The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection October 2015
The World Is My Parish...
I've been thinking a lot about the beginnings of the Methodist movement under John and Charles Wesley. Reading Pastor Adam's book Revivaland re-reading the Journals of John Wesley have brought many hours of challenge and inspiration to me. For me, the most convicting aspect of early Methodism was the passion with which they proclaimed the gospel message. It is believed Wesley preached an average of five times a day for fifty years traveling on horseback a quarter of a million miles! Even more convicting is the realization that much of this work was done in an atmosphere of conflict, opposition and risk. It was commonplace for Wesley to have people hurl rocks, tomatoes and insults in his direction. In my 40 plus years of ministry I have almost never faced real opposition or hardship due to my call to ministry. The Methodist family within the wider Christian clan was birthed in evangelistic passion, social justice and transformative methods of discipleship. May we join the ancient Hebrew prophets by praying, "Come, let us return to the Lord." (Hosea 6:1)
Many Blessings,
Jeff Kirby
An Interview with Jefferson Knight
I've been thinking a lot about the beginnings of the Methodist movement under John and Charles Wesley. Reading Pastor Adam's book Revivaland re-reading the Journals of John Wesley have brought many hours of challenge and inspiration to me. For me, the most convicting aspect of early Methodism was the passion with which they proclaimed the gospel message. It is believed Wesley preached an average of five times a day for fifty years traveling on horseback a quarter of a million miles! Even more convicting is the realization that much of this work was done in an atmosphere of conflict, opposition and risk. It was commonplace for Wesley to have people hurl rocks, tomatoes and insults in his direction. In my 40 plus years of ministry I have almost never faced real opposition or hardship due to my call to ministry. The Methodist family within the wider Christian clan was birthed in evangelistic passion, social justice and transformative methods of discipleship. May we join the ancient Hebrew prophets by praying, "Come, let us return to the Lord." (Hosea 6:1)
Many Blessings,
Jeff Kirby
An Interview with Jefferson Knight
Methodist Pastor and National
Director of Alpha Liberia
Tell us a few things about growing up in Liberia. What was your childhood and family like?
My childhood experience was very hard and challenging for me. When I was seven years old, my dad walked out of the home and left my mom to struggle with me when she was eighteen years old and had to go back to school, so my grandparents took care of me.
I did not start school until I was around ten years old. My grandparents could not afford the high cost of tuition at the time so I just sat at home and watched my friends go to school. It was a heart-breaking experience for me.
One day, I decided to follow some of my friends to find out where they were headed every morning for school. When I got on their school campus just right down the main street, all of them had already gone inside the school building and were in their classes. After a few minutes of hanging around, I decided to walk into this wide open room with a group of children sitting on the floor.
We survived the civil conflicts with the exception of my Grandfather who was killed by the rebels in 1990. My grandmother had already passed before the civil crisis. During the war, I got hit by an explosion of an RPG bomb while escaping from fighting between the rebel groups in Monrovia. I was rushed to the MSF booth at a facility owned by the United States embassy, where over 70,000 people sought refuge.
How did you come to embrace the ministry life? What brought you to your Christian conversion?
My grandparents were very strong Christians and went to church every Sunday morning. My grandfather was a deacon and my grandmother was a missionary in the local church. They would ensure that all of their grandchildren went to church with them every Sunday though I didn’t really get it until I experienced my personal relationship with Jesus Christ in 1999.
My cousin and I had an ambitious plan to travel to Europe or the United States upon our graduation from high school to start a new, fresh and better life. Upon our graduation from high school in 1998, he became ill and passed away. Our plan was to rob his dad then make our way out of the country. His death hit me hard and I could not figure out what was going on in my life. I did drugs and alcohol and went to night clubs and dated girls in an effort to make myself happy, because I thought life was over now. But everything that I did was a waste of time and only intensified my addictions. I became homeless and I was totally lost and living in complete darkness. Everything that I thought was good and could bring me happiness and peace failed me.
In December 1999, my late cousin’s girlfriend invited me to stay in her apartment because she was traveling out of town for a week. Early one morning, a loud voice woke me up and I heard this preacher from down stairs saying “You have to repent and surrender your life over to Jesus Christ." He further said, “What shall it profit you to gain this whole world and lose your soul? Come to Jesus Christ and he will give you peace and a new life." That was a defining moment for me. I sat up in bed and could not sleep. That whole week, that voice kept repeating itself over and over in my ears.
The following week, one of my cousins invited me to attend Bible study with her at her church. I agreed and followed her. After the pastor’s teaching, he sent out an open invitation to anyone wanting to accept Jesus Christ in their life as their Lord and Savior. I stepped forward and raised my hands as I received prayer. After that prayer, it was like a light had been turned on and I was seeing for the very first time. I also experienced an overwhelming peace that filled my heart that I still enjoy today. Everything that I had been running after became unimportant, instead, I started attending regular Bible studies. I attended a Bible school and graduated and served as an evangelist for seven years.
Today, I am a free man because of Jesus Christ’s death on the cross of Calvary and I can’t stop praising God for that.
Tell us how you have seen the gospel spread so rapidly among your countrymen?
When I became a Christian, I started preaching and witnessing to my friends and other family members. I clearly understood my mandate (and every Christian’s) to proclaim the undeniable and life changing, transformative and powerful gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20). Many of my friends and family members saw my transformation. Two of my friends, Jack and Zon are now pastors and serving the Lord. I have mentored a young minister at a local church I pastored in one of our rural villages.
I assumed the leadership responsibility of Alpha as the National Director with only five churches doing Alpha in 2009. After an Alpha conference the same year, it was like an explosion. The program has rapidly spread from 5 churches to 450 churches running Alpha in 9 out of the 15 counties of Liberia. Thousands of lives are being transformed through this powerful evangelism tool. Glory be to God!
Alpha Liberia is also running the AA program which was introduced to us in Liberia by Tom Langhofer, a member of Pastor Jeff Kirby's team that visited Liberia in 2013 to help lead an Alpha training. We had our first AA meeting with 15 men, but to date, there are over 80 people attending AA in Liberia. Ten of the AA members celebrated their sobriety in June.
We are constructing a recovery center in Monrovia that will cater to the holistic needs of people who are in recovery.
I helped establish a care center for 65 Ebola orphans in Gorlu, Lofa County, in partnership with the Gorlu United Methodist Church. The deadly virus has devastated three countries in West Africa and has destroyed the lives of thousands of people. Over 8,000 lives were lost to the virus and over 4,000 children orphaned in 2014. Please continue to keep our work in your prayers.
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
www.cor.org
What's happening in
Men's Ministry?
The Fellowship
Men's Group
Ongoing men's study group. Join anytime.
Revival Essentials
Tuesday Mornings
6:45—7:45am
Room C144
cor.org/men
First Tuesdays for
Late Night Dads
Tuesday, October 6
8:30—10:00 pm
Room C145
(note room change!)
Join us for a time of group discussion and fellowship with other Dads. (All ages welcome!) No registration necessary! Click HERE for more information!
Tuesday evenings
Sept. 8—Oct. 27
Current Study:
Revival Essentials
(A companion study to Pastor Adam's Revival Study)
cor.org/tbs
Want to receive email notification? Click here.
Tuesday Evenings!
Are you looking to dig deeper into your faith but you’re not sure where or how to begin? There are over 23 opportunities to grow in your faith each Tuesday evening. Sign up for an upcoming class!
cor.org/grownight
Sports & Recreation
Adult Men's
Pick-Up Basketball
Monday and Thursday nights. Contact Brooke Nienstedt or Brad Chalkerfor additional details or click HERE for a fact sheet. Click HERE for the fall schedule.
Christmas in October
The Church of the Resurrection comes alongside Christmas In October (CIO), a Ministry that is focused on rehabilitating the houses of low-income homeowners in the KC Metro area at no cost to the homeowners.Saturday,
October 10th
Click HERE to register.
Resurrection to Celebrate
25th Anniversary
Resurrection turns 25 on Oct. 7! Join us for a celebration on the lawn between Buildings B and C after worship services the weekend of Oct. 10/11.
Spectacular fireworks display on Sat, Oct. 10
Food available for purchase.
cor.org/celebrate25
We’ll also share an update on our Give Back 25serving. Will we get to our goal of 25,000 hours? Come find out! And if you haven’t found a place to serve yet, check out the opportunities listed at cor.org/giveback25.
Be sure to take photos and upload them to your Facebook and Instagram accounts, tag @ChurchoftheRez and use #giveback25; or email toDonna.Karlen@cor.org.
Jeff Kirby for Church of the Resurrection Men's Ministry | jeff.kirby@cor.org
What's happening in
Men's Ministry?
The Fellowship
Men's Group
Ongoing men's study group. Join anytime.
Revival Essentials
Tuesday Mornings
6:45—7:45am
Room C144
cor.org/men
First Tuesdays for
Late Night Dads
Tuesday, October 6
8:30—10:00 pm
Room C145
(note room change!)
Join us for a time of group discussion and fellowship with other Dads. (All ages welcome!) No registration necessary! Click HERE for more information!
Tuesday evenings
Sept. 8—Oct. 27
Current Study:
Revival Essentials
(A companion study to Pastor Adam's Revival Study)
cor.org/tbs
Want to receive email notification? Click here.
Tuesday Evenings!
Are you looking to dig deeper into your faith but you’re not sure where or how to begin? There are over 23 opportunities to grow in your faith each Tuesday evening. Sign up for an upcoming class!
cor.org/grownight
Sports & Recreation
Adult Men's
Pick-Up Basketball
Monday and Thursday nights. Contact Brooke Nienstedt or Brad Chalkerfor additional details or click HERE for a fact sheet. Click HERE for the fall schedule.
Christmas in October
The Church of the Resurrection comes alongside Christmas In October (CIO), a Ministry that is focused on rehabilitating the houses of low-income homeowners in the KC Metro area at no cost to the homeowners.Saturday,
October 10th
Click HERE to register.
Resurrection to Celebrate
25th Anniversary
Resurrection turns 25 on Oct. 7! Join us for a celebration on the lawn between Buildings B and C after worship services the weekend of Oct. 10/11.
Spectacular fireworks display on Sat, Oct. 10
Food available for purchase.
cor.org/celebrate25
We’ll also share an update on our Give Back 25serving. Will we get to our goal of 25,000 hours? Come find out! And if you haven’t found a place to serve yet, check out the opportunities listed at cor.org/giveback25.
Be sure to take photos and upload them to your Facebook and Instagram accounts, tag @ChurchoftheRez and use #giveback25; or email toDonna.Karlen@cor.org.
Jeff Kirby for Church of the Resurrection Men's Ministry | jeff.kirby@cor.org
Resurrection United Methodist Church Learning Events Ministry
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
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