Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton for Friday, 7 October 2016 from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States

Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton for Friday, 7 October 2016 from The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States
Friday, October 7, 2016
Dear Resurrection Family,
Today marks the 26th anniversary of our first worship service at Church of the Resurrection. It was a remarkable first weekend as we worshiped at the McGilley Chapel Funeral Home at 123rd and State Line on that Sunday. Many of the people who were there that day are still active members of the church.
We’ll celebrate our founding from 6:15 to 8:00 tomorrow night (Saturday) at Leawood, with our Fall Festival! Invite your family, friends and neighbors for the fun. Enjoy children's carnival games and we will enjoy a great fireworks show to top off the evening. Bring your blankets and lawn chairs and a picnic meal, or join us for grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Avoid the lines by purchasing your meal tickets online, or you can purchase on site (cash only please). Dinner is $5/per person with a $20 maximum for families. Cotton Candy is 50 cents, plus Poppin Joe’s Kettle Korn and an ice cream truck will offer tasty treats. To pre-order your meals please click here. I look forward to having supper and celebrating with you tomorrow night!
We’re also celebrating our anniversary tomorrow as Resurrection members from all of our campuses take part in Christmas in October. Our members are working on rehabbing and winterizing 29 homes in Kansas City! Thank you to each of you who have signed up to participate!
We have been in prayer this week for all of those impacted by Hurricane Matthew; Haiti, The Bahamas, Cuba and now the east coast of The United States. As you know, we’ve had an important partnership in Haiti since the earthquake in 2010 and many Resurrection members have been there serving, particularly in Petit Goave, which was also one of the hardest hit areas in Haiti. This week we committed an initial sum of $25,000 to Heart to Heart International for the preparation and delivery of 2,500 care kits to be shipped this week to stop the spread of disease. We’re looking for volunteers to help pack these kits tomorrow morning. Know that what you pack tomorrow will be delivered this week to people in need in Haiti.
I’ll tell you more about our disaster response efforts both in Haiti and in the US below. Please take a look below to see how you can help. We’ll be expanding our efforts in Haiti after assessments in the next week.
This weekend we kick off a new three-part sermon series entitled, The Good Life. I’ll be preaching at Leawood, our campus pastors at each campus. The Good Life is synonymous with a flourishing life, a meaningful life, a happy life and a life well lived. We all want this, and everyone from Aristotle to Oprah have offered ideas of how to attain it. During these three weeks we’ll see what Jesus and various scripture writers teach us about the Good Life and how we can experience it. This weekend I’ll tell you abouta guy born without arms and legs and what he taught me about the Good Life.
On Thursday, October 20, beginning at 6:30 pm, at the Leawood Campus we will host, author and radio talk show host Many of you have taken control of your finances through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. Dave and Rachael will talk about ways to take control of your personal finances at this one-night event. They will share the plan that has helped millions of people around the world manage their finances. Starting with the basics such as working, spending, saving and giving, and then moving into more challenging issues including avoiding debt, paying cash for college and battling discontentment. They present a common-sense approach for building your family financial legacy. Seating is limited. Purchase tickets here using discount code COR.
Next weekend in worship is 3rd Grade Bible presentation. Each October, we continue the Methodist tradition of presenting Bibles to our 3rd graders. As their faith family, we are excited to provide Bibles to these children, and our prayer is this gift will help them go deeper in their relationship with God. We will present Bibles at all worship services at the Leawood Campus on Oct. 15 and 16. Register your child to attend the service of your choice here. And if you cannot attend worship on this weekend, please register so we'll know to reserve a Bible for your child.
This Tuesday evening, October 11th, at 7:00 pm in the Leawood Sanctuary, Saint Paul School of Theology will present their annual Wayne E. Drake Peace Lecture. This year’s lecturer is Rev. Dr. Allan Boesak, theologian, humanitarian, author and advocate for social justice. During the 1980s Rev. Boesak worked alongside Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela in South Africa to lead efforts against apartheid and promote reconciliation. He currently serves as the Desmond Tutu Chair of Peace, Global Justice and Reconciliation Studies at Christian Theological Seminary in Indiana. The event is free and open to the public and will be livestreamed here.
For those of you who are pastors of other churches who read this note, I want to let you know that next Thursday, October 13, beginning at 3:00 pm CDT, I’ll be holding a one-hour clergy conference call hosted by Faith in Public Life to discuss how pastors lead, preach and teach on difficult issues. I’ll describe lessons learned from our January-February sermon series, “The Issues that Divide” and things I shared in my book, Confronting the Controversies. Join the conversation – you can register for the call by clicking here.
Here’s a bit more about what’s happening with regard to our hurricane relieve efforts: At this time 350,000 people are listed as being in immediate need of assistance. Beyond the initial devastation of homes, crops and livestock, the long-term dangers of disease and food insecurity this area will require significant recovery and rebuilding efforts for the people of Haiti. Here’s how you can help:
Hygiene Kit packing with Heart to Heart International- Saturday, Oct 8
Heart to Heart International already has their Haitian medical teams mobilized and a few key leaders helicoptering into Haiti to assess damage and needs. At this time, they anticipate a need for at least an additional 3000-5000 hygiene kits beyond what they already have in stock. You are invited to come to The Heart to Heart Hub located at 9650 Dice Lane, Lenexa, KS 66215 on Saturday for either a 9:00am or 10:30am packing time. This is a great serve opportunity for those ages 5 and up! Please sign up here.
Heart to Heart International is looking for a driver with a CDL and a current DOT physical to drive their Mobile Medical Unit to the east coast to respond to Hurricane Matthew. This would be a volunteer opportunity. Heart to Heart will cover food and lodging. The driver would leave Kansas City Friday and drive to Nashville, TN to wait out the storm then would go to a location in South Carolina, Georgia, or Florida where the mobile unit is needed. If interested, please contact Dan Neal atdan.neal@hearttoheart.org or by phone at 913.538.7930.
Before I close I want to mention that yesterday, David Roberts passed away. David was about my age. He and Janet were two of the first ten members of the core group of our church. They helped me make cold calls before we held our first worship service and were there on October 7, 1990. I’ll never forget his singing O Holy Night on Christmas Eve. We’ll celebrate his life a week from tomorrow in the Wesley Chapel. I’m grateful for that initial group of twenty people who gave so much to help this church get off the ground. David was a very special man.
As I think back over the last 26 years since we held our first worship service on October 7, 1990, I am grateful for what God has done in and through this congregation and the privilege of serving as your pastor here. I think about the impact you have had on the world, Church of the Resurrection, and the impact you will have in the decades ahead, and I feel both profound gratitude for the past, and excitement about the future. Thank you for calling this your church home. I look forward to seeing you in worship this weekend!
Adam
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue

Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120

www.cor.org
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