Food drive, new members and the Super Bowl this weekend!

Dear Resurrection Family,

On this Super Bowl weekend, just a reminder that the 5 pm service at Leawood and online will start at 4 pm and will be a bit shorter to allow time for those who have Super Bowl watch parties or plans to be able to join us for worship and still enjoy the game.

DON’T MISS THIS WEEKEND IN WORSHIP

This weekend at Leawood, Downtown, Online and TV, Pastor Darryl Burton will be preaching. I’ll tell you about who’s preaching at our other locations, but first a word about Pastor Darryl. Studies estimate that 1% of the 2,000,000 people incarcerated in America are wrongly convicted. The justice system works 99% of the time. But what if you are part of the 1% – 20,000 people in prison – who are not guilty. In 1984, Darryl Burton was accused of a crime he did not commit. Despite not fitting the description of the man the lone eyewitness described, he was convicted and spent the next 24 years in prison before his case was eventually retried and he was exonerated. After his release he went to seminary in response to God’s call and joined our pastoral staff in 2014.

While serving on our team, Pastor Darryl started Miracle of Innocence, a non-profit ministry focused on helping others wrongly convicted to receive a new trial, and if released, to help them as they begin their new life. Most recently, Pastor Darryl has been working with Kevin Strickland, whose conviction was overturned after serving 45 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Mr. Strickland has been worshiping with us at Resurrection, and you’ll hear a bit of his story in the sermon this weekend as well.

For those at other locations, you can catch Pastor Darryl’s message anytime this coming week on our website. Here’s what’s happening at our other locations – West, Overland Park and Blue Springs:

Pastor Bill Gepford, Resurrection West’s new location pastor, will be preaching at West. Bill grew up at Resurrection and heard his call to ministry at Resurrection as a teen. He is an outstanding pastor and leader who loves Christ and loves the people of Resurrection West. At Blue Springs, our Executive Pastor of Care and Locations, Dr. Anne Gatobu, will be preaching. Anne grew up in Kenya, her family was pivotal in launching the United Methodist Church there. She has a PhD in Pastoral Care, has served as the Dean of Pastoral Education at Asbury Seminary, and then served as a pastor and later our District Superintendent before joining our team overseeing all our locations and our pastoral care department. She, too, is an amazing pastor and leader. At Resurrection Overland Park, Dr. Joshua Clough will be preaching. Joshua launched our Overland Park location in 2019 after moving to Kansas City with his wife Claire so that they could join our staff. He and Claire (who heads up Care Central for our church), are two remarkably gifted leaders who have a passion for Christ and Resurrection’s mission. It’s going to be a great weekend in worship!

Invite a friend to join you for worship!

IN PERSON at one of our five locations:
—Leawood location at 7:30, 9, 11 am (traditional at 11 in the sanctuary, modern at 11 in the Foundry) or 4 pm (PLEASE NOTE: THIS WEEKEND ONLY, THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE AT LEAWOOD BEGINS AT 4 PM)
—Downtown location Saturday at 5 pm or Sunday at 9 or 11 am
—Blue Springs, Olathe (West) and Overland Park locations Sunday at 9 or 11 am.
ONLINE at cor.org on Saturday at 5 pm or Sunday at 7:30, 9 and 11 am or 5 pm
TELEVISION on KMCI Channel 38 at 8 am or 11 am
ON DEMAND on YouTube throughout the week

FOLLOW UP TO WRESTLING WITH DOUBT, FINDING FAITH

Throughout the sermon series we completed last weekend, I stressed that, at Resurrection, we welcome and actually encourage you to ask questions. Wrestling with doubt can be a way to find and strengthen your faith. I’ve shared my best answers, based on my study and personal experience. You may have friends asking you these same questions. I wanted to remind you that we have a sermon archive (cor.org/sermons) where you can watch and share any of our sermons with you friends if that is helpful.

Sermon Archive →

WELCOME NEW RESURRECTION MEMBERS

Last weekend 168 adults and children joined our congregation during our online Coffee with the Pastors Zoom call. Welcome to each of the 135 adults and 32 children who joined – 83 who worship at our Leawood location, 12 at West, 28 Downtown, 7 at Blue Springs, 7 at Overland Park, and 31 who worship Online. Click here to see complete list of these members. Please look to see if you know any of our new members and if you do, please reach out to welcome them!

UNIQUE MULTI-FAITH EVENT COMING TO RESURRECTION MARCH 9

After the hostage situation in a Dallas synagogue last month, I received a call from Pastor Bob Roberts, a friend and Baptist pastor in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, noting they were putting together events in a handful of cities in the US to foster deeper understanding among people from various religions. This is one of our 2030 visions at Resurrection – we want to help Kansas Citians to know, understand and love their neighbors of other faiths.

