Weekly Updates from Pastor Adam - Sept. 2, 2022

Dear Resurrection Family,

We have a team from Resurrection in Malawi in south central Africa as I write these words. I heard from them this week. In July, our VBC children and you raised money to provide solar lighting in the homes of villages who have no electricity. Be sure to read to the end, I’ll be giving you an update and share with you how much you raised and the impact it will have – it’s really amazing! But first, here’s what’s coming up this weekend at Resurrection…

WORSHIP THIS WEEKEND: TAMING THE TONGUE

Even if you are traveling for Labor Day, don’t miss worship this weekend (join us online). I’ll be sharing a really important message from the Letter of James about the power of words and the importance of taming the tongue.

As children, we learned that “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me.” Is that true? Of course not! James notes that the tongue is such a small part of the body, but like a lit match dropped on a dry forest floor, the tongue has great destructive power.

Marriages rise or fall based upon how we use our words. The course of a child’s life can be completely changed by the words they hear from their parents, teachers or classmates. This week, I spent an afternoon in an elementary school learning about the power of words.

If you have kids, invite them to worship with you and then discuss the message after church. Or invite a friend to tune in and talk about it with them. I promise this weekend’s message will speak to you and to anyone you invite.

Join us in person at one of our five locations, online or on television.

• Leawood location at 7:30 am in Wesley Chapel, 9 am in Sanctuary, and 11 am* traditional in Sanctuary and modern in Foundry, or 5 pm in Sanctuary
• 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/live on Saturday at 5 pm or Sunday at 7:30, 9 and 11 am or 5 pm
• On KMCI Channel 38 television on Sunday at 8 am or 11 am
• On demand on YouTube throughout the week

Have you been memorizing our verse from week 1 of this series? Say it again with me aloud right now: “Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, because the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:2-3). We’ll have a new scripture memory verse this weekend in worship. These verses are worth remembering, and memorizing them helps you live them!

AMAZING GOSPEL WORSHIP EVENT THIS SATURDAY NIGHT!

If you live in the Kansas City area, you won’t want to miss Affirmations: A Night of Worship at 6 pm tomorrow night in the Leawood Sanctuary. Resurrection worship leader Isaac Cates, along with his performing group, Ordained and Resurrection’s One AcCORd choir will share an evening of inspiring gospel music. They’ll also be joined by a local Congolese choir, Ushindi, and worship leaders from across the city. This is going to be a very special night of music, of a caliber you won’t find anywhere else in the city, and it’s free! Bring your friends and join us.

COFFEE WITH THE PASTORS

If you have been worshipping with us in person or online and are interested in joining the church (becoming a member at Resurrection), plan to attend Coffee with the Pastors this month. Coffee with the Pastors is an inspiring gathering in which you’ll learn more about Resurrection, what it means to be a Christian, and then to officially join the church. We will be hosting Coffee with the Pastors at all of our locations on Sunday, September 18 from 2-4 pm or online on Thursday, September 22 from 6:30-8:30 pm via Zoom. You can learn more and register for the in-person sessions here or the online session here.

BE JUST, KIND AND HUMBLE – MICAH 6:8 CAMPAIGN

If you pre-ordered t-shirts and reserved yard signs for our fall kindness campaign, you will be able to pick these up after worship at all of your locations the weekends of September 18 and 25. For those outside KC who signed up to have shirts shipped, those will go out the week of September 19. I’ll have a link in my enote on September 16 for a second t-shirt order if you missed the first one.

If you lead in another church and are interested in having your church join the campaign, you can go to the website: becampaign.org and download all of the resources we are creating and use them in your community.

LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE

At Resurrection, we know it’s officially autumn when we host Leadership Institute, and right now it’s less than a month away! LI is a time when we invite ministry leaders to come together to learn, be inspired and build relationships with each other to continue serving God well in various ministry contexts. You won’t want to miss out on the chance to hear from the Keynote speakers we are bringing in — Nona Jones, Tod Bolsinger, Jenni Catron, Jo Saxton, and a special message from Mark Matlock. We’ll also hear from local leaders Tammy Peterman and Bob Page of KU Medical Center. On Thursday evening, September 29, I will host a meeting focused on A Future with Hope for the United Methodist Church where the case will be made for churches to remain United Methodist, and we’ll consider what that future might be like for the UMC. Thursday evening’s event will be open to everyone (even online), no registration required. To join us for Leadership Institute, church leaders should visit li.cor.org for more information or to register. Resurrection congregants, go instead to our website for registration information.

RESURRECTION FOUNDATION DAY TRIP

The Resurrection Foundation is sponsoring a special event on October 4. Beginning at 9:30 am, you can join other Resurrection members for a guided tour of the World War I Museum and Memorial followed by a tour of Resurrection Downtown and lunch provided by Thelma’s Kitchen, a ministry of Reconciliation Services. Learn more and sign up here.

FUN EVENT FOR GRANDPARENTS AND KIDS

As you know, one of my greatest joys is spending time with my granddaughter. And among the most important things I hope to share with her is my faith. We pray together, talk about our faith together and she’s spending the night every other weekend so she can get plugged into children’s choir and Sunday School. LaVon is the one who suggested this arrangement and it gets her to Sunday School and Kids’ Choir.

