God's Glory Church

At the very beginning of the Bible we read: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and emptyand darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2)

What God created at the very beginning was gray and unattractive at first glance. The Lord Himself tells us about this: “The earth was formless and voidand darkness was upon the face of the deep…” You can look at your affairs today and they may look exactly like this to you.

But the revelation is that the foundation cannot reveal all the beauty and intention of the architect, it is only the foundation for the future masterpiece.

Did God have a wonderful plan? Yes, I was. But did he look wonderful when the Lord began to incarnate him? No, the pit – it looked like a pit – sad and unattractive.

Let’s look at a few slides of foundation pits and completed architectural masterpieces.
1) Hoover Dam is a unique hydraulic structure in the United States, a concrete dam 221 m high and a hydroelectric power station built in the lower reaches of the Colorado River. Construction of the dam began in 1931 and ended in 1936, two years ahead of schedule. The construction of the Hoover Dam was the first construction site where construction workers used safety helmets.

2) Tower Bridge is a combined drawbridge and drawbridge in central London over the River Thames, not far from the Tower of London. Construction work began on June 21, 1886 and continued for 8 years. On June 30, 1894, the bridge was inaugurated by Prince Edward of Wales and his wife Princess Alexandra. It is a drawbridge 244 m long with two towers 65 m high placed on intermediate supports. The central span between the towers, 61 m long, is divided into two lifting wings weighing more than a thousand tons, which can be raised to an angle of 83° to allow ships to pass.

3) Eiffel Tower – a metal tower in the center of Paris, its most recognizable architectural landmark. Named after chief designer Gustave Eiffel; Eiffel himself simply called it a “300-meter tower.”

The tower, which later became the symbol of Paris, was built in 1889 and was originally intended as a temporary structure to serve as the entrance arch to the Paris World Exhibition of 1889. Construction work was carried out by 300 workers over a period of two years, two months and five days (from January 28, 1887 to March 31, 1889). The record-breaking construction time was facilitated by extremely high-quality drawings indicating the exact dimensions of 18,038 metal parts, for the assembly of which 2.5 million rivets were used. The weight of the metal structure is 7,300 tons (total weight is 10,100 tons). Today, three towers could be built from this metal at once. The foundation is made of concrete masses. The vibrations of the tower during storms do not exceed 15 cm.

Looking at all these architectural masterpieces, it’s good to ask yourself a question today: is there God’s plan in my heart that I want to realize in this new year? Let me clarify right away – God will not bless your and my initiative. If I come up with rosy dreams for myself and start investing my time, money and effort into them, then as a result I will find myself, like the heroine of one of the fairy tales, with nothing. I’ll tell you a secret that a broken trough is still a very good result. We can often be left with broken dreams, a broken heart, a dead faith, and sometimes even a broken head. This is what they say about strong believers, to whom God is very indebted: “make a fool pray to God and he will break his forehead.”
Why should God answer your prayers? What is your foundation today? What is your faith based on? These are good questions to allow the Lord to weigh your and my plans for your life.

A little further in the book of Genesis we read:

“And God said: Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day and the darkness night. And there was evening, and there was morning: one day.” (Gen.1:3-5)

Who or what is the light of our lives? Scripture speaks very clearly about this, thatJesus is the light and His revelation enlightens our lives.

In the Gospel of John we read the words of Christ:

“As long as I am in the world,I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5)

Also in one of the letters of the Apostle John it is written:

“We also know that the Son of God came and gave us light and understanding, that we might know the true God and may be in His true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20)

The Apostle John knew about this. You and I can know about this. We all need God’s light. It is important for us to have a revelation of Christ as Savior and Lord. And it is just as important for us to have revelation from Him on how to build our lives and what goals to set for ourselves.

God saw that the light was good. What’s so good about light? Light gives life and warmth. Light enlightens all darkness. He separates the mediocre and gray from what is truly worthy of God and glorifies Him. God separated the light from the darkness. Therefore, there are works of light that are done in the light of God, according to His plans and revelation, and there are works of darkness and they embody the plans of a slightly different person.

