Live The Great

The SkyKids Children’s Ministry would like to extend an invitation to all parents in need of a night out.  Friday, April 17, 2009 is our next Kids’ Night Out event here at KCBT.  Your children, birth to 5th grade, will enjoy a themed evening that will include dinner and a rotation of activities while you enjoy a night on the town!

As you are planning your evening away from the children, consider making this night an evangelistic one.  Invite another parent to go out with you and bring their children to Kids’ Night Out.  This is the perfect opportunity to get to know your neighbors or a co-worker and begin to share your life with them.

Space is limited to the first 100 children.  Registration is required; this event fills up quickly so sign-up online today! The cut-off date for registration is Sunday, April 12.  The cost for each child is $3 and will be paid at the door.  Questions should be directed to Summer Montgomery at 816.358.0988 x 2016.

Every set of parents hears, “ You must take time for each other.  Never quit dating your spouse…”  Although we all know this is a wise piece of advice, the reality is that finding time in a busy world to set aside for such an “indulgence” is just not always a priority for many couples.  Also, one cannot overlook the expense involved in a true date night.  The cost of a babysitter and then dinner and movie can easily cost in the ballpark of $75.  This can be very hard on the budget!

The SkyKids Children’s Ministry would like to extend an invitation to all parents in need of a night out.  On February 20, 2009, the first church-wide Kids’ Night Out will be held here at KCBT.  Your children, birth to 5th grade, will enjoy a themed evening (“Carnival!) that will include dinner and a rotation of activities.  The kids will love the magician, balloon-twisting class, interactive team games and a movie with snacks and popcorn while you and your spouse are out on the town!

As you are planning your evening away from the children, consider making this night an evangelistic one.  Invite another couple to go out with you and bring their children to Kids’ Night Out.  This is the perfect opportunity to get to know your neighbors or a co-worker and begin to share your life with them.

Space is limited to the first 100 children.  Registration is required; sign-up on-line today! The cut-off date for registration is February 18.  The cost for each child is $3 and will be paid at the door.  Questions should be directed to Summer Montgomery at 816.358.0988 x 2016.

The pastors and staff at KCBT wish to share a part of their family traditions for the holiday season.  We wish you a blessed Christmas as we celebrate our Lord together.

Jeff Adams

Since the big event in Latin America is Christmas Eve, not Christmas Day, we have always had our main family celebration on Christmas Eve, too. In many countries of Latin America, the tradition is to visit friends and family on Christmas Eve and perhaps end up by going to the home of the family patriarch or matriarch to eat special Christmas tamales as a late dinner. Many countries celebrate with fireworks at midnight – much like what would happen on our Fourth of July. In cities, the air fills with a gun powder cloud that hangs around for hours and the ground is littered by the paper remains of the countless thousands of fireworks that are exploded. Since it would be a bit problematic to have a massive firecracker event on Christmas Eve, our family is content to gather together at our house and eat a Mexican dinner together. No, Mexican food is not typical in the countries where we have lived, but we just happen to like Mexican food. Following dinner, I read the Luke 2 account of the birth of Jesus with the kids (now grandkids) and then we have our gift exchange.

Donivan Best

As a family, we’ve always made a birthday cake with “Happy Birthday, Jesus” on it.  Our kids love mixing all the ingredients, licking the mixing spoon and icing the cake.  Before we open any of our own gifts we celebrate the greatest gift ever by lighting the candles (seven of them), singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus and saying a special prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord.  One of the kids cuts the cake and we gobble it up as we open our gifts.  Our kids love it because it’s the only time of the year that we allow them to cake for breakfast!

Donna Bruce

Any time my Mom cooks a holiday meal, we pile plates full of food to take to elderly family and friends.  It’s usually enough to feed an army.  And we have been known to dish up stuffing that wasn’t even cooked yet.   A couple of years ago, my 15 year-old nephew even had someone he wanted to take food to so the tradition goes on.

