Lord, that I'm not going to ask you for anything else.

We know we're lying, but still. And it doesn't come through. And then we begin to harbor this feeling of bitterness towards the Lord. And here's the worst part. If you've been in church for any time, you know you're not supposed to have any bitterness towards God. And even saying such a words as forgiving God is like fallacy and heresy.

It sort of is. I'll explain here in a second. But it doesn't change the fact that your heart feels like God is to blame. It doesn't change the fact that your heart blames God for no breakthrough, for prayer not answered, for this not happening. God, I pray there's only one thing that I've desired so deeply and so much, but that one thing did not come through.

I was willing to do anything for it. And it's in those moments that we begin to lay blame on God for why something happened or didn't happen. And what I find is that with unbelievers or those the ones that come to the Lord, they haven't been in the religious system for a while, it's much easier.

They just say it how it is. Why did God do this and this and that? You know, I I don't think he's a good God. But then you can start working with them. At least they are. They label their emotion. They know, you know what you're working with, and you can begin to chip away from intellectual side, from a the from theological side and then from emotional side to bring healing.

But the problem is the longer people are in church, they know they're not supposed to be hating on God, quote unquote, and they cover it with the religious slogans and ideas, but deep down in in the heart, they can't connect with God. Prayer feels dry. And during worship it seems like they're hitting the ceiling.

They're just they're just not and then Lord why they even feel that even drives them even further away from God because they feel like God is silent. God shut the heavens. But it's not that God shut the heavens. It's not that God is silent. It's your soul that is bitter shut itself away from God and you don't feel don't experience the presence of God.

Why? Because the soul is the bridge between the spirit and the body between the spirit mind and that biological mind that processes logic the conscious. And when the soul through bitterness shuts itself away from God, your conscious mind wants to experience God. But the tap, you know, kind of like there's a tap water.

If the thing is closed, doesn't much matter how much water is on the other side, nothing is coming in on this side. and then and the way to it the way to go past the way to have this is where I'm coming to my conclusion in next five minutes.

The way to have a new beginning in 2026 is two things. Number one is to forgive others that hurt you. to forgive yourself for the mistakes and the losses that you have caused yourself or to others and or to release God from any responsibility that you have placed on him with your expectations aka forgiving God.

Now, in it will feel like we need to forgive God, but in reality, I just want to be make sure that especially those that will be picking apart this video on online, we're not forgiving God because God is not at fault. Bible says good and perfect gifts come from the father from above.

He's a good and perfect father who loves us, but it doesn't change the fact that our soul lays blame on him, and we feel like we need to forgive God. So that's what I mean. So instead, I write I like to use the phrase letting go or releasing God from the blame and the responsibility we have put on him.

Are you with me? You have to forgive others if you want to have a 2026 a year of new beginnings in your relationship. Some of you are not married because God doesn't want you to be married is because you haven't forgiven your ex. You have not let him go.

He's already married with five kids and you're still holding on to what he did to you. But it's true. Some of you are married, but you still haven't gotten your let ex let go. You can't enjoy intimacy and fullness of love and closeness in relationship because you're still holding on to what they did to you. and you're making your new wife your new husband.

Pay the price for the mistakes of your old wife and your old husband. Time to let it go. If you want a new beginning in your marriage, forgiving yourself and releasing God. And two, and I'm finishing on this one, is that Ruth under the instructions of Naomi, under the instructions of Naomi tells Naomi tells Ruth to go into the threshing floor and to be with Boaz.

I'm going to wrap this up quickly. Boas in the scripture here represents as Jesus the redeemer. The threshing floor represents intimacy. If you want to have a new beginning in your life, number one, we said you got to release yourself. You got to release others, forgive them, and you got to release God.

Number two, you have to go to your daily encounters with God. You have to go to the place of intimacy with the Lord. You have to go to the place where you see him daily. When you have encounters with him because intimacy produces fruitfulness. Intimacy brings harvest. Intimacy brings a new beginning.

I want you to look at this. Ruth and Orpa, two people in the same situations. Both lost their husbands. Both are devastated. Both don't really have a future. One says, "Naomi, I will go with you. Your God will be my God. Your people will be my people. I will help you.

I will serve you. I will do anything. But I am not staying in this godforsaken land. I'm not staying here in a land of sin, in a land of idols. I'm not staying here in the land of compromise. I'm going to the Bethlehem. I'm going to the house of God.

I'm going to church. I'm going to my home groups. I'm going with my brothers and sisters. Or at least they will be my brothers and sisters. Orpa says, "I'm going to stay back." Look at this. Ruth's story gets redeemed. But you know that Orpa could have been redeemed too.

Bible tells us that there were two family redeemers. Two family redeemers in this story. Boaz even though he loved Ruth he said there's somebody who is ahead of me meaning in a lineage he needs to redeem you meaning he can take you and restore you and all that stuff he said if he refuses then I will gladly take you as my wife because I love you Orpa's story could have been redeemed or could have had a new beginning.

All she had to do is forget the former things, forget the disappointments, forget the challenges that she went through and said, "You know what? I'm going to go into the land of promise. I'm going to go into the house of God, into the house of bread. I'm going to go with God's people.