Light is an adornment for this world, it illuminates the beauty of creation and it enlightens the darkness when it is night around and nothing is visible (several slides).

You and I are called to be a light for this world, but for this we need our deeds to actually be a light for others.

Christ tells us in the Gospel of Matthew:

“You are the light of the world. A city standing on top of a mountain cannot hide. And having lit a candle, they do not put it under a bushel, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:14-16)

How to check your plans and goals? Are they good or bad? Are they from God or did we come up with them on our own? If your plans are aimed at achieving your desires and there is no room for God’s glory in them, then they are just your personal plans. God may allow you to achieve them, but He is not obligated to bless you in this.
An example of Yulia and my plans for work and a promise to God to give even more donations for the ministry of the church and for the purchase of our own premises.

Let’s see what else we are told about God’s creation:

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waterand let it separate water from water. And God created the firmamentand separated the water that was under the firmament from the water that was above the firmament. And so it became. And God called the firmament heaven. And there was evening, and there was morning: the second day.” (Gen.1:6-8)

The word that we speak into our lives today will definitely become visible.

God Himself created this world with His Word and gave us the ability to influence ourselves and even those around us through words.
The word of faith will strengthen our faith and inspire others. A word of encouragement will encourage you and those around you. A word spoken with love will warm and heal a wounded heart and will definitely return to you a hundredfold. A word of exhortation will correct crooked paths and direct you to the right path.

Recently, in a New Year’s address, our president said: “What difference does it make what the street is named, or what monument stands on this street?” God’s word states that there is a huge difference in what we say and what we call certain things! Sin cannot be called a personal belief. Promoting homosexuality in schools cannot be called freedom of opinion. You cannot call the shelling of Mariupol from Russian cities humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people. And this is exactly what Russia calls its military operations in other countries of the world. Therefore, tolerance for sin and reluctance to call an aggressor an aggressor cannot lead to the blessing of either politicians or us, as a people in particular.

The poet we all know, Taras Shevchenko, in one of his poems expressed his opinion on this matter (slide with a portrait and manuscript of the poem):

However, I will
I live in Ukraine, no.
Whoever guesses or forgets
Me in the snow on a stranger –
However, it’s just me.
In captivity there was a virus between strangers,
I, do not mourn with your own,
In captivity, crying, I will die,
I’ll take everything with me,
I won’t leave a small trace
To our glorious Ukraine,
On ours – not our own land,
I don’t remember my father and son,
Don’t tell your son: “Pray.
Pray, son: for Ukraine
Yogo was tortured to death.”
However, what will
That son should pray, why…
But not for me, however,
Like Ukraine is evil people
Sleep, crafty, and in the fires
Її, stolen, to wake up…
Oh, not the same for me.

It is very important what you believe in. It is important what and how you say into your life and into the lives of the people around you. There are many good words that build up our lives and help us be a blessing to others. Where do you get these words? Their source is in the Word of God!

So it’s good to ask yourself: How often do I fill my mind and my mouth with words from Scripture? Am I looking to God’s Word for revelation and answers for myself? Do I look to it for words of encouragement to those around me? If so, then my words will be the reason for good changes in this new year. If not, there is a good chance that there will be many more turmoil and dark days in my life.

I want to read a few more verses from the first chapter of Genesis:

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominionover the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed themand God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen.1:26-28)

We are created in God’s image, so our calling is to be more like our Creator.
We can sometimes be very different in our lives from our Creator, but this only happens when we do not strive to be like Him. There are children who are so ashamed of their parents that they behave so provocatively, dress and look so vulgar, all in order not to be like their hated “ancestors.” I believe that in our life everything should be the other way around. Let the image of our Father be visible through everything we do, say and how we live.

