Friday Message and what's coming

Friday Message

What's Coming!

December 11, 2020

ADVENT

"Angels, Hope & Joy"

Gratitude says we have enough. We are enough.

Because I am grateful, I have enough.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.

Commercial advertising says the opposite. It leads us to believe we need stuff, lots of stuff, in order to have a happy holiday and satisfaction with our bodies. Advertising says we need things for a happy life.

Acceptance for our current life leads to contentment. Contentment is the foundation of gratitude. However, for some, gratitude is the foundation for contentment.

However, gratitude living is not being blind to the situations around us. To have a positive impact, gratitude cannot be indiscriminate – it must be gratitude with discernment.

There are times when something different is needed to have a happy life. This something different is taking the healthy steps of making healthy changes.

Truth be told, stuff is easier to acquire than real change. Too many times we use stuff to buy our way into relationships, to dull our senses to what we really need (like forgiveness, reconciliation, and telling the truth), and to keep us too busy to see what needs to be done. These last two actions (dulled senses and busyness) keep us from investigating, meditating, and examining our lives.

This holiday season we don’t need more things, more food and drink, and more over-the-top activities to have a happy holiday.

What don’t we need for a happy holiday? Stuff, activities, overindulgence.

What do we need?

Gratitude. It is as simple and as hard as that.

We need gratitude for what we have in terms of relationships, material things, and our physical body, just to name a few. There is a quote that says, “What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?” That experience would certainly highlight how grateful we’ve been.

Kathi

This Week at EMUC

UPDATE on WORSHIP SERVICES

The EMUC Sunday and Wednesday Prayer services will continue online using the Zoom platform until further notice. The possibility of returning to the building for worship will be reassessed each month at the Leadership Circle meeting.

Sunday December 13:

10:00 a.m.: Online Worship led by Rev. Kathi

Advent 3: Angel visits Joseph

Monday December 14:

7:00 p.m.: Bible Study via Zoom

Tuesday December 15:

6:45 p.m.: Leadership Circle Meeting via Zoom

Wednesday December 16:

6:45 p.m.: Prayer Service via Zoom

What's Coming!

Office Hours:

Tina's office hours are Monday and Tuesday 12:30-4:00pm; Thursday and Friday 9:30am-1:30pm. If you need access to the church outside of these hours, please contact the office for an appointment. Tina continues to divide her time between working from home, and from the church. Please note that in the case of inclement weather, Tina may be working from home to avoid poor driving conditions. Please contact the office before driving in to confirm whether Tina is in the office.

Invite Friends and Family!

During this pandemic, it is hard for people to feel connected. Most churches are closed for services and many are not able to do online services. Why not invite your neighbours, friends and family members to join our Advent and Christmas online services?

There are two ways they may join. 1) You may forward to them the email with the link to the service which is sent out on Saturday for the Sunday service or 2) they may join our email list by going to the website http://emuc.ca and clicking the 'join our email list' to enter their email address. They will then get the emails with the service link each week.

Below is a list of the upcoming Christmas services.

Advent 2020

“Angels, Hope & Joy”

Sunday Dec. 13 10 a.m. Advent 3: Angel visits Joseph

Sunday Dec. 20 10 a.m. Advent 4: “O Zoom All Ye Faithful” Pageant

Monday Dec. 21 7 p.m. Longest Night - Hope and Healing Service

Christmas Eve

Thursday Dec. 24 8 p.m. Christmas Eve & Communion Service

Sunday Dec. 27 10 a.m. Christmas Sunday

Sunday Jan. 3 10 a.m. First service of 2021 & Communion

Online Concerts to Enjoy this Season

If you would like to view and listen to a virtual concert as a way to celebrate the season, then see some suggestions below:

Angel City Chorale from Los Angeles

On December 12 at 6:00 pm Pacific Standard Time there is a free online concert. Go to www.angelcitychorale.org and register on this website. (There is an RSVP button.)

Tafelmusik Online Sing-Along Messiah on YouTube December 17 at 7pm EST(then available from Dec. 18-26). See the following link for information. Free.

https://www.tafelmusik.org/sing-along-on-screen

Calling All Knitters

Community Life is currently collecting hats, gloves, and scarves for adults and children to give to guests of the Deacon’s Cupboard during the holiday season. If you have any items to donate, you can drop them in a special bin located just outside the EMUC office. If anyone has items to donate but is unable to travel to EMUC, you can contact Sandra Witterick at sandra.witterick@gmail.com or call Tina at the church office to make arrangements for pick-up. Many thanks to those who have already contributed items.

