This particular section is entitled “Judgment of the Nations” and is the final story Jesus tells before the unfolding of events that lead to his arrest, eventual death and triumphant resurrection. Through this passage, we will explore what generosity might look like for us today in how we treat people in need.

Prayerfully reflecting on faith-filled generosity,

Janet

DATES to REMEMBER

FEBRUARY 21 – Board Meeting

– Session: Fire Safety

Feb. 28 – Annual General Meeting (AGM) & Pot Luck Luncheon

MARCH 6 – Evangel Hall

ANNOUNCEMENTS

EVANGEL HALL

MHP serving Dinner on Sunday, March 6

Do you like to cook or bake?

We are serving salad, chili and dessert in about 2 weeks time for clients of Evangel Hall and would be delighted by your contributions. **Please read all ingredients when preparing the food as someone has a dangerous allergic reaction to mushrooms.

If you’d like to do something but don’t like to cook or bake, we need rolls, servers, and drivers too. So please sign up in Fellowship Hall or contact Marilyn or Sheila, the co-coordinators from the Mission & Outreach team.

Lastly, if transporting the chili is difficult, Marilyn can pick it up from you on Saturday, March 5th.

Please keep this outreach in your prayers.

Updating the Readers List

Do you speak clearly?

Do you like to read aloud?

The  Worship Team invites anyone interested in reading to give their name and contact information to our Office Manager Laurel Gerrie who contacts readers to let them know when they are reading. Whether you have a little or a lot of experience or somewhere in between, age is of no consequence.

Contact information can be left by phone (4167-766-4765) or email Thank you for enriching our worship service by sharing your love of reading.

Christian Education Team Update

The C.E. Team is excited to announce a new summer evening ministry for three consecutive Wednesdays nights for families. Details and dates are still being finalized but we will most likely meet the last three Wednesdays in July. In light of this, MHP will no longer host Vacation Bible School but we sincerely thank the many people who have supported this ministry over the years.

BOARD OF MANGERS – Since we are between custodians at the moment, we would appreciate any help YOU might be able to offer in terms of cleaning, shovelling and minor repairs.  Please contact Maria or Peter.

Lent in Pictures

To everyone who likes to take pictures, draw, paint, sketch, cut and paste, colour, etc., I invite you to send pictures about generosity to generosity@morningsidehighpark.com.

The theme this Lenten season is “generosity” and the hope is that we can post people’s understanding and interpretation of generosity through pictures on our webpage.

I look forward to your submissions!

DATES to REMEMBER

FEBRUARY 9 – 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Pancake Supper and Light Entertainment in the Fellowship Hall

FEBRUARY 12-14 – PYPS Winter Weekend

FEBRUARY 14 – Communion

FEBRUARY 28 – AGM meeting & Pot Luck Luncheon

ANNOUNCEMENTS

MISSION AND OUTREACH TEAM – Refugee Sponsorship

The Session and Mission and Outreach Committee of Morningside- High Park (MHP) Presbyterian Church would like to bring the congregation up to date on an initiative led by Rosedale Presbyterian Church (RPC), to sponsor a Syrian family seeking refuge in Canada.

In fall 2015, Rosedale invited neighbourhood Churches, including MHP, to an information meeting about refugee sponsorship.  MHP has a strong history of mission service and therefore the idea of partnering with RPC was presented to Session for consideration.  Session agreed to commit $5,000 to the project and to discuss the idea with the congregation to determine the level of support for the initiative.

RPC recently received the family of four’s profile and estimated the annual cost of a family to live in Toronto for a year to be approximately $50,760. The fundraising for this initiative is proceeding well with financial commitments from RPC, Leaside Presbyterian Church and MHP to date.  The 2015 and 2016 proceeds from Cuppa Change/Don’s Coffeepot will be put toward our $5,000 commitment and donations from the congregation will be welcomed.

If you would like to support this initiative, please address your donation to Morningside-High Park Presbyterian Church and note on the envelope that you would like to support the Tri Church Syrian Family Sponsorship Project and the dollar amount you would like to go toward this initiative.

This is a wonderful opportunity to work with other churches and people of other cultures and to see God’s work in action by helping families transition to life in Canada. For further information about this initiative, please feel free to contact Allan, Sheila, Claire or Kirk.

Photo Directory

If you had your picture taken for the photo directory, they are now available for pick up from your elder.

Last Chance!

FEBRUARY 9 – LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT for the PANCAKE SUPPER (5:30 – 7 p.m.)

Has your child been working hard on a musical piece?
Do you like to sing?
Or dance?
Tell a short story or a few jokes for the family?

