Happy New Year's Day 2016, Friday, 1 January 2016Dear Resurrection Family,
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I love New Year’s Day as it marks a day of new beginnings and holds new possibilities and opportunities in our lives and in our church. By the end of this year our Leawood sanctuary will be largely completed, though the stained glass, sound, lighting and video systems will still be being tuned. Resurrection West should have their new children’s wing open. Downtown will hopefully be making progress on the new building and Blue Springs has some renovations they hope to embark upon. But the buildings are only tools for the really exciting things that will be happening in ministry and mission.
As you begin the new year I want to encourage you to be in worship either in person or online. This year many of you “upped your game” when it came to worship attendance. We’ll be recognizing those who were in worship 90% of the time or more in 2015 in a few weeks. This is a great time to start off with perfect attendance. Glen Shoup is preaching for me at Leawood (I’ll be in attendance online) which has allowed me to spend the days I would have been writing this weekend’s sermon focused on reading and preparing for our new sermon series on “The Issues that Divide.” The new series starts January 9/10. Having just preached through the Christmas and infancy stories of Jesus, Glen will focus on the one story we have from Jesus’ childhood – the story of his being left behind in Jerusalem when he was 12. He’s got a great message planned.
I want to thank all of you who volunteered and served at our Christmas Eve candlelight services. Some of you volunteered at all 8 sanctuary services at Leawood. Thank you to all who served in the parking lots – including my Mom who worked the parking lots at some of the services on Christmas Eve! The services were beautiful. Many of you came at alternative times so that we were able to make room for everyone who wanted to attend at all campuses. We had a total of 34,325 people at all campuses, a new record, up about 800 from last year. Again, thank you to all who made this possible.
I also want to express my appreciation for all of you who gave of your time and resources to bless others through our Joy in Service – you touched thousands of people offering hope, blessings and kindness. I’m so proud of you.
What are you doing to grow in your faith in 2016? The New Year is a great time to take a step forward in growing in your faith. We have studies, groups and serving opportunities kicking off at all of our campuses. At Resurrection Leawood, Tuesdays are Grow Night, with more than 20 opportunities to select from. Take a look and click on the links to find out more about some of them:
Cultivate – Learn how to be comfortable having conversations about faith - Jan. 5-19, 6:30pm, B206
Meet Your Bible: Introduction – Jan. 5–19, 6:30pm, B214
Methods of Prayer – Jan. 5–26, 6:30pm, B207
Family Serve Opportunity (5 and up accompanied by adult) – Help prepare Souper Bowl Food Drive meal bags for distribution to all Resurrection campuses, Jan. 12, 7-8:30 pm, Narthex.
Another way to enrich your spiritual life is by reading scripture passages and reflecting on questions that go along with the sermon messages each week. We invite you to make a REZolution to faithfully study the Bible in 2016, and use the GPS as your guide. Download the full version GPS at cor.org/gps and sign up here for daily emails featuring inspirational reflections written by Resurrection staff and volunteers. I start my day every morning by reading the GPS as it comes to me on my phone. By the way, come Lent, as a congregation, we’ll be reading the Gospel of John together.
Have you thought about going on an international mission trip this year?We’ve got several trips leaving over Spring Break so that family members can go together (must be 16). We’ve got family trips going to Haiti and Jamaica and a men’s trip going to Honduras. You’ve got to sign up by January 6. Click on this link to find out more.
One last thing – as a part of the upcoming sermon series I’ll be talking with people on both sides of the issues that are considered by Resurrection members to be among the most important, or most divisive, in the upcoming election. You can watch the sermon series promo here. My aim will not be to tell you the “Christian” perspective on each issue, but instead to help us understand each side of the issue and to find a way to bring our faith to bear not only as we think about the issues, but as we seek to build bridges and tear down walls during this election year. I’ll be looking for experts on both sides of these issues. If you have any suggestions of people we might want to talk to, please e-mail my assistant, Sue Thompson, at sue.thompson@cor.org. Here are the issues we’ll be covering:
- Health Care
- Immigration
- Radical Islam
- Guns and Gun Control
I’m excited as I think about the various plans at the church in the year ahead, and as I think about all God has in store for your lives, and for my life as we begin 2016!
In Christ’s Love,
Adam Hamilton
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
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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