Dear Resurrection Family,
On late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning the Rev. Ed Robertson passed away. Ed and Pat have been a part of the church for twenty years. Ed served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and for years after, then went to seminary and ultimately started St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Kansas City, Missouri. Listening to the joy, gratitude and admiration with which his family spoke of Ed, and the ways in which he taught them, mentored them and bore witness to his faith to them, was beautiful. I was also struck by the way Ed was constantly looking to bless and minister to others he'd just met. What a legacy he leaves behind.
My point in sharing this is to ask what kind of legacy you'll leave behind? Are you investing in your children and grandchildren, or nieces and nephews? In your neighbors and friends? Are you looking at every conversation and interaction as an opportunity to share your faith and to bless another? Holding my granddaughter this week on multiple occasions, praying for her several times each day, I thought about the way I hope to bless her, teach her, and encourage her faith as she grows up. I think this requires intentionality, and a clear picture of what this looks like. For me, Ed provided that kind of picture. We'll celebrate Ed's life on Monday at 11 here at the church.
This weekend I'll preach on one of my favorite stories in the gospels, the story of a man who lived in the local cemetery, an outcast from his own people. He was plagued by demons. This man was cast out by his own people, worse than a nobody, but Jesus said he was a somebody. In the story, I love how an army of demons quaked in the presence of Christ. We'll see how this story offers a powerful message for each of us, and we'll hear stories of people today whose demons have been cast out by the power of Christ. Bring you Bible to church this weekend as we explore this story in the Gospel of Luke together. After each service we will have an opportunity for persons seeking prayer for deliverance to come forward to be anointed with oil and prayed for by one of our pastors. If you've struggled with your own demons, plan to come forward for prayer. Don't miss worship this weekend, whether in person or by joining us online.
This Monday night I'll be speaking at Village Presbyterian Church on my new book, Making Sense of the Bible. This event is co-sponsored by Village Presbyterian, Country Club Christian, HarperOne Publishing and RainyDay Books. I'll cover the big ideas from the book, then we'll have questions asked by Dr. Tom Are, the pastor of Village Presbyterian, and Dr. Glen Miles, pastor of Country Club Christian, as well as questions from the floor. I'd love for you, your small group or Sunday School class to join me for this event. Click here to register. There will be refreshments afterwards and a chance for laity from our three churches to fellowship together. I'll sign books at that time. Here’s a link to a short video promo about the book if you are interested, or if you’d like to share this with a friend.
Keep reading for updates and highlights from Resurrection Leawood…
On the Capital Campaign front, we've had 3,237 card's turned in to date. We're hoping to reach 3,500 by Celebration Weekend, March 29/30. I'm so proud of each of you who have made commitments in this campaign, investing in our church's future. Last night at our Care Night we had 370 people show up for supper and our various support groups and care groups - this, during the week of Spring Break. The potential for this ministry of healing is huge. But we'll max out the room within the next year, maybe sooner. When pastor Karen Lampe emailed me last night with the numbers I was reminded of how important our future fellowship hall, kitchen, and adult classrooms all next to our nurseries will be - we can't complete this too soon, yet even now it will be four years before the fellowship hall is completed. Once it is, it will allow us to more than double the number of people we can minister to during our Thursday Care Night. If you have yet to turn in your card, but would like to make your commitment online, you can do that by clicking this link.
I wonder if you read your Church of the Resurrection enews each week? I'll admit it, sometimes, in the midst of the flurry of email I receive, I click past it. But there are a lot of pretty amazing things in this brief newsletter - announcements, opportunities and celebrations. You can click here to see this week's e-news. Here's a few items that I pulled out as examples of opportunities we have going on you may not have been aware of:
•We pick up bread from Panera in Mission on Wednesday nights, bring it to the Leawood Campus for distribution on Thursdays as a part of our mission ministry. We're looking for drivers to help twice a month. Contact Glynn Brown to volunteer.
•Dads with kids, the first Tuesday of every month we have a gathering for group discussion and fellowsip with other dads focused on faith and fatherhood. Our next one is Tuesday, April 1, 8:30 -10:30 pm, Leawood C144 (E-220). Contact Jon Edlin.
•RezVets hosts twice monthly education programs. Last night they were joined by several furry friends from Pets for Life and Canine Companions for Independence as they learned how dogs can provide therapeutic assistance for our military men and women. Contact Susan Bell to learn more about RezVets programs.
You'll also read there about a mission trip to Haiti, an opportunity for kids to serve others on an upcoming early release day for Blue Valley Schools, our women's Thursday LIVE groups and our Thursday night Live Forward classes and so much more. Again, click here if you are interested in reading this week's e-news.
Finally, over the next few months I'll be sharing interesting bits of information about our new building that you may not have noticed in the plans we handed out last month. Today I want to point out the two small chapels on either side of the main entry doors to the new sanctuary (see drawing). One of these is designed for a pastor to take a family or individual in for prayer following worship. The other is larger and like our Firestone Chapel where persons can go for Communion and prayers for healing each weekend after worship. This will be available for small weddings and other services throughout the week. Next week, we'll look at the nursing moms/children's cry room in the new sanctuary.
Join us in worship this weekend, in person or online, as we consider the powerful story of Jesus' ministry with the man who lived in the town cemetery, the Geresene Demoniac!
Adam Hamilton
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, KS 66224 United States
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