Announcements (Page 12)

It was such a blessing to have Dr. Siang-Yang Tan with us this Father’s Day weekend. To all the fathers out there, thank you for all that you do as dads. I wish you all another good year of parenting as we continue to learn how to be better fathers, mentors, leaders, coaches, and all the other roles we fill for those we love. For our Father’s Day message, Siang-Yang spoke on Romans 16:20, that says, “The God of peace will soon crush…

I was at a worship training this week, and our leader said something profound. She said, “The Bible says ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ How do we love others if we don’t love ourselves?” This reminded me of Sari’s testimony. I loved the part at the end where her therapist asked “Would you ever tell a little girl that their emotions are too much, that they’re annoying, that she’s not loved and that she doesn’t matter?” When Sari said no,…

Last Sunday, we got to hear from Pastor Suwit from Thailand. His message to LifeSpring was titled “Hope In Times Of Suffering.” As Jerry mentioned on Sunday, Pastor Suwit was not aware of our theme for this year being “Patient Endurance,” yet the Lord put on his heart to share a message that aligns so well with what God is doing in this church. One of the things that stood out to me in Suwit’s message was a simple phrase.…

It was a blessing to have Pastor Alvin share with us about his work at MissionGTA in the city of Toronto. For those who missed it, Pastor Alvin gave us insight into the journey that he’s been on with God over the past 32 years in the area of reconciliation and unity in the church. It began in 1992, when Pastor Alvin was filled with the Spirit, and continued all the way until today with God moving among the Brethren and Alliance churches, among…

“My God is so BIG! So strong and so mighty there’s nothing my God cannot do…” These are some of the words to a kids’ song I grew up singing – a song I’m sure is familiar to many of you as well. It goes on to sing about how the mountains and the valleys are God’s and about how the stars are his handiwork too.   Learning these types of songs at such a young age began to develop…

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4 This passage always bothered me. Though I read it with my eyes and brought it into my mind, it has always been a Scripture that never made sense to me. “Consider it PURE JOY… whenever you face trials…

Dear LifeSpring Family, Yesterday, we had the privilege of hearing Pastor Suwit from Mahapawn Rangsit Church in Bangkok. One thing stood out in my mind was hearing Pastor Suwit reminding me that we can use time to get more money, i.e. work harder, but we cannot use money to get more time, i.e. live longer. Almost immediately, it reminded me of a multi-billionaire in the I.T industry who could not use his billions to “buy” more time from the dreaded disease we call cancer.…

I was reading John 21 the other day, and a passage from that stood out to me. At this point, Jesus had reinstated Peter after his denials of Him, given him a mission to feed His lambs, and told him what kind of death he would die. It’s pretty weighty stuff. To finish it off, Jesus said to Peter, “Follow Me.” 20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper,…

Dear LifeSpring Family, This past Sunday, we were very late and missed Peggy’s sermon on Peace. Dorothy and I were coming from Orangeville where Rebecca and Steven live. We had the privilege of watching Andrew-Daniels’s summer soccer season kick off game. Even before Sunday, I have been thinking about John 1:16-17 for this week’s devotion.  For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  So when I listened to Peggy’s sermon on Peace (Shalom in Hebrew and Eirene in Greek), it reminded me of John 1:16-17. For shalom to be a hallmark of…

LifeSpring is so blessed. Look no further than to our Sunday speaker, Peggy Leung, who sits on the Board of Directors at Toronto LifeSpring and alongside her husband, Raymond, leads one of our LifeGroups. I have had the privilege of knowing Ray & Peggy for 10+ years now and their lives cry out genuine love for God and genuine care for others. Peggy spoke on an extremely important topic that this world (and us) desperately needs. She spoke on peace.…

When Maria from Neighbourlink shared stories of the work that she and her team has done in the 415 community and the experiences that her and her team went through, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity.  Maria shared about how they recently recruited a youth yeader who started hosting youth programs in the 415 community. This guy would play basketball with the youth and eventually created opportunities to speak into their lives on and off the court.…

Last week during one of my bus commutes, I witnessed an especially intriguing interaction that led me to considering who God is in a new way. A group of teenagers got on the bus, and after the first couple of them walked on and attempted to pay, the bus driver called out for them to come back because the payment hadn’t worked. Instead of going back to pay or even responding to the bus driver at all, they just stood…