Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 12 August 2016

Friday, August 12, 2016Weekly eNote from  Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 12 August 2016Dear Resurrection Family,
This week, and into early next, most of the children in our congregation at our various campuses will have, or already have, returned to school. This weekend is our fall kick-off for children and youth in Sunday School - a fun and exciting weekend. Our kids will move up a grade and meet their new Sunday School teachers. We’ll have special activities in Sunday School, and we’ll also be spending time in prayer this weekend for all of our children, teachers and administrators at each campus. We have a special gift at the end of worship for parents, grandparents and teachers - a “prayer for our children” meant to be placed on your refrigerator to help you pray for the children entrusted to your care.
I’m back in the pulpit for our fall launch, and we’ll kick off our new sermon series on the story of Moses. His is THE most important story of the Old Testament through which we learn about God and God’s will for our lives. Every generation finds this story speaks to them in fresh ways. This weekend I’ll take you to the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza (the only one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world still standing) and to the famous Karnak Temple at Luxor, the largest temple complex in the world, built prior to and during the time of Moses. These shed light on the Moses story. I’ll also take you to see a stretch of the Nile, likely the place the biblical story says that the infant Moses was placed in a basket among the reeds by his mother in the hope that he would be found and adopted by one of Pharaoh’s daughters.
Here’s the video promo for the sermon series. I’d love for you to copy this link and share it with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, inviting them to church: https://vimeo.com/177806371. I believe this will be a very interesting, inspiring and relevant series of messages that you and your friends won’t want to miss. I hope to see you in worship this weekend!
Twenty-six years ago we started this church with a passion for reaching people who were non-religious or nominally religious and helping them to see how the Christian gospel both makes sense intellectually and how it speaks to the deepest needs and longings of the human heart. We felt God was calling us to be a church that reaches out to, welcomes and ministers with those who are not currently involved in a church family. The number of non-religious and nominally religious people has only increased in our city since we began. The key to fulfilling the mission God has given us is in large part your willingness to live your faith, and to invite others to join you on this journey.
For more than twenty years Resurrection has dreamt of tearing down walls and building bridges in our city to address the racial divide. To that end, I’d like to invite you to a special event coming up onTuesday, August 30 - a Forum on the Racial Divide in Kansas City. This will be a conversation led by Pastor Emanuel Cleaver III of St. James UMC and myself, but it will also be a conversation between members of our two congregations. The event will take place at St. James UMC from 6:30 to 8:00 pm with dessert to follow. I’d like to have at least 300 people attending from Resurrection including most of our leaders. This will be an interactive, informative and I believe helpful event. Click here to let me know of your plans to attend and if you’d be interested in riding the bus from the Resurrection parking lot.
Next Monday morning I’ll fly out for an overnight trip to Judson Studios in Pasadena, California. They are the artists who have designed and are now fabricating our stained glass window for the new Leawood sanctuary. The focus of the stained glass window is the face of Christ, and they have just assembled what they believe will be the final version of this important panel. They also have over half of the other panels finished. I’m heading out to see these before they begin shipping these panels to Kansas City in the next few weeks. They are going to begin installation around Labor Day.
Today I’m with 850 others in our sanctuary participating in theWillow Creek Global Leadership Summit. It started yesterday and it has been terrific. About half of the participants are Resurrection members. Many of them invited their friends, business associates or employees to participating in this inspiring continuing education event. We’ve heard, via live simulcast from Chicago, from some remarkable leaders - it’s been awesome.
Among the things we were encouraged to think about yesterday was our legacy - what kind of legacy we hope to leave behind. This is clearly done through our investment in the lives of people and how we live. It is also done with our resources when we die. We heard from Melinda Gates from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation about the legacy they hope to leave behind. But you don’t have to be a billionaire to do this. LaVon and I have set aside a portion of our estate, when we die, to support projects we believe in, largely through the church’s foundation.
I’d like to invite you to join me next Tuesday night for a dessert and conversation about our legacy and the church’s foundation. It is free and will be held at the Leawood campus, room B206 at 6:30 pm. Each participant will receive a free copy of the book, At the Crossroads - Leadership Lessons for the Second Half of Life. I’m also planning on sharing with all who attend pictures of the stained glass window I will have snapped the day before. Please join me for dessert, a meaningful conversation about your legacy and the work of the church’s foundation, and a chance to see the progress on the stained glass window. Click here, to make your reservation beforemidnight tonight so that we have enough dessert.
Our Security Team has asked me to remind you that we all need to be conscious of what we leave in our cars when parking in public places - even at church. Purses, computers and other valuables that are left in plain sight make you a target for thieves. There have been a number of thefts from cars in our community recently and Resurrection is not immune. Our security team monitors our buildings and parking lots, and we have off-duty Leawood police officers who patrol our lots on Sunday mornings when they are not directing traffic, but the reality is that with thousands of cars in and out of our lots each weekend, like any large facility, we are vulnerable.
Each weekend more than 800 KiDS take part in KiDSCOR children’s programming for ages birth - 5th grade. With the beginning of a new school year, KiDSCOR is looking for adult and youth volunteers who would be willing to serve in this ministry. Email kidscor@cor.org.
We also are looking for adult volunteers in our student ministry - Rezlife. You will have an opportunity to connect with students, and help them grow in faith and worship as they lead others. And you will have so much fun impacting the next generation! Whether it’s helping in Student Sunday School, small groups or Confirmation mentors—there’s no experience needed - other than caring about young people growing in their faith! Join us on Wednesday or Sunday. For more information contact Deborah Comstock, Deborah.Comstock@cor.org
I can’t wait to see you in worship this weekend as I take you to Egypt!
In Christ’s Love,
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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