Daylight Saving Time, Gospel of Luke, and Family Worship this Weekend

Dear Resurrection Family,

We had a great crowd last weekend for in-person worship as we kicked off Lent! Thanks for all who joined us in person. This weekend, don’t forget to set your clocks forward for Daylight Saving. This is also a Family Worship Weekend when families are encouraged to bring their children to worship. We’ll have nurseries for those 4 and under, but no children’s Sunday School. We’ll be including stories in the message about children and Jesus’ love for children. Studies have shown that children who never attend worship with their parents are less likely to continue to be engaged in church when they are grown up. Which is why these Family Worship Weekends are important.

THIS WEEKEND IN WORSHIP: “SIMON, DO YOU SEE THIS WOMAN?”

This second weekend of Lent we continue in our series on Luke focusing on Jesus and the outsiders, the outcasts and the outlaws. This weekend we turn to the countercultural way that Jesus saw, ministered with and lifted up women. This is an important theme in Luke. Women are featured prominently, they are named, they have voices, and Jesus intentionally “sees” women in Luke to a degree we don’t see in any of the other gospels. The message is a powerful one not only for women but for children and men too. Join us for, Simon Do You See Her: Jesus’ Ministry with Outsiders, Outcasts and Outlaws. If you are travelling for Spring Break, join us online with your friends or family wherever you may be. You can join us on demand on YouTube throughout the weekend and next week. If you are in town, we hope you’ll join us in person.

DON’T FORGET TO READ YOUR GPS! TODAY’S STORIES ARE POWERFUL

Our goal for Lent is that everyone at Resurrection reads the gospel of Luke together. Our GPS (Grow, Pray and Study guide) is a way to do that. Each day we email you a short video devotion, a section of Luke’s gospel to read, a short devotional to read and a song by our COR Worship Collective. At the very least, read the scripture, but I think you’ll find it all meaningful. Today’s reading includes some of my favorite stories in Luke. Jesus calls the fisherman to follow him, he touches and heals a man with leprosy, and a paralyzed man is brought by his friends on a stretcher to be healed by Jesus. As you read them you’ll see, once again, Jesus lifting up the lowly. If you don’t currently receive the GPS, sign up here.

TWO WAYS TO STUDY LUKE WITH OTHERS

· Decisively Go Deeper: An Online Lent Experience is hosted by Pastor Ashley Morgan Kirk on Wednesdays, March 16, 23 and 30, from 6:30 – 8 pm, via ZOOM. Join others to explore the spiritual practices of prayer, scripture reading, self-examination and holy conversation in smaller online groups. Register here. · Three-week “Eat. Grow. Serve.” small groups are beginning March 28, in-person at all locations. Groups will experience Lent by sharing a meal, serving in the community, and growing in faith together. Sign up to host or join a group and get to know some new people while you eat, grow and serve together during Lent. Register here.

FEELING A CALL TO MINISTRY?

As I mentioned in the sermon this past weekend, if you are feeling a call to ministry or interested in discerning God’s direction in your life, reach out to schedule time to speak to a pastor by emailing Lisa.Guenther@cor.org. Our pastors would love to meet with you and help you explore your call and prepare and equip you on this exciting pathway to ministry. We have already heard from several people who are exploring a call to ministry.

REMARKABLE EVENT WEDNESDAY

Earlier this week, almost 900 people, representing Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths, gathered in our Leawood Sanctuary for the “Unlikely Conference.” Thank you to all of you who participated and volunteered. This unique multi-faith event brought our community together to focus on how each of our faiths calls us to love our neighbors. I’m excited about the conversations, connections and friendships that are developing, and look forward to how we can be part of this movement in our community. We were not able to record or live stream the event, but at the conclusion they offered a QR code to a website if you’d like to get involved in multi-faith work in Kansas City. Here’s the website the presenters shared, and below are a couple of photos from the evening (click to enlarge).

$250,000 GIVEN FOR UKRAINIAN DISASTER RELIEF

I’m both grateful and proud of you, Resurrection, for your compassion and generosity. Last weekend, in our communion offering, you gave $210,000 for Ukrainian Disaster Relief. In addition you previously gave $40,000 for missions and disaster relief that we already sent for work with Ukrainian relief efforts nearly two weeks ago. So far, you have helped set up shelters in two churches and a school in western Ukraine. Below is a screenshot of a social media post from the UMC District Superintendent of Ukraine, showing what you are helping make possible (click to enlarge). We’ll update you in the coming weeks with additional information on how donations have been put to use in Ukraine and neighboring countries welcoming refugees. I love your generosity and your heart for being the hands and feet of Christ.

TINO HERRERA APPOINTED TO PASTOR TRINITY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Every Spring in the United Methodist Church, the bishop and district superintendents look over all of the churches in their annual conference, take stock of retirements and other pastoral relocations, and then prayerfully look over all of the pastors in the conference to see who they might assign to fill open positions. This week the bishop announced that Pastor Tino Herrera, would be appointed to lead Trinity United Methodist Church in Midtown, Kansas City. Trinity is one of Kansas City’s historic churches. They are receiving an excellent pastor in Tino. We’ll miss Tino. For the last five years, Tino has served on our pastoral care team, and now as our pastor to Men’s Ministry. I’m personally excited for Trinity, it was the church I belonged to when I was ordained as a pastor. Congratulations to both Tino and Trinity. Tino will be with us through June. We will be posting a job opening for a Men’s Ministry Program Director and hope to have someone in place by July 1, when Tino assumes his new position. More about that position next week in my eNote.

GROW, GO, GIVE: LEARN ABOUT OUR GLOBAL IMPACT MINISTRY

For the next three weeks, we’re going to be highlighting our Global Impact Ministry, sharing ways you can “Grow, Go and Give.” Today I want to encourage you to “grow” by learning about our ministry partners across the globe. We have a podcast called “Bridging Cultures” where you can: · Listen to stories of community development and life transformation directly from the people that are making it happen around the world · Learn how money donated to Resurrection supports food security, education, clean water, health, economic empowerment and more in a variety of countries · Understand how prioritizing indigenous leadership has the power to create a more equitable and cooperative mission · Discover ways you can engage in this work both in the US and abroad.

Learn more and subscribe to the podcast. →

TAKE A VIRTUAL SERVE TRIP TO MALAWI BEGINNING WEDNESDAY

I’ve encouraged everyone in our congregation, who is able, to take a serve trip some time. We have a variety of trips coming up this year that you can check out here. I’ll share more about serve trips next week, but if you’re not able to physically take a trip, we have a unique opportunity beginning Wednesday. Every Wednesday, March 16 – April 13, you can take a virtual serve trip to Malawi over your lunch hour. You’ll learn about the work we are doing in Malawi, the impact it is having on the communities, and have the opportunity to connect with and get to know our local partners over Zoom.

Register for the virtual serve trip →

SERVE SATURDAY AND MONTHLY DONATION DRIVE

In addition to serving globally, we have ministry partners in Kansas City who count on us to help our neighbors in need. Saturday, March 19, is our monthly Serve Saturday and Donation Drive. Go to the Serve Saturday website and select an opportunity for you, your family or friends to serve in the community and reserve your spot. Then spend the morning having fun and making a difference. Our monthly Donation Drive is also on Saturday. This month we are collecting books for our bookmobile and personal care items for our partner schools. Here’s the list with specific items requested. You can drop off donations at each of our locations between 9 and 11 am on March 19.

GOOD FAITH NETWORK UPDATE

In our Vision 2030, we identified four “gaps” that we believe God was calling Church of the Resurrection to help close. One of those was the Justice and Kindness Gap. Last year, Resurrection joined a new initiative, The Good Faith Network, (created with seed funds from our Great Plains Annual Conference). Through listening sessions last fall that involved 500 people from 20 congregations across three faith traditions, two primary concerns in Johnson County were identified: mental health and homelessness. On Monday, March 14, Pastor Cheryl Jefferson Bell and others will provide an update on the Good Faith Network and how you can participate in the work they are pursuing to answer the biblical call to do justice in our community. The meeting is from 7 – 8:30 pm via Zoom. Click here to register for the Zoom call or check out the website to learn more.

JOIN ME TUESDAY NIGHT FOR VESPERS

Join me this coming Tuesday at 7:30 pm CT on Facebook Live, on my Facebook page: Pastor Adam Hamilton on Facebook for Tuesday Vespers. I’ll share reflections on some of the stories in Luke that I won’t be able to preach on. You’ll also be able to view it on my Facebook page or the church’s YouTube page after Tuesday night.

As I’m writing these words at 8 am, I’m once again watching the news footage coming out of Ukraine. Would you pause, as you read these words, to pray for the people of Ukraine, those who are aiding them, and those who are seeking to find a diplomatic solution. One person asked me this week, why God doesn’t do something to stop this. We spoke of this a few weeks ago in the last sermon in the Doubt series. God has given us each freedom to bless or harm, to love or hate, to make war or peace. God grieves human violence, but he won’t remove our freedom. We pray for God’s Spirit to weigh heavily upon those who are causing this war, for his strength and consoling presence for those afflicted by it, and we offer our hands and our resources in service to him in aiding those under attack. And we know that violence and inhumanity does not have the final word, that God will ultimately force something redemptive from this pain.

In Christ’s love,

Adam

PS: Last Sunday we confirmed 195 students from our Leawood, Overland Park and Blue Springs locations. We are proud of each of these students and this commitment they have made. Regretfully, four names were cut off the list I shared with you last week. I want to recognize Ellie Suzanne Wittwer, Isaiah Landon Wolf, Isabella Kate Wombolt, and Jack O’Neil Wright. Here’s the updated list with all our new confirmands.

SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING AT YOUR RESURRECTION LOCATION!

Watch for the “Next” newsletter in your email on Tuesday. This newsletter includes a personal message from your location pastor (Wendy, Anne, Bill, Penny, Joshua and Ashley) and opportunities for you to engage and connect at your location. If you’re not receiving it right now, you can sign up here.