Reverend Adam Hamilton ~ Friday, 25 October 2013 ~ Dear Resurrection Family,
I'm excited to share with you that LaVon and I are going to be grandparents! Danielle and her husband JT are expecting a baby this coming March! Monday the kids invited us to go with them to the sonogram to learn the gender of the baby – she's a girl! Right after the appointment we went shopping for baby girl clothes and Danielle let me pick out her first Easter dress! Here's a photo of my choice:
Someone asked if I feel old, knowing I'm about to be a grandpa. Just the opposite! It makes me feel young (hey, actually, I am young! I'm only 49!). All the things I treasured about being a dad when my kids were little I get to experience anew – only this time without being responsible for the things that weren't as much fun! How cool is that?
This weekend we begin a new sermon series called The Wilderness. In the Bible, the wilderness is a place of adversity, testing, difficulty and despair. But the wilderness is also a place where God speaks and where God's people go to be tested and shaped and discern God's will. In our lives, the wilderness is often a metaphor for hard times. The great 20th century preacher, Harry Emerson Fosdick had a nervous breakdown early in his ministry. Of that time he later wrote, "It was the most terrifying wilderness I ever traveled through. I dreadfully wanted to commit suicide but instead made some of the most vital discoveries of my life ... I found God in a desert."
This weekend we begin by studying the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob, who lived around 1800 B.C. His wilderness involved being sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of a crime by his master and thrown into prison. For 13 years, Joseph was a slave or a prisoner. This week we interviewed Darryl Burton who was convicted of murder in 1985, and spent 24 years in prison before new evidence led to his being exonerated and released from prison. You'll see the interview as part of the message.
This will be a powerful message dealing with betrayal, hate, redemption and forgiveness. You know someone who needs this message. Invite them to join us.
Are you interested in joining the church? Sunday is our next Coffee with the Pastors. You may join at any of our campuses regardless of which campus you attend. At Leawood, join me for coffee at 2 pm, in the east building Student Center. I'll share more about the church, the expectations for membership and what it means to be a follower of Christ at Resurrection. The event is inspiring and informational. At the end of the Coffee, at about 3:30, we have a 15-minute joining service. Childcare is available by clicking on this link, online.
Next week I'll spend a few days working on the January sermon series. Every January we plan a series that is specifically designed to speak to non-religious and nominally religious people. The series I'm planning will address questions critics, skeptics and thoughtful doubters raise about Jesus. For instance, I was listening this morning to an interview with Reza Aslan, the NY Times bestselling author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Aslan notes that the Jesus of history was quite different from the Jesus of the gospels. For instance, he suggests that Jesus was a revolutionary willing to advocate violence, and that his teaching to turn the other cheek and love your enemies was a fabrication. Is he right? (By the way, there are points at which, in my opinion, Aslan gets it right, but many others where I and most mainline scholars would say he's off base). Some ask questions about Jesus like: Is there any evidence that Jesus actually existed? Are the gospel accounts of Jesus accurate accounts of what Jesus said and did? What was the significance of Jesus' death, or did he die a disappointed revolutionary? How can a thinking person really believe in the resurrection of Jesus? Was Jesus really born of a virgin? Was Christianity the product of Paul's faith, as recent books on Jesus suggest, or does it reflect an accurate portrayal of what Jesus represented? What about the gospels not found in our Bible and their portrayals of Jesus?
So, here's my question for you: What questions have you had, or have your unchurched friends had, that you feel would be important to raise in a series of sermons addressing questions skeptics, critics and thoughtful doubters ask about Jesus? My hope is to provide a thoughtful, compelling and helpful response to these questions in the January sermon series. I'm also hunting for a great title for the series. Do you have a suggestion for a title that would appeal to non-religious and nominally religious people? Please send your questions and comments to me through my assistant, Sue Thompson at sue.thompson@cor.org. I'll read over every comment next week as I'm taking time to plan these sermons. Thank you for your help!
Finally, I want to thank all of you who returned your annual stewardship commitment card last week. Your financial commitment to God through the Church of the Resurrection is both a reflection of your faith, and a critical part of what makes the ministry of the Church of the Resurrection possible. Thank you! If you've yet to return your commitment, you can do so right now, online, by clicking this link, online. There will also be commitment cards in the bulletin this weekend. After making your commitment, either online or in person this weekend, be sure to pick up our 2014 Resurrection Coffee Mug as a small token of thanks for your commitment.
