Mary herself didn’t have much to offer Israel’s future. But God looked at the unseen and saw a girl perfectly positioned to usher in the greatest miracle heaven and earth have ever seen. God saw a courageous girl with a willing spirit and tremendous inner strength who was also dutiful and obedient, trusting, humble, selfless, and compassionate. 

 In the midst of an ordinary, perhaps disadvantaged, down-trodden, unimportant little town; a place where despair, distress and gloom had taken deep root, the unimaginable was about to happen. Nazareth was perfectly positioned for God to do…the EXTRAORDINARY! 

If today's one of those days you're having to dig deep to find the thanks to give, we hope these words shared by other Kansas City area pastors and faith leaders will bring encouragement to your heart today.

One-and-a-half BILLION image bearers around the globe do not have access to a single verse of Scripture in their own heart language. If you are anything like me, perhaps tears well in your eyes as you consider this unsettling reality. Can you imagine experiencing life without knowing the hope and redemption that is communicated through the Word of God? 

“Only a united church can heal a divided nation,” proclaimed pastor Dr. Charles Karuku. “And only a united church can wage war in the spirit and win! Tonight we are here to win for Jesus Christ!”

A focused effort toward selfcare goes a long way toward avoiding burnout and serving others more effectively.

It’s been said that if mankind was created in the Image of God, then every culture represents a piece of his image. Each culture and every language informs one’s perspective of God. It is truly a gift to catch a glimpse of that vision on earth.  

The Gospel mandates repentance, and the Gospel frees us to praise. What if the Church adopted rhythms of repentance? Can you imagine the spirit of authentic praise that might follow? 

 Perhaps it’s time to redirect our attention with greater intensity toward the harvest in the fields here at home.  

The amazing thing about God’s harvest is this: He always knows which fields are ready for harvest, and he always has the right workers in the region positioned to work! Could COVID be a holy set-up? 

More than 160 churches today serve as community partners with Caring For Kids, wrapping the love of Jesus around schools, students and educators.  These churches are a tangible example of what it means to serve as the hands and feet of Christ, helping the least and the oft forgotten. 

Nothing about this season has been easy, but some of the results have been extraordinarily good.  While many churches have begun to re-open buildings, COVID-19 has forced a profound shift in the overall approach of “doing church” that will shape our ministry of the future. One church, KC Underground, which models itself off the early Acts 2 house church design found itself in a unique position this year.  

Amid overwhelming stress and deep sorrow, it’s easy to convince ourselves that 2020 is turning out to be anything but the year we prayed for. On the other hand, maybe– just maybe – 2020 has been exactly the year for which we prayed. 

To date, 105 churches in Kansas City have committed to engage with ONEKC 2021!  We are one-third of the way to our original goal!

And It was so exciting just to know that brothers and sisters all around the city, whether they spoke Mandarin or Cantonese or Korean or English were all learning and hearing the Word of God all at the same time. I’m actually getting goosebumps just talking about it. It was an exciting, unifying event in our city. 

One of the beautiful things about prayer is that it, on the one hand, prayer is its own reward because prayer is connection and communication with God. So, if nothing else happened, that would be enough. Prayer may be the supreme gift that God gives to His children. But out of prayer, many other possibilities happen.

By 2033 Faith Comes By Hearing prays to see “a New Testament recording in the heart language of 99% of the people in the world,” “a Scripture portion recorded for the remaining 1% of people in their heart language,” and “a Gospel Film in the heart language of everyone in the world.”