Advent Week 4 and Candlelight Christmas Eve

Dear Resurrection Family,

This weekend is the last weekend of Advent and next week we’ll be celebrating at Candlelight Christmas Eve! Today, I’ll share with you what’s up this weekend, the details for Candlelight Christmas Eve and year end. I’m so excited about the next ten days!

This Weekend: The Journey to Bethlehem!

I wonder, have you ever taken a journey you didn’t want to take? As we come to the last weekend of Advent, we’ll turn to Joseph and Mary who were forced by the Emperor’s decree of a tax census, to travel nine days journey away from Mary’s home as she was near the end of her pregnancy. Upon arriving in Bethlehem, there was no room for them except in the stable. Why does Luke include this part of the Christmas story? How does it speak to us?

We’ll also note that at the same time the Holy Family is traveling, 1,000 miles to the east, the Magi had set out upon their journey, following the star.

It will be a powerful weekend in worship, one that I know will speak to you!

A Few Openings for Serve Saturday Tomorrow

Tomorrow, December 18, will be our biggest Serve Saturday of the year! Thank you to the 300+ people who will be sharing the joy of Christmas by serving our neighbors throughout the Kansas City area. We still have some important spots to fill, and our partners are counting on us.

If you can spend the morning serving, sign up now (a few of the serve opportunities are in the afternoon). I know that you will be blessed as you share Christmas in this special way. Scan down the list of 28 different opportunities to serve in KC tomorrow. Many are filled, but you’ll find slots available on many of them as well – look for the “sign up” box, check what you are interested in and submit in order to sign up.

One of the serve opportunities no one signed up for yet is ice skating at Crown Center with women from the KC Women’s Shelter! Have fun and bless them at the same time. That opportunity is from 1 to 3:30 pm, but again, most are in the morning.

Sign up now to serve tomorrow →

Christmas Eve Candlelight is Coming!

We are excited to return to in-person Candlelight Christmas Eve services this year at all our locations! We’ll still be online and on TV as well. Each service will have beautiful Christmas music and I’ll be sharing a message that I believe will inspire you and your family and friends, and we’ll close by singing Silent Night as we pass the candlelight! We have 19 in person services across our five area locations, and we’ll be offering traditional and modern options online and five televised services on both KMCI and KSHB.

You can find all this information at cor.org/Christmas if you want to share with your friends, but I thought I’d list all the services here in one place for you.

We have no way to know how many to expect, whether services will be half full or if we’ll need overflow. We’ll be prepared either way. Generally, 3 and 5 pm are the most crowded of our services, 7 pm is usually less crowded, and 9 and 11 pm at Leawood are the least crowded.

Our service on Tuesday, December 21, will be mask required and is offered particularly for those who are in healthcare, immunocompromised or COVID cautious. All other services are masks recommended but not required.

At Leawood, 3 and 11 pm will be led by our modern worship team but with traditional Christmas songs, and services at 5, 7 and 9 pm will be led by our traditional worship team with choir and orchestra at 5 and 7 pm and soloists at 9 pm. The services at the other locations will be led by our modern worship teams with traditional Christmas songs. Children are welcome and will love the service at any of the worship times and locations, but Resurrection West will offer a children’s focused service at 1 pm and Blue Springs will offer a children’s focused service at 3 pm. Nurseries for children 4 and under will be offered at all services earlier than 9 pm.

IN-PERSON WORSHIP SERVICES

Tuesday, December 21

• Leawood – 6:30 pm (Masks required at this service)

Friday, December 24

• Leawood – 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 pm
• West (Olathe) – 1, 3, 5, 7 pm
• Overland Park – 3, 5, 7 pm
• Blue Springs – 3, 5, 7 pm
• Downtown – 3, 5, 7 pm

ONLINE SERVICES

Friday, December 24

• cor.org/live – 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 pm

TELEVISION

KMCI (Channel 38)

• Friday, December 24, 6 and 8 pm

KSHB (Channel 41)

• Friday, December 24, 10:35 pm (after evening news)
• Saturday, December 25, 1 am and 6 am (for those working Christmas Eve and early risers Christmas morning!)

Invite your friends, neighbors and coworkers

For many of our congregation, their first connection with Church of the Resurrection, and often the moment they came to faith or returned to faith, was a Candlelight Christmas Eve service. Imagine if someone came to faith in Christ or returned to church because you invited them. Who might you invite or, better yet, bring with you, to Candlelight Christmas Eve? We have several tools available to help you invite others.

