Pastor Jason Gant Weekly Enote at The Resurrection United Methodist Church West in Olathe, Kansas, United States for Friday, October 30, 2015

Pastor Jason Gant Weekly Enote at The Resurrection United Methodist Church West in Olathe, Kansas, United States for Friday, October 30, 2015
Resurrection West,
This Sunday we are excited to welcome guest preacher - Dr. James Forbes. Here is a little bit from his official biography;
The Rev. Dr. James Alexander Forbes, Jr., is The Harry Emerson Fosdick Distinguished Professor at Union Theological Seminary, former Senior Minister Emeritus of The Riverside Church, President of the Healing of the Nations Foundation, and National Minister of the Drum Major Institute (all of these institutions of New York City). Additionally, Dr. Forbes is a highly acclaimed author, scholar and nationally sought-after speaker, affectionately referred to in national and international religious circles as the preacher’s preacher because of his extensive preaching career and his charismatic style. Newsweek magazine once recognized Forbes as one of the 12 “most effective preachers” in the English-speaking world. As a passionate educator, administrator, community and human rights activist and interfaith leader, Dr. Forbes was twice designated as one of America’s greatest Black preachers by Ebony magazine. Dr. Forbes is a featured TEDex speaker and also a frequent guest & contributor to top national media outlets including Huffington Post, MSNBC and others.
This will be a great day in worship as we hear an inspiring and challenging message from Dr. Forbes, so remember to "fall back" on Saturday night - setting your clocks back one hour
Many of you have already been serving God at our new RezWest Mission Center, located at 25000 College Blvd. (where our RezWest offices were located before 2011). This new space gives us the opportunity to serve our community in many new and expanding ways. Each week around 200 backpacks are filled with weekend food for Ridgeview Elementary students. Starting Saturday, Nov. 14, monthly FaithWork projects will take place there, Upward Sports will be using the space for basketball practices—and these are just the beginning! If you have ideas for using the space to help serve persons in-need, please contact Chris.Holliday@cor.org. Here are a couple of West groups who have been serving God by serving our community at the mission center.

God's vision of transforming communities is becoming a reality because of your efforts and because of your generosity. Portions of the funding to lease the mission center is from your giving to the Christmas Eve offering. We allocate 50% of that giving to go beyond Kansas City and 50% is allocated to help children out of poverty right here in the KC area! What an exciting new space to continue in that vision!
Calling all parent! We want to encourage you to join us at the Leawood campus Saturday - November 7th at 9am for the Parent’s Summit. This will be a great day to connect and grow as Christian parents. The theme for the summit is “Real World Parent: Christian parenting for Families Living in the World”, presented by speaker and author Mark Matlock. Enjoy a family lunch at 12:15pm. More information and registration available at cor.org/parentsummit
Make plans now to invite a friend, co-worker, or neighbor and join us for the RezWest Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast with Kendall Gammon Wednesday, November 25th 
7:30-9am, Resurrection West Sanctuary
. Start your holiday season off with an attitude of gratitude at our second annual Thanksgiving Prayer Breakfast. Enjoy great food (suggested donation of $7 per person) and meaningful fellowship, spend time in prayer and praise and hear the powerful testimony of Resurrection member Kendall Gammon. Kendall is a former Kansas City Chiefs player and the current Chiefs sideline reporter. He is also a talented and successful entrepreneur and a spokesperson for several local charities. For more information and to register, visit rezwest.org/prayerbreakfast.
This November, Resurrection West has the opportunity to provide 250 Thanksgiving meals 
for in-need Olathe and metro area families.If you would like to serve others in this way, pick up a meal bag in the Resurrection West entry Sunday and fill it with the requested food items and a $25 donation to cover the cost of a turkey. Return your filled meal bag to Resurrection West by Sunday, November 15.
More upcoming opportunities to grow and serve…..

• KiDS COR Presents: Jingle Jam: Re-Wrapped! 
• Metamorphosis retreats for 6th-12th grades coming in November!
• Upward Basketball this winter
• New Small Groups forming
• Interested in joining? Come to pizza with the pastors
• RezWest Blood drive – Nov. 9th
• Faithwork – Nov. 14th
• Serve with Alpha in January
• KiDS COR Presents Jingle Jam: Re-Wrapped! Looking for something fun for the whole family this holiday season? Join us for Jingle Jam: Re-Wrapped, a family experience that will have us all singing and laughing and encouraging us to keep our eyes open to the needs of others—and
to do something about it! God showed us this incredible compassion when he saw our need and sent his very own Son, Jesus! The performance is on Saturday, December 12, and all children from early childhood – 5th grade are invited to be a part of the celebration. Register your child and choose between the 3 pm and 5 pm production times. Musical and non-musical parts are available. We need youth and adult volunteers, too! Visit rezwest.org/jinglejam to register. 
• Metamorphosis Fall Retreat 2015 for students in 6th–12th grades. Includes worship, hayride, Night Strike, games, Snack Shack and time with friends. Don’t miss an amazing time to grow in faith, Nov. 6-8, for 6th/7th/8th grade students; Nov. 13-15, for high school students. To learn more and register, go to cor.org/students and click on the Metamorphosis link on the right. Contact Rick.Webb@cor.org with questions.
• Upward Sports Basketball – Registration is open for boys and girls age 5 through 6th grade for Winter 2016. The goal of this Christian-based sports program is to help children
and adults know, love and follow Jesus through sports activities. Register your child at rezwest.org/westsports. We are looking for volunteers to coach, referee, greet, work concessions and pray for players and families. For more information, contact David.Robertson@cor.org.
• Small Groups are designed to build Christian community in a small group setting that offers opportunity for fellowship and study. If you aren’t doing life with a small group, consider joining or forming one! We currently have two new small groups forming at RezWest: one for couples with children ages birth – 2 years (or expecting their first child), and another for Empty Nesters in their 50s to early 60s. No dates are set for the groups yet; we are currently checking on a date for a meet and greet. Contact David.Robertson@cor.org.
• Pizza with the Pastors – (NEW DATE) Monday, Nov. 16th , 6:30-8:30 pm. Are you considering joining Resurrection? The first step is to attend Coffee/Pizza with the Pastors where you will
learn more about the church, get to know our pastors and review expectations regarding membership. Childcare is available. Register at rezwest.org/coffee. For more information, visit Debbie.Dietz@cor.org
• Resurrection West Blood Drive – Monday, Nov. 9, 1-7 pm. Share the gift of life! Anyone who is healthy, at least 16 years old and weighs at least 115 pounds may donate blood. One donation can save two lives! Make an appointment today at savealifenow.org, enter sponsorcode“rezwest.” 
• FaithWork – Serve God by serving those in need! The next FaithWork date is Saturday, Nov. 14. Adults, students and children are welcome to participate as we begin working on Joy in Serving mission opportunities. Meet at 9 am at the Rez West Mission Center (25000 College Blvd, Olathe). For questions, contact Chris.Holliday@cor.org.
• Alpha coming in January – We will be offering a winter alpha session for any and all who would like to discover what it means to be a follower of Christ. This is such an important ministry here at RezWest and we need your help. We will need small group leaders, set-up/tear-down, food prep and service, and more. If you would like to serve – contact Dave Robertson at david.robertson@cor.org

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to share that each week my calendar is filled with appointments with individuals, couples, members, visitors - generally anyone who would like to meet for pastoral care, counseling, discussion, and especially 5th time visitors to our church. These are often some of the most powerful times I see God moving here, but are often confidential in nature. I wanted to share that lives are being changed here, from the marriage seeming to be failing now in reconciliation, the teenager who came with a friend to Wednesday night youth group and has now led their entire family to faith here, the 3rd grader who just finished reading the Gospel of Mark and expressed that their favorite story was the last supper and what it will mean to them now when we share in that sacrament, the woman who shared with me the impact our women's ministry has had on her esteem and faith in God, the young couple who said to me how glad they were to be back in worship last Sunday. I am so grateful that we serve an all-loving, all-powerful, all-mighty God who desires to know us each by name and share in meaningful relationship with us - and I am so glad to see His presence here at Resurrection West through each of you and the ways you are welcoming, encouraging, and supporting one another as the church. My family and I are so proud to call West our faith home!
Looking forward to growing and growing and growing with you,
Pastor Jason
Resurrection West Campus
24000 West Valley Parkway

Olathe, Kansas 66061 United States
913-538-7800
For an after hours urgent pastoral care need call 913-314-6058
rezwest.org
Follow on twitter @rezwest
Connect on facebook at facebook.com/ResurrectionWest
Pastor Jason Gant

jason.gant@rezwest.org

Resurrection West Campus
24000 West Valley Parkway

Olathe, Kansas 66061 United States

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