And in conclusion, let me tell you about one extraordinary athlete:
For the first time in its 101-year history, the Giro d’Italia cycling race started on May 4, 2018 outside of Europe – in Jerusalem. It was dedicated to the legendary cyclist Gino Bartali. The route passed the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. In 2013, Gino Bartali was posthumously recognized as Righteous Among the Nations.
Gino Bartali was born on July 18, 1914 in Ponte a Ema, in a suburb of Florence in the Tuscany region. Bartali was the third of four children. A very religious family instilled in him strict moral principles and deep faith throughout his life. Bartali was even nicknamed “Gino the Pious.” He was indignant if one of the riders allowed himself to curse and blaspheme, he prayed before eating. One of the most joyful moments for him was a request to teach the then Pope John XXIII to ride a bicycle.

He was the best. Not only in terms of results, but also in human qualities. No dirt attached to his name. To this day, Italian Gino Bartali is a legend of world cycling. He won the most prestigious competitions, including, of course, the Tour de France, and if the world war had not happened, there would have been even more victories. This Florentine was
known no less than Mussolini himself, but he was definitely loved more. And recently facts have been discovered that allow us to speak about his greatness with even greater grounds.
During the Second World War, Mussolini was not inclined to repression against Jews, but when German troops occupied Italy, real pogroms and deportations to concentration camps began.

One day Gino was summoned to Florence to meet with Cardinal Elia della Costa of Tuscany. This man, who occupied a high place in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, asked Bartali to join the organization that saved Jews. The cardinal warned: “This is dangerous. If they catch you, they will hang you.”
Bartali had a lot to think about. By that time he had become a family man – a wife, a small child, but still accepted the cardinal’s offer. Bartali was a deeply religious man, for whom the word of his confessor meant a lot. His duties included delivering false documents and food coupons to Jews hiding in all parts of Italy. Without saying anything to his wife, Bartali got on his bicycle, having previously hidden the documents in the tubes of his car or under the saddle, and hit the road.

Bartali smuggled documents and passport photographs, traveling hundreds of kilometers between Assisi, Florence, Genoa and Rome. He regularly traveled the 180 kilometers between Assisi and Rome. Thanks to the printing press, Jews instantly became Christians. By acquiring a new “personality,” they gained a chance to avoid detection. Since the cyclist had to train daily, the inspectors at numerous control posts did not suspect him of anything.

Gino Bartali was repeatedly stopped for inspection, intending to remove the seat and steering wheel – documents were hidden in them. However, Bartali managed to convince the inspectors that the racing bike was perfectly calibrated and under no circumstances should anything be changed.

The twice winner of the Giro d’Italia was readily believed.
At the same time, Bartali hid a Jewish family in his basement, and once even transported several refugees in a trailer across the border in the Swiss Alps. By bike. Explanation: “For training purposes” – the extra weight was supposed to improve his performance in the mountains.

In 1944, the strange activity of a cyclist came to the attention of the authorities. Gino Bartali was arrested on suspicion of collaborating with the Vatican, tortured, but in the end he was saved by one of the investigators, a cycling fan who vouched for the champion. As a result, Bartali emerged from the dungeons of the notorious Villa Triste in Italy, which no one called anything other than the “House of Sorrow,” alive.

By the end of the war, Gino Bartali saved 800 Jews from certain death in this way. In addition, the cyclist scouted out potential escape routes. He did not always obey orders to stop, so he was shot at repeatedly.
Gino told only his son Andrea Bartali about what he was doing, who had to promise to remain silent about it until his father’s death. Gino died in 2000 at the age of 85. He asked not to be considered a hero. Once during his lifetime, Gino Bartali said: “I want to be remembered as an athlete. Real heroes are different. And I… I’m just a cyclist. But some medals are attached to your soul, not your jacket.” He was such a hero of faith who will forever remain in memory. Shortly before the start of the Giro d’Italia cycling race on April 22, 2018, Gino Bartali was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Israel.

Today is a good day for a new start in your life. Check the foundation of your works and life, let God’s light and His revelation be the basis for your faith and your works, and let your works reflect Your Creator.

Pastor, Alexander Koltukov.