December 27, 2009 by admin.

#371, Walk in the Light of Christmas, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday 12-27-2009

Text: John 8:12

Introduction

• Last week we discovered the light of Christmas. Today we want to examine what to do with this discovered light!
  It is one thing to discover something. It is another thing altogether to apply the discovery to my life in a way that makes a lasting impact.
• Light is an incredible thing to meditate on as it relates to our spiritual health.
• Genesis 1:3-4 – 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.
• Here we discover that God spoke light into being, God said light was good and that God separated light from darkness.
• John 1:1-2; 4-5 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning…In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
• We see that light again is from God and is in contrast to what is called darkness.
• John 1:9 – The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
• With all this in front of us today, Listen to what Jesus said (the Light) to us in John 8:12 – I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of light.
• So the key to the “light of life” and the way out of “darkness walking” is not the discovery of the light of the world, but rather following the light of the world!

QUESTION: NOW THAT WE HAVE DISCOVERED THE LIGHT OF CHRISTMAS HOW DO WE WALK IN HIM?

1. TURN AWAY FROM ALL DARKNESS
a. John 1:5 – The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
b. Light & darkness do not mix. The first thing we must do in order to begin to walk in the light is to turn away from darkness. (Repent)
c. Acts 28:18 – I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.
d. You have to “tell on yourself.” Expose all things to the light!
e. 1 Cor. 4:5 – Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts.
f. Understanding this, it is of great benefit for us to just confess and repent now!!

2. LOOK UNTO JESUS
a. Because repent literally means to change and turn from, we turn from darkness to the Light, to Jesus. We can look up to the Lord in our prayers and enjoy intimate fellowship with Him.
b. Psalm 4:6 – Many are asking, who can show us any good? Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.
c. Psalm 89:15 – Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord.
d. Hebrews 12:2 – Let us fix our eyes Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.
e. Look unto Jesus, call on His Name, fix your gaze upon Him, walk in His light, let His light shine upon you and your life will be changed, transformed forever!!

3. FORGIVE OFFENDERS
a. The greatest producers of darkness in our lives are the bitterness & hatred we allow to grow toward those who have offended us.
b. 1 John 2:9;11 – Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness…But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
c. Light and unforgiveness cannot co exist. This is so powerful that you can think your living in the light but unforgiveness has blinded you and you really are walking around in the dark.

4. STUDY & MEDITATE ON THE SCRIPTURES
a. Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
b. V.130 – The unfolding of your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple.
c. To walk in the Light of Christmas we must be engrafting God’s word into our souls!

5. GATHER WITH OTHER BELIEVERS
a. 1 John 1:7 – But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
b. We need to meet together in this building and outside of this building and encourage one another so that our light is not diminished, but brightened!!

HOW WILL GOD USE OUR LIGHT?
1. 1 Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
2. Our light is a sign that we are chosen and belong to God. He wants to shine this light in a dark world and use it to draw others to Himself.
3. 1 Peter 2:12 – Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
4. Our light is our good works (not good words) that God wants to display to a lost & dying world!
5. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven, Jesus said in Matthew 5.
6. John 3:21 – But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.

CLOSING
1. When we turn from darkness, fix our gaze unto Jesus, live in a spirit of forgiveness, become students of the Scriptures and delight to gather with other believers our light begins to grow and become bright.
2. And this light is a sign to a lost & dying world that we are in fact a people belonging to God.
3. And who we are and what we do will be seen plainly as a work of God!!
4. Someone once said people are tired of hearing good sermons, they want to see one!

ALTAR
1. Invite you to use this altar as a meeting place, for you to meet the Light of the World and express your hunger to live in His light!
2. Eph.5:8 – For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
3. Php. 2:15 – so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.
4. Come to the altar, meet with the Light of Christmas, share your hunger to live in the light and shine like stars in the universe!!

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November 29, 2009 by admin.

