WEATHER ALERT:

Due to weather conditions, all in-person daytime and evening programs have been canceled across the church’s locations for Wednesday, except for the Recovery programs and Food Pantry at Overland Park. Decisions for Thursday daytime programs will correspond with local school district decisions and will be posted on the church’s website.

IMPORTANT:

Scheduled programming has resumed for Thursday, February 13 at all Resurrection locations.

Weekly Update from Pastor Adam - December 20, 2024

December 20, 2024
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December 20, 2024

Dear Resurrection Family,

There’s excitement in the air as we prepare for Candlelight Christmas Eve Services at all our locations in the coming week! More people begin their journey back to Christ at Resurrection on Christmas Eve than any other time of the year. This week our staff walked through each of our sanctuaries at all locations to pray over the seats – an annual ritual in which we imagine the people who will be sitting in the sanctuary on Christmas Eve. I believe God knows who will be attending at each service, and we pray for them, and for the Holy Spirit to prepare our buildings, staff and volunteers, so that worshipers might experience the light of Christ on Christmas Eve. The services will be beautiful. More on this below!

THIS WEEKEND: THE CHILD WITH TWO NAMES

Saturday night (online)  and Sunday morning (all locations) we will have our regular worship services, and we will observe the fourth Sunday of Advent and focus on the meaning of the two names given to Christ in Matthew’s telling of the Christmas story. The angel commanded both Joseph and Mary to call him Jesus (Yeshua in Hebrew), but Matthew also notes, “His name shall be called Emanuel.” These are both important names that tell us who Jesus is, and how his life impacts our own.

Saturday night Downtown: Blue Christmas at 5 pm. On Saturday evening at Resurrection Downtown, there will be a Blue Christmas service, in person and online. We know that for some, this season can be complex, and this will be a place where you can come and find solace, acceptance and hope. For more information, click here.

Sunday night Leawood: Candlelight Christmas Eve begins. On Sunday night, we will begin our Candlelight Christmas Eve services. We call Sunday night’s service on the 22nd a “Travelers’ Service” because many who join us are traveling out of town to be with family on the 23rd or 24th. This allows them to join us for a Candlelight Christmas Eve service, but anyone is welcome on Sunday night for the first of our candlelight services.

Below I’ll share the rest of our Christmas Eve Candlelight service times.

INVITE YOUR FRIENDS – VIEW/SHARE OUR CANDLELIGHT TV SPOTS

This year we are running four television spots for Christmas Eve Candlelight. In each we encouraged people to worship at a church near them or join us at Resurrection. I thought you might like to see each of the one-minute spots, and that you might like to share them with your friends.

You have friends in Kansas City, but also around the country, who might join us for Christmas Eve if you ask. A simple, “If you don’t have plans for Christmas Eve candlelight, our church’s services are beautiful. I’d love for you to join us! Here’s a 60-second spot that tells more about our services.” Then include the link to your favorite of the TV spots. Here’s the link where you can view and share these videos.

Each of you knows someone who needs to experience this light that drives out the darkness in our world this year. Have you invited them to join you at Christmas Eve worship? Reach out now. You can call or send a text or email.

Here’s the link to the webpage with all the worship times and locations if you would rather share this: https://resurrection.church/Christmas. And again, if your friends live outside of Kansas City, they can join us online from anywhere by using this link: https://resurrection.church/live.

CANDLELIGHT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES:

3 DAYS, 8 LOCATIONS, 35 IN-PERSON SERVICES, PLUS ONLINE AND TV!

At every service and location, we’ll sing Christmas carols, read the story of Jesus’ birth from the scriptures, explore what this means for us today, and share in the tradition of passing candlelight while singing Silent Night. Childcare is available for ages 4 and under at all services before 9 pm. *Kids’ Interactive services are at 10 am (full sermon, candle lighting and kids’ elements included). Services listed in green are when we anticipate the most available seats and easiest access.

Sunday, Dec. 22
  Leawood5 pm
  Online – 5 pm CST

Monday, Dec. 23
  Leawood – 5 pm, 7 pm
  West – 5 pm
  Downtown – 5 pm
  Brookside – 5 pm
  Online – 5 and 7 pm CST

Tuesday, Dec. 24
  Leawood – *10 am, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 pm (Sanctuary), 3 and 5 pm(Foundry)
  West – *10 am, 3, 5, and 7 pm
  Downtown – *10 am, 3, 5, and 7 pm
  Blue Springs – *10 am, 3 and 5 pm
  Overland Park – *10 am, 3, 5, and 7 pm
  Brookside – *10 am, 3 and 5 pm
  Spring Hill – 3 and 5 pm
  Liberty – 5 pm
  Online – 10 am, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 pm
  Kansas City TV: CBS-6 pm; KMCI-7 pm; Fox-10:30 pm; NBC-10:35 pm

We could still use some volunteers to help us welcome our Christmas Eve guests. We have about 250 open spots across all of our locations. Use this link to see if there might be a service where you could serve at your location. Families are welcome to serve together. No experience necessary. If you can smile you are qualified!

