An Enote from Reverend Adam Hamilton for Friday, 14 February 2014 Dear Resurrection Family

An Enote from Reverend Adam Hamilton for Friday, 14 February 2014
Dear Resurrection Family,
Happy Valentine's Day! As I think about romantic love I'm reminded that when I have surveyed couples married more than 50 years asking what it takes to remain married more than 50 years, their most frequently given response is, "Perseverance!" It is normal in life to have periods when your feelings of love fade; sometimes they are replaced with feelings of frustration, disappointment or simply no feelings at all. LaVon and I have been through those periods in the last 31 years of marriage. LaVon and I were having supper together the other night and it struck me, I feel more in love with her today than I ever have. It made me grateful that we persevered through times when we did not feel in love. Love is not first a feeling, but a way of acting and being towards another. When we persevere in seeking to bless the other even when we don't feel it, we stand a high likelihood of finding that the feelings of love return.
I am so excited about this weekend's worship services! At Leawood we will be giving out copies of the blueprints of the new building and building renovations in our 10,000 Reasons campaign. We'll also take you inside the new buildings with the help of amazing computer generated animation. I'll also show you the material the outside of the sanctuary will be made of and tell you what the significance of this is (it is pretty cool!). My sermon will look at Israel's first sanctuary, the Tabernacle that God commanded Moses to construct as the place of worship for the Israelites. You won't want to miss this! Check out the video teaser for this weekend to the right.
Also this weekend, following each worship service there will be a Q&A about the building plans. Please join me if you have questions - we'll spend about 15 to 20 minutes immediately following worship. Commitment weekend for the capital campaign is March 2, and it is then that you as a congregation will decide if you see the importance of these spaces.
LaVon and I see our giving in this effort as an investment in God's work that will touch thousands and thousands of people for generations to come. I hope our great grandchildren and their children will one day worship in this place. Our goal is to raise $60 million towards the cost of the building. I shared last Sunday that we have already raised over $40,000,000 towards this in our first 320 commitments from our leaders and staff. But now we face the challenge of raising the remaining $20 million from the rest of our Leawood campus. We anticipate another 3,200 households will make commitments and to get to the $20 million it will require additional commitments at all levels. If you were not able to see last weekend's message, I would encourage you to watch the message by clicking here.
A huge thank you to all who gave blood on Monday, the make-up day for the day the blood drive was snowed out the week before. We saw a total between the two drives of 669 units of blood donated between Leawood and Resurrection West! Thank you!
Mark Twain once said, "It's not the things in the Bible that I don't understand that trouble me, it's all the things I do understand, they are what really trouble me." If you've ever wrestled with the Bible, or know someone who has, you might be interested in my new book, Making Sense of the Bible. The book will be released next month. Harper has just published a free excerpt of the book that you can read online. I'd love for you to take a look at the excerpt and share it with your friends. Click here to read the excerpt. I've written the book not only for Christians who want to know more about the Bible, but also for those for whom the Bible itself has become a roadblock to faith - including many young adults today.
The first half of the book answers questions about the nature of scripture: how, when and why was it written, who decided which books made it into the Bible, in what sense it is inspired by God and in what sense it is the words of people about God, and is the Bible without error? The second half of the book takes on questions Resurrection members have asked me about the Bible over the years: How do we make sense of the violence of God in the Old Testament? Were Adam and Eve and Noah real people? How do we reconcile science and scripture? And the most divisive question in Christianity today, homosexuality and the Bible. The book comes out March 18.
Jennifer Ross who heads up our Matthew's Ministry just sent me a note today letting me know that they are short of volunteers for the upcoming Sweetheart Dance for our Matthew's Ministry (our ministry with persons with disabilities). We have 72 participants registered and more on a waiting list, but we only have 25 volunteers. The event serves as a family night out which gives parents and caregivers a break while we plan a really fun event for participants. I promise you, you'll be the one blessed as you volunteer at this event. It takes place on Saturday night, February 22. Dinner is hamburgers and hotdogs. We've got a DJ and dancing. It is going to be an awesome night, but we need your help! Click here to sign up!
I hope you have a terrific Valentine's and I look forward to seeing you for an exciting weekend of worship!
Adam
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