Friday, August 28, 2015
Dear Resurrection Family,
Everyday as I watch the news there are clear reminders that in addition to the beauty and goodness in our world, there is brokenness and pain.Wednesday’s murder of a reporter and cameraman in Virginia was a shocking and tragic reminder. This morning’s story of a truck driver who abandoned his truck along an Austrian highway leaving 71 Syrian refugees to die of suffocation in the back is another.
Where do such acts come from? None of us would do something so evil, or so calloused as the shooter in Virginia or the truck driver in Austria. But, Solzhenitsyn’s quote, which I’ve included in sermons on several occasions seems fundamentally true to me, “The line be between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” He went on to say, "This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. Even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained; and even in the best of all hearts, there remains a small corner of evil."
We all hear voices in our head, or in our heart. We jokingly picture them as the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. The voices sometimes sound like our parents, telling us that there’s something wrong with us. Or they are, as it appears with the Virginia shooter, a replaying of every perceived slight going back to first grade, played over and over until a heart is grossly misshapen. More often the voices tell us that “it’s only one time,” or “I deserve this because…” But the Bible speaks of another voice that speaks to us, that leads us to truth, love, joy, peace, patience and kindness. This is the voice of the Holy Spirit.
This weekend I’ll continue our series of sermons, Searching for Truth: What Christians Believe and Why by turning our attention to that line in the Apostle’s Creed that says, “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is God’s force, God’s power, and God’s voice at work in human hearts. The sermon title is, “A Rushing Mighty Wind,” and I believe this may be the most important sermon in this series. My experience in both my life and as your pastor is that many of us live Spirit-deficient lives. This weekend we’ll invite the Spirit to fill us anew.
This week Saint Paul School of Theology began their fall semester with 135 students who are preparing for ministry. As you know, Saint Paul’s Kansas City campus is located in building C at Resurrection’s Leawood campus. We collaborate together in helping to “educate passionate leaders to make disciples, renew churches and transform the world.” Would you like more information about Saint Paul? Here’s the link.
Is God calling you to full time ministry? We have a special luncheon planned for September 27 at 12:30 pm for Resurrection members who are considering a call to full time ministry. We’ll have persons from the seminary present and some of our pastors will be there to talk about ministry. Here’s the link for more information.
Do you struggle with depression or anxiety, or know someone who does? We offer a terrific group on Thursday nights called Live Well that offers great class content and caring leadership for those who are looking for support and concrete practices that have helped many people in their battle with anxiety or depression. 90% of Live Well participants have reported a reduction in their symptoms as a result of the class. We also have support for family members. The class starts on Thursday, September 10 and runs from 6:30 to 8 pm for eight weeks. If you are interested please register. Here’s the link for more information or to register. I’m grateful that our church offers this group. As with all of our ministries, it is open to anyone regardless of whether they attend Resurrection for worship.
Our annual fall blood drive at the Leawood campus is being held on Monday and Tuesday, August 31 and September 1. We’re hoping this is an “Out of the Park Homerun” to keep blood supplies at a safe level going into Labor Day. Sign up after worship this weekend or online at this link.
This weekend we’ll have 60 new parking spaces ready for use on the south side of the Leawood campus, and we’ll open another 360 spaces next week! The rain had delayed these parking lots, they were meant to be open several weeks ago. Each week big things are happening on the building front. This week water, sewer and electric lines will be run throughout the new narthex, elevator shafts will be poured, parking lots will receive their base coat, sidewalks and curbs are being poured and structural steel is going up.
Just a reminder. Next month is the half-way point in the three year 10,000 Reasons capital campaign. Over 1,000 households have already paid their pledge in full. Thank you!!! Most of the rest are on track or ahead of schedule. Some are a bit behind or have not started to fulfill their pledge. The blessing so far is that we’ve not had to borrow anything from the bank to date, and assuming most of us stay on track, we won’t borrow any from our construction loan until next Spring! But every dollar we don’t receive will impact the project. Thank you to all who are investing in this new tool for ministry. It is exciting!
Finally, this week our staff has been preparing for our annual Leadership Institute. October 1 and 2 we’ll host 2,000 pastors and church leaders from across the country, seeking to inspire, encourage and equip them for vital ministry in their churches. My talks will be focused on what we learn about leadership from the Apostle Paul, tied into my new book, The Call: The Life and Message of the Apostle Paul.We have 80 workshops and amazing worship planned. Do you know a pastor or church leaders in another congregation who would benefit from our Leadership Institute? Invite them to join us. Here’s the link.
Invite a friend to join you this weekend in worship! If you’ll be out of town, join us online at 10:45 or 5:00 on Sunday at www.rezonline.org.
In Christ’s love,
Adam Hamilton
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
913.897.0120
www.cor.org
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