Greetings Resurrection Blue Springs,

This has been a challenging week – the news has been full of all the tragic events of the past weekend. When tragic events like these happen they leave us asking questions about why and how. How do we reconcile God’s love with these terrible tragedies? How do we address the violence? What would Jesus have us do? As we’ve been saying these last few weeks, thoughts and prayer are a good place to start, but they are not enough.

Pastor Adam will return from his time away to deliver an important message to us this Sunday. He’ll address what we might do as individuals and as a congregation, and how we might find hope in the face of these tragedies. Sunday will also be an important day for us as we offer a back to school blessing over all our students, teachers and staff as they head back for a new school year. We will have a small gift for all our students. Then we plan to gather back together at 5 pm on the back lawn to celebrate the return to school and a new season with our Backyard BBQ.

Big Dawg Gary has the smoker going and we're planning to serve BBQ sundaes and pie for dessert. If you'd like to help by providing a pie, please bring it Sunday morning or by 5 pm that evening. If you'd like to enter this year's pie baking contest, plan to bring your pie by 5 pm for our judges. We'll also have lawn games, a bounce house for the kids and live music. Bring your lawn chairs or a blanket to sit on. Feel free to invite your friends and neighbors to join you, too! This is a time for fun and making connections.

I'm signing off to go back to listening to the amazing speakers at this years Global Leadership Summit. We are hosting the simulcast once again this year. I already have a notebook full of the great tips for leaders that I look forward to applying and sharing with our teams!

I'd also love for you to include our Resurrection Overland Park campus in your prayers. They are launching on Sunday morning.

Grace and Peace,

Penny