Church Bulletin | 030324 “He said to the crowd: ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?’” (Luke 12:54-56)
On Friday, February 9th, temperatures soared in Toronto to a record-high of 14.4 degrees Celsius. While this temperature may not seem “hot” to someone living near the equator, it surpassed the previous record of 10.6 degrees Celsius set in 1938 by almost four degrees Celsius, making it the warmest February 9th in Toronto’s recorded history!
Breaking an 86-year old record may seem like an anomaly, but it has definitely been the warmest February I have experienced in my six-and-a-half years of living in Toronto! As a tropical island boy from the middle of the Pacific Ocean, I warmly welcome the warmer weather! And I’m sure you do as well!
But enough about the weather! Jesus likened interpreting the signs of the times to predicting weather patterns. Just as meteorologists analyze and measure various factors to forecast the weather, He expected people to recognize the signs of His ministry, and to identify Him as the Messiah! Actually, you did not need to be an expert, like a meteorologist, to interpret the signs of Jesus’ ministry. Even a layman could see what was happening; and some did. Although, many others failed to do so.
To Jesus, the fact that God was behind everything He was doing was as clear and obvious as Solomon’s wisdom in Ecclesiastes: “If clouds are full of water, they will pour rain on the earth.” (Ecclesiastes 11:3) Those who Jesus was preaching to needed only to interpret the “weather” correctly. The truth was evident. The working of God was evident. Yet, a great many missed the signs. They failed to recognize what God was doing, and how He was working through His Son on earth.
Not only has this February marked one of Toronto’s warmest Februarys ever, but it has also been an especially hot month for the Church! For starters, we saw seven souls baptized into Christ in the month of February! Together with the three souls that were baptized in January, we have now seen 10 baptisms in just eight weeks – more than weekly baptisms! Of course, each of these baptisms is an extraordinary story! And in each story it is obvious that God’s hand was at work!
Also exciting was what happened on Sunday, February 18th. Although that particular Sunday did not break any temperature records (high of +1º C and low of -6º C), we were able to witness five incredible baptisms on a single day! Previously, the most baptisms we had ever seen in a single day in the Toronto Church was four. In fact, we had four baptisms in a day on three separate occasions: once in 2020, and twice in 2023! However, God really blessed us in “The Year of Blessings” by allowing us to see Eniola, Gege, Charlotte, Adam, and Sandra all baptized on the same day – our hottest Sunday ever!
On that same Sunday, the Toronto Church reached a new milestone. Our membership reached 100 sold out disciples for the Lord! This is truly a tremendous accomplishment considering that the Church was made up of just 13 hurting disciples when the five-member supplemental mission team arrived in the Summer of 2017! Those who have persevered from the beginning have proved to be the fertile soil that Jesus spoke about in His Parable of The Sower: “…like seed sown on good soil, [they] hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop… a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:20)
Kelly and I are so proud of the Church! And we are beyond grateful for each disciple, young and old, who have been so incredibly instrumental in building up God’s Kingdom in Canada! Although the work is far from over, I believe this stage of where our Church is at can best be summed up in the words of the acclaimed Winston Churchill: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Lastly, and most impactful to me in the month of February, was the baptism of my oldest son, Chase! At just 11-years old, Chase decided to study the Bible to become a disciple! He persevered through each of the 10 character studies, and then through nine First Principles Bible studies, over the course of six months. And he has literally been transformed by God’s Word right before our very eyes! As Jeremiah said, “It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.” (Lamentations 3:27) Ironically, Jeremiah only understood this truth after he chose to follow God despite feeling “too young”. (Jeremiah 1:6) I could not be more proud of how Chase has boldly chosen to follow God at such a young age, and did not make the excuse that he is too young!
Since both of my sons were born in sunny San Diego, we have moved to three different cities on three different mission teams, including Toronto! So for my wife and I, Chase becoming a disciple is not only the answer to an 11-year old prayer, but validation from God that each and every sacrifice we have made for His Kingdom, despite the challenges our family has endured as a result of those sacrifices, are worth it! And should we be faced with similar choices in the future, we know that we will wholeheartedly make the same decisions over and over and over again!
You don’t have be a genius to predict the weather in Toronto. If it is Winter, it is going to be cold; and if it is cloudy, it is likely going to rain or snow. Likewise, as obvious as the weather can be, it is obvious that God has placed His mighty hand upon the Toronto Church, and is working powerfully in our city! No, I wouldn’t say that the weather here has been “hot”. But I would say that it is hotter than ever been before! So too is God’s Church! To God be all the glory!
Evan Bartholomew