January 27, 2006
Dear Resurrection Family,
I hope this letter finds you doing well. We're getting ready for The Summit tonight, which is designed as an opportunity for you, our church members, to enjoy a fellowship dinner, great music from Lance and the band, and a time of teaching in which I'll take you through Paul's letter to the Philippians - his, "Epistle of Joy", as we discover lessons for our own Christian life. The evening begins at 5:30 and ends at 9:15. Then, tomorrow we'll gather for breakfast at 8:00 am, our annual Church Conference, and finally a chance for me to share with you a look ahead at where God is leading us in the coming year. We'll conclude with Holy Communion and be finished by 11:15 am. While supper reservations have already been made, you are welcome to join us at 7:00 pm for the opening Worship and Daystar Concert, if you have not already made your reservations. Call 913-897-0120 for more information. This is going to be a great experience as we seek to grow in our faith!
Here's what I'd like to share with you today:
1. Not Receiving the Pastor's E-mail?
2. Why A Security Ministry?
3. Listen up Motorcyclists!
4. This Weekend: Casting Out Demons
5. Searching for Artists to Help with Banner Guild
6. Four Terrific Websites
1. Not Receiving the Pastor's E-mail?
Last week we had two different Internet Service Providers block our Around the Corner and pastor's e-mails, so many of you did not receive your copy. We work with a company that assists us in sending our e-mail to the congregation in a way that does not violate spam regulations and which allows our members and others who request to receive our e-mail to receive them. On occasion your Internet Service Provider will still flag our e-mail as spam and reject them or place them in a "junk mail" folder. If this happens to you there are three remedies - one is immediate - go to our website and you will find posted there copