COMMUNION AND NEWS LETTER
York Memorial Presbyterian Church. 1695 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario M6M 3W7 Phone: 416-653-7756 www.yorkmemorial.com
December 11, 2011
To the holy and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus at York Memorial Presbyterian Church: Grace and peace to you from God our Father as you embrace the Christmas season again. I always thank God, the Holy Trinity God, because of His rich grace and faithfulness toward us and I’m grateful for your sincere love to the Lord and to others in our community which is your response to God’s grace and blessing.
I pray that the Lord may continue to fill us with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding so that we may live a life worthy of the Lord and we may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing to be more like Christ Jesus, enjoying His life to the full, obeying His will to the point of death in the power of the Holy Spirit.
As you already know, we are living in a time of a great challenge locally and globally. However, we should hold on the truth that our God is in control of everything although we don’t always see fully picture of what He is doing, especially when we go through the valley time in our journey with Him. Knowing this, we do not lose heart but hope in Christ Jesus and expect His blessing in all things:
• “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8: 26).
As December approaches us, let us count the blessings of the Lord in our lives and learn valuable lessons from both our short comings and successes to wrap up a year and to get ready to accomplish greater things next year as a church. As believers in Christ Jesus, we should never be negative in anything as we walk with the Lord; not like the Israelites during the time of the Lord’s test in the desert (Numbers 13: 33). If we don’t see things by faith in God as we are challenged by difficult circumstances, it seems to be easy for us to become being negative or trying to find scapegoats to blame for all our shortcomings or fear upon them.
Friends, let me remind of the fact that the world has been always hostile to the church, especially when we walk in the will of God, so that we need to look at things in God’s perspective and walk by faith, not by sight. The Lord loves to help us and fulfill His will through us as we walk by faith, not by sight, in His unchanging Word:
• “Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the Land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them” (Numbers 14: 9).
Please notice these Christmas events in our church and invite your friends:
1) Tree Lighting, Potluck dinner, and Carol singing night (Sat, December 3 at 6:30 pm – 9 pm): Please bring your own delicious cultural dishes. A big turkey will be provided by the church for the dinner. Also, we will invited those who come to our Food Bank to share the joy of the Lord. * Please come before the set time to set things up.
2) Communion Service (Sun, December 11 at 11 am): Your generous offering to the Lord as you come to share the Lord’s Table is a pleasing aroma to the Lord. (Numbers 15:3). Please bring your communion card.
3) Christmas concert (December 18 at 6:40 pm): It’s a great opportunity to invite our family members and friends.
4) Christmas Eve candlelight service (December 24 at 7pm): The Holy Communion will be served. I pray that you’ll put this holy night service on the top priority in your Christmas hit lists.
5) Christmas service (Sun, December 25): We all know this service as a very special service to God.
May God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) strengthen you and be gracious to you in everything!
Serving you in Christ

Pastor: Rev. Joshua J.S Kang (B.A., M.A, M-Div)

Clerk of Session: Roy Ferris

Hi, York Memorial family! How’s your summer been going? The Fall Season is known as the season of
harvest and we expect good fruits from whatever we have worked for. May God bless your harvest!
Also, this time is a right season to plant new things in your life and to start new commitments to the
works for the Kingdom of God, and to upgrade the level of our friendship with the Lord and others, for
the steadfast love of our Lord Jesus Christ is new to us every morning.

The more our characters and godly habits are grown to be more like Christ Jesus, more supplies and shares of
God’s Kingdom will come to us as a result. So, the Word of God says, “Continue to work out your salvation with
fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”
(Philippians 2:12, 13). It says “Work out,” not “Work on,” your salvation. There is nothing we can add to what
Christ Jesus has done for our salvation through His death for our sins and resurrection for our hope for
resurrection. So, the meaning for “Work out your salvation” is God’s call for our spiritual growth through the life
of Christ, which is already in us by the Holy Spirit, to be more like Christ in the areas of our character, habits, and serving the world for the sake of God’s Kingdom with fully devoted hearts. Without this, we are just mere infants.

Dear my beloved in Christ, our spiritual maturity doesn’t come naturally. As the Bible tells us, it only begins
through our commitment to worship services, teachings, fellowships, and ministries of the church, which is the
body of Christ Jesus. So, get connected fully to the church!

• “Give yourselves completely to God – every part of you – for you are back from death and you want to be
  tools in the hands of God, to be used for His good purpose.” (Rom. 6:13).
• “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another –
  and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24).

These ministries require your involvements: 1) Food Bank on Tuesday mornings, 2) Sunday school, 3) Sunday
morning Intercessory prayer group, 3) Sunday ushering ministry, 4) Saturday Outreach, 5) Prayer Course (Starting from Wed, Oct 5th),…etc.  *Please sign up for one of areas for your growth and service for the Lord’s Kingdom.

Please notice these events and news of our church:

1. Outreach (Sat, Sept 3 rd at 9:30 am – 12:30 pm; with potluck lunch): If you don’t want to go out, you can join for intercessory prayer in the church and help with food for the outreach group. We do it as a team. Please notice the date is changed!
2. W. Toronto Presbytery picnic (Sat, Sept 10 th  at 12 pm – 4pm at Centennial Park picnic site #5): This is a presbytery wide picnic with potluck and many fun games and joyful fellowship. BBQ & Tim Horton’s coffee will be provided. So, come out!
3. Cell & Discipleship Group (Every other Friday night at 7 pm; starting from Sept 16 th in the Ladies’ Parlour): This is designed to help you to mature your godly character and habits to be more like Christ Jesus. Also we have fellowship.
4. Prayer Course (Starting from Wed, Oct 5th at 6:30 pm for 6 weeks): Dinner starts at 6:30 pm. Please come to deepen your prayer life through this new course designed for 6 Wednesday night sessions and a retreat at Jackson’s Point in the end.
5. Communion Service (Sun, Sept 11th at 11 am): Your generous offering to the Lord as you come to share the Lord’s Table is a pleasing aroma to the Lord. (Numbers 15:3): also your communion card. *Please notice that we go back to 11 am service!

May God, the Holy Trinity, always bless you, keep you, and give you grace in Christ!

Serving you in Christ,

Pastor: Rev. Joshua J.S Kang (B.A., M.A, M-Div)
Clerk of Session: Roy Ferris

Blessing and Witnessing Project is all about a simple but effective way of sharing the Gospel through a blessing prayer to our friends and neighbors. This method was developed by Rev. Joshua Kang a few years ago out of his conviction on “Faith comes from hearing the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).

By the grace of God, the Lord has been using this method that many new people came to faith in Christ and came to churches through our witnessing of the Gospel through this. Also, the Lord has been leading Rev. Joshua Kang and his team to present workshops on this evangelism method to other churches in W.Toronto Presbytery and other denominations. This course has become one of regular annual evangelism workshops in W.Toronto Presbytery.

Our church practices this method once a month (usually third Saturday; 9:30 am-12:30 pm with potluck lunch and sharing of our testimonies after the witnessing). Our next outreach date is Saturday Sept, 3 at 9:30 am; due to Rev. Kang’s schedule for his role as the Interim Moderator to St. Andrew’s Islington Presbyterian Church.

Hey, everyone, including you, are invited to participate this divine opportunity!

PDF’s available here: Blessing and Witnessing Project, BWP small cards

Starting from Wed, October 5 (6:30pm – 9pm) until November 9. (free dinner will be served each time for everyone at 6:30pm)

There’s got to be more to faith than you’ve been experiencing. More to the reality of the Holy Spirit than what you are seeing. More to the life-changing power of the gospel than you have ever known.

Join Jim Cymbala, author of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, in a powerful new small group study, “When God’s People Pray,” to tap into the transforming power of prayer.

The six-session small group studies include:

• God’s Heart for Us
• The Amazing Power of Prayer
• Obedience in Prayer
• The Word of God and Prayer
• Why Prayer Matters
• Creating a Prayer Ministry in Your Church

After the six sessions, the course will be completed with a Holy Spirit retreat at Salvation Army Retreat Center at Jackson’s Point on Sat, Nov.19, 2011 (8am-5pm; meals and transportation will be provided for free)

PDF available here: YMPC’s Prayer Course 2011

When? = Saturday, Sept 10, 2011
Where? = Centennial Park (Picnic Area #5)

Schedule:

- 12:00pm: B.B.Q & Potluck lunch. (BBQ and Tim Hortons coffee will be provided by the Presbytery)
- 1pm: Short worship & Prayer.
- 1:30pm-4pm: Fellowship with fun games, cricket, more food, etc..

PDF available here: Annual West Toronto Presbytery Picnic

The York Memorial Presbyterian Church brochure is now available for download on the resources page, please use the menu above or follow the link below:

Resources

On May 9th, YMPC went on a Holy Spirit retreat to get away from the distractions of city life and to focus solely on our Lord. The retreat occurs every year and is absolutely free to you. We travel up north from Toronto to a place called Jackson’s Point Conference Centre where we enjoy a private room, three meals, and access to the beautiful lakefront. We’ll be posting lots of photos from the trip in a short while, stay tuned!

The Alpha Course: is an opportunity to explore the meaning of life in a relaxed, friendly setting. The Alpha course meets once a week, and includes an intriguing video talk, a free meal, small group discussion and an amazing weekend getaway that comes halfway through the course. The course is offered in a 10-week format or 7-week format.

We are a community of God who believes and confesses Jesus Christ as the the Messiah and the Lord over all.

As a body of the Lord Jesus Christ, we aim to be a great church and this is what we confess and focus for our ministries:

“We believe a great commitment to the Great Comission and the great Commandment; and as we focus on this key truth, our church will grow to be a great church!” The Great Commandment: “Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart…soul…and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments.’” Matt. 22:36-40

The Great Commission: “Jesus said, ‘Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matt. 28:19-20

To “Love God with all your heart” is WORSHIP
To “Love your neighbor as yourself” is MINISTRY
To “Go…make disciples” is EVANGELISM.
To “Baptize…” is to INCORPORATE INTO FELLOWSHIP
To “Teach them…all things” is DISCIPLESHIP

If you have no home church to attend, why don’t you come to worship God with us, and I’m sure that God will allow you to experience His loving presence and the life giving power of the Holy Spriti in our worship and fellowship.

May God richly bless you in everything in Christ!

Rev. Joshua J.S Kang
B.A., M-Div., M.A.