Happy New Year Resurrection Downtown!I hope this message finds you doing well. I am thrilled to be writing you today as a way of offering greetings. I love this day as it offers a natural time to reflect and remember all that happened over the past year, whether that means celebrating milestones, remembering the tough stuff we’ve endured or reflecting over the sheer volume of experiences you’ve had throughout the past year. New Years Day also offers us a chance to dream about the future, to start afresh and to set goals as to what you’d like to accomplish in the year to come! This year more than other years is shaping up to be particularly exciting. I believe that God has great things in store for us in 2016! I cannot wait to begin this holy adventure! In fact, this weekend in worship I’ll be preaching live at Resurrection Downtown a message that focuses on the time and season we are in as a church, as a city, and as individuals. I’m looking forward to sharing vision about the future and how I believe God is calling us to live fully into it with everything we have and all that we are to become the best versions of the people God created us to be. I hope you’ll join me and invite friends to do the same.
Lastly, every New Year’s Day one thing I am accustomed to doing is pausing to pray a prayer that John Wesley, the founder of the movement of a people called Methodists prayed with great regularity. It is called the Wesley Covenant Prayer, and it offers us a time to recommit our life to Christ. I want to invite you to read through it, and consider offering this same prayer up to God as you begin 2016 seeking to do the things that God does, seeking to love others the way that God first loves us!
Here’s the prayer:
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
Happy New Year! Below you'll find several ways to connect to the life of this community in 2016!
- New Sermon Series: Facing Issues That Divide | Building Bridges and Tearing Down Walls – Starts January 10, 2016 and runs throughFebruary 7, 2016. Politics and religion are two topics many say should never be mixed, but beginning on January 9th & 10th that’s what we’re going to do! As we enter an election year, issues divide us and civility gets lost in the rhetoric. Can we disagree and still find common ground? What does Jesus call us to do? Where can we stand united? Join us as we take a thoughtful look at critical issues facing our country, learn from one another and build bridges that unite us as one nation under God.
- New Community Group Forming! 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. On Tuesday, January 12, from 6:30 – 8 pm at 1522 McGee, join others to study this profound and motivating book by Jen Hatmaker. This 4-week study is based on the true story of how Jen (along with her husband and her children to varying degrees) took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism and overindulgence. She found the payoff from living a deeply reduced life was the discovery of a greatly increased God. Start off your New Year by taking a look at how you want your year to continue. The book is $9 and can be ordered when you register. Registration is limited and required. To register go to cor.org/downtown/AgainstExcess. For questions, contactShannon.Endicott@cor.org.
- New Start Time for SWAT (Singles with a twist: 35 and older) Brunch Club this Sunday. www.cor.org/downtown/swat – Due to the change in time for the Chiefs game, Rez Downtown’s SWAT group will meet this Sunday, January 3, at 3:15pm at Tomfooleries (612 W 47th St., KCMO) for a Chiefs/Raiders Watch Party with a game start of 3:25pm. Join the group for great food and fellowship. To RSVP, contact Brett Blades atbblades8@yahoo.com. For any other questions, contact Stephanie Meyers atsmeyers91@gmail.com.
- SWAT Coffee – Join us for coffee and conversation as we meet next onThursday, January 14, at 6:30 pm at Quay Coffee, 412 Delaware St., KCMO, to discuss “A new year: What does God have planned for you?” For more information, contact Dan Smith at dansmithjr@yahoo.com.
- It’s time for Resurrection Downtown’s New Year’s REZolutions! Next week (January 9-10) as you leave the worship service, ushers will hand you a checklist. We hope this sparks some interest and will provide you with some ideas on how to get to know others within the church, grow in your faith and serve in our community. This New Year will be packed with study opportunities and community events. We challenge you to check off each one! If you have questions, contact Kelly.Sisney@cor.org.
- 2016 Annual Giving Commitments. If you haven’t had the chance to turn in your 2016 annual giving commitment card, please place it in the offering plate, or fill one out online at cor.org/give, click on Annual Giving.
Grace and Peace,
Scott
Twitter: @scottchrostek
Congregational Care and Support
If you need pastoral care, call 816-979-1330. (After hours emergencies: 816-875-0267.)
To submit a prayer request, contact Anne.Williams@rezdowntown.org
For more information, visit our website: cor.org/downtown
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Downtown
1508 Grand Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri 64108, United States
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