If you are a grandparent with grandkids living within driving distance of one of our locations, I want you to know about our Building Better Grandparents program. The group plans fun outings for grandparents and grandkids and sponsors programs from time to time to strengthen your grandparenting. Coming up next Saturday we have Resurrection Grandparents Day at Deanna Rose Farmstead in Overland Park on Saturday, September 10, at 10 am. You can bring your grandkids for a fun day at the farm, beginning with donuts in the park and then all the activities the farm offers – pan for gold, feed the ducks, watch the blacksmith and go fishing if you wish. It’s going to be a great opportunity to spend time with your grandchild and your church family! Cost is just $3 per person, and ages 2 and under are free. Sign up and get your tickets here.

TUESDAY NIGHT VESPERS THIS WEEK

Each Tuesday for the next month, we’ll be digging a bit deeper in our study of James. You can join me Tuesday night at 7:30 pm CT live on Facebook or catch the replay on YouTube. There’s a ton that I’m having to leave out of each weekend’s sermon. This week I’ll be sharing with you about the power of our words in marriage – I’m hoping LaVon might join me for this week’s vespers as well.

999 PINTS OF BLOOD GIVEN THIS WEEK AT RESURRECTION BLOOD DRIVE!

Can you imagine – nearly 1,000 pints of blood were given at Resurrection’s blood drives across our multiple locations!?! Thank you to each of you who came to give the gift of life, and for all who volunteered and served! It was our second highest blood drive ever. Amazing!

JOURNEY’S OF PAUL CRUISE, LANDS OF THE BIBLE CRUISE

In October of next year, I’ll be leading a cruise around the Aegean Sea retracing the second and third missionary Journeys of Paul. This will be a very special cruise, sailing on a smaller (700 passenger – 350 cabins) cruise ship with the Azamara cruise lines – they have received numerous awards and been named by USA Today as the Best Boutique Cruise Line. Resurrection has half of the rooms on the ship and the other will be filled by United Methodists from across the US.

The cruise leaves the US on October 20, 2023 and returns on October 30, 2023. We’ll fly to Istanbul and spend a day touring the city, visiting Hagia Sophia and other important sites. We’ll then set sail following Paul’s journeys, visiting Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth and Ephesus, as well as the amazing Meteora and a day on Santorini. We’ll enjoy amazing tours, great food, times of worship and daily lessons about Paul’s journeys and letters.

Last year, I mentioned this in my e-note and invited those interested to place their names on an early sign-up list. We had over 200 people interest last fall, and these had a chance to sign-up early last week. 214 people signed up last week. Now it’s time for our open sign-up for anyone else who is interested. This will occur September 15 for the remaining 68 cabins.

The last trip I led like this, when we came to open sign-up, sold out within three minutes. Here’s how registration will work: on Thursday, September 15, 2022, at 9 am CT, those who are on the sign-up list will be able to register. You’ll want to be prepared to register immediately when you receive the link to register. Once the trip is full, we’ll create a waiting list. There will be some who will drop out of the trip along the way, and we’ll fill those spots from the waiting list in the order in which people signed up. You can view the brochure by clicking here. To place yourself on the sign-up list, click here. For questions, click here. It will be an amazing adventure!

If you don’t get on this trip, I want you to know about another opportunity, though I want to encourage you to join the Resurrection tour first if you are able. Since Resurrection trips typically sell out quickly and only to those on our mailing list, Educational Opportunities Tours asked if I would consider giving the lectures on another tour for people from other United Methodist Churches who don’t get to sign up for Resurrection’s cruise.

This sailing will depart from Athens on October 5 and returns October 17, 2023. It will be on a larger cruise ship with a different itinerary. We’ll sail from Athens to the Holy Land, then to Egypt, on to Ephesus and finally back to Athens. This will be a great tour as well. I’ll be teaching young pastors as part of this cruise, and pastors and laity from other UM churches across the US. If you are interested in learning more about this cruise and receiving the registration link, please click here to provide your contact information.

SHARING THE LIGHT, LITERALLY, IN MALAWI

During Vacation Bible Camp this summer, our kids gave their offerings to purchase solar light kits for households in Malawi. Most of the country has no access to electricity. Our kids wanted to change that for children and their families. Their VBC theme was Hero U, and they truly were heroes, raising $11,000. Missions added another $10,000 for a total of $22,000. Then I asked you, that Sunday after Vacation Bible Camp, if you wanted to help. You added another $275,545 for a total of just under $300,000.

For the last couple of months families in one rural village have been testing 16 different light kits out to see which they recommended we purchase. Each family will be asked to invest a small amount towards their light kits, and we’ll pay for the rest. This was recommended by the local leaders in Malawi to give the people a sense ownership.

Together we will purchase solar light kits with, as I recall, four LED lights, a solar panel and a storage battery that will store enough energy for the lights to run for hours. Over 4,000 families and over 20,000 people will have light because of your generosity. The picture below was sent by the team in Malawi of a family testing the solar lights in their home. Resurrection, I’m so very proud of your generosity.

Whatever you are doing this Labor Day weekend, I hope you enjoy it, and that you’ll join me for worship this weekend in-person, online or TV!

Adam