Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton at The Resurrection United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 6 November 2015

Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton at The Resurrection United Methodist Church in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 6 November 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
Dear Resurrection Family,
Can you think of any songs about money? Money Can’t Buy Me Love by the Beatles, Money by Pink Floyd or George Harrison’s Got My Mind Set on You with its refrain, “It’s gonna to take money, a whole lotta spending money, it’s gonna take plenty of money, to do it right child.” Last week a friend shared with me his favorite “lake song,” – a song about money called “Buy Me a Boat.” It became the surprise hit of the year on the country charts. Anyone who ever goes to the lake, or has dreamt of owning a boat, (or if you like pick-up trucks, Yeti coolers or Coors light) will appreciate the song.
This weekend we’ll kick-off a new series of sermons called, Your Money & Your Life. Money is a huge part of life, without enough, or poorly handled, it can leave us stressed, make us sick, lead to divorce and find us in prison. But rightly handled it can sustain us, empower us and enhance our lives. I’ll preach at Leawood and each of our campus pastors will preach at their campuses.
At Leawood this weekend we’ll learn two common mistakes we make when it comes to money, three wise financial practices (things many Millennials already do!) that give life, and we’ll look at what Chris Janson and his song, Buy Me a Boat, might teach us about money and our lives. Undergirding all of this will be lessons from scripture on how we handle our money. It’s going to be very practical and really important. (If you’d like to see the video for Buy Me a Boat click here – I’ll show part of the video this weekend in my sermon).
Don’t miss church this weekend! By the way, we’ll also have tools and helps available at tables in the narthex and links to online tools to help you manage your money in a way that is life-giving.
This weekend we’ll honor our vets in worship. If you can still fit into your uniform, wear it! Sunday night we have a special dinner for Resurrection’s veterans – it’s free but you must register. Click here to register. We have a robust ministry at Resurrection for our veterans called RezVets. Click here to find out more about it.
I want to give you an update on how our church will be engaging in the Syrian Refugee Crisis. A team of people have been looking at ways we can help and what is needed. Here’s what we found: At the current time there are no plans for resettling Syrian refugees in Kansas City – this is a State Department decision as I understand it. We are looking into connecting with local agencies who play a key role in resettling refugees from other countries. We are also looking at how we can support the efforts of the United Methodist Committee on Relief and our churches in Europe who are currently actively involved in helping refugees settle; more information will follow.
Are you interested in going with me to retrace the steps of Jesus in the Holy Land this coming February? We’ve had a few spots open up. Some have asked if it is safe to travel there with the conflict we’ve heard about on the news. A friend of mine just returned from the Holy Land this week with members of his church – they had an amazing time. Tour groups simply avoid areas where there has been conflict. Both the Palestinians and Israelis have an interest in protecting tourism as both sides benefit from the groups coming over. I’ve been many times when there were news stories about things happening in the Holy Land but never felt our people were at risk.
I believe every Christian should have on their “bucket list” a trip to the Holy Land to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Our trip includes roundtrip airfare, breakfast and supper each day, all entry fees, guides, tour busses and we stay in some of the best hotels in the Holy Land. We’re taking three busses of people. It will be unlike any other Holy Land trip you could take. The trip is February 13-22, 2016 and the cost is $3,398 per person based upon double occupancy. If you are interested in joining me on this trip please contact Sue Thompson at sue.thompson@cor.org and she can provide you the link to register. We only have a very limited number of spots so contact her today.
Finally, I’d like to invite your help. Next week our Church Council is having our annual strategic planning retreat. Typically, I take several days each year for a sermon planning retreat to pray, listen and to plan our sermon series for the next two years. This year I’m inviting our Church Council to be a part of that planning and brainstorming. In preparation for the retreat next week, I’d like to invite your input and ideas for Resurrection’s sermons in the next two years.Click here to take the survey. You might just find that your idea becomes a six-week sermon series in the years ahead. Please click here and take a few minutes to respond to the questions. Church Council will join me in looking over all of the responses, listening for the Spirit, as we consider the upcoming sermons for 2016 and 2017.
I’m looking forward to seeing you in worship this weekend!
Adam
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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