Friday, July 3, 2015
Dear Resurrection Family,
Happy 4th of July! Tomorrow we celebrate our nation’s birth and independence. Just a reminder, the church offices are closed today for the 4th of July holiday. As you celebrate the 4th, pause to pray for wisdom, guidance and courage for our nation and her leaders.
This weekend we’ll continue in our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, seeking to hear God speak to us through the stories and similes that Jesus used to teach about the kingdom of God. Don’t miss worship this weekend.
This week I had the chance to walk around our construction site with Dick Cooper, our Director of Facilities and with JP Elliott, our Construction Superintendent with McCown Gordon. Despite the rain, they’re pouring the last few of the 279 piers that support the building today. These piers are drilled into the bedrock and, though you don’t see them and they are not glamorous, these are the most important part of the entire building. The entire building rests upon them – they are our foundation.
The rest of the basement walls will be poured over the next few weeks. One of the cranes was erected this week. The cranes will raise the structural steel and other pieces of the building into place. This month you’ll begin to see the first of the structural steel erected. Things will begin happening quickly from here.
As I watched the last of the piers being drilled into the bedrock I was reminded of one of Jesus parables, the parable of the wise and foolish builders in Matthew 7:24-27,
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall.”
Is your life being built on bedrock, or on shifting sand? The bedrock foundation Jesus describes comes in the form of studying the words of Jesus in the gospels and seeking to act upon them. His words are meant to shape our thoughts, words and deeds. Our faith in him, our desire to serve and follow him, our study of his words, our prayer life and our daily relationship with Christ are all meant to be the foundation upon which our lives are built.
I’d like to encourage you to be in worship this weekend, in person if you are in town, or online if you are out of town (www.rezonline.org at 10:45 or 5 CDT on Sunday). I’d like to invite you to begin and end each day in prayer, and to spend time reading scripture each day (sign up here for the GPS and we’ll send you daily scripture readings and reflections to you via e-mail). Consider joining a small group or study with other Christians to help you grow in your faith this fall. All of these help you to live in a relationship with Christ and to put into practice his words in your life.
I just posted on my blog a couple of short video clips from the ruins of the ancient city of Perga. These are clips we filmed for the small group DVD that goes with my new book The Call: The Life and Message of the Apostle Paul. When we filmed these videos for small groups we always film more than we know we can fit on the DVD. These clips I just posted are some we had to cut for time, but I thought you might enjoy seeing them. They take you to Perga where Paul preached on his first missionary journey and to the Taurus mountains that he and Barnabas traversed on that journey. Click here to see the clips and read about them.
I’ll close by mentioning two big events happening this next week at Resurrection drawn from our weekly e-news:
14th Annual Car Show & Expo, Saturday, July 11, 9 am – 1 pm, Leawood parking lot. Come see antiques, muscle cars, classics and street rods at our Annual Car Show & Expo featuring more than 100 awesome autos. You can enter your car for judging or display, or just come admire the vehicles. Download an entry form here. Proceeds will benefit Hope Center for youth in Kansas City. Fun for the whole family!
Get Ready to Rummage! Donate gently used household items for our annual Rummage Sale at the Leawood Campus. Donations accepted in front of Bldg. C, July 7 and 8, 9 am - 8 pm. Schedule a furniture pick-up (within 10 miles of the church) by calling 913-544-0798 before July 5. Volunteer for a 4-hour shift (with perks!) on July 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11. Shop the sale July 10-11, 8 am – 3 pm. Proceeds support women and children missions locally and worldwide. May you have a happy and safe 4th of July!
Adam
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
913.897.0120
www.cor.org
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