#369, Remember Who You Are, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday, 11-29-2009

Title: Remember Who You Are
Text: 2 Corinthians 5:17

Introduction

• We are in the 4th Sunday of a series focused on healthy relationships. We have looked at taking care of offenses, family relationships, our attitude, today we want to focus on the most important person you talk to every day: YOURSELF.
• What we say to ourselves each day often determines the kind of person we become; which directly affects our relationships with other people.
• What we believe about ourselves is often controlled by other people, culture around us, or it’s just what I want to believe.
• The question we need to be asking ourselves is: What does God and His Word have to say about who I am?
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
• “But when we live more according to our own design than God’s we suffer. We have our own ways of coping with life and its hurts instead of searching for God’s principles that will lead us into the light.”  –How People Grow—
• For many of us, the biggest obstacle to healthy relationships is us! We have believed lies about who we are and even though we became born again by repenting and receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we still believe the old lies and have not understood who we have become in Jesus. (“The old has gone the new has come!)
• It is my desire today to share two things: Remind you who you are and expose old lies that still control our relationships in life.

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

1. 2 Corin. 5:17 – “new creation” (the old has gone; the old ways, the old relationships)
2. 1 Peter 4:3,4 –For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery (pleasure without restrain), lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation (extravagant waste), and they heap abuse on you.
3. In Jesus Christ your relationships are not rooted in the activities or the lifestyle that you used to live in. In the world, most of our relationships are based on this way of living.
4. You are a “new creation.” And here is the thing that makes everything about who you are and what you do NEW:

5. John 14:15-17 – If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
6. The Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth) lives inside of you!
7. John 14:23 – If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  (YOU HAVE NEW ROOMMATES)
8. What are the results of the Holy Spirit living in my spirit?
9. 2 Peter 1:3 – His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
10. Result: DIVINE POWER (inside of you lives a power to make the right choice ever time)
11. 2 Peter 1:4 – so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
12. Result: PARTICIPATION IN THE DIVINE NATURE (inside of you lives a nature that is perfect & sinless)
13. You are a new creation, which means that the Holy Spirit lives inside of you and is making His home with you. This results in a divine power & nature that now live in you giving you the power to escape the evil desires of this world and become the person you’ve always wanted to be for God!!     HOW MUCH POWER IS IN YOU?
14. Romans 8:11 – And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
15. Resurrection power lives in you. The Spirit that has enough power to raise Jesus from the dead (resurrection power) lives in you. Now that is power. (STOP & PRAISE GOD)
16. See, we forget who we are when we become a born again child of God.
17. If we would remember who we are in Christ and surrender to it and believe it in faith then we could overcome the lies we believe about ourselves.

LIES WE BELIEVE THAT HINDER HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

1. “I AM WORTHLESS” This is a lie that results from us living inside of the painful memories & consequences of our past failures & bad choices. Not only do we now live with the power to change the future but our value is not based on our achievements, our value is based on the eternal truth that we are God’s workmanship!
2. Ephesians 2:10 – For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
3. “I AM A FAILURE” This lie results from the thought that we can achieve our own success and that we will be judged on our success rather than our faithfulness.
4. Luke 18:8 – However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?
5. “I DO NOT FIT IN” The lie here is that we are supposed to fit in with our secular culture. We are not called to fit in; we are called to be a light in a dark place!
6. Romans 12:2 – Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
7. “I MUST HIDE MY FAULTS” The lie here is that if people really know who I am they will despise me and laugh at me. The second lie is thinking that no one else has faults like I do. (most people admire those who can humbly share their faults, it is inspiring)
8. James 5:26 – Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed.
9. “I AM ALL ALONE” This lie twists the truth about loneliness. Loneliness is not the absence of people but the fear of sharing my inner most thoughts and feelings with another person. (no one wants to do this with you more than God does)
10. Hebrews 13:5 –I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
11. “I CAN NEVER CHANGE” This lie is based on the thought that change depends on our human efforts or performance. True change does not happen by the efforts of our intellect, emotions or will, but by building a new believe system in our hearts based on the Word of God and letting the Holy Spirit be in charge.
12. Philippians 4:13 – I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

OUR PART

1. In Jesus Christ we are new creations. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us and pours out divine power & nature in our lives. It is resurrection power, because it is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.
2. With this truth, we have great value, we are God’s workmanship, we are lights in a dark world, our faults & weaknesses can be used by God for His Glory, we are never alone and we have supernatural ability to change and be transformed!!
3. But this does not mean that we do not have to do anything!!
4. “We have to risk. We have to love, open up, confess, reach out, repent, obey, and do all the things we are commanded to do. Our part is to live the life.”  –Dr. Henry Cloud—
5. Ephesians 3:16-19 – I pray that our of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together will all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

ALTAR: Altar of Filling (Divine power/nature) Freedom (lies) Faith (live the life)

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November 15, 2009 by admin.