Please contact Rev. Janet, Marc  or Janice  for more information or to sign up.

A sign-up sheet is available at the church.

Hi Everyone,

Many of you might know that I take Mondays and Saturdays as my days off. I try really hard to keep Mondays as my Sabbath – a time to decompress, relax and be creative (family time is often Sunday night and Scrabble when my children are feeling generous). But I confess that I find it difficult to unplug, reeeeeeeeally difficult.

This past Monday, I already knew that I was preaching on the temptation of Jesus and I couldn’t help but reflect upon how often I submitted to the temptation of checking my emails and my phone.

Now some of you might wonder, “What’s the big deal about checking emails and texts?” Well, I find that I cannot decompress because I then think about all the things I want to do at church and need to do. But there’s also a flip side to unplugging. It’s reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally difficult to not think about what emails and texts I am receiving and need to respond to. So I still have trouble decompressing because I submit to the temptation of wondering, “What are people sending me?” And there goes my Sabbath. . .

Temptation. I will be using story as the medium to share my understanding of Matthew 4:1-11 this Sunday and the sermon title is, “Choose to inhale. Don’t breathe simply to exist.” The title is a quote from a young poet by the name of Mattie Stepanek.

Peace in Christ,

Rev. Janet

DATES to REMEMBER

FEBRUARY 9 – 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Pancake Supper and Light Entertainment in the Fellowship Hall

FEBRUARY 28 – AGM meeting date

ANNOUNCEMENT

Sign Up!

FEBRUARY 9 – LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT for the PANCAKE SUPPER (5:30 – 7 p.m.)

Has your child been working hard on a musical piece?

Do you like to sing?

Or dance?

Tell a short story or a few jokes for the family?

Please contact Rev. Janet, Marc, or Janice for more information or to sign up.

A sign-up sheet is available at the church.

Hi Everyone,

A heartfelt thank you to those who helped to set and clean up as well as provide the lovely spread for both the fellowship hour and refreshments after the service of induction this past Sunday.

It was wonderful to see all of you who were able to come out this past Sunday and some of you came to both services! I apologize if I was unable to greet you personally after either service, especially after the service of induction as a number of elders and other members from St. Andrew’s in Markham had come down to celebrate our journey together and much of my time was spent with them. Please know that I sincerely look forward to getting to know everyone better in the weeks and months to come!

If you would like to contact me, the email minister@morningsidehighpark.com has been set up. My voicemail has not been set up yet but that should happen within the next few days.

For worship this Sunday, the Scripture passages are Psalm 29 and Matthew 3:1-17 and the sermon title is, “The Voice.”

Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Janet

Hello my new family of faith at MHP!

Thank you for the warm welcome.

As the newest person at MHP, it is a privilege to witness how this community of faith has supported as well as loved one another faithfully in the absence of a full-time minister. I humbly ask for your prayers because there is much for me to learn and many wonderful people to meet while still preparing for Sunday worship and looking ahead towards Lent and Holy Week. Please also keep in your prayers the people in our community who are in need.

This Sunday at the 10:30 a.m. service, the Scripture passages are Psalm 147 and Matthew 2:13-23. The sermon title is “Then Joseph got up…” and I caution you that you may leave with more questions than you arrive with this Sunday but my prayer is that we will together, despite or in spite of good and even unanswerable questions, find and rest in the hope of the good news in God’s word.

A sincere thank you to Lauren’s district for the lovely spread last Sunday and I look forward to this Sunday’s Fellowship Hour hosted by Pat s and Hildy’s elder districts. The spirit of sharing and hospitality is truly a gift to be experienced at MHP.

Below are a number of announcements to bring to your attention but I would like to highlight the service of induction taking place this Sunday at 3 pm. I hope that many of you will be able join in on the celebration.

In joyful anticipation of Sunday,

Rev. Janet

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1)  SYRIA EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND – The federal government has extended the deadline for Canadians to donate to Syrian relief efforts and

have their contributions matched by the government. The original deadline of Dec. 31, 2015 has now been pushed back to Feb. 29.

If you wish to contribute please indicate on your offering envelope the amount of money you wish to go to the Syrian Relief Fund.

2) Dates to Remember

JANUARY 10 – 3:00 p.m. Induction Service for Rev. Janet Ryu-Chan

JANUARY 17 – Deadline for annual reports. (AGM date TBA.)

JANUARY 20 – 7:30 p.m. Session meets

JANUARY 24 – 3:00 p.m. 10^th Anniversary Service & Reception marking Evangel Hall Mission on Adelaide St. W facility is being held at Knox Presbyterian Church, 630 Spadina Ave.