I'm going to let go. I'm going to forgive. I'm not going to lay blame. I'm not going to say, "My God has made my life bitter." I'm going to go and I'm going to believe for a new beginning. Ruth did that. And Bible says she not only got married, but she also got married to a wealthy man.

Some ladies, some single ladies in this place. Come on, somebody. This is a promise for you 2026. And those of you that are married, listen, the train hasn't sailed. Just believe that your husband is going to be Boaz. I want to tell you; God wants to give you a new beginning.

God wants to give you a new beginning. You got to forget the disappointment. You got to let go and forgive the people. You got to let go and forgive yourself. Release yourself from this that this the mistakes you have made. Let go and release God. Get into real tangible raw intimate relationship with God.

Start seeking him. They see you like you never sought him before. Start living in the word. Start just pursuing him daily. Just you and God. Not on Sunday church for 30 minutes when we have worship. And then if Pastor Vlad or somebody else preaches a really good message, I'll shed a tear and I'll lift my hand.

Maybe perhaps maybe even come up to the altar for a prayer. But I'm talking about daily real intimate encounters with God. and watch how God will redeem your story this year. I strongly feel like there has been that that there are people in this place that you have been beaten in 2025, 2024, 2023 has been rough years for you.

But I'm sensing there is something in the atmosphere. The year of 2026 is a year of new beginnings. If you can release and forgive and if you can be intimate with God and seek him with all your heart. You know what Naomi and her husband should have done when there was famine in the land?

What Bible calls in Chronicles to do? He said, "If my people who are called by my name, they will humble themselves. They will turn from their evil ways. They will seek my face, then I will come and heal their land. That's it. It's simple. It's keeping your heart free of bitterness.

That's good. And it's daily encounters with the Lord. It's keeping your heart free of unforgiveness and it's intimacy with Boaz, with your savior, with Jesus. That's it. That's in a nutshell how you live a successful life, a good life, a purpose filled life, a life that makes an impact, a life that changes trajectory of your life, your destiny, and establishes a new legacy.

Yes. Amen. Have you received something this morning? I want you to get up on your feet. We're just going to do some prayers together and declarations. I want you to put your hand on your heart because that's where all of our feelings reside. If we can have a worship team, just maybe a few of you.

((music playing))
 Holy Spirit, I invite you right now into this place. You know our heart better than we know ourselves. Lord, if there are any things in our hearts, if there is any root of bitterness in our heart, Lord, I pray that you expose right now by your light. Expose it by your light.

Expose it by your light. I want you, church, I want you to say this with me. Say, "Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I choose I choose to forgive to forgive every person every person that had wronged me that has wronged me. That have spoken behind my back that have spoken behind my back.

Every person that hurt me every person that hurt me and that treated me unjustly that treated me unjustly. I forgive them. I forgive them from my heart. from my heart. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I forgive I forgive and release and release myself for every mistake for every mistake every screw up every screw up that I have caused that I have caused to myself to myself to my family to my family and to others and to others I release myself I release myself I forgive myself I forgive myself as you have forgiven me.

As you have forgiven me, I receive I receive your forgiveness. your forgiveness in Jesus’ name. in Jesus’ name. And Lord and Lord every bitter feeling every bitter feeling any unforgiveness any unforgiveness that I hold towards you that I hold towards you. For things that have not been done for things that have not been done.

For things that I hold against you. I release those things. I release those things by faith. by faith. Knowing that you are good and perfect, Father. You are good and perfect, Father. And you have good and perfect gifts you have good and perfect to give me. To give me and by faith and by faith I release I release every why every why this happened or didn't happen. this happened. and I trust in your goodness.

I trust in your bitterness. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Wash me with your blood. Wash me with your blood. Cleanse me from every bitterness. And every unforgiveness. In Jesus name. in Jesus’ name. Right now, I want you to begin to next 30 seconds. You know the people that you need to forgive.

You need you know the things that you need to voice out before the Lord. Just begin to speak to the Lord right now. There's certain things that needs to be not just said in your mind. They need to be spoken with your mouth. Even if it's a whisper.

There's power in your words. Begin to release those people. Begin to pray to the Lord. Begin to release yourself from different situations that come to your mind. Some of you haven't even spoken those things aloud in many years. Just let it go. Let it go. Release it. If there's things against that you hold against the Lord, listen, God is not afraid of your questions.

God is not afraid of your feelings. You're not going to offend God by some of these questions that you have. I want you just to release those things to the Lord. Say, "Lord, I don't know why this. I don't know why that. I don't know why this happened and how it happened, Lord, but I trust you and I release it to you, Lord.

I release it to you, Lord. I release myself in the mighty name of Jesus. I release myself in the mighty name of Jesus." Just 10 more seconds. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your release. In this next prayer and declaration, I want us to declare that we're coming back to his presence.

We're coming back to Bethlehem. We're coming back to daily encounters with the Lord. Say this with me. Say, "Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, forgive me forgive me for abandoning for abandoning my place of daily encounters and intimacy with you this year. I'm coming back to the threshing floor. I'm coming back to the place of intimacy and encounters with you.