#367, Fight for Your Family, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday, 11-15.2009

Text: Nehemiah 4:14

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October 4, 2009 by admin.

#363, Getting Better, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday, 10-04-2009

Text: Luke 10:38-42

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September 27, 2009 by admin.

#362, Discipleship Relationships II, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday, 09-27-2009.

Text:  Luke 6:40

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September 20, 2009 by admin.

#361, Discipleship Relationships I, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday, 09-20-2009

Text: Matthew 28:19-20

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August 16, 2009 by admin.

#357, Remember the Name, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday August 16, 2009

Text: Psalm 20:7

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July 19, 2009 by admin.

#354, Trusting God for the Future, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday, 07-19-2009

Text: Daniel 7 and 8

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June 21, 2009 by admin.

#350, The Legacy of Dad, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday, 06-21-2009

Text: Luke 2:17

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May 31, 2009 by admin.

A Good and Perfect Gift, Pastor David McIntosh, Sunday, 05-31-2009

Text: James 1:17

INTRODUCTION

• I want to invite you to stand and read this verse of Scripture out loud with me.
• James 1:17 – “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (invite to sit down)
• Acts 2:1, 4 – “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place…All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
• Acts 2:32-33 – “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”
• Acts 2:38 – “Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
• AND YOU WILL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• James 1:17 (again) – “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
• The baptism in the Holy Spirit: speaking with other tongues.

The Gift of a “PERSONAL PENTECOST” (a Good & Perfect Gift)

1. What I wish to share with you this morning is NOT the gift of tongues with interpretation to follow. (1 Cor. 12 & 14 talk about this public gift of the Spirit and how it is limited in its distribution and its public exercise is to be closely governed.)
2. I want to share with you my own personal experience with the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the speaking in other tongues. (Now I am not from a Pentecostal background)
3. 1 Corinthians 14:5 – “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues.”
4. V.14 – “For if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays…I will pray with my spirit…I will sing with my spirit.”
5. V. 18 – “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.”
6. V.39 – “Do not forbid speaking in tongues.”

THE GIFT ILLUSTRATION

1. It has been said that everything we receive from God is delivered to us when we receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.
2. And this is true, but there is a practical element to that.
3. The application of each resource (or gift) for our lives depends upon our unwrapping of what God is giving us.
4. In other words inside the GIFT OF Jesus is all the resources and gifts of God that He blesses us with.
5. We need to take, open and receive for ourselves God’s gifts to us.
6. Here is the Ultimate Gift, Jesus, but inside of Jesus are His gifts that I need.
7. Here is the gift of mercy, grace, truth, promises of God, reconciliation, forgiveness, wisdom, understanding, healing, SPEAKING IN OTHER TONGUES.
8. This gift was one that took me time to understand why I needed it and time to embrace it and say to myself, I need this in my life!

BENEFITS OF THE BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. 1 Corinthians 14:2 – “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit.”
2. There are times in my life where I don’t need to speak to men but I desperately need to communicate to God spirit to Spirit!
3. Sometimes I need to pour out in my heavenly language mysteries that are being communicated spirit to spirit. My relationship with the Lord must have this component to become as intimate as God desires Him and me to be.
4. V.4 – “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”
5. Edify = to profit spiritually, to build.
6. Yes I want to edify the church, however how can I do that unless I am edified myself, spiritually? I need to be built up as a Christian, in order to be a blessing to the church.
7. The hunger to experience the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues does not arise from a need to be noticed or achieve a goal, yes I did it.
8. But the hunger & desire arise from a deep longing that in my personal walk with the Lord I need to communicate on a level beyond my natural means. I need to speak to God in my spirit and I need to get alone with the Lord and be built up spiritually. (to be spiritually edified)
9. Acts 10:45-47 – “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” (It’s ok to be astonished & water baptism is different.)

PROMISED RIVERS

1. John 7:37-39 – “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
2. River = a torrent flood
   John 4:14 – (the woman at the well) – “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water.”
3. Well = fountain that springs forth.
4. Jesus is describing things that occur within the believer’s experience.
5. The well of eternal life answers our soul’s primary need for salvation.
6. The rivers of the Holy Spirit answer our personal need to be fully empowered to live our life in all of the fullness of God with regard to relationship and responsibilities.

CLOSE:

James 1:17 – “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

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