December 23, 2005
Dear Resurrection Family,
Christmas Eve Candlelight Services are upon us! This is such an exciting time here at the Church of the Resurrection. This will likely be my last e-mail of the year. Here's what I'll cover in today's e-mail:
1. Recommendations and Suggestions for Candlelight Services.
2. New Director of Student Ministries Hired!
3. Christmas Day Worship: 10:45 am Only.
4. What Was the Star the Wisemen Saw?
5. From the Cutting Room Floor - Christmas Inspiration.
6. Pray for Us As We Participate in Hurricane Relief Efforts.
7. Looking to Grow Deeper? Don't Miss Dallas Willard Conference January 6 & 7!
1. Recommendations and Suggestions for Candlelight Services.
Trying to decide which Candlelight Service to attend? Here are a few recommendations: Candlelight Christmas Eve begins tonight with services at 6:30 and 8:30 pm. Lance and the band will provide special music. If you would like to avoid the crowds on Christmas Eve or make room for others on Christmas Eve join us tonight! The 8:30 pm service will include Holy Communion;6:30 pm will not. We're expecting larger crowds at 6:30 pm. If you are flexible, join us for the 8:30 pm service.
On Christmas Eve - 3:00 and 5:00 pm have a special focus on children and families; our children's choirs will sing at both services. 3:00 pm will be less crowded than 5:00 pm, which we expect to be overflow seating. For overflow at 5:00 pm, or just to have a more intimate experience, plan to worship in the Wesley Covenant Chapel - beautiful music and candlelight led by Pastors Clayton Smith and Yolanda Villa - the sermon will be on the video screens from our Sanctuary, everything else will be live in the room. You will enjoy these services.
7:00 and 8:45 pm services will feature the full choir and orchestra. 7:00 pm will be full with overflow seating in the Wesley Chapel with Pastors Clayton and Yolanda leading, I will preach in the chapel via video screen; 8:45 pm will be a bit less crowded and we'll offer chapel worship at that hour as well.
11:00 pm will feature the youth choir, orchestra, and Holy Communion. This is the least crowded service of all, and quite beautiful.
My message for the Candlelight Services will include a touch of humor, a message of hope, a reflection on the true gift of Christmas, and an encouragement to "Go ahead and open it!" We'll end each service with the passing of the candlelight and the singing of Silent Night and Joy to the World. Please look for persons who may be new to the church and extend the love and welcome of Christ to them - this may be a night that changes their lives forever.
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2. New Director of Student Ministries Hired!
I am excited to share with you that this week we hired our new Director of Student Ministries. I'll share his name and more about him in the next pastor's e-mail after he has had the opportunity to announce to his congregation that he will join our team. I can tell you he has been working with youth for sixteen years, he is considered one of the top youth ministers in the United Methodist Church, he has led an awesome student ministry in his current church in Florida, and he comes very highly recommended. He will be a tremendous asset to our ministry and is very excited to be a part of our church's staff. He'll join us January 23rd.
We will fly a candidate to Kansas City in two weeks for a final interview for our Director of Middle School Ministries. She brings a wealth of youth ministry experience, fresh ideas, and a love for building a ministry not only to teens but to families;more about her in a couple of weeks.
Words cannot adequately express the excitement I feel about the direction our Student Ministry is heading. Over the last couple of years a foundation was laid for a great ministry. I am grateful for our current youth staff as well as Lee and others who helped to bring us to this point;with the addition of our new staff I believe God has remarkable things in store for our teens.
During the next week our Student Center will be finished. I'll show you around the room on January 1st weekend via video. This space will be an incredible tool for ministry to youth. We'll have an official open house next month.
During the month of January I'm excited to speak in youth group as we'll study together the Book of James in a series entitled, "Where the Rubber Hits the Road." The youth staff and I are working together on this practical series of messages aimed at equipping our youth to live for Christ. I think this will be a blast. On the third week of January we'll officially move the students into the new Student Center.
3. Christmas Day Worship: 10:45 am Only.
Don't forget, on Sunday, December 25 - Christmas Day - we'll only have one service. Join us for worship at 10:45 am. There will be no 7:45, 9:00 am or 5:00 pm services that day.
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4. What Was the Star the Wisemen Saw?
What did the Wisemen (the Magi) see when they saw a "star in the east" resting over the place where Jesus was born? There has been much speculation over the years. Some dismiss the story, but those who take it literally have made several suggestions. Perhaps the best I've seen can be found at the following Web site: www.askelm.com/video/real/xmas_star.swf, where you'll actually be able to not only read about the astronomical phenomenon, but also watch the "star" as it might have appeared to the wise men. Enjoy!
5. From the Cutting Room Floor - Christmas Inspiration.
In order to get my Christmas Eve sermon down to the required length I had to cut several items I had hoped to include in the message, so I thought I would share them with you here. The first is a poem I found at Daniel Clendenin's excellent website, "jouneywithjesus", where he included a poem by British poet U.A. Fanthorpe, the first woman to be nominated as Professor of Poetry at Oxford University. The poem speaks of how Christmas changed everything. Itis called, "BC:AD" and I found it spoke to me:
This was the moment when Before
Turned into After, and the future's
Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.
This was the moment when nothing
Happened. Only dull peace
Sprawled boringly over the earth.
This was the moment when even energetic Romans
Could find nothing better to do
Than counting heads in remote provinces.
And this was the moment
When a few farm workers and three
Members of an obscure Persian sect
W alked haphazard by starlight straight
Into the kingdom of heaven.
In addition, I found a comment I read elsewhere on the Web interesting - it related to C.S. Lewis' the Chronicles of Narnia - particularly the story told in the film, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." This story takes place in Narnia where an evil witch has made it winter in Narnia, but we quickly learn in the story that it is "always winter but never Christmas." What would it be like to live in a place where it was always winter - long nights, cold temperatures, all is frozen - but no Christmas - no turning point where the days begin to grow longer and the nights shorter; no God coming in our midst; no hope for forgiveness, no light for our path, no Word made flesh, no Savior, Shepherd, Light of the World?
Then this story from Robert Fulghum's book, "It Was on Fire When I Lay Down On It"; Fulghum tells of aphilosophy professor who was asked to answer the question: What is the meaning of life? In response, the professor relates a story of his own growing up during the war -- of finding a broken piece of mirror from a German motorcycle. Making a game of reflecting light into dark places with the mirror, he later recognized his childish game as a metaphor for what he might do with his life. "I am not the light, nor the source of the light, but light is there and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it there." That, he concluded, is the meaning of my life.
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6. Pray for Us As We Participate in Hurricane Relief Efforts.
On the day after Christmas two teams from the Church of the Resurrection will depart to be a part of our ongoing efforts to clean up homes that were flooded during Hurricane Katrina. LaVon and I and our two girls will be a part of one of those teams. Would you please pray for all who are heading to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana next week, that God might use us to bring encouragement and hope to those whose homes we are helping prepare for rebuilding? In January and February we have four or five more teams that will go to continue these efforts. If you are interested in being a part of one of these, please contact our missions department.
7. Looking to Grow Deeper? Don't Miss Dallas Willard Conference January 6 & 7!
Last year we began conversations with our United Methodist seminary, Saint Paul School of Theology, about co-sponsoring events at our church, which would include seminary professors and outstanding speakers who would challenge and equip those Christians who are looking for something more - people who are not beginners in the faith - people ready to grow. Our Walking the Way Together Conference is the first fruit of these conversations. Dr. Dallas Willard, Professor of Philosophy at USC, is a nationally sought after speaker on the Christian life. He has written several highly regarded books on discipleship and the life to which Christ calls us. In addition to Dr. Willard and some of our staff, we have professors from Saint Paul School of Theology, Central Baptist Seminary, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Friends University and more. This will be awesome. To find out more, or to register, visit our Web site. Be sure to look at the workshops being offered!
As we bring 2005 to a close, having completed 15 years of ministry here at this church, I want you to know what a blessing and joy it is to serve Christ and this congregation. I love you, Church of the Resurrection. God has so many amazing things in store for you in the years ahead. I pray this Christmas will be the most meaningful, spiritual and blessed Christmas yet for each of you.
With love,
Adam Hamilton