Friday, August 19, 2016Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton of The United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 19 August 2016
Dear Resurrection Family,
Today, in addition to a staff meeting and a wedding rehearsal, I’m finishing this weekend’s sermon on Moses. Moses spent 40 years as a fugitive in the Sinai. At the age of 80 he stumbled upon a bush that was burning, and there God spoke to him and called him to return to Egypt to liberate the Israelite slaves. Moses proceeds to argue with God, making excuses climaxing in his cry, “Lord, please send someone else!” I love this text! It is how all of us feel at times!
In February of this year I was in southern Sinai where this story is believed to have taken place. There, in the midst of the desert, surrounded by rugged, barren mountains, is the oldest continuously used monastery in the world. (By the way, the oldest and most important complete manuscript of the Bible, hand copied in Greek, was found in the library at this monastery – it dates back to the 300’s and is called Codex Sinaiticus – to find out more about it and why it is so important click here). I’m going to take you to this monastery this weekend during the sermon – it is commonly called St. Catherine’s Monastery. You’ll see the beauty of this place and why it is that Moses, Elijah and countless others came to this area to meet God. So,we’ll travel to the Sinai, and we’ll look at one of the most important texts in all the Bible to see how it speaks to each of us today. Don’t miss worship this weekend!
By the way, this next Thursday night is our fall kick-off for Care Night. Former Kansas City Chief, and current Chiefs’ announcer, Kendall Gammon will share his experience of building emotional strength through adversity. Kendall is a great guy and member of Resurrection and I know you’ll enjoy hearing from him! The evening concludes with an open house where you can learn about the various programs we offer or connect with our pastors. I’m so grateful and proud of our Care Night and the way you, as a church, seek to provide care for people across the city – we have members and visitors from all campuses and people who’ve never been to Resurrection, who come to find healing, hope, encouragement and friendship at Care Night. For more information click on this link,www.cor.org/carenight.
On Tuesday, August 30, Pastor Emanuel Cleaver III and I are co-leading an event at St. James UMC, A Forum on the Racial Divide in Kansas City. The event is from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. We’ll have a presentation on the history of Kansas City as it relates to race, then Dr. Cleaver and I will engage in a conversation about race in the Kansas City area – we both grew up here. We’ll then invite Resurrection members and St. James members to share your own experiences. We’ll look at what role we as Christians play in tearing down walls and building bridges related to race in our city. We’ll conclude with delicious Sheridan’s custard. We’re arranging buses from Resurrection as St. James has limited parking. I believe this is a very important conversation and I’d like to ask as many of you to join me as possible. Click here to sign up. If you are a leader at Resurrection, please plan to attend.
Are you interested in becoming a member of the Church of the Resurrection? Your next opportunity to join is next Sunday, August 28, at 2 pm in the Student Center. You’ll have a chance to get to meet our pastors, to find out more about the church and its ministry, and I’ll share with you what it means to be a member of the church. This is an inspiring gathering that concludes at 3:45 pm with a brief joining service. Click here to sign up and also to request childcare.
We received word this week that 1,700 health care kits you packed earlier this year have been sent by Heart to Heart to Louisiana to aid in flood relief. Tomorrow, from noon to 2 pm, Heart to Heart is looking for additional help in packing more care kits at their Lenexa warehouse (9650 Dice Lane). Wear closed toed shoes and bring a water bottle. You can register here.
Our Disaster Response team has been looking at how our congregation can best be involved to help in Louisiana. We’ll look at sending teams down to help after the first responders have done their work. In the meantime, you can make financial contributions at cor.org/giveonline. (Under "giving type" arrow down and choose disaster response.) Our disaster response team will work to develop a strategy for how we can best support the recovery efforts taking place in the coming months in Louisiana and we'll share details about work teams in the next couple of weeks. You can find updates on ourDisaster Response web page.