Thank You

“When we really examine kindness, we find it is a deep and abiding understanding of how connected we all are”.

(Sharon Salzburg)

A heartfelt thank you to those who donated to the Deacon’s Cupboard during this holiday season. Whether directed to the regular givings of the Cupboard or to the special Christmas Project, you have demonstrated an overwhelming kindness and generosity to our neighbours in need.

This holiday season, and in the midst of a pandemic, EMUC raised $4,600.00 for DC regular givings and $7,630.00 for the Christmas project, for a grand total of $12,230.00 in donated Fundscrip cards.

Special thanks to the following people who provided their time and talent to make this project work: Linda Leeder, our EMUC liaison for the DC, Mike Ogilvie who provided a great deal of expertise and behind-the-scenes support, and Joanne Hines, who spent many, many hours working on the logistics of the Fundscrip orders and delivery.

Thank you everyone for making this project a success!

Sandra Witterick, Community Life Focus Circle Leader

Affirming Working Group - We Need to Hear from You

Over the last few weeks, an announcement about EMUC becoming an Affirming Ministry within the United Church of Canada has been circulated through the Friday message. We hope you have had a chance to read it. Perhaps you have even visited the Affirm United website and explored the Open Hearts document. As we mentioned, much of this work will require face to face discussions and in person workshops. When we are back together, this work will go ahead.

Thankfully, there are a few things we can invite you to help us with right now. Please consider thinking about and responding to the following questions. Your answers are so important to help our working group move forward in planning the education process around our Affirming mission.

1. Why should EMUC consider becoming an affirming congregation?

2. What are your concerns/questions around becoming an affirming congregation?

3. With consideration of the various learning styles that individuals have, which educational method do you find most beneficial? (i.e. reading material, movies, workshops, guest speakers, etc.)

We invite you to email anyone on our working group with your responses and any other feedback that may be helpful as we move forward in this process.

Thank you in advance for your participation,

Joanne Hines (twokids@rogers.com)

Karen Colwell (karencolwell.home2@.gmail.com)

Sandy Hayes (sandyhayes88@gmail.com)

Rebecca Hines (hines.becca.j@gmail.com)

Deb Sturgeon (sturgs4@rogers.com)

Linda Appleby (lapplebymuskoka@gmail.com)

An announcement from the Affirming Congregations Working Group and The Interfaith, Justice and Peace Group

Are you still looking for a present for the readers on your list? We suggest, “We Have Always Been Here – A Queer Muslim Memoir” by Samra Habib. This is the fascinating story of a young girl’s struggle against a tradition that sought to suppress her hopes and dreams simply because she was female. It’s the story of a young woman’s awakening to her true sexual identity. It’s the story of a woman’s search to find spaces where she could live out her Muslim faith in community with those who shared her sexual identity.

“We Have always Been Here” is the book the Affirming Congregations Working Group and The Interfaith, Justice and Peace Group have chosen for a One Book Read. “What is that?” you may ask. That’s when anyone who is interested reads the book and then joins us over Zoom to talk about the book. The discussion is being planned for mid-February. Stay tuned for more information on the exact date!

If you think you might like to join in the One Book Read please contact any one of the following people: Dianne Hope at dadihope@gmail.com, Karen Colwell at karencolwell.home2@gmail.com or Joanne Hines at twokids@rogers.com

Donations to EMUC

CHRISTMAS OFFERING

As you participate in the tradition of gift giving with your family and friends, please consider how a financial gift to EMUC helps celebrate God’s gifts to us and makes a difference in the life and work of this congregation. As in past years, if we are to meet our operational budget goals, increased donations are required in December. This year you can make a Special Christmas offering in person at the church, by mail, or through Canada Helps by going to our website http://emuc.ca. Please clearly identify your donation as a Christmas Offering. Your ongoing support is greatly appreciated

Please note that Deacon's Cupboard would prefer to receive financial donations rather than actual food donations because the church remains closed so that managing food is difficult. The Cupboard is giving only vouchers to its guests. They are open only on Wednesdays and not on Monday evenings for the duration of the pandemic.

Thank you to everyone for your ongoing support.

EMUC Finance Committee

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