CHRISTMAS EVE OFFERING: THE GIFT OF HOPE FOR A CHILD IN NEED

A highlight of our Christmas Eve Celebration is the opportunity to help drive out the darkness in the world in a very tangible way through our special Christmas Eve Offering. We give our entire Christmas Eve offering to projects and programs benefiting children and families in need – half locally and half globally. There are 24 specific places your Christmas Eve giving will go to alleviate poverty, provide clean drinking water, support education for low-income children and more. I’ll be sharing more about some of the amazing things this offering will make possible in our Christmas Eve services.

If you will be traveling or out of town, you can contribute online here. If you want to give a gift in someone’s honor, we have cards that you can download here or pick up at worship this weekend to present to them.

If you were with us last year, you’ll recall we raised enough funds to build a mobile dental clinic that will serve children in Kansas City. We’re excited that it’s almost complete, and we’ll be dedicating it in early 2025.

CHRISTMAS AT RESURRECTION WAS AMAZING: WATCH ONLINE 

Last weekend’s Christmas at Resurrection performances were amazing! Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers and staff that gave so much of yourselves to create this beautiful musical experience!

In case you missed it, we are delighted to share that you can now experience the magic of this year’s Christmas at Resurrection performance, Illumination, from the comfort of your home! Whether you were unable to attend in person or simply want to relive the beautiful moments, this online viewing option brings the joy, music, and celebration right to you. Our talented performers, musicians, and production team worked tirelessly to create an unforgettable celebration of the Christmas season. Now, through this virtual option, you can use this link to watch and to share the wonder of Illumination with family and friends, no matter where you are. I’m confident this program will fill your heart with the spirit of Christmas!

YEAR-END GIVING: CATCHING UP

As we approach year end, LaVon and I always check our giving statement (these were emailed or snail mailed last week) to make sure we’ve fulfilled our pledge – usually there is a small amount of catch up we do. If you have not fulfilled your regular ministry pledge and you can fulfill it, please do. We are behind budget on giving this year going into December by several hundred thousand dollars.

As many of you have been thoughtfully planning your year-end giving, we want to remind you that it’s not too late to make a tax-deductible gift to Resurrection by 11:59 pm on 12/31/24. Here’s how:

  • By Mail: Send to “Resurrection, Attn: Finance, 13720 Roe Ave, Leawood, KS 66224” (must be postmarked by 12/31/24). (Please note that if you mail to one of the locations other than Leawood, it takes anywhere from 1- 3 weeks to reach the finance office and get posted to the appropriate account.)
  • Online: Visit cor.org/givenow by 11:59 pm on 12/31/24.
  • In-Person: Drop off at the Leawood Location, Building C, South Entrance by 4 pm on 12/31/24.
  • Drop Box: Use the drop box near the Leawood, Building C, South Entrance by 5 pm on 12/31/24 if the building is closed.

Gifts received after these deadlines will count toward 2025 giving. Thank you for your continued generosity and support! For additional information and assistance, contact our Donor Relations Team at development@cor.org or call 913-544-0256.

HOLIDAY OFFICE HOURS 

As we go into the holiday week, please note that all Resurrection locations will be closed Dec. 25, 26 and Jan. 1. All locations will be available by appointment only from Dec. 27 – Jan. 2, and at the Leawood location, Building C will be open 9 am – 4 pm on Dec. 27, 30, 31 and Jan. 2. If you have a critical pastoral care need after office hours, you can call 913-544-0799, and the pastor on call will return your page as soon as possible.

PLAN NOW FOR CHURCHWIDE 2025 STUDENT KICKOFF EVENT JAN. 5 

If you are a middle or high school student (or the parent or grandparent of one) get ready for the ultimate 2025 Student Kickoff Event. Bring your friends and join Resurrection Students at The Main Event (either in Olathe or Independence) on Sunday, Jan. 5, from 3 to 7 pm for an epic afternoon of non-stop action and fun, where $20 gets you access to everything – unlimited laser tag, bowling, two full hours of video gaming, plus all the pizza and soda you can handle. You can learn more and register here.

CHECK OUT THIS WEEK’S PODCAST

We’ve had a great response to my new podcast, Making Sense of Faith. We post a new podcast each Tuesday. This week’s podcast took your questions about Christmas including: should we say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas? Should we, or how should we, include Santa Claus in our Christmas celebration with our children? What would Jesus say about the commercialization of Christmas? How do we find Christmas joy when we’ve got the blues? And a dozen other questions listeners submitted. You can download episodes of Making Sense of Faith on your favorite podcast app, or click here to watch or listen to this as well as earlier episodes and to sign up to be notified when a new episode is released.

Resurrection, I am so looking forward to sharing Christmas Eve Candlelight services with you this week!

Merry Christmas!

Adam

Adam Hamilton

Resurrection Senior Pastor

Reverend Adam Hamilton is the senior pastor of Church of the Resurrection and the author of 22 books. He has been married to LaVon since 1982, and she has been a critical partner in every dimension of Adam’s work. They have two daughters and one granddaughter.

Adam’s writings are known for helping readers make sense of challenging theological questions, exploring the significance of the biblical stories, and equipping Christian leaders to be more effective in their work. He earned his MDiv from Perkins School of Theology and graduated with honors from Oral Roberts University with a degree in Pastoral Ministry.

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