107 Coldren Street, Johnstown, Pennsylvania 15904, United States
Upcoming Sermons & Devotional Message
August Sermons 2026
8-30- Preach Truth and Grace
Psalms 100 John 1:14
Devotional Message : These will change 1-2 times a week. Stop by often to read the new message.
Some Thoughts on What God Does in the Human Heart
The human heart is amazing. Physically—it pumps life-giving, oxygenated blood into the body. Emotionally—it is the seat of our emotions and affections. Spiritually—it contains what Blaise Pascal called the “God-shaped hole” that only Jesus can perfectly fill as he makes us whole. We cannot live—physically, emotionally, or spiritually — without a healthy heart.
If you know me well, you've undoubtedly heard me talk about the need for followers of Jesus to do some "heart work" as we mature in faith. This work is especially necessary when it comes to forgiveness, but none of it would be possible without the initial "heart work" the Holy Spirit does at the time of our conversion.
The prophet Ezekiel describes it this way:
"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." (Ezekiel 36:26)
At the time Ezekiel spoke these words, the hearts of God's people were so calloused by sin that they'd never respond with the loving obedience God desired, so He planned a radical surgery—heart surgery. God said,
"I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19b).
I recently read an account of a middle-aged man diagnosed with heart disease, and doctors gave him little time to live. But another man died prematurely, and his heart became available. The transplant surgery was successful. The first man received a new heart.
Sometime later, that man got married. His new wife was a widow, and together they learned the heart inside his chest belonged to her former husband. Somehow, it made their love even stronger.
Now here’s the point: in order to receive a new heart, someone with a good heart has to die. The only person with a perfectly good heart was Jesus Christ, and He died to give us His heart. This is another way of describing what happens when the Spirit of Christ comes into us (Acts 2:38). We get a new heart–which makes transformational "heart work" possible.
Do the "heart work" made possible because of your new heart in Christ, my friends!
Bishop Jeff Greenway