Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 16 September 2016

Weekly eNote from Senior Pastor Adam Hamilton of The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, United States for Friday, 16 September 2016
Friday, September 16, 2016
Dear Resurrection Family,
I hope you are doing well today. As you read this note the first 51 panels of the Resurrection stained glass window at the Leawood campus are being unloaded and prepared for installation next week. Next weekend, you’ll have a chance to see those portions that have been installed following worship at each service at Leawood, when worshipers will be able to enter the new sanctuary and sign their names and prayers on the floor before the final layer of flooring goes in. Those at other campuses are welcome to come to sign – there are plenty of times that will allow you to worship at your campus and still join us for the signing.
Do you ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed or burned out? Do you ever face criticism that leaves you ready to quit? Are you ever paralyzed by fear? This weekend in worship we’ll see how Moses had times when he felt each of these things during the 40-year period in which he led the Israelites through the wilderness. These stories are among the most compelling and relevant in the entire Old Testament and they will speak to, and encourage you as you combat burnout, address criticism and press through fear. These stories relate to everyone, but they are particularly pertinent to those of you who are leaders (this includes moms!).
This is also Matthew’s Ministry weekend when Matthew’s Ministry participants will be assisting in worship. The SonFlower Bakers – our job program for persons with special needs – will be handing out cookies after each service at the Leawood campus. We currently have 300 participants in our various Matthew’s Ministry programs at all four campuses, and over 400 volunteers in the program. To find out more about Matthew’s Ministry click here.
Did you know that there are over 150,000 people in the greater Kansas City area who need some kind of food support, a majority of whom are children? You make a difference through our backpacks program in schools, through our partnerships with various homeless shelters, and you have a huge impact through our annual food drives. This weekend we kick off our fall Neighborhood Food Drive. This is a great way to connect with your neighbors. After worship this weekend pick up a few bags to deliver to your closest neighbors, inviting them to join you in helping to address hunger in Kansas City. The bags have a list of items needed by Kansas City area food pantries. You stop back by a few days later to pick up the bags. Your neighbors will feel blessed to be a part of this and you’ll be blessed because you not only made a connection with your neighbors (remember our neighboring sermon series this summer) but you also worked with them to make a difference in our city. Click here to find out more about the food drive, or to learn of other ways you can serve in our hunger ministry.
I want to mention one final time that we’re still in need of volunteers to help with our annual Leadership Institute being held September 28-30. We have a great event planned for the 1,800+ leaders coming from across the country (and a few from other parts of the world). I’ll teach on Leadership Lessons we learn from Moses during the plenary sessions. We also have Haydn Shaw, authorof Generational IQ: Christianity Isn’t Dying, Millennials Aren’t the Problem and the Future is Bright, speaking in one of the sessions, Bishop Will Willimon preaching, and 80 amazing workshops planned. But, this amazing event is only possible because of our volunteers who give their time to help lead and run the Institute. If you are looking for a meaningful opportunity to bless other pastors and church leaders, click here to sign up!
Are you under 35? Did you know that Resurrection has a policy that one-third of all of our leadership positions are reserved for those under 35? Your vantage point is important in shaping our ministry. Serving on a leadership team is a chance to make new friends while influencing and impacting the ministry of our church. Requirements for most of these positions include being a member of the church for at least two years before joining a team, being committed to our purpose and vision and seeking to be a committed follower of Jesus Christ. If you, or someone you know, is interested in knowing more about the leadership process, contact Jim Oliver, our Lay Leader at nominations@cor.org. If you are willing to be personally considered for leadership by our nominations team, or if you know someone you’d like to nominate, click here. If you are looking at it on your web browser, the various leadership teams and committees are listed on the left side of the page.
Finally, next Monday kicks off our next session of Alpha. Alpha is a short course on the Christian faith. The new sessions are held on Monday nights from 6:30 to 8:30 pm or on Wednesday mornings from9:30 to 11:30 am. Dinner is provided on Monday nights and breakfaston Wednesday mornings. Alpha is a great way to meet new people, wrestle with questions of faith and to gain a deeper understanding of the Christian gospel. Click here to register.
I’d end by reminding you of our purpose at Resurrection. We began this church 26 years ago October 7 with the driving passion of building a Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians. A Christian community is a fellowship of people who are seeking to know, love and serve Jesus Christ, who worship together, care for one another and welcome people with Christ’s love. Our focus was not on convincing people to leave other churches to join ours, but to reach non-religious and nominally religious people – more than half of the people who live in Kansas City fall into this category. Jesus spent most of his time reaching out to those who were non-religious and nominally religious in his day, and we hoped to help both Christians and those who were new to faith to become deeply committed in their faith – to be theologically and biblically informed, spiritually transformed and to daily offer themselves in service to Christ in the world. This is still our mission. Everything that we do somehow ties back to these three things. We also share a vision of being used by God to change lives, transform communities and to help strengthen and renew other churches and church leaders. I love the sign that hangs over the exit from the Wesley Chapel, donated and installed by one of our members in 1994 – “Let us never forget our purpose.” I wanted to end today’s e-note with a simple reminder of why we’re here.
I love you, Church of the Resurrection, and am grateful for God’s work in you and through you to make our world look a bit more like the kingdom Jesus preached.
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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