FESTIVE, SILLY, UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATER WEEKEND!
Yes, it’s once again time for our festive, silly, or ugly Christmas sweater competition this weekend! Wear your Christmas sweater to worship. Two worshipers in each service at all locations will receive a prize! Share some joy and be part of the fun!
CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS EVE OFFERING
Christmas Eve services are our biggest services of the year, and since 2009, Resurrection has given away our entire Candlelight Christmas Eve offering to shine the light of Christ and offer hope to some of the most vulnerable people in our city and around the world. You’ve given away more than $24M in the last 16 years and impacted the lives of countless people.
This year, there are several dozen grants that your offering will make possible. In Kansas City, one of the largest of those grants will go to Avenue of Life to address student homelessness in Kansas City, Missouri. These are families that are staying in hotels, or moving from house to house, and staying in shelters (occasionally, some even sleeping in their cars). With our support, Avenue of Life, working with the KCMO Public Schools, will help these families move out of homelessness and into long-term housing and wrap-around support. This is just one of multiple grants you’ll be making to various organizations in Kansas City addressing homelessness as well as hunger and human trafficking and much more.
In other parts of the world, your Christmas Eve offering will impact projects supporting children in eight countries, but the largest grant will continue to address the needs of children and families in Malawi. Since we began work in Malawi nearly twenty years ago, we’ve had a profound impact on over 200 communities. Malawi is the sixth poorest country in the world. The average income in Malawi is $140 per month – $4.67 per day. The agricultural, economic empowerment and orphan projects you support change the world for children and their families in Malawi.
I want to encourage you to make this offering a part of your Christmas celebration. Each year, LaVon and I add up what we are spending on gifts for our family and give at least that amount in the Christmas Eve offering. Each year, I challenge you to consider doing the same. You may want to consider including this as part of your gift to family and friends. We have a gift card can
download gift card here to share with friends and family that you have given a gift in their honor.
WE NEED YOU! HELP SHARE THE LIGHT OF CHRIST ON CHRISTMAS EVE!
I don’t know of any better way to spread Christmas joy than by welcoming people who come to Candlelight Christmas Eve worship services. Our team of friendly volunteers. help with everything from greeting and ushering to assisting with candles throughout the evening, and you can be part of creating this welcoming experience for others by volunteering here.
CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES: WORSHIP STYLE AND CROWDS
As you make your plans for Candlelight Christmas Eve, you can find all the service times and locations on our website at resurrection.church/christmas. Location pastors will guide you as to which services were most crowded last year at your location. If your schedule allows, please try to attend one of the less crowded services to make room for people who may not know Christ at the heavier attended services.
RESURRECTION LEAWOOD CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES
As I shared last weekend at Leawood, here are our worship days, times, and style of worship. If can attend a less crowded service and free up space at one of the more crowded services, that would be awesome! This is our best estimate of seating based on previous years.
Sun. Dec. 21 – 5 pm Sanctuary – Modern – plenty of room
Tue. Dec. 23 – 5 pm Sanctuary – Modern – crowded
7 pm Sanctuary – Modern – plenty of room
Wed. Dec. 24 – 10 am Children/Family – seats available
3 pm Sanctuary – Traditional – full
3 pm Foundry – Modern – full
5 pm Sanctuary – Traditional – full
5 pm Foundry – Modern – some room
7 pm Sanctuary – Traditional – some room
9 pm Sanctuary – Traditional – seats available
11 pm Sanctuary – Traditional – seats available
COMING UP IN THE NEW YEAR…
4th Grade Serve Milestone
This fall, we’ve celebrated faith milestones with our children: 1st grade prayer, 2nd grade communion, and 3rd grade Bibles. In January, our 4th graders will focus on serving during our MLK Serve Weekend on January 19. On January 19, 4th graders and their grown-ups will work side-by-side at service projects designed just for our families, and then on Sunday, February 1, we’ll celebrate this milestone in worship as our 4th graders officially step into serving roles right here at church—greeting families, helping with communion, ushering, and supporting our tech team. It’s an exciting transition as our kids discover the joy that comes from using their gifts to serve others. You can find all the details and sign up at cor.org/next.
Men’s and Women’s Conferences.
We have some really exciting things planned for our annual conferences in February. Beloved, the Women’s Conference is Feb. 6-7, and Determined, the Men’s Conference is Feb. 27-28. Both conferences offer opportunities to connect with other men or women of all ages, and experience honest conversation and practical teaching. These are great events to invite your friends to, and if you register by Dec. 31, you can bring a friend for half off. Learn more and register for Beloved here and Determined here.
YEAR END GIVING: HOW TO CHECK YOUR GIVING TO DATE
This morning, I checked in with our donor development office asking what LaVon and my balance was on our pledge. I learned that our donor relations office sent out an email to the congregation on Wednesday with the link to see my giving to date. I had just missed it. Take a look for your giving statement – it came from Resurrection Donor Relations, and the subject line was “Your 2025 Year-to-date Resurrection Giving Statement.” and Mine arrived on Wednesday, December 10 at 8:16 am, and I’m guessing yours came Wednesday morning as well. If you have any questions, you can contact our donor relations team here. Thank you for fulfilling your pledge. December is a hugely important month for the church as many of our members complete our pledges, allowing us to finish the year in the black. Thank you!
In Christ’s love,
Adam
