April 28, 2006
Dear Resurrection Family,
As I write this e-mail the Kansas City Symphony is preparing for their concert in our Sanctuary this evening. This is not a part of their pops series which will begin later this year. This is a special concert sponsored by the Leawood Arts Council and hosted by our church. On Resurrection's side, the hosting of this concert was the dream of Tom Leathers who passed away last year. Like many who will be present, I will be thinking of him as the symphony plays. He was a source of great encouragement for me and for this church and he is missed. What follows are a few of the things I thought you would find interesting that are taking place around the church in the coming week:
1. I and Thou Sermon Series on Relationships Begins This Weekend
2. Resurrection to Host National Military Chaplains Conference
3. The Hamilton Hilton to be Auctioned Off!
4. Interested in Including Resurrection in Your Will?
5. 202 Confirmands Professing Faith in Christ This Weekend
6. Future Camp and Retreat Center for Resurrection?
7. Give the Gift of Life - Blood Drive Next Monday and Tuesday
8. Sago Mine: The Final Words and Acts of the Miners
1. I and Thou Sermon Series on Relationships Begins This Weekend
I'm excited to be launching our new sermon series on relationships by focusing on our relationship with God. How do you have a relationship with a God you cannot see? What does this look like? What can we do to grow closer to God and to experience God's presence in our lives? I'll be teaching you some techniques in prayer, as well as pondering with you the nature of our relationship with God. Whether you are new to faith or are a long time Christian I believe this message will be a blessing to you. If you'd like to invite a friend to worship with us this weekend you can do so by e-mail, and you can e-mail them the link to view the promo video for this series on relationships. Simply click on the e-mail link and follow the instructions. To view the video for yourself, simply click on the video link.
2. Resurrection to Host National Military Chaplains Conference
Next Thursday and Friday your church will be hosting the national conference for military chaplains. Chaplains from all branches of the military will be here to be encouraged, to find new ideas for ministry, and to enjoy worship and fellowship together. Last year this event was hosted by Saddleback Church and Pastor Rick Warren. This year they asked if we could host this to offer a mainline approach to ministry. I'll be speaking to them about preaching and leadership and finding hope in discouraging circumstances. Would you be willing to join me in praying for this event? I am honored our church was invited to host this and trust God will use us to be a blessing to the chaplains.
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3. The Hamilton Hilton to be Auctioned Off!
Our annual Golf Tournament and Auction are coming up in two weeks. This is an exciting time - lots of fun and terrific events which raise over $100,000 for our work with Habitat and the Kansas City Food Bank as well as supporting our work in building a new church in Pinetown, South Africa in 2007. The Golf Tournament is nearly sold out, though we are still looking for hole sponsors. And we're still looking for Auction items and folks who will join us for the auction. LaVon and I have decided to donate what we lovingly call the Hamilton Hilton - the pop-up camper we took across America in 1998 when we took Sabbatical leave to study 23 of the leading churches in the U.S. The Camper is a Jayco 1207 model - it has a king and queen sized bed, as well as a double and a twin bed. It includes a refrigerator that runs on electricity or propane, a cooktop, a sink, and air conditioning. We have many wonderful memories in this camper from when our kids were younger. But now it's time to pass it on - it is in good shape, it easily pulls behind most SUV's, and would be terrific for a family, or for a hunter. This is just one of many terrific items that will be up for auction on Friday, May 12 here at the church. For more information about the Golf Tournament or Auction go to the website link.
4. Interested in Including Resurrection in Your Will?
I mentioned on Easter that LaVon and I were preparing our Estate Plan and Will and, as we did, we knew we wanted to make a planned gift to the church to continue the work of reaching people for Christ, transforming our community and renewing the mainline church. Have you considered this yourself? I anticipate the day will come, decades from now, where our foundation will be one of the leading foundations supporting these kind of causes and it will bear fruit for generations to come. If you are interested in finding out more about how to make a planned gift, or simply want to talk to a pastor about this, feel free to contact Pastor Clayton Smith - the Staff Parish Committee brought him to our church this last year in order to develop this important ministry and Clayton would love to visit with you - you'll find him to be a wonderful and caring pastor. To contact Clayton simply e-mail him.
5. 202 Confirmands Professing Faith in Christ This Weekend
As you may know, we offer two confirmation classes each year - they are typically about 100 students each. This year's spring class is double that - our largest ever with 202 students. This is an awesome group of young people. Tonight they will have their Confirmation Retreat here at the church - a very powerful time of worship and commitment. I will lead them in a time in which they are able to personally express their desire to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and then we'll share together in Holy Communion. Please pause and pray for our confirmands at this time - that for those who may not yet have done so, tonight will be a time for them to earnestly commit their lives to Christ. On Sunday afternoon we will formally confirm our youth. After they profess their faith in Christ, each confirmand will be anointed with oil and the pastors will lay their hands on these students and confirm them, inviting the Holy Spirit to fill them. It is a very powerful time of worship. One of the great blessings is to see the number of students who I baptized as infants here in the church and who we presented third grade Bibles to, who are now being confirmed in the church. Confirmation, in addition to being a public profession of faith, is also a right of passage - the Christian equivalent of a Bar Mitzvah - at which time our children are recognized as adults in the eyes of the church.
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6. Future Camp and Retreat Center for Resurrection?
Last week I took a drive to look at a parcel of land, approximately 350 acres, with woods and creek, which could be purchased and developed as a future camp and retreat center for our ministries. The land was within 30 minutes of the church, and was selling for about $5,000 per acre. When I find out about these kind of parcels I try to go look at them. Seven or eight years ago I felt God leading us to develop a vision for having a retreat center and camp that could be used for private prayer retreats, and by the 200 plus different small groups in our congregation, as well as by men's, women's, singles, young adults and children's ministries. At this point we don't have funding for this vision - I raise it up every couple of years simply to see if there are either people who have land that would work for this vision (ideally at least 160 acres, partially wooded, within 30 minutes of the church) that they would consider donating, or if there are people that God might place this vision on their hearts who would have the financial resources to make this vision a reality. If you fall in either of these categories, please drop me an e-mail.
7. Give the Gift of Life - Blood Drive Next Monday and Tuesday
While everything else is way up this season at the church, our blood drive sign-ups are way down! Yet this is such a simple, and tangible way to live our out faith. By means of this we give the gift of life to someone else - people's lives are actually saved by your sacrifice. If you would join me in giving the gift of blood next Monday and Tuesday in our Narthex, please click on the link, (right now before you forget!) and let's live out our faith in this most tangible of ways.
8. Sago Mine: The Final Words and Acts of the Miners
Perhaps you read the story today of the final hours in the Sago Mine. I found the story most compelling (read miner Randal McCloy's account online) - reading the letter the lone surviving miner wrote to the families of those who perished. He noted that before his friends passed away they prayed together, offering the "Sinner's Prayer" - a prayer we'll talk about this weekend in worship. They prayed again before writing letters to their families and then, one by one, they went to sleep.
What would you do if you were in that mine? In what way would your faith and your relationship with God sustain you? What would be your prayer? This weekend in worship we'll focus on how we develop the kind of relationship with God that transforms all our other relationships, and sustains us, even through the valley of the shadow of death. I hope you'll plan to be in worship.
In Christ's Love,
Adam Hamilton