Meet The Pastors

Pastors Bernie and Nan McLaughlin

Pastors Bernie and Nan McLaughlin have been in the ministry since 1980. They founded Cornerstone Church

(now The Bridge Church) in 1987, upon their return to Scotland from South Africa where they pioneered their first church.

Pastor Bernie and Nan have been married for over 40 years and they have 3 children and 8 grandchildren.

They bring a practical message of faith in God for daily living and share with compassion, love and are very sensitive to hearing the voice of God and the needs of people.

Pastor Bernie is a mentor to young men in the church, the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

Being Established

The Bridge Monthly Message August 2010

Col 2:6-7 As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk, regulate your lives and conduct yourselves in union with and conformity to Him.

Have the roots of your being firmly and deeply planted in Him, fixed and founded in Him. Being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.

Establish - To set up a system or set of rules on a firm and permanent basis. To achieve permanent acceptance for a custom, belief or practice. (Latin root stable)

Foundation - Load bearing part. (Usually cant be seen)

We thank God for the great foundation we had as young Christians 30 years ago. It went deep, and we are rooted and grounded in the word of God and in faith. Our spirit has born many a load and when the storms of life have come against us we have stood on the solid rock of God’s word. The truths of God’s word have to be firmly established in your life so you can live the abundant life, the God kind of life you received at the new birth. You are a new creation.

You were not born again to low life living. You are destined for the high life. You can soar like to eagle or scratch in the dirt like the seagull!

Deut 28:1 The Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

v9. The Lord will establish you as a people holy to Himself.

Eph 2:10 For we are God’s own handiwork recreated in Christ Jesus, born anew, that we may do those good works which God planned beforehand for us, taking paths which He prepared ahead of time, that we should walk in them, living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.

1) Established In The Church

You need to be established in the Word, In faith, in the Holy Spirit and in the ordinances of God.

To do that you have to be established, rooted and grounded in church.

A church where you are taught, trained and discipled. A church where you have accountability. That wont happen if you flit around.

Psalm 92:13 Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God.

Eph 4:11 He gave gifts to men. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. His intention was the perfecting and full equipping of the saints, that they should do the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body, the church.

2) Established in The Word

The Word of God must be reality to you. It must be more real than the problems you face. Psalm 119:89 Forever oh Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Matt 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. 1 Peter 1:25 But the word of the Lord endures forever.

You have to get scriptures into your spirit and wash and renew your mind with the word. You have to know it to be able to trust in it.

God’s word is the evidence of things not seen. Prov 4:20 It is life to those who find it and health and healing to all their flesh.

Isa 55:11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth, it shall not return to Me void, without producing any effect, useless, but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

You overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony

Put God’s word into practice in your life and it will establish you in every area of your life. Let it be the foundation for your marriage, family, work, business, relationships.

3) Established in faith

You need to grow your faith so that you can be productive and fruitful. You need to understand how faith works. Your existence here on earth is guided and controlled by spiritual laws.

John 3:27 A man can receive nothing except as has been granted to him from heaven. God is a God of order. He has decreed principles that guide divine health, prosperity, faith. In the operation of these laws the believer must bear two things in mind.

1) He must follow them to the letter.

2) The sets of rules guiding the release of blessings are not interchangeable.

(You can’t play football to rugby rules!)

2 Tim 2:5 And if anyone enters competitive games, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully.

Hebrews 11:6 says you must believe. You have to have that believe established in your life. Life has rules.

Don't be ignorant of His laws.

Rom 8:2 For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, has set me free from the law of sin and death.

There is a law guiding faith.

Rom 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.

Faith has to do with absorbing rules to get mountains out of your way. ( You need a jack to lift a car) You just cant do things because they worked for someone else. You need to know the medium of the operation of faith for yourself.

Rom 10:8 But what does it say? The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. 9) that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. 10) NEB. For the faith that leads to righteousness is in the heart and the confession that leads to salvation is in the lips.

(BLACK) For with the heart a person exercises faith.

(WAY) For with the inmost heart we must belie

The word wont produce unless it’s in your heart. That is where it becomes a force. Faith is a spiritual force that brings God’s power, protection and provision into a situation. Your heart is your miracle centre. Prov 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

If your heart is dominated by fear and anxiety on the inside, you will be fretful on the outside.

Faith produces peace and joy on the inside, then you are confident and radiant on the outside.

People are then attracted to you. They can see you are living the high life. They can see that you are established. You are not flaky. You are grounded and rooted in something that is tangible and solid. Something that is weighty and has value. Something that cannot be shaken.

Your language is guided and controlled by faith from the inside.

The sense realm can never be a fertile medium for the operation of faith.

If we did what we call ourselves, believers, we would be doing good!

The reason many believers cannot exercise faith is because they starve their spirits of the Word, their daily bread. If the word is not established in you then you have no basis to exercise your faith. You have to hear something, see something and believe something to put your faith in something. You express faith by your words and your actions.

Faith becomes a creative force when it finds expression in the spoken word.

You can’t speak out what you haven't put in.Get established in faith, in the word, in prayer and be filled with the Holy Spirit. You are growing in grace and God has paths prepared for you to walk in, so you can live the good life.

We know that as you apply these truths in your life you will become established in your faith and nothing will shake you.

This month we are blessed to have Pastor Tom Inglis with us Sunday 15th 11am & 7pm. We invite you to join us for these special meetings. You can check the web www.bridge-church.com for further information and what’s happening this month.

We do appreciate your feedback so stay in touch.

God bless you,

Pastors Bernie & Nan

Pastor Mark and Denise Fraser

Pastor Mark and Denise Fraser have been married for over 15 years and have 3 wonderful children. Mark and Denise have overseen the youth ministry at Cornerstone over the past 7 years. During this time almost 1000 young people have attended the Youth Under Construction outreach events.

Mark recently left his employment in Local Government to move into full time ministry as Assistant Pastor, with particular responsibility for developing and giving pastoral oversight to the youth ministry, children's ministry, college and career ministry and the community work carried out by the Church.