This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of Resurrection West! I’m so grateful and proud of the work of those pioneers in our church who helped launch the Resurrection West campus. The campus is currently constructing a new children’s wing – they currently have 300 children they try to accommodate in the basement on Sundays for children’s programming. The first weekend in the new building (which includes classrooms, nurseries, narthex, bookstore and coffee area) will be Sunday, November 27th. Congratulations, Resurrection West, on ten amazing years in ministry! There are approximately 1,500 members and regular attenders who call Church of the Resurrection West their church home with an average of over 1,100 children, youth and adults attending each weekend.
I want to give a shout out to our Congregational Care Ministry. This team of amazing volunteer ministers – over 150 of them total – work alongside our pastors as non-paid associates giving their time to care for members of our congregation. They visit the hospitals, spend time with persons who need a listening ear, follow-up on prayer requests, and provide support in a host of other ways for members of our congregation. Ask any of them how they feel about this ministry and they’ll tell you that this is one of the most rewarding things they’ve done in service to God and others. Each fall we invite our congregation members to consider answering the call to join the congregational care ministry team. Are you interested in more information? Click here for the application form or to learn more about the ministry. Deadline for applications is September 8.
On Monday of this week I flew out to Pasadena for the day to see the progress on the Leawood stained glass window. Judson Studios has 50 of the 161 panels completed and will begin shipping these in the next few weeks to begin installation on September 19. While they would like to keep the face of Christ under wraps until dedication weekend, I can show you the feet of Christ, and the completed face of Mary the mother of Jesus. Remember, the window is made up of fused glass. Each of the 5,000 pieces is itself a piece of art, fusing three to four pieces of glass with glass frit to create a unique element through which light passes to tell the overarching story of scripture, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. To see the feet of Christ and ten of the other panels Judson is currently working on, click on the window image below or go to future.cor.org.
I’m heading into a meeting. I look forward to taking you to the Sinai this weekend in worship!
Adam Hamilton
Click on the Stained Glass Window image below for a sneak peek at some of the work in process.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Today, in addition to a staff meeting and a wedding rehearsal, I’m finishing this weekend’s sermon on Moses. Moses spent 40 years as a fugitive in the Sinai. At the age of 80 he stumbled upon a bush that was burning, and there God spoke to him and called him to return to Egypt to liberate the Israelite slaves. Moses proceeds to argue with God, making excuses climaxing in his cry, “Lord, please send someone else!” I love this text! It is how all of us feel at times!
In February of this year I was in southern Sinai where this story is believed to have taken place. There, in the midst of the desert, surrounded by rugged, barren mountains, is the oldest continuously used monastery in the world. (By the way, the oldest and most important complete manuscript of the Bible, hand copied in Greek, was found in the library at this monastery – it dates back to the 300’s and is called Codex Sinaiticus – to find out more about it and why it is so important click here). I’m going to take you to this monastery this weekend during the sermon – it is commonly called St. Catherine’s Monastery. You’ll see the beauty of this place and why it is that Moses, Elijah and countless others came to this area to meet God. So,we’ll travel to the Sinai, and we’ll look at one of the most important texts in all the Bible to see how it speaks to each of us today. Don’t miss worship this weekend!
By the way, this next Thursday night is our fall kick-off for Care Night. Former Kansas City Chief, and current Chiefs’ announcer, Kendall Gammon will share his experience of building emotional strength through adversity. Kendall is a great guy and member of Resurrection and I know you’ll enjoy hearing from him! The evening concludes with an open house where you can learn about the various programs we offer or connect with our pastors. I’m so grateful and proud of our Care Night and the way you, as a church, seek to provide care for people across the city – we have members and visitors from all campuses and people who’ve never been to Resurrection, who come to find healing, hope, encouragement and friendship at Care Night. For more information click on this link,www.cor.org/carenight.