Jeff Cox

One of our favorite holiday traditions is to watch the 1983 movie “A Christmas Story.”  There is a scene in the movie where the father, affectionately referred to as the old man, receives an award from a contest he has entered. He receives the award in the mail and upon opening the package discovers a hideously tacky lamp designed in the image of a woman’s leg wearing a stocking. His wife is appalled, but he is not discouraged and proudly displays the leg in the front living room window for all the neighbors to see. I purchased a lamp just like the one from the movie a few years back, and Deb and I proudly display this lamp in our dining room window for the enjoyment of our neighbors. Some stare in dismay, but everyone who is familiar with the movie gets a kick out of it.

Scott Gates

When I was growing up we would always go to my Grandma’s house for Christmas.  All of my Dad’s family would join us there and it was usually a packed house.  If it wasn’t snowing, we would go outside and play football in the yard with all my cousins and uncles.  The one thing that I remember most about those days was waking up early.  I mean REALLY early before the sun would pop up and we would pack in the car and drive to Grandma’s.  Why so early?  Because the family that got there first would call everyone one else and wake them up and rub it in that we were there first.  This would wake up the whole house (as there were not cell phones on vibrate back then).  So everyone would then wake up and come over.  And if they didn’t answer the call it meant they were on the way and you got to see their faces as they pulled up in the drive way and you were already there.  Gosh…I am glad we don’t get up that early anymore!

Jay Grimwood

Every Christmas day our family takes time to say thank you to God by writing down commitments and goals that we want to give back to Him for the following year.  Each of us writes a personal letter to God and we place them in a Jesus stocking on the fireplace until we pack everything up for next year. The following Christmas season when we decorate the home, the Jesus stocking is hung on the mantle with our commitments and promises we’ve made to Christ. It is always fun to open them up on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning and see if we’ve kept our promises and commitments to God as he keeps them for us. We then thank Him for being faithful (or ask forgiveness as sometimes is necessary in my case) for keeping us on task to reach our goals for Him. We then write new letters for the following year and the cycle continues year after year.

Emily Kinch

As much as possible, we try to continue the Costa Rican tradition of making tamales for the holidays. We get together the weekend before Christmas to assemble them and cook them, then each family takes a portion and eats them for breakfast, lunch and dinner until they run out! We have a great time doing this as a family and enjoy keeping up with this Costa Rican tradition here in Kansas City.

Dale and Julie Moline

Each year right around Thanksgiving, our family shops for a 1000 piece puzzle. The card-table goes up in front of our fireplace and this project becomes a center piece for our family time during the holidays. We have constructed everything from CocaCola to Thomas Kincaid. The puzzle content is only a small part of what we look forward to. This puzzle prompts us to pause from the busyness of our lives, it grows our patience and our focus on one another. We talk, we share, we laugh and we build…There is a measure of satisfaction that comes with the placement of that last piece, but a sorrow also for the journey is over. The puzzle will be dismantled, placed back in the box and stored away in a closet of memories for days gone by. We each push away from the card-table having become richer and more connected…one piece at a time.

Tim Mensendiek

After dinner at the Mensendiek house, we open gifts then have a paper ball fight with the wrapping paper.

Summer Montgomery

My family is starting a new Christmas tradition this year.  We have adopted a family with two children the same ages as our own, 4 and 2.  My husband and I will be taking our kids to shop specifically for these children.  Our son and daughter will be choosing the gifts to give and will help wrap them up for delivery.  I pray that this tradition, through the years, will give my own children a very practical understanding of putting others’ needs and wants ahead of their own.  I look forward to watching my own children learn to serve and be blessed in their giving.

Chris Ruzicka

A few years we did the Christmas Eve Candle lighting, until my Dad lit my brother Pat’s hair on fire.  He smacked the top of his head in church, and Pat cried thinking he had done something wrong.  I laughed and laughed and so did the other couple hundred people that always sat around us to see what would happen during church any particular year.  Rarely did we disappoint.

Another tradition from the Ruzicka family, singing Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus on Christmas Eve with a family that has no musical ability.  Jesus, I’m sure, covered his ears every time.  I cried, from laughter, every time.

Waking up at 5:00am Christmas morn and jumping into bed with Santa Claus and my Mom.  Injuries started to occur when I broke the 170 pound barrier.  Upon entering the living room I would discover that Santa always knew what I wanted (Michael Jackson, Thriller album), had eaten the oatmeal raison cookies, and drank all the milk, and taken one bite out of an apple,  (apparently not a Biggest Loser kinda fella)  while Dad held a 40 pound VCR recorder on his shoulder recording every reaction of seven  beautiful children, all with the soothing sounds of Crosby, Como and Sinatra serenading us from the record player.  “Medakumeekimaka” was the favorite for obvious reasons.  Fireplace burning hot enough to set the stockings on fire.

Present unwrapping started around 8:00am and would last until 2:00 or 3:00, always one present at a time while everyone watched.  You had to pretend you liked your presents all morning and afternoon. Around 3:00 the rest of the uncles, aunts, cousins, grandmas, and grandpa’s would show up for a full on party extravaganza consisting of food, alcohol, checking out all new merchandise, watching Christmas Vacation and playing the completely jacked game of Balderdash.  More laughs than an Airplane movie, with constant ribbing and jesting.  One was afraid to open ones mouth, with fear that you would have the quote that would be added to the ever increasing list of stupid comments made at Christmas.  A very popular list that my Uncle’s elephant brains always remembered.  My sister Kelley has the most quotes.  Jen stay’s quite around my family but appreciates the ab-laughter workout.

Jeremy Schell

Every year growing up we would travel to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for our family gathering.  On the day of our “program” we would all gather in their basement, near the wood-fired stove and celebrate.  To start, all of the cousins would prepare something to present to the family.  I would play a piano solo on their antique piano, always remembering the notes that didn’t work or were out of tune!  This was usually followed by some general singing (in full 4-part harmony), and the Aunts singing “The Baby Fair,” a beautiful song about the birth of Christ.  The musical portion would end with a rousing rendition of jingle bells, with each of the young cousins holding bells (and occasionally car-keys) and playing them as loudly as possible!

After music, we’d turn our attention to another tradition.  Each of us, even the little ones, would recite a Bible verse from memory.  Then, Grandpa would read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  His deep, German voice would communicate the truth of the Word in a way that will always be in my memory.  He spoke with a reverence that brought the Bible to life.  The afternoon would conclude by opening presents and a “show-and tell,” then each of us would get a “toot,” a sack of candy, that always contained a homemade popcorn ball.

Alan Shelby

We open one gift on Christmas Eve.  We always get the dog a toy, but he like playing in the paper. We put up a Christmas tree and a wreath on the door.  We each have stockings by the fireplace. It is turkey on Thanksgiving, ham on Christmas.  Dad takes the pictures while everybody opens their presents.

Sam Shockley

We have a number of family members here in the KC area and it is our family tradition to have a Christmas party every Christmas Eve. We share a meal, exchange gifts, sing traditional carols, read our family history and pray together.  The evening isn’t complete until we sing the Twelve Days of Christmas. Each person is assigned one the twelve days, Mary is always the five golden rings.   That has been our tradition for the last thirty three years.

Sunday mornings . . . a first time visitor is not really sure what to expect, but they come because they have a need. For the person who is struggling with issues of life, they come because they know they will be strengthened to make it through another week. For the mom who had a crazy morning getting the kids dressed, she understands the battle for the next generation and that God has a plan for her children. As a greeter, you welcome them all to our church. The smile on your face, and willingness to serve them, tells everyone who walks through our doors that we are glad you are here and that you have come to the right place.

Please mark your calendar for a Greeters Workshop on Sunday, November 2nd at 5:00pm in the Auditorium. During this time, you will be challenged in your area of service, you will be instructed so that we can reach more people, and you will be guided as teams come together in unity.