I'm excited about this weekend's sermon and believe you'll be inspired as we study the story of Joseph and the wilderness he wandered through. If you're walking through the wilderness, or if you've struggled with resentment and bitterness, you'll find this sermon particularly helpful.
See you in worship!
Adam Hamilton
Someone asked if I feel old, knowing I'm about to be a grandpa. Just the opposite! It makes me feel young (hey, actually, I am young! I'm only 49!). All the things I treasured about being a dad when my kids were little I get to experience anew – only this time without being responsible for the things that weren't as much fun! How cool is that?
This weekend we begin a new sermon series called The Wilderness. In the Bible, the wilderness is a place of adversity, testing, difficulty and despair. But the wilderness is also a place where God speaks and where God's people go to be tested and shaped and discern God's will. In our lives, the wilderness is often a metaphor for hard times. The great 20th century preacher, Harry Emerson Fosdick had a nervous breakdown early in his ministry. Of that time he later wrote, "It was the most terrifying wilderness I ever traveled through. I dreadfully wanted to commit suicide but instead made some of the most vital discoveries of my life ... I found God in a desert."
This weekend we begin by studying the life of Joseph, the son of Jacob, who lived around 1800 B.C. His wilderness involved being sold into slavery by his brothers, falsely accused of a crime by his master and thrown into prison. For 13 years, Joseph was a slave or a prisoner. This week we interviewed Darryl Burton who was convicted of murder in 1985, and spent 24 years in prison before new evidence led to his being exonerated and released from prison. You'll see the interview as part of the message.
This will be a powerful message dealing with betrayal, hate, redemption and forgiveness. You know someone who needs this message. Invite them to join us.
Are you interested in joining the church? Sunday is our next Coffee with the Pastors. You may join at any of our campuses regardless of which campus you attend. At Leawood, join me for coffee at 2 pm, in the east building Student Center. I'll share more about the church, the expectations for membership and what it means to be a follower of Christ at Resurrection. The event is inspiring and informational. At the end of the Coffee, at about 3:30, we have a 15-minute joining service. Childcare is available by clicking on this link, online.
Next week I'll spend a few days working on the January sermon series. Every January we plan a series that is specifically designed to speak to non-religious and nominally religious people. The series I'm planning will address questions critics, skeptics and thoughtful doubters raise about Jesus. For instance, I was listening this morning to an interview with Reza Aslan, the NY Times bestselling author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Aslan notes that the Jesus of history was quite different from the Jesus of the gospels. For instance, he suggests that Jesus was a revolutionary willing to advocate violence, and that his teaching to turn the other cheek and love your enemies was a fabrication. Is he right? (By the way, there are points at which, in my opinion, Aslan gets it right, but many others where I and most mainline scholars would say he's off base). Some ask questions about Jesus like: Is there any evidence that Jesus actually existed? Are the gospel accounts of Jesus accurate accounts of what Jesus said and did? What was the significance of Jesus' death, or did he die a disappointed revolutionary? How can a thinking person really believe in the resurrection of Jesus? Was Jesus really born of a virgin? Was Christianity the product of Paul's faith, as recent books on Jesus suggest, or does it reflect an accurate portrayal of what Jesus represented? What about the gospels not found in our Bible and their portrayals of Jesus?
So, here's my question for you: What questions have you had, or have your unchurched friends had, that you feel would be important to raise in a series of sermons addressing questions skeptics, critics and thoughtful doubters ask about Jesus? My hope is to provide a thoughtful, compelling and helpful response to these questions in the January sermon series. I'm also hunting for a great title for the series. Do you have a suggestion for a title that would appeal to non-religious and nominally religious people? Please send your questions and comments to me through my assistant, Sue Thompson at sue.thompson@cor.org. I'll read over every comment next week as I'm taking time to plan these sermons. Thank you for your help!
Finally, I want to thank all of you who returned your annual stewardship commitment card last week. Your financial commitment to God through the Church of the Resurrection is both a reflection of your faith, and a critical part of what makes the ministry of the Church of the Resurrection possible. Thank you! If you've yet to return your commitment, you can do so right now, online, by clicking this link, online. There will also be commitment cards in the bulletin this weekend. After making your commitment, either online or in person this weekend, be sure to pick up our 2014 Resurrection Coffee Mug as a small token of thanks for your commitment.
I'm excited about this weekend's sermon and believe you'll be inspired as we study the story of Joseph and the wilderness he wandered through. If you're walking through the wilderness, or if you've struggled with resentment and bitterness, you'll find this sermon particularly helpful.
See you in worship!
Adam Hamilton
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, KS 66224 United States
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