Weekly Update from Pastor Adam - February 23, 2024

Dear Resurrection Family,

What a glorious day outside here in Kansas City, and Sunday is looking to be 70 degrees, in February! I’ve got several things I think you’ll find interesting in today’s eNote. But first, a word about this weekend’s message as we come to the second weekend of Lent.

THIS WEEKEND IN WORSHIP: HOW DO YOU PICTURE JESUS?

When you think of Jesus, how do you picture him? I don’t mean so much what he looked like, but what he was like. Our picture of Jesus shapes our faith in and relationship with him. This weekend, as we continue our series of sermons on The Gospel According to Paul, we’ll look at how Paul pictured Jesus, and my hope is that his image of Jesus might shape your relationship with Christ.

The sermon will begin with the earliest images of Christ that have been found. Then we’ll see a clip from the 1974 hit TV series, Good Times. We’ll look at a study of Paul’s letters to find that there was one title Paul used for Jesus more than any others. He used it 369 times – a title the rest of the New Testament uses only 85 times. The title tells us a lot about how Paul related to Jesus. The sermon will end by looking at the character of Jesus in Paul’s letters, and I’ll share a powerful clip from the hit television series, The Chosen. Invite a friend to join you for worship this weekend.

It was great to see so many folks back in worship this last weekend as we began Lent. Part of my Lenten challenge to you is for you to consider coming back to in-person worship for Lent if you live in the Kansas City area. Join us at the location nearest you!

READING THE LETTERS OF PAUL DURING LENT

For nearly 1,700 years, Christians have fasted during Lent. Some fast only on Fridays, In addition to encouraging those of you in Kansas City to worship in person during Lent, I’ve invited you to consider reading all the letters of Paul with me this season. You can download and print a schedule for reading them here if you would like. We’ve organized them in the chronological order in which scholars believe they were written. It takes about ten or fifteen minutes to do each day’s reading – I do them while on the treadmill, or while walking. I got a bit behind this week with travel but have read 1 Thessalonians and Galatians and will be reading 1 Corinthians 1-4 tomorrow morning to get caught up. I’m enjoying this, particularly as we are studying Paul’s message.

CELEBRATING CARE MINISTRIES AT RESURRECTION THIS WEEKEND

Our Resurrection Care Team provides care and support to the Resurrection community. This weekend we will be highlighting our Care Ministries and the variety of resources they provide. Our Connection and Care Pastors and Lay Ministers are available when you need someone to walk beside you through life’s challenges. Here are just a few examples of our ministries that offer care and support.

• Recovery Ministry offers support and assistance to those affected by various forms of addiction. If you’re struggling with addiction, join us for pizza, testimonies, and support every Thursday night. Meetings are in person at Leawood and streamed at other locations, and online.
• A variety of Support Groups meet weekly for those dealing with and facing difficult life challenges – grieving, caregiving, medical challenges and more. Groups provide a space to connect with others who’ve shared similar journeys.
• Our dedicated Prayer Team, made up of pastors and lay volunteers, pray over prayer requests weekly. Prayer requests can be submitted online at cor.org/prayer.
• Counseling Ministries help connect our church family with community mental health resources.

You can learn more on the website or stop by the info tables after worship this weekend.

CREATING CHURCH LOVES KC FUND IN RESPONSE TO VIOLENCE

As I mentioned last Sunday, a group of churches have come together to create a fund to assist families affected by violence in Kansas City. Funds will be administered by a foundation and go to assist persons or their families who have been victims of violence, offered in the name of Christ. It will assist with counseling, medical bills or funeral expenses. This will assist persons impacted during the Super Bowl parade/rally, and others as well. If you wish to give to this fund, you can contribute by clicking here. 100% of your giving goes to this fund. To date, you have given over $43,294. Thank you!

I continue to be so grateful for the way you step up to meet the needs of our community. From the Sack Hunger Food Drive (118,512 lbs. of food!) to the 645 volunteers who spent part of their day serving our community partners during our Presidents’ Weekend serve days last Saturday and Monday; Resurrection shows up. And, over the last couple of weeks, you helped meet critical blood shortages in our community, donating a total of 743 units of life-saving blood at five of our locations – 551 at Leawood, 39 at Overland Park, 24 at Blue Springs, 110 (a new record!) at West, and 19 at Brookside for their inaugural blood drive. Thank you! I am so proud of the way you embody the love and healing presence of Christ in our community!

