HAPPY NEW YEAR AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

We send you greetings of hope, love, peace and joy for the New Year! May the Spirit of Christ remain in your heart throughout the coming year!

​

ADULT CLASS RESUMES DISCUSSION OF THE EPISTLES OF PAUL

The Adult Sunday School class study of the epistles of Paul will resume on January 7, 2018 at 9:15 AM in the Church Library with a discussion of II Corinthians Chapters 4-6. Jonathan Bacon will lead the class discussion. Please bring you Bible to class.

PASSING OF DAVID ANDES

We are saddened to report the sudden passing this past weekend of David Andes, the son of Marilyn and Bob Andes. David had an unexpected heart attach sometime overnight on Christmas Eve. No funeral or memorial service is planned. Marilyn and Bob are not on Facebook, so condolences may be sent to their home at 12444 Granada Drive, Leawood, KS 66209-2271. Please remember Marilyn and Bob in your thoughts and prayers.

YOUTH HISTORIC CARAVAN MATCHING DONATION OPPORTUNITY

A generous Donor in our Mission Center has made an offer and a challenge to the entire Midlands Mission Center. For every $1 donated between now and February 15, 2018 they will match the total donations up to a maximum of $4,000! As we close out 2017, please consider this opportunity to double your donation and help make the Sr. High Historic Caravan a reality. 48 teenagers so far have sent Interest Forms into the MMC and we anticipate more. We expect this to be one of the largest, if not the largest, Caravan in recent history! Thank you Midlands!

Donations should be made payable to the Midlands Mission center and given to your Congregational Financial Officer or mailed to the Midlands Mission Center at 7615 N Platte Purchase Drive, Kansas City, MO 64118. All donations are tax deductible. Please note your donations are for the “Youth Historic Caravan.”

JUST JESUS TEMPLE SERVICE

At 7 PM on Sunday, January 21, you’re invited to attend the “Just Jesus” Temple Service with Stassi Cramm and Matt Frizzel at the Independence Community of Christ Temple. It’s a celebration of Jesus’ message and mission. The service includes performances by the Graceland University Choir.

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WITHOUT EMAIL OR FACEBOOK ACCESS?

If you know someone in the congregation who does not have email and does not use Facebook, please let Jonathan Bacon know. We’re trying to be sure everyone in the congregation has access to periodic news updates and information on congregational activities.

JANUARY BOOK CLUB MEETING

The next meeting will be on Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 7 PM in the Church Library. The group will have two options to discuss. We will discuss both “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood as well as “Mrs. Saint and the Defectives” by Julie Lawson Timmer. Readers may read either or both books and come prepared to discuss what you’ve read.

Discussion questions for both books will be posted soon on the book club website at allbooksclub.wordpress.com.

2018 CAMP DATES

June 6-16 Historic Caravan

June 7-22 Middle School Camp

June 24-29 Doniphan Reunion

July 5-7 Youth Quest

July 8-13 Chihowa Reunion

July 20-21 International Youth Forum

July 21-28 Spectacular

July 22-27 MITIOG

July 29-August 2 Junior Camp

MISSION ROAD CALENDAR

Wednesday, January 3, 2018, 6:30-7:30 PM – Saints’ Chorale Rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018, 7:35 PM – Prayer Circle meets in the Church Library.

Sunday, January 7, 2018, 8:45 AM – Breakfast (provided by Mindy and Eric Haase), join us for conversation and fellowship.

Sunday, January 7, 2018

• Nursery available – 9:15-11:30 AM, in downstairs Nursery.
• Children’s Sunday School class – 9:15-10:15 AM, taught by Mary Reichenbach.
• Teen’s Sunday School class – 9:15-10-15 AM, taught by Clint Reine.
• Adult Sunday School class – 9:15-10:15 AM, discusses "Encountering Paul” by Tatha Wiley, taught by Jonathan Bacon, Paul Bennetts, Jane Landrum and Dennis Wood in the Church Library.
• Adult Class Exploring the Community of Christ – 9:15-10:15 AM, taught by Karen Birkby and Ron Millard.

Sunday, January 7, 2018, 10:30 AM – John O’Neal will speak onthe theme "Be Baptized" with Mary Reichenbach presiding and Karen Birkby serving as the worship planner. Cheryl Kennedy will provide the ministry of music and Kennetha Kuttler will provide the PowerPoint slideshow.

Monday, January 8, 2018, 7:00-8:30 PM – Mission Bells rehearsal in the Church Sanctuary.

Thursday, January 11, 2018, 7:00 PM – All Good Books group meets in Church Library to discuss “The Hand Maid’s Tale” and “Mrs. Saint and the Defectives.”

MISSED LAST SUNDAY’S SERVICE?

Would you like to hear the message from last Sunday or a Sunday service from 3 years ago? Audio recordings of many of the last several years’ worth of worship services are available online at https://goo.gl/wREl03. Note this is a new shortened URL that will take you to a Google Drive with many of the recordings from the past.

Recordings are located in folders corresponding to the year (2015, 2016, and so on). If you missed a Sunday, this provides you a way to hear the music and the message.

The beginning numbers of each filename indicate the date of the service.

The first 4 digits represent the year; the next two digits indicate the month and last two digits represent the day of the month.

In most cases, the date is followed by a dash and then the first initial and last name of the speaker. Enjoy!

NOTE: If you experience problems playing these audio files be sure you’re running the latest version of your browser or try a different browser. In some cases, you may be required to download the audio file before playing it.

The following list includes some recent audio recordings:

29 December 2017 Celebration of Life Service, filename 20171229-PWeber.Memorial.mp3

24 December 2017 message by Ron Millard, filename 20171224-RMillard.mp3

17 December 2017 Christmas Vesper Service, filename 20171217-Vespers.mp3

17 December 2017 message by Jennifer Libeer, filename 20171217-JLibeer.mp3

10 December 2017 message by Jonathan Bacon, filename 20171210-JBacon.mp3

3 December 2017 message by Steve Holben, filename 20171203-SHolben.mp3

CONCERNING PRAYER REQUESTS

Please know that any member of the congregation can post prayer requests or share information about members and events on the Mission Road Members Only Facebook page. You do not need to send the information for approval to anyone. In fact doing so may slow down the dissemination of your request. Be sure to include the person needing prayers and what situation has occurred (if you wish to share that information). If your post concerns an event or news item, be sure to include the basics in your posting (such as who, what, where and when).

For prayer requests, if you do not have access to Facebook, then please call Paul Bennetts or John Trinkl Sr., our Congregational Pastoral Care Coordinators.

IMPORTANT CONGREGATIONAL LINKS

The Mission Road Congregation hosts the following social media sites:

Congregational (public) website at www.mission-road.org

Facebook Page (public) at https://www.facebook.com/MissionRoad.CoC

Facebook Group (open only to congregational members) at https://www.facebook.com/groups/MissionRoad/

The All Good Books discussion group website at https://allbooksclub.wordpress.com/

Visit and "like" each of these sites to keep up-to-date on congregational news.

CONGREGATIONAL NEWS EMAIL

If you have news items and calendar additions or changes that need to be included in the congregational news email please contact Larry Birkby. His email address and phone number is both in the Church Directory.