• Share the invitation on your social media. You can download graphics here to post and share.
• Pick up an invitation card at worship this weekend that you can give to a friend or neighbor.
• Purchase a candle gift box to use to invite your neighbors, coworkers, family and friends. We still have plenty left that you can order online here. Last day to order is December 19, for pickup by December 21.

Volunteer on Christmas Eve

As we prepare to welcome everyone back to in-person Candlelight Christmas Eve services, we need your help! Would you be willing to serve as a greeter, usher, nursery or parking volunteer at a Christmas Eve service? We especially need nursery volunteers and ushers at the 3 and 5 pm services at all locations.

Sign up to serve at your location →

One Worship Time on December 26

After leading 18 area worship services on Christmas Eve, we’re going to let our worship teams, volunteers and staff recuperate a bit by only having one worship service on Sunday, December 26. All five area locations will hold a 9 am worship service only, and there will be no nurseries or Sunday school for children and students. This will be an opportunity for you to worship together as a family and hear Christmas a message from your location pastor. We will resume our regular worship schedule January 2.

Online and on television, we’ll be sharing our Candlelight Christmas Eve services on December 25/26 at the normal worship times.

Christmas Eve Offering for Children and Families in Need

Just a reminder that, this Christmas Eve, you have an opportunity to literally change the world for children and families here in Kansas City and around the world. Let your family and friends know you gave a gift in their honor to help others. As we do every year, Resurrection will give away our entire Candlelight Christmas Eve offering, with roughly half supporting local missions and half going to international partnerships and projects.

Locally, here are some of the projects being funded by the Christmas Eve offering:

• Backpacks for Hunger – providing food for hungry kids over the weekend
• Pre-K education, supporting four preschool partnerships in low-income areas
• Helping to construct three Habitat for Humanity homes
• Assistance for refugees resettling here from Afghanistan and beyond
• Support for children in foster care

Our global projects include:

• Supporting schools in Honduras, Malawi, South Africa, Haiti and Lebanon·
• Funding permaculture and economic development projects in Malawi and Haiti
• Expanding the ZOE orphan empowerment program to over 400 vulnerable children
• Providing vocation training to help youth in Malawi qualify for skilled labor jobs

Your offering will make these things and so much more possible! We encourage you to give generously this Christmas Eve as we celebrate the light of Christ and share it with others! Some of you may find giving appreciated stock a helpful way of supporting the Christmas Eve offering. For instructions on how to do that, contact our Donor Development team at development@cor.org.

If you’d like to give a gift in honor of a loved one, here is a link to a card you can download and print to share with your friends to let them know of your gift.

You can give to the Christmas Eve offering anytime between now and December 31. Give online by clicking here and selecting “Special Christmas Eve Offering” for the giving type. You can also present your special offering at our Christmas Eve services or mail a check with “Special Christmas Eve Offering” in the memo to:

Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Ave.
Leawood, KS 66224

Give Now to Christmas Eve Offering →

About Year End Giving

At Resurrection, your generosity makes everything possible. I’m proud of the process by which our budget is set, the integrity with which your money is handled and the way it is used to make ministry happen and to transform the world. Our books are audited annually. You have a terrific Finance Committee and an amazing finance staff.

I know many of you will be completing your pledges for 2021 between now and the end of the year and some may be making special year-end gifts. If you are doing so, I have a couple of reminders.

• You can easily make a year-end gift by using our online platform at cor.org/givenow using a debit card, credit card or your bank account.
• If you would like to pay by check, your regular year-end tithes and gifts to the Ministry Fund (including Capital Campaign offerings) must be marked as such in the memo line. You can place your gift in an offering envelope during the worship service or mail it to the church, postmarked no later than December 31, 2021. On Christmas Eve, all gifts marked for the Christmas Eve Offering, as well as any unmarked donations, will automatically be designated to the Christmas Eve Offering.
• Your year-end gifts can also be brought directly to the church offices during open office hours. Our office hours will be different during the holiday week – closed on Monday and Tuesday, with limited hours Wednesday – Friday. Here’s a schedule for each location.

I also want to thank all of you who have made your pledges for 2022! This is so important as our Finance Committee develops the 2022 ministry budget. If you are a part of Resurrection and you’ve yet to return your commitment for next year, you can do so here.

Tuesday Night Vespers

There are between 1,000 and 2,000 who join me for Tuesday Vespers on Facebook Live each week (some on Tuesday, others watch later either on Facebook or YouTube). The next two week’s I’ll be taking off. The next week I’ll be off for a few days following Christmas Eve. I’ll look forward to being with you again on Tuesday, January 4!

I’m looking forward to celebrating Christmas with you!

Pastor Adam