CONSTRUCTION CELEBRATION AT RESURRECTION WEST

This weekend Resurrection West will celebrate the first phase of the construction of new classrooms, an incredible youth space, and an improved Audio Video system in the sanctuary – all made possible by the Generation to Generation capital campaign.

This is an important milestone for Resurrection West, and they will celebrate after each service with treats, photo opportunities, and a chance to leave hopes and prayers on the walls before they are sealed up. Please pray for this new phase at Resurrection West and the ways God will use the spaces to make an impact on generations to come!

UPDATE ON LEAWOOD GENERATION TO GENERATION PROJECTS

At Leawood, a contractor was recently chosen for the outdoor playground and gathering space outside the Student Center and we plan to break ground on the project this spring. Architects are focusing on the interior design of the student center renovations and hope for renovations to start this summer. The chapel is under a redesign to reduce costs while actually increasing the sense of meaning in the space. We hope to have something to share with you just before Easter with a groundbreaking later this year.

OPPORTUNITIES DURING LENT

• Mid-day Concerts at Resurrection Leawood Sanctuary (Bldg. A), 12:15 pm on Wednesdays, through March 20.
• Organ Concert, Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 7 pm in the Resurrection Brookside Sanctuary.
• Lenten Study exploring spiritual practices begins Wednesday, Feb. 28, at 6:30 pm, online and in the Leawood Foundry. Register here.
• COR Worship Collective is sharing new music you can download each week during Lent. Check it out on their YouTube Channel.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MORE CONGREGANTS WITH 2023 HIGH ATTENDANCE

We have some additional people to recognize for high attendance in 2023. The updated list of names is here.

ATTENTION MEN: JOIN US TOMORROW AT ARROWHEAD FOR MEN’S RETREAT

We’ve got over 600 men joining us for the annual men’s retreat tomorrow at Arrowhead. Breakfast starts at 9 am. Registration is required. It’s going to be great fun and inspiring. Click here to register.

WESLEY, BRITISH ISLES CRUISE AUGUST OF 2025

Many of you indicated interest in a cruise around the British Isles next August during which we would both explore key sites in John Wesley’s life, and in the beginnings of Methodism, but also just beautiful sites around the British Isles – Edinburgh, the islands of Northern Ireland and Scotland, Dublin and Belfast, Wales and Liverpool, Oxford and London and much more. You’ll learn Methodist history and theology but also enjoy great fellowship and fun. The price includes the cruise, roundtrip airfare, two nights on land to explore Oxford and London and ten nights on the ship, land excursions to Wesley and early Methodist sites, a Wesley historian joining us, and more. The cost per person is a bit more than previous cruises. So, we’re testing to see how much interest there still is before we book this. If you are interested, please look over the brochure and let us know if you are still interested and what level of cabin you believe you would be interested in. Once we know if there is enough interest, we’ll move ahead. Resurrection does not make any money on these trips, nor does it pay anything for them. We do this as opportunities for Resurrection members to grow in their faith while developing meaningful friendships. Click here to look over the brochure, and then please let Stephanie Hubers know if you are interested in this amazing journey.

VESPERS THIS TUESDAY

Join me Tuesday night at 7:30 pm on my Facebook page as I share a few thoughts about faith and life. Here’s the link.

UPDATE ON ROYALS AND DOWNTOWN LOCATION

Last week we shared a bit about the impact of the Royals’ proposed move to downtown. We love the idea of having the Royals as neighbors. We don’t love the idea of giving up our property that we worked sacrificially and faithfully to acquire and build. We have asked the Royals to look at the arrangement of the buildings on their site plan that would keep Resurrection at its current location. We are meeting again with the Royals this coming week, but we still have a long way to go before we will have clarity. We will keep you apprised as things progress and if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email scott.chrostek@cor.org.

I’m looking forward to worship this weekend as we sing, pray, praise, and consider how Paul’s picture of Jesus might shape our picture of, and relationship with, Jesus each day.

Adam