Help me God. Help me God to be closer to you." Right now, for next 30 seconds, begin to talk to him. begin to ask him for grace this year to be intimate to go after him with passion, with zeal, with desire in the mighty name of Jesus. Father, I decree and declare over your people God that this year will be a year of new beginnings God as they forgive as they choose to move past this Lord as they God begin to commit to the intimate time with you to the place Lord with you every single day to daily encounters.

Father, I decree and declare that this year will be a new beginning, a new beginning in their life, a new beginning in their marriage, a new beginning in their relationships, a new beginning in their family. It's going to be a year of new beginnings, God, in their calling, a new beginning in their business, in their career, in their school, God, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus mighty name. In Jesus mighty name. And this last call that I want to make is a call for those that perhaps you're like Naomi and her husband because of something that happened in your life. You have left Bethlehem. You have left the house of God. You have left church.

You have abandoned your relationship with God. I want to call you back. I want to call you back to repentance. I want to call you back to the life with God. Many of you here probably even the reason why you're here is because you lost so much in your life.

Cuz what you thought the world will give you actually took from you. Or maybe you're the other category of people you are looking and searching for something maybe perhaps you don't even know what you're looking for for some higher power or something. I want to tell you, you're looking for a person whose name is Jesus, who came to save you from your sins, who came to give you a new life and give you a true new beginning, eternal new beginning.

And so, every eye closed and every head bowed, it's a precious moment, just for next 30 seconds, nobody moving around. We're almost finished. If you're in first or second sanctuary and you're one of those two people, either you need to come back to Bethlehem, you need to come back to relationship with God.

You need to come back to the church. Or number two, you need to give your life for the first time to Jesus. For the first time, you need to make him and ask him to be the Lord of your life. This is a moment in time for you right now. come back to the Lord or come and give your life to him right now.

If that's you, on the count of three, I want you to lift your hand boldly saying, "I need to be back at Bethlehem. I need to be back at the house of God. One, Jesus loves you. Two, he's not hating on you. He does not judge you. Three, he's waiting for you."

Lift your hand. Lift your hand high. I need to be back at the house of God. I need to be back at Bethlehem. I need to back be back in the relationship with God. Lift your lift your hand high. Keep it high. Keep it in first and cur 2 second century as well.

Keep it high. The Lord is talking to you right now. The Lord is dealing with your heart. This is a day. This is a moment to come back to the Lord. This is the best way you can bring a new beginning to your life. Knowing new resolutions will help you, but making Jesus the Lord of your life will definitely give you a new beginning.

Now, those of you that have your hand lifted, could you make another bold step? Come and meet me here up front. Quickly, quickly. Come. Come. Come, come. Anyone else that wants to join, come. Those of you in the second sanctuary, come. Come. Ushers, please help them to come.

Come to the first sanctuary. We want to pray with you. I want to pray for you. Jesus is calling you right now. Jesus is calling you right now. This is the best decision you could make. 2026. Come on over. Just a few more seconds. Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you.

Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah. We have some more people coming from a second sanctuary. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Come on over. Come on over. Come on over. Come on. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Come on, young man. Good to see you here.

God bless you. Good to see you. Anyone else? Please come and join. Come on over. Those of you that came up here, I see the Lord is already touching some of you. God is doing a beautiful word inside work inside of your heart. Right now, I'm going to lead you to this prayer.

But it's not the prayer that saves you. It's your heart that desires God. And that Bible says with our mouth as we confess what's on our heart that Jesus is Lord. You will be saved. Today is the day of your redemption. Today is the day of your new beginning.

Amen. Church, could you help us pray together? Could you repeat this prayer after me? Say this. Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I know who needs your forgiveness. Needs your forgiveness. Therefore, I repent. of all my sinful ways. All my sinful ways and my rebellion and my rebellion.

Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me, Lord. For my sin, my s and my rebellion. and my rebellion. Come into my heart. Come into my heart. Be my Lord and my Savior. be my Lord and my I confess I confess that you are the son of God. You are who came from heaven came from heaven to save me. to save me.

You are my Lord. You are my Lord. Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus. Help me to follow you. Help me to follow you all the days of my life. all the days of my life. In Jesus name. in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. Church, come on. Let's put our hands together for these lovely people.

I want to congratulate you on your new beginning and a new life. We want to pray for you some more. our team, if you could just follow my right, your left, follow the team and they will pray for your ministry for a few more minutes and connect with you.

Amen. Amen. Church, I don't know where the instructions are for the ending. They 
((music playing))
 Thank you, church. Thank you for coming out this Sunday. It's a special Sunday. It's a new beginning Sunday. You know something I was thinking pastor Vlad, is that the way we got into this building was actually through a fast.

It is my father who was a founding father, he was fasting and pray. There' was somebody else who was more qualified, who had more money to buy this building, and it was his fasting and prayer for this building 21 or 40 I don't remember that got us into this building.

Isn't it symbolic that we are entering into the new territory with fasting this January. Come on, let's put our hands together for Jesus.