Our annual high school and college ski retreat is January 16-19, 2009. This trip is about so much more than skiing or hanging out; we will be spending time together each night in worship and hearing some excellent preaching. Pray seriously about coming and ask the Lord to use this trip to do a great work in your heart. Make this trip about seeking the Lord, and watch what happens! The base cost for this year’s trip is $235.00; lift tickets, equipment rentals, lesson, and meals are additional costs. Sign-ups will begin mid-November.

We will be staying in Golden, Colorado at the Holiday Inn (the same location as last year), and skiing / snowboarding at Copper Mountain. Copper is a great location with something for every level of skier or snowboarder. It is highly recommended that beginner skiers and snowboarders take a lesson - remember, we are going to the Rocky Mountains. For those of you who aren’t about the skiing, but love the fellowship – we will be hanging out at the Sixteenth Street Mall during the day. This is a very cool shopping district in downtown Denver – complete with ESPN Zone, movie theatre, bowling alley, and tons of places to eat or get some good coffee. Contact Janet Harding if you have any questions or would like more information.

We’ve been beta-testing the new SkyKids electronic check-in system for the past month and are excited at the positive response! Using our Second Grade class as test subjects, we’ve shown parents and teachers how to use the system. Pastor Jim Lee (Student Ministries and Focus) has even been spotted checking in his son! Within just a few seconds children are checked into classes and parents are off to main worship services, ministry fellowships, or an adult education class.

Sunday, October 19 this system will be used to check-in all SkyKids classes (birth to Grade 5). In an effort to make this transition as smooth as possible, SkyKids workers will ask you to verify family contact information prior to October 19. The electronic system uses phone numbers to locate your child, so keeping this information up to date is vital. You can use a main home phone number, cell phone, or even a work number! If you are a KCBT member you have the option to update your information by logging in to mykcbt.org.

Two electronic check-in stations are located on the Connections Counter in the main lobby, two are at the top of the stairwells on the third floor, and two are in the hallway outside Grade 3, 4 and 5 classrooms. Stations open at 8:15am and remain open throughout the morning, allowing you to check your child in as soon as you arrive in the building.

It’s so easy!

Each check-in station features a touch screen monitor. To ensure a speedy check-in for all our SkyKids, we ask that only adults use these stations.

Step 1: Enter the last four digits of your phone number. The system locates all families that match the digits.

Step 2: Select your family; the screen will show a list of all your family members that are able to check into a class.

Step 3: Your child will already be selected, if one of your children isn’t present that day, simply uncheck that child’s name. The screen indicates your child’s name, class, and if we have a picture of them on file, you’ll see their picture. Confirm the information, then touch the “check in” button.

Step 4: The label printer generates two labels per child. The printer pauses for a few seconds after each label. Pull down to remove the labels from the printer.

Step 5: The first label, which goes on your child, includes your child’s name, class, date, and any medical or allergy information we have received. Please let our SkyKids workers know of any important changes to your child’s medical condition so we can update our records. The second label is your claim tag and will be required to pick up your child after class.

Step 6: That’s it - you’re checked in!

Checking Out

You do not need to return to the check-in stations to check out your child. Return to your child’s classroom with your claim ticket. Your ticket has a three digit, randomly selected alpha numeric code that matches your child. This code changes every week and adds another layer of security. This label also includes an important message from our SkyKids team.

All us SkyKids here at the Kansas City Baptist Temple would like to invite you to participate in this year’s SkyKids Extra Christmas Program! Whether you’re a singer, dancer, actor, builder or techno-gadget guru (or you’ve always wanted to try being one) we’ve got a place for you.

Sign-up online today; classes begin Wednesday, September 10 and meet from 7:00 - 8:30pm. Below you find the names of the groups and the rooms they will be meeting in. Once you have signed up, you will receive more information about your group in the mail. We hope you’ve had a great summer and are ready to have a great year in SkyKids Extra - come join the fun!