On Tuesday, August 30, Pastor Emanuel Cleaver III and I are co-leading an event at St. James UMC, A Forum on the Racial Divide in Kansas City. The event is from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. We’ll have a presentation on the history of Kansas City as it relates to race, then Dr. Cleaver and I will engage in a conversation about race in the Kansas City area – we both grew up here. We’ll then invite Resurrection members and St. James members to share your own experiences. We’ll look at what role we as Christians play in tearing down walls and building bridges related to race in our city. We’ll conclude with delicious Sheridan’s custard. We’re arranging buses from Resurrection as St. James has limited parking. I believe this is a very important conversation and I’d like to ask as many of you to join me as possible. Click here to sign up. If you are a leader at Resurrection, please plan to attend.
Are you interested in becoming a member of the Church of the Resurrection? Your next opportunity to join is next Sunday, August 28, at 2 pm in the Student Center. You’ll have a chance to get to meet our pastors, to find out more about the church and its ministry, and I’ll share with you what it means to be a member of the church. This is an inspiring gathering that concludes at 3:45 pm with a brief joining service. Click here to sign up and also to request childcare.
We received word this week that 1,700 health care kits you packed earlier this year have been sent by Heart to Heart to Louisiana to aid in flood relief. Tomorrow, from noon to 2 pm, Heart to Heart is looking for additional help in packing more care kits at their Lenexa warehouse (9650 Dice Lane). Wear closed toed shoes and bring a water bottle. You can register here.
Our Disaster Response team has been looking at how our congregation can best be involved to help in Louisiana. We’ll look at sending teams down to help after the first responders have done their work. In the meantime, you can make financial contributions at cor.org/giveonline. (Under "giving type" arrow down and choose disaster response.) Our disaster response team will work to develop a strategy for how we can best support the recovery efforts taking place in the coming months in Louisiana and we'll share details about work teams in the next couple of weeks. You can find updates on ourDisaster Response web page.
This weekend marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of Resurrection West! I’m so grateful and proud of the work of those pioneers in our church who helped launch the Resurrection West campus. The campus is currently constructing a new children’s wing – they currently have 300 children they try to accommodate in the basement on Sundays for children’s programming. The first weekend in the new building (which includes classrooms, nurseries, narthex, bookstore and coffee area) will be Sunday, November 27th. Congratulations, Resurrection West, on ten amazing years in ministry! There are approximately 1,500 members and regular attenders who call Church of the Resurrection West their church home with an average of over 1,100 children, youth and adults attending each weekend.
I want to give a shout out to our Congregational Care Ministry. This team of amazing volunteer ministers – over 150 of them total – work alongside our pastors as non-paid associates giving their time to care for members of our congregation. They visit the hospitals, spend time with persons who need a listening ear, follow-up on prayer requests, and provide support in a host of other ways for members of our congregation. Ask any of them how they feel about this ministry and they’ll tell you that this is one of the most rewarding things they’ve done in service to God and others. Each fall we invite our congregation members to consider answering the call to join the congregational care ministry team. Are you interested in more information? Click here for the application form or to learn more about the ministry. Deadline for applications is September 8.
On Monday of this week I flew out to Pasadena for the day to see the progress on the Leawood stained glass window. Judson Studios has 50 of the 161 panels completed and will begin shipping these in the next few weeks to begin installation on September 19. While they would like to keep the face of Christ under wraps until dedication weekend, I can show you the feet of Christ, and the completed face of Mary the mother of Jesus. Remember, the window is made up of fused glass. Each of the 5,000 pieces is itself a piece of art, fusing three to four pieces of glass with glass frit to create a unique element through which light passes to tell the overarching story of scripture, from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. To see the feet of Christ and ten of the other panels Judson is currently working on, click on the window image below or go to future.cor.org.
I’m heading into a meeting. I look forward to taking you to the Sinai this weekend in worship!
Adam Hamilton
Click on the Stained Glass Window image below for a sneak peek at some of the work in process.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
www.cor.org
-------
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment