December 7, 2007
Dear Resurrection Family,
How are you doing at devoting ten minutes to quiet time with God each day? For those who were not in church, this was the challenge two weeks ago in worship. One of the tools we've given you to do this is the Advent Devotional Guide prepared by our pastors. One really great feature for people like me who never seem to have the guide with me when I am ready to do my devotion time, is the fact that we can e-mail the daily devotion to you automatically, every morning, complete with scriptures. It arrives at 5:30 a.m. I just finished doing today's devotion - a powerful passage of scripture and helpful comments from Pastor JoAnn DeFrain. You can read today's devotion, read comments on the devotion (I just posted a few thoughts on today's devotion), and you can subscribe to receive them daily automatically by clicking on this link.
Here's what I'll cover in today's email:
1. This weekend: The Journey Continues - Mary's Song
2. 178 Adults and 78 Children Join Church of the Resurrection at Coffee!
3. Christmas at Resurrection - Some Tickets Still Available
4. Praying for the People of Omaha
1. This weekend: The Journey Continues - The First Noel
This weekend we'll continue our sermons on The First Noel, joining Mary for her journey from Nazareth to the hill country of Judea to visit her older cousin, Elizabeth. This story is touching, and powerful and includes one of the most beautiful psalms in the Bible - Mary's "Magnificat." I'll show you by map and photos the possible location of Elizabeth's home, and Mary's several day journey there in the first month of her pregnancy. Mary remained with Elizabeth for three months in the early stages of her pregnancy. We'll look at what this story means for our lives today, and I'll give you two specific ways to respond to the gospel story. This is one of the most beautiful stories and is often overlooked at Christmas.
2. 178 Adults and 78 Children Join Church of the Resurrection at Coffee!
This last weekend we held a Coffee with the Pastors - which is the official mechanism for becoming a member of the Church of the Resurrection. I think it was the largest Coffee we've had in several years and it was exciting - so many wonderful people, young persons, seniors and everything in between - but all that I spoke to shared a common story - they shared how you, as a congregation, and the ministry here, has helped them to know Christ and to grow in their faith. There was such enthusiasm on the part of the people I talked to, and we are blessed to welcome them to our church family. This weekend we'll recognize our new members - their names will be in the bulletin and the rest of us will pledge our support and companionship to them. Welcome new members! It is an honor to be one of your pastors.
3. Christmas at Resurrection - Some Tickets Still Available
Last night was opening night for Christmas at Resurrection. The performance includes a nice mix of new songs and elements as well as songs we've come to love. The first part of the first act is reminiscent of Christmas performances like you might find on Broadway, including a brief nod to the Rockette's Christmas. We move to the children's section with a number of our children very excited to share with us. The first act ends by focusing on the Christmas story and includes a couple of my favorite moments. After the intermission we turn to the telling of the story of the birth of Christ. It is powerful, simple and beautiful. We still have some tickets available for the remaining performances and, if you were unable to come because of the weather last night, we will be happy to exchange your ticket tonight - stop by the ticket booth. You can purchase tickets on line at www.cor.org/boxoffice or by calling the ticket booth at 913-544-0767. Remaining performances are tonight at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 1:00 and 7:30 pm and Sunday at 7:30 pm.
4. Praying for the People of Omaha
I simply want to encourage you to stop for a moment as you read this and pray, once again, for the people of Omaha who, as an entire city, have been affected by the tragic shootings that took place there this week. Like you I feel great sadness for the people there. I also wonder what the contributing factors are that lead to a tragedy like this, and what could be done to minimize the likelihood of such events in the future.
I'm running late for a meeting so I've got to run - but I wanted to say a special thank you to all of you who sent cards and kind words to me and our other pastors during Pastor's Appreciation Month. I was blessed by each card and note that was sent - thank you for your thoughtfulness to me and to our other clergy.
This is an exciting weekend - I look forward to seeing you in worship and at Christmas at Resurrection.
Adam Hamilton