Friday Message and what's coming.

Friday Message

What's Coming!

December 14, 2018

Season: Advent

'Sharing the Light'

The Candle of Joy

Rev. Kathi's Message

Everyone is supposed to love Christmas and the holidays. It’s supposed to be a time of family and gratitude. But some among us dread it. They dread the weeks leading up to Christmas, starting that day in early November when Christmas carols begin permeating the airways and build to a crescendo through Christmas Eve. The growing darkness as we get closer to the winter solstice doesn’t help.

You might be experiencing the same kind of disconnect this Christmas season for one reason or another — personal loss, chronic pain, mental illness, or job insecurity. Although there is something that makes us all long for a perfect Christmas, who has ever really had a perfect Christmas?

Well-meaning friends with good intentions may offer strategies that might help, but you can follow all their advice and still feel broken. You still might feel more relief listening to Patsy Cline’s Crazy than any choir’s rendition of Away in a Manger.

Remember that God is big enough to be okay with whoever you are and wherever you are on Christmas Eve or Day — whether in church or any other place on the planet. Perhaps if we understood that caring for ourselves is as important as caring for others, such kindness to ourselves would seem less indulgent, more urgently necessary.

But isn’t that the essence of the Christmas message, that God sends help no matter where you are, whether it’s a dirty stable or in a field watching sheep or in your room doing battle with depression?

Christmas isn’t a measuring stick of one’s faith or thankfulness. Christmas is for the poor in spirit, the broken and holy, those who cry out for hope and healing day after day. Christmas is for all of us who are still waiting.

Peace,

Kathi

This Week at EMUC

Sunday December 16th:

10:00 am: Advent 3 - 'Joy'

Hebrew Scripture: Malachi 3: 1-4

Gospel: Luke 1: 26-38

Message: "Singing Ahead of Time"

7:00 pm: Candlelight Carol Service and Reception

Tuesday December 18th:

2:00 pm: Advent Study Group

Wednesday December 19th

7:00 pm: Service of Hope and Healing - a service for those struggling with loss in this season of celebration

Thursday December 20th

7:00 pm: Chancel Choir

Next Sunday December 23rd: Advent 4 - 'Joy'

Refugee Sponsorship Fundraising Appeal Update

Target: $ 10 000

Total amount raised to date: - $7,600

In the fall of 2015, Erin Mills United, Erindale United, and Streetsville United churches formed the Northwest Mississauga Constituent Group to become refugee sponsors with the United Church of Canada as our Sponsorship Agreement holder. At that time, we accepted the responsibility of fully supporting the sponsored refugee(s) for one year following their arrival in Canada. In order to meet our commitment, the Northwest Mississauga Constituent Group will require a further $40 000. Erin Mills United Church has set a target of $10 000 for this appeal. Thank you for your generous support.

Amnesty International Write for Rights:

Thank you to all who joined us last Sunday to write letters, sign petitions, and send words of encouragement to women who have been persecuted or imprisoned for their activism. If you weren’t able to participate last week and would like to write some letters, copies of the cases are available in the Narthex. There are also petitions available to be signed after the service.

What's Coming!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

Come Join Us! All are Welcome!

Advent 2018

‘Sharing the Light’

Sunday Dec. 16 10 am. Advent 3 - ‘Joy’

7 pm. Candlelight Carol Service & Reception

Wednesday Dec. 19 7:00 pm. Service of Hope & Healing – a service for those struggling with loss in this season of celebration

Sunday Dec. 23 10 am. Advent 4 - 'Love'

Christmas Eve.

Monday Dec. 24 6:30 pm. Family Service

9 pm. Candlelight Communion Service

ADVENT STUDY GROUP

For those who want an opportunity to go a little deeper into Christmas, I am offering a 3-week small group seminar called Living Nativity, to start on December 4th. Focusing on the traditional creches that we bring out to decorate our homes and churches, we will take a closer look at the figures and how their presence in the story connects with our own spiritual journey. We will explore incarnation in the bigger picture of love and as a practice of cooperation. We will see how each figure can infuse the ordinary, and we will ask who is always in the story and never in the creche.

Our beloved figures take us deeply into the mystery of incarnation and the divine longing at the heart of “the hopes and fears of all the years.”

Each week there will be 2 opportunities to participate – a Tuesday afternoon session at 2pm and a Wednesday evening session at 7:30pm.

Please sign up on the sheet on the back bulletin board or contact Kathi or leave a message at (905)820-9466.

OUT OF THE COLD - Winter Coats, Jackets

As in previous years, we are collecting warm outer wear for the Open Door at Square One. There is a special need for kids’ snow pants. Please drop off your clean, in good repair items at the church. Thank you.

LOAVES AND DISHES

Tourtieres and shepherd's pies are ready for pickup in the EMUC kitchen after the service on Sunday.

Turkey pot pies will be available in January 2019. An order sheet is on the sign-up bulletin board at the back of the church. Please place your orders there.

' FUNDSCRIP' PROGRAM

FUNDSCRIP is an innovative fundraising program that asks you to purchase gift cards in order to pay for regular items you buy every month. A percentage of the cards purchased through FUNDSCRIP is donated back to our church.

Order forms for gift cards are available the last Sunday of every month. The next order date is this Sunday, December 16th. Speak to Joanne Hines if you have any questions about the program. This is the last time to order for Christmas!