ATLANTIC MISSION SOCIETY

 THE WORLD FOR CHRIST

Last Update: January 20, 2012

AMS  PURPOSE

The purpose of the Society is to glorify God
and to support with prayer, study and service
mission endeavours
through the Presbyterian Church in Canada,
the Synod of the Atlantic Provinces
and the Presbyteries within its bounds.

MISSION IS ...

Mission is doing the things that Jesus would do.
Mission is going to the places where Jesus would go.
Mission is speaking the words that Jesus would speak.
Mission is being the hands and feet and voice of Jesus.

                                                                   --   Joan C. Cho

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BEGIN TO LIVE AGAIN

World news is depressing.  
Evil abounds.  
Personal experience is discouraging.  
No matter how hard we try, 
we fall short of what we feel we should be, 
of what we believe God expects of us.
Then the Easter dawn.
Sin could not defeat him; God does prevail.  
The assurance is your sins are forgiven. 
The challenge follows: Sin no more.  Live for Him.

Rev. John Cameron
The Presbyterian Message April 1992
(At the time of writing, 
Dr. Cameron was Moderator of the 117th General Assembly)
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If people who are hurt, broken, lonely or afraid 
can't come to the church 
and find a place where they are loved and accepted, 
then we in the church are not doing our job.
As Christians, 
we are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  
It is our mission to be there for others 
and show God's love, 
both in times of rejoicing and times of suffering.  
As human beings, we can do no more.  
As Christians, we must do no less.

 Nancy L. Harvey
The Presbyterian Message March 2006
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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 
who comforts us in all our troubles, 
so that we can comfort those in any trouble 
with the comfort  we ourselves have received from God.
II Corinthians 1:3-4

Comfort is a blessing from God.
We must not keep it for ourselves.
We are commissioned to bring 
consolation, assistance and well-being 
to each other and to all the peoples of the world.
Each of us can do something to bring 
the comfort that we have so freely received from God, 
to a world of loneliness, despair and rejection,
a comfort which offers hope and encouragement 
to all who receive it.
 For surely God does not comfort us 
to make us comfortable
but to make us comforters.

Vera Hoeg
The Presbyterian Message February 2007
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HE LEADS

Troubles crowd the day
When faith is low
And anguish blights,
But God speaks to the burdened soul;
And gives His guiding light.

Step by step He leads,
Not day by day
Or hour by hour,
But just this moment and the next,
All in His mighty power.

Isabel M. Carmichael
The Presbyterian Message January 1975
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THIS HOLY NIGHT

Come, let us go unto Bethlehem
Where a King is born this night.
We have seen His star in the East afar,
Shedding forth a mystic light.
We have heard again the angels’ song
With its promise of hope to men –
A promise of peace that will never cease,
For tonight He is born again.

Stop not at the inn along the way,
Though weary of mind and limb.
There’s no room for those whom our Leader chose.
Indeed, there was none for Him.
Forget your weariness, Christian men.
Travel bravely on till morn
On the narrow road to the humble abode
Where our Saviour Lord is born.

Let us follow the star to the Prince of Peace,
Bringing gifts of devotion and love,
To the Christ who came bearing God’s own name,
The Christmas gift from above.
The way may still be long and rough
But the star of faith shines bright,
And He’s born again, in the hearts of men
Who seek Him this holy night.

Alice Seward
The Presbyterian Message December 2010
Alice Seward was a member of St. Paul’s AMS Auxiliary in Glace Bay, N.S.

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"He set my feet on a rock..."

Our Presbyterian forefathers emphasized 
the sovereignty of God.  
God has the power to carry out His will;
but He is a merciful and a loving God 
and we can trust Him.
This trust, 
this faith,
this certainty 
that our feet are set upon a rock 
and our goings are established 
makes it possible for us to let go 
of fear and doubt and our own efforts, 
and ultimately to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Patricia Hubbard
The Presbyterian Message November 2000

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O God, our Creator and our Sustainer, 
we come to you with loving hearts 
for all your goodness to us.  
We confess that we have not always 
returned your love or treated others as we should.  
We have been faint in our praise and loud in our complaints.  
Forgive us, we pray.  
We give you thanks for seedtime and harvest 
and the bounties that we enjoy at this time of year, 
for farmers and gardeners 
who faithfully tend and harvest crops, 
for those who transport and prepare them for us.  
We thank you especially 
for the great gift of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  
May his love shine through us 
so that others may be attracted to you.  

Ina Adamson
The Presbyterian Message October 1999

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God's Creative Spirit

God is the Master Creator, the Master Artist.
If we allow it, God's creative spirit can work within us. 
He can shape a cold emptiness into warming love.
He can build a joyful sharing out of aching loneliness.
God can turn despair into happiness.
As an artist strokes a brush to the canvas and creates,
so it is that each time God touches us, we change.
We grow in brilliant colours of love, joy and wisdom.
With the brush of His creative genius, 
God touches every dark corner of our lives.
He gives us new hope, new meaning.
We become new creations of the Master Artist.

Vera Hoeg
The Presbyterian Message, August/September 1991

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As we enjoy summer delights, 
it is exciting to know that our mission offerings, support and prayers 
are making a difference in the lives of our young people.  
Just as Jesus and his followers went apart to special solitary places 
for prayer, teaching and fellowship, 
so our Christian camps provide a place for spiritual growth.

Our church camps make a difference 
in the lives of the next generation.  
Many will grow in faith and answer the call to serve Jesus the Christ 
in the way they are able.  
Please keep the campers and staff in your prayers 
for a glorious, safe summer that is filled with God's grace.

Ann Taylor
The Presbyterian Message June/July 2008
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God, our Creator,
We thank You 
for the promise of Your presence
throughout our lives.
Thank You for the abundance of promises 
in Your Holy Word.  
Standing on them, we cannot fail. 
Keep our hearts secure and gladdened 
as we remember Your unconditional love.  
Your promise to be always with us 
is all we need to know 
and all that really matters.  
We trust Your Word.  Amen

Margaret MacDonald, East River St. Mary's, Pictou County, N.S.
The Presbyterian Message May 2002
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