On March 9 at 7 pm in our Leawood Sanctuary, we’ll be hosting the “Unlikely Conference.” Sponsored by the Global Faith Forum, this event will include a panel discussion with Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders – I’ll be one of the Christian panelists. Its aim is to foster greater understanding and in so doing, to help us to love our neighbors of other faiths. Resurrection members, I really want to encourage you to attend and invite your neighbors – I know you will be blessed and better equipped to know and befriend people of other faiths. You can go to the website: unlikelykc.com to learn more and register.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH ACTIVITIES

To commemorate Black History Month, our team has put together some interesting resources honoring the contributions Black Americans have made to our country, city and the United Methodist Church. You can check out the full list on our website, but here are a couple of suggestions for this week:

• Revisit the 2021 video produced by Resurrection clergy, artists and musicians, and experience Black History Month through word and song. This program is in two parts on YouTube: Part 1 and Part 2.
• Follow the African American Heritage Trail of Kansas City (aahtkc.org) The trail features sites and institutions across the city that reflect the African American history, experiences and civil rights movement.

See the complete list of opportunities →

BLOOD DRIVES MONDAY, TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

We have blood drives coming up this next week – Monday and Tuesday at Leawood and Thursday at Blue Springs and Overland Park. Donating blood is an easy way to share the love of Jesus and potentially save a life! Appointments are encouraged and walk-ins will be worked in as space allows. Masks are required by The Community Blood Center. Just click on the location for details and a registration link.

SACK HUNGER FOOD DRIVE CONCLUDES THIS WEEKEND

This is the final weekend of our “Sack Hunger” Food Drive. Thank you to everyone who has already purchased food or made cash donations. Don’t forget to return your food bag back to worship this weekend if you filled one. You can still participate by donating funds that we’ll use to purchase food in bulk, as well as fresh items. If you’re worshiping in person this weekend, just pick up a bag, fill it with the items on the attached shopping list, and drop it off at any of our locations next Saturday, February 19, between 9 and 11 am.

Learn more about Hunger Stoppers →

SERVE SATURDAY COMING UP FEBRUARY 19

Our monthly Serve Saturday is next week. Sorting donations, serving meals, building storage shelves, shopping with our neighbors in need – these are just a few of the opportunities to serve our community on Saturday morning, February 19. Go to the signup page to select where you want to serve and sign up today! This is a great way meet some other Resurrection people while you’re serving.

HOST A THREE-WEEK SMALL GROUP DURING LENT

The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on March 2. We will have opportunities for you to grow in faith during the 40 days leading up to Easter that I’ll be sharing with you in the upcoming weeks. One of the things we are offering are short-term groups beginning March 28. We’re calling these “Eat. Grow. Serve.” Groups. Over three weeks, group members will share a meal, study and engage in a spiritual practice and serve together. We need leaders to host these groups. You’ll have flexibility in choosing the details of your gathering, using materials provided as a guide. This is a great way to connect with others and try something new during Lent.

Interested? Let us know →

TUESDAY NIGHT VESPERS

After finishing writing the enote today and a few emails and letters, I’ll be on vacation for the next week, so I’m taking a week off from Tuesday Night Vespers. Vespers will resume Tuesday, February 22. The last couple of weeks we’ve had nearly 4,000 people from across the US and around the world tune in for Vespers. You can watch some of our past Vespers on YouTube, or on my Facebook Page.

WHAT GOD DOES AND DOES NOT DO

In last weekend’s sermon, we spoke about God and suffering. I suggested that just because something happens does not mean it was God’s will. God is not micromanaging everything that happens. Much of what happens in the world is clearly not God’s will. Suffering often is the result of nature’s forces, the nature of our bodies (amazing, resilient, but not indestructible) and human decisions. Further, God does not usually suspend the laws of nature, or human freedom, to keep us from harm (that does not preclude God from doing so, it is just not God’s ordinary way of working).

So, if God is not directly intervening in our world, what does God do? God created the cosmos, offers us this amazing planet and all that is needed to support life. God came to us in Jesus to show us the way, the truth and the life. By his suffering, death and resurrection he demonstrates his life, redeems us, and gives us hope. God works through his Spirit in our hearts and lives, to comfort, console, strengthen, encourage, guide and lead us. And God works through us as his instruments of comfort, consolation and help for others.

I am reminded of the powerful affirmations of scripture like “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). It is the strengthening of my spirit, the en-courage-ing that God does, that helps me face challenges. I think of Paul’s words a few verses earlier in Philippians, that the result of prayer is, “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). I think of the promise of Jesus that, “Lo, I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20) and “I am the resurrection and the life, those who believe in me will never die” (John 11:25) We remember his promise that nothing can separate us from his love, and that he will force good from evil and suffering and that in the end, death has been “swallowed up by a victory.” I think of the healing I’ve seen God do in people’s hearts and minds, or the way that God brings, “beauty from ashes.”

In these and so many other ways our faith sustains us and makes us whole.

I’ve got to run, vacation awaits! I am looking forward to worshiping online this weekend and hope you’ll join me in worship, online (as LaVon and I will do this weekend), on TV or in person.

With love,

Adam