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The History of York Christian Fellowship In May of
1983, it was placed in the heart of Jack and Dee Cashman to start a church in
their home town of York in south central Pennsylvania. They both had
left successful careers to enter the ministry full time. Jack's former
training and business in architectural engineering, and Dee's in elementary
education along with ministerial training at Bible School helped to prepare
them to establish the ground work of a successful church with a growing
congregation of close to 500. The church
started in a home with an attendance of 5 families. Weekly they met
every Thursday night with a simple vision of worshipping God, feeding on the
word of God and then doing the works of God. Through
this "Home Bible Fellowship" vision, the church grew in two months
to 23 individuals and was moved to the science lab of York College of
Pennsylvania. As the work
of God continued, attendance grew to 80 and was moved to the college music
room... then at 125 to the York Fair Banquet Center in 1984. The rental
of Valley View Elementary School established Y.C.F.'s permanent location in
the 1980's. Finally, a 10,000 square foot building was built in 1993,
with additional space and parking lots rented or given by 4 adjacent
businesses! The vision
continues to grow as believers open their homes to WORSHIP, the WORD
and the WORK of God! Some of the
theological voices of our day have cried "Balance!" However
they have never defined this strong and adjusting declaration with
purpose! May we help define it! Many Christians can get "out
of balance" or out of fellowship with God by simply missing out on the
rich fellowship that a daily home life of WORSHIP, the WORD and the WORK of
God can produce! Christians are commanded to maintain a life of all
three! WORSHIP - the daily worship of
God provides the vital "link" that every believer needs to
encounter a close and intimate relationship with their heavenly Father!
Through WORSHIP we draw near to the heart and voice of Almighty
God! When a WORSHIP life is not maintained a Christian can lose his
first love and fall out of fellowship with God! (Revelation 2:1-5).
When we WORSHIP God with all of our heart... then the Father God Himself
draws close to us in intimacy (John 4:20-24, James 4:7,8). WORD - The WORD of God is
the basic staple of human life and spiritual growth! The Bible exhorts
us to "desire the sincere milk of the WORD so that we can grow
thereby! Keep a life of balance! Through WORSHIP we draw near to
God, but through the WORD we hear from God! Remember, man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every WORD that proceedes out of the mouth of
God! It's not just reading the Bible that changes us! It's
through the personal hearing of God's WORD in faith that we receive from Him!
(Galatians 3:1-5). The WORD of faith that changes us comes through
personally hearing God talk to us in a day to day "home life"
way! (Romans 10:17) WORK - The Bible states
that the WORK of God is glorious! It is sought out by all those that
have pleasure therein! It also exhorts us to be careful to maintain
good WORKS daily! It was said of Jesus in Acts 10:38, "How
Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing
good works..." Think of it! Through daily
WORSHIP we come to God, through the WORD we hear the voice of God and through
faith we become doers of the WORD and not hearers only! We do the WORD
of God by exercising our faith in what He has spoken to us in our "WORD
time!" (Ephesians 2:10; John 14:11,12; 1 Thessalonians 1:3) A balanced
combination of all three "W's" will give us daily encounters with
God our Father, Jesus our Lord and the Holy Spirit our enabler...AMEN!
This is how a believer stays in daily fellowship with God! This
is how York Christian Fellowship is known locally as a life giving
church! This is how we have no division in our ranks! This
is how we have real vision and purpose in our personal lives! This is
how God is restoring our homes! And this is the pattern that God is using
to help churches in our area and the world experience a stable and balanced
foundation for REVIVAL! It's so
simple! Both children and teens can follow Jesus in it! Over 200
of them do each week! Many people have asked what our church is all about.
Some have asked, "where do I get involved?" Most, if not all
of the Y.C.F. congregation know it by heart! We bring the church
into our home through WORSHIP, the WORD and the WORK
of God! A true vision of any real ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ will not only function in the church corporately but also in an
individual's life as well! So it is at Y.C.F.! In all of
the Y.C.F. corporate services there is congregational celebration of these
three "W's"! What we see at church is what we can get at
home! We can actually bring the church into our homes!
Through establishing WORSHIP, the WORD and the WORK
of God into our own home, we as believers can establish fellowship with
God on a day-to-day basis! The following are excerpts from the manual given
to all first-time visitors (You can order it for free!) "the
churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily
in the Lord, with the church that is in their house". (1 Corinthians
16:19) "And
to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church
that is in your house!" (Philemon 1:2) "Also
greet the church that is in their house.
Salute my well beloved Epanetus who is the first convert to Christ from
Asia." (Romans 16:5) "And
every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching
and preaching Jesus as the Christ!" (Acts 5:42) That is
what the early church experienced! This is why they were
successful! This is why the Bible exclaims in the book of Acts,
"the WORD grew, multiplied and prevailed" in their
communities! The Holy Spirit wants to set up a "base of
operations" right in our own neighborhood! |
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