JANUARY 25 – 7:00 p.m. Book Club meets at Myrette Paul- Chowdhury’s home

JANUARY 27 – 7:30 p.m. Mission and Outreach Team meets

FEBRUARY 15 – Family Day

FEBRUARY 24 – 7:30 p.m. Session meets

FEBRUARY 25 – Manna Day at Crieff Hills

FEBRUARY 28 –  Proposed AGM meeting date

3) The Certificate in Christian Faith and Life

Course – Introduction to the New Testament

January 18 – February 22nd, 2016 with Dr. Laura Alary

N.B. Laura was my T.A. when I took a preaching course on the gospel of Luke at Knox College and she is a deeply faith-filled and most learned scholar.

4) EVANGEL HALL — URGENTLY NEEDED ITEMS

Clothing Items

New underwear, man’s sizes M; Woman size S & M

Blue jeans

Sweaters

Running shoes

Sleeping bags

Personal Necessities

Toothpaste and toothbrushes

Lip balms

Feminine products

Individual packages of tissues

Combs & hairbrushes

Medicated foot powder and spray

Deodorant Q-Tips

Travel sized shampoo and conditioner

Food and Kitchen

Pasta

Rice

Breakfast cereals

Peanut butter

Canned food

Pasta sauce

Miscellaneous

President’s Choice Grocery Gift Cards

Tim Horton Cards ($5) and MacDonald’s gift cards

Canadian Tire Money

Dear MHP Friends,

This Sunday we are delighted to be welcoming Rev. Janet Ryu-Chan to preach for “the call”. Rev. Ryu-Chan’s sermon title is “A New Hope”.  Biblical passages for this worship service can be found in Psalm 42; and Jeremiah 32:6-15.  Rev. Janet Ryu-Chan will be socializing with the congregation in the Fellowship Hall after the completion of the voting procedure which will be held in the Sanctuary. Axeff J U will be sharing his talent as a Recorder player with us during worship.

The Mitten Trees are here again. Did you know that Nelson W created them for us at MHP? The trees will be in the Sanctuary during Advent, November 29 – December 3, waiting for new hats, mitts and scarves to decorate them. There are 16 moms and 32 children currently at Armagh.

The number and ages of the children are:

Girls    1- 5 month old                     Boys: 1- 11 month old

5- 1-6 years                                   5- 1-6 years

10 – 7 -14 years                            10- 7-16 years

The donations will be delivered to Armagh as we have done in   previous years. Any questions please speak with Sandy . The Mission and Outreach team is graciously supporting this project and will deliver all donations the week of December 14^th in time for Christmas at Armagh. Thank you for your generosity.

W.A. CHRISTMAS SALE: DECEMBER 6 – After worship 11:30 – 1:00 p.m. the Women’s Association will have tables of lovely donated gift items from the late Jim W and Muriel & Dr. Laurie M estates.  The sale is open to MHP families as well as to our friends and neighbours.  Proceeds will go to the MHP Kitchen Refurbishment Project.

RUNNYMEDE P.C. – 680 Annette Street
Bake Sale December 5^th Coffee and Light Lunch 9:30 – 12:30
WMS – Christmas Dinner announcement re Monday December 7
6:00 p.m. gathering & 6:30 p.m. dinner – RSVP by Nov. 30 to Brenda A

In Christ’s Love,
Hildy Stollery

Dear MHP Friends,

This coming Sunday we will be led in worship again by Rev. Jim Kitson.  His sermon title will be “Are Your Choices Your Own?” Scripture readings will be based on Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16 and Mark 13:1-8.

On Sunday, November 29 we will have Rev. Janet Ryu-Chan preaching for the call to MHP.  All will be asked to stay for a brief congregational meeting following that November 29^th service.  Members will be invited to vote by secret ballot and adherents will be invited to sign the call document. Presbyterian Church policy does not allow voting by proxy, however please contact your elder so that arrangements can be made to have your conveyed support recorded officially on the call document.  A healthy congregation should strive to put forward a high percentage of its members as recorded voters.  Following the meeting, should the congregation vote in favour of the call, the Interim Moderator will contact the prospective candidate, as well as the Presbytery of West Toronto, and the call will be processed.  This will be an extremely important meeting in the life and future of the congregation at MHP.  Please make every effort to be present for this special service and congregational meeting.  The Session and the entire church family send our gratitude to the Search Committee for their many prior months of meetings, discernment and travels to other churches to listen to selected minister candidates. At this time our Search Committee and Session are very excited about the prospect of having Rev. Janet Ryu-Chan as our new minister, and they sincerely hope you will share in their optimism.

In Christ’s Service,

Hildy Stollery