Little Lights Choir: (Kindergarten - Grade 2) in Room 317

Shepherd Song/Kingdom Players: (Grades 3 - 6) in Room 312

Christmas Program: Sunday, December 2, during Sunday morning worship services

Throw on some old clothes and come join us from July 14-19 at the new Raytown Central Middle School located at 10601 E 59th Street in Raytown, MO (just east of Raytown High School and Benetti’s Coffee Experience). KCBT is working alongside the Raytown School District to add a fresh, new coat of paint to the new Central Middle School. Volunteers are needed in areas such as painters, shift leaders, and food service to be a part of this exciting opportunity as we give back to the community. Register online now through the end of the project. This year several of the teachers and their families want to help by painting their own classroom. How exiting to encourage and support the teachers who make an investment in changing lives. Last year participants wrote the following about their painting experiences: Our teachers give so much and this is just a small way of saying thanks and that we support them. From the reaction you could tell that they were very appreciative.  -Cheryl Adams I participated in the project. I enjoyed meeting new people and working on the project, but the biggest blessing came when the teachers found out that we did the project. One of the emails I received said, “I just read in the Raytown District paper that you (and your church) were responsible for the painting here at RMS. It changed the atmosphere in that the building was brighter, fresher, friendlier. Thank you for extending the kindness!” I will be teaching at the new Central Middle School next year. The Administrators and teachers are excited about KCBT involved in the painting of the school. The teachers want to be a part of the project.  - June Kolkmeier It was an incredible feeling of satisfaction knowing that I was helping to enhance the environment for the children of our city to come to school and see a clean, fresh classroom where they would be spending the day.  I know, the teachers appreciate the time we invested – so they didn’t have to paint the room themselves, nor did the school district have to cover the cost of the hours of labor involved! After all, the teachers invest their life in that room teaching the kids all day anyway, so this was an opportunity to bless them for all their efforts all year long! -LeAnn Carter

Have you been thinking about attending the Concert and Master Class by Sergio Blázquez?  Here are a couple of comments from members of the KCBT Worship Community that participated in the Master Class last year.

“Sergio is humble with his gift yet able to instruct others.  He was able to listen to each singer, praise their strengths as well as give them areas to improve on.  I truly enjoyed his master class.”

“The Master Class was just short of life-changing on my part.  Sergio’s method of providing feedback to me regarding improving my vocal abilities was very useful and very much appreciated.  He really seemed to understand the overall passion that comes natural from me and helped me to deliver what is sometimes bottled up inside.   Probably the most impressive thing to me about Sergio is that he took specific, individual time with each person and concentrated on their particular needs.  He definitely did not do a one-size-fits-all type of concept. The techniques that he provided were also a great help in maintaining pitch and sound clarity.  I really look forward to the next Master Class and hope that I have at least maintained what he taught me from the first class.”

On Sunday, July 6 we will be joined by International Tenor, Sergio Blazquez. Please join us at 6:00pm for a night of spectacular music in the auditorium. If you are an aspiring singer, or just enjoy hearing great voices, Sergio will be giving a master class on Monday, July 7 at 6:30pm in the auditorium. If you are interested in participating in the master class, please contact the Worship Office via email or call 816.358.0988 x 2027.

Originally from Monterrey, Mexico, Sergio Blazquez recently accepted the role of lead tenor with the Mainz Opera in Germany. By the time he arrives here in Kansas City, his roles will have included: The Italian Singer in “Der Rosenkavalier” by Strauss; Werther in “Werther” by Massenet; Rodolpho in “La Boheme” by Puccini, and Faust in “Faust” by Gounod. In addition to the Mainz Opera, he has performed in other important venues such as the Prague Opera House in the Czech Republic, Linz Opera House in Austria, the Hamburg Opera House in Germany, and at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Sergio is also well known for his love of Latin American Music. In his last concert here at KCBT, he performed favorites like “Granada” and “Maria Bonita” by Augustin Lara, “Guadalajara” by Pepe Guizar, “Malagueña” by Ernesto Lecouna, “Te Quiero Dijiste” by Maria Grever, and “El Rey” by Jose Alfredo Jimenez. In September of 2007, Sergio sang in the opening ceremony of the Forum Universal de las Culturas in Monterrey, Mexico, where he also sang in concert with Concert with David Lomelí and Eugenia Garza.