Reverend Adam Hamilton – Friday, 24 January 2014 “Dear
Resurrection Family”
Tonight is a HUGE evening for the church and I want to encourage
you to be here for our annual All Church Gathering. It will be a great Friday
night, but most importantly, you will be helping to make a very important
decision about our future as we vote on whether to move forward with our
building plans.
The dinner is sold out (we've got 900 reservations for supper
and that's all we can accommodate for the meal) but just grab a bite before you
come and arrive around 5:45 if you can – that will give you 15 minutes to look
at the proposed sanctuary model – a model we're unveiling tonight.
The formal meeting starts promptly at 6. We'll begin with a
short meeting to review and vote on the annual budget, recommending six persons
for ordained ministry, we'll vote on our officers for the year and you'll
review my compensation. We'll also celebrate the exciting things that have
happened in the last year. Following this we'll turn our attention to the questions
related to the proposed Leawood buildings, Why? What? When? and How much? We'll
share the latest renderings and building details. You'll vote on the building
by written ballot, and we'll announce the results before you leave. This is a
historic night and it will have a significant impact on the future of our
congregation whichever direction the vote turns out.
This weekend my sermon will be focused on The Meaning of
Christ's Death. I've often been asked questions like, "I don't understand
how Jesus' death 2,000 years ago saves me, today, from sin?" or "Why
would God need Jesus to die a horrible death in order to forgive sin? Can't God
just forgive sin?" or simply, "What is the significance of Jesus'
death?" When we speak about Jesus' death we often use the word, Atonement.
Throughout the history of the church there have been multiple theories of the
atonement – ideas of precisely how Jesus' death saves humanity. Even within the
New Testament there are multiple metaphors used to explain the significance of
Jesus' death. This weekend the sermon will be focused on making sense of the
meaning of Christ's death. This is so central to the Christian faith, I want to
encourage each of you to join us in person or online.
This Sunday we have our first Coffee with the Pastors of 2014.
If you have been thinking about joining the Church of the Resurrection, plan to
join me for coffee on Sunday – this is how persons join our church. There will
likely be 100 people in attendance, maybe more, and we begin right at 2 pm in
the Student Center. We'll share a bit of the church's story, we'll talk about
who we are as Methodist Christians, we'll discuss the expectations of members,
you'll meet your congregational care pastors, and then, at 3:30, for those who
are ready to join, we'll have a brief joining ceremony at which time you'll
become official members of the church. We'll be done before 4. Visitors, I hope
to see you at Coffee!
This weekend we'll also kick off our annual Souper Bowl Food
Drive. Resurrection's Hunger Ministry supports food pantries throughout the
community, providing food for more than 25,000 people each year. Non-perishable
food donations can be dropped off at the church through Feb. 2. See a list of
items needed online. Cash donations accepted also. Learn about more ways to
serve in the Hunger Ministry.
Our annual women's conference, Inspired for Life, is the weekend
of February 7 and 8. This is an awesome opportunity to make new friends, to
grow in your faith and to be inspired for life! For more information or to sign
up, click on this link.
You may know that we're changing up how we provide
congregational care at Resurrection. Up to this point we've assigned you a
pastor based upon the first letter of your last name. What this often meant was
that the pastor assigned to you was one you may have never seen before, and
likewise their Congregational Care Ministers (CCMs). We're changing this so
that we provide care based upon the primary worship service you attend (we know
you move around, but most of you have one service you worship at most
frequently). This means that the pastors who assist with the service you most
often attend, who serve you communion and greet you after worship, will also be
the pastors who provide care for you. You'll see your CCMs in worship as well.
For those who have relationships with their current pastor, nothing changes.
You are welcome to continue to connect with them; but going forward our aim is
for our pastors to get to know you better, for you to get to know your pastors
better and ultimately to provide the highest quality of pastoral care possible
to every one of you.
This last weekend we commissioned an amazing new group of
Congregational Care Ministers who are excited about providing care,
encouragement, prayer and simply being someone you can talk to when you need a
listening ear. To request a visit with a Congregational Care Minister, simply
call the church office at 913-897-1020. If you are interested in becoming a
Congregational Care Minister, we have a seminar coming up April 3-5. You can
get more information by clicking on this link.
Finally, I've posted a couple of articles on my blog in the last
week in preparation for Valentine's Day – articles on strengthening your
marriage and a Valentine's challenge. Click here to visit my blog and take a
look at the top two posts.
Don't miss tonight's discussion, discernment and vote, and join
us in worship for this weekend's message on the Meaning of Christ's Death.
Blessings!
Adam Hamilton
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United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, KS 66224 United States
(913)897-0120
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