February 22, 2008

Dear Resurrection Family,

I'm looking forward to this weekend's message on the Lord's Prayer. I'll preach on the phrase, "Give us this day, our daily bread." Not much there, right? Think again. Bread is mentioned more than 300 times in the Bible, and this little prayer means far more than meets the eye. I've been blessed this week as I've prepared this message and I will not pray this prayer the same way again as a result.

Last weekend LaVon and I were in Colorado with our Senior High Ski Trip. I gave three talks on the three purposes for which God created us: To be recipients of God's love, to reciprocate God's love, and to be servants of God in this world - to do God's will. We tied in the theme of breathing and breath and looked at how God breathed into us the breath of life in Genesis, how we breathe out praise and thanksgiving to God, and how Jesus breathed on his disciples after his Resurrection, telling them to "receive the Holy Spirit" and "as the Father has sent me, so I am sending you."

What a great group of youth and sponsors were on this trip. They were amazing; and our youth staff - you should be very proud of them. They are amazing.

One evening I offered to meet with any of our senior high who thought God might be calling them to be pastors. Of the 75 youth, 10 came to this gathering indicating that they were considering whether they had a call to the pastorate. One, a ninth grader, told me, "I want your job some day!" It is exciting to see how God is working in our youth ministry. It was a blessing for LaVon and me to get to spend some intensive time with the youth.

Here's what I'll cover in today's email:

1. This Weekend: Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bread
2. General Conference Controversies on My Blog
3. Children's Spring Training: John Mayberry and Sonny Maynard Coaching
4. Looking for Financial Peace? Dave Ramsey Coming to Kansas City
5. Discerning Our Future - Join Me for a Focus Group Session

1. This Weekend: Give Us This Day, Our Daily Bread
This weekend we continue in our series of sermons on The Lord's Prayer. We'll focus on the phrase, "give us this day, our daily bread." As I was preparing the sermon this week it struck me that nearly the entire biblical story could be told using bread. Adam and Eve are told when they are banished from the Garden of Eden that they will now eat bread by the sweat of their brow. Esau sells his birthright for bread and porridge. The sons of Israel travel to Egypt in search for bread, and remain their 400 years as slaves. The Israelites are delivered from slavery in Egypt, but as they flee there is no time to leaven their bread, so they eat unleavened bread. To this day unleavened bread at Passover is the physical reminder that God had delivered the Israelites from slavery. Jesus is tempted by the devil to turn stones into bread. He breaks bread with sinners. He multiplies the loaves. He shares a last supper with his disciples of bread and wine; and henceforth, bread will be the primary symbol of the salvation he wrought for us on the cross, and the eating of that bread will be one way of communing with him.

In the sermon this weekend we'll explore what we mean when we ask God to "give us" our bread. What are we asking for? Why do we ask only for "this day's" bread? Does this have any special significance? And what exactly does Jesus mean by our "daily bread"? We'll have a great weekend of worship and I know you'll be blessed. Bring a friend!

2. General Conference Controversies on My Blog
Once every four years the United Methodist Church holds what's called, General Conference. 992 delegates from around the world will gather, along with the Council of Bishops, to worship, hear reports from across the church, seek to discern where God is leading the church in the future, and debate various proposals submitted by lay people, pastors, local churches and other bodies within the church. Most of the proposals will be grouped together and debated in committee. If they are approved they are brought for a vote on the floor of the General Conference. There will be 2,500 pages of proposals and reports for the conference. Any United Methodist can submit a proposal to the Conference and hence the large number and the unusual variety of proposals. Some of these proposals and petitions will generate intense debate. I am a delegate to the General Conference (as is Nancy Brown, one of our lay people). I thought you might be interested in knowing about some of the issues that are sure to spark debate. Each week I'll write a post on my blog site about a different petition coming before General Conference and invite you to offer your views as you reply to my post. I'll post the first article tomorrow on an issue that has already made the news and which is generating a bit of debate: The proposal to locate the Bush Presidential Library along with a public policy institute on the campus of Southern Methodist University. I'll give you a thumbnail sketch of this debate on my blog tomorrow. To go to my blog, click here.

3. Children's Spring Training: John Mayberry and Sonny Maynard Coaching
This Spring Break, Kansas City Royals Hall of Famer John Mayberry (two time All Star and 255 home runs in his career) and legendary college baseball coach Sonny Maynard (19 of Maynard's players were drafted by the major leagues - Maynard coached at JCCC for 14 seasons) will lead a baseball camp for Resurrection kids in 3rd through 6th grade. The camp will give kids improved baseball skills while including spiritual lessons as well. I am really excited about this camp! If you'd like to know more or to register your kids, click on this link.

4. Looking for Financial Peace? Dave Ramsey Coming to Kansas City
Last fall I preached a sermon series on Simplicity, Generosity and Joy. Two of the resources we offered during that series were Dave Ramsey's books and his class, Financial Peace University. If you find yourself struggling with money and looking for relief, Dave Ramsey offers some terrific tips and practices that can help. Dave is going to be here in Kansas City on Saturday, May 3rd at Municipal Auditorium. He sold out the place last time he was here. The reason I'm mentioning this to you is that Resurrection members receive a 30% discount on ticket prices. If you are interested, click on this link, and enter the promotional code "COR" to receive the discounted price.

5. Discerning Our Future - Join Me for a Focus Group Session
Would you like to hear more about some of the really big projects we're considering pursuing in the next few years here at the church? Are you interested in giving feedback and helping us to discern what God's will is for our future? Tomorrow morning (Saturday) at 10:00 am we're holding a focus group and inviting interested persons to join me in the Wesley Chapel. I'll share with you nine initiatives and projects we're considering. We'll then invite you to fill out an on-line survey to give us your reaction to these initiatives and your interest in supporting them. This is an exciting and fun meeting. I hope you'll join me tomorrow morning or, if that doesn't work, Tuesday night at 7:00 pm. The Focus Group meetings last for 90 minutes.

One final note; as I send this note I'm going into a meeting with representatives of the Fund for Theological Education. We're hoping they will provide a grant for a program we're starting for our youth who have an interest in becoming pastors. The Fund has a strong interest in encouraging gifted and bright young people to consider ordained ministry. I have a dream that over the next twenty years 200 of our youth will hear a call to ordained ministry. My hope is that these 200 will be a part of helping thousands come to faith, leading churches to address the needs of their communities, and helping every church they serve to be revitalized and renewed. I imagine that several of our young people will become bishops in the church, and others will be missionaries and some theologians. But it starts with our church supporting a great youth ministry and helping young people hear God's call on their lives.

See you in worship!

Adam Hamilton