Teaching

When young people walk into a small church and discover the pews scarcely populated by elderly members, their first thought might be to look for another church because nothing is happening there. That may indeed be the case, but often there much to learn from the elderly. They have a depth of experience, especially in spiritual matters, that the young would do well to heed. Watch as Pastor MacLaren speaks of two elderly saints in the Temple who said some very profound things when the baby Jesus arrived at the Temple with Mary and Joseph. Perhaps you should hear what they had to say as well! This sermon was preached at First Presbyterian Church in Perkasie, Pennsylvania, on December 28, 2014. First Church is a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The Rev. R. Scott MacLaren is the pastor.

Pastor Cari continues the series we’ve been working through at New Hope; looking at Old Testament narratives. In this message she looks at the first chapter of the book of Ruth. As we do, we’re going to listen to this story with the ears of the people who would have heard it that day as well we’ll look at eternal truths that speak to us today, here and now. Homework is to read Ruth chapter 1.

Ruth 1:6-18
When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.
Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”
Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”
But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It

Jesus is the 'Firstborn from the dead', the 'FIRSTBORN among many BRETHREN.' When we were put in Him the Spirit released His resurrection life into our spirit and we became New-Creations. The same operation of God's power that raised Christ raised our spirit from death to life. So it consists of His victorious resurrection life and nature.

God has a wonderful Plan for your life and has given us His Spirit to dwell within us, helping us to discover it. As we learn to yield to Him, He leads us into God's perfect will. Hilary encourages you to step out in faith with the help of the Spirit. One key is allowing Him to pray God's perfect will through us (Romans 8:26-28).

Hilary shares from Scripture and her experience about the Person, Work and Ministry of the wonderful Holy Spirit. We need to be filled with the Spirit and trust in His power WITHIN (for life and holiness) and UPON (for ministry). By partnering together with Him, drawing upon His life and wisdom, we become a Dynamic Duo.

Simply by being born 'in Adam' many things were automatically true about us (Romans 5:12-21). We inherited them simply by virtue of our position IN ADAM independent of our works. So we need to receive a New (2nd) Birth, the rebirth of our spirit. Discover what God did when we were put IN CHRIST!

Transformation is outward change through the manifestation of one's inner life and nature. Our reborn spirit is a perfect holy creation. Now God wants us to be transformed by renewing our mind to who we are in our spirit and PUTTING ON this New Man in our attitudes and actions, showing forth the fruit of the spirit (Romans 12:1-3, James 1:21-25).

We are triune beings - spirit, soul, body, designed to be Temples, dwelling-places of God. Our spirit is the holy of holies, lit by God's glory within. Our soul is the holy place and our body is the outer-court. We reveal the keys to how the spirit-life within us can be released to flow out through our soul into our life.

The Truth is the Son has made us free in our spirit (John 8:36), but we must know the Truth if we are to experience this freedom (v31-32). We are being transformed by metamorphisis from glory to glory as our inner life and nature is being manifested outwardly, through knowing the truth of who we are in Christ.

Being a true worshipper is foundational to our whole spiritual life. As you enter into a lifestyle of worship, your whole personality will open up to God's Presence and your inner beauty and potentiality is revealed. But a number of roadblocks can stop you progressing in worship. Hilary helps you to recognise and overcome them.

If we build our lives on the solid rock foundation of unchanging PT we will be stable and fruitful, but if we build on the shifting sands of our feelings, experiences and circumstances, then we will not stand in the storms of life (Matthew 7:24-27). We take a good look in God’s Mirror to see ourselves as we really are in our spirit.

Acts 16:1-40
Acts 16:13-15

Lydia, Paul and Silas
. Nothing wrong in taking to other women.
. Lydia sold purple. Business woman.

When women have to pick up the slack, they feel like they are missing out. Some men try to make women look the way they want them to look and not as God intended. God has a role and calling for a woman's life. Parents need to watch what their children are watching on TV, it is influencing them to be different from what God has for them. The greatest gift a woman has is her virginity. Women have something called mother's wit. If you want to find out about a man, you have to speak to your dad, brother and not rely exclusively on the views of your girlfriend(s).

Many are called but few are chosen. We are not heading the call of God. When God has opened your heart it will be with you always. Whether it is an external call or an internal call you should always obey the voice of God. When you give your life over to the Lord, the people that were using you will be the one's hurt and not you. Don't feel down on yourself because you don't have a man on your arm. God looks out and he loves you.

God made men and women different. He made a woman a woman and a man a man. Everything that God has made is GOOD. He didn't make any junk... Women have to understand who they are. Men have more red blood cells than women. Men have more brute strength than a woman. You are going to be what God made you.

We compare the 2 kinds of Truth: 1. Experiential Truth (ET), 2. Positional Truth (PT) - what God has done in us through the New Birth by His Grace alone. We DISCOVER this PT from God's Word, and as we act on it, it is manifested in our experience. We start by looking at the life and nature of our reborn human spirit, a New Creation in Christ (2Corinthians 5;17).

This sermon is entitled, "Jesus With His Disciples," and is about the best yet to come!

This Series lays a firm foundation for your Christian Life, establishing you in Positional Truth (who you are in Christ by the New Birth). It is already accomplished for us and in our spirit by grace through our position in Christ, and is independent of our feelings or performance. It is the foundation on which we must build our lives, and knowing it will set us free to be who we really are in Christ.

Do you have an intimate love-relationship with the Lord? Hilary teaches you how to enter into a life of worship and cultivate a heart of true worship that is pleasing to Him.

Discover the true heartbeat of worship as Pastor Hilary shares about what true worship is and what it means to God, inspiring you to enter into a new intimate relationship with the Lord that will bring forth the beauty of your personality.

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church as revealed by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelation, including the identity of the 24 elders in Revelation 4 and 5.

Paul's teaching on the Rapture of the Church in 1Corinthians 15:51-58, Philippians 3:20-21, 2Thessalonians 2:1-8, Titus 2:11-13. Why the imminent Return of Christ requires the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. How the Rapture motivates us now.

The Tribulation will be a time of world-wide judgement, as the wrath of God is poured out on the earth. But Jesus will return to receive His Church in the Rapture. Thus He will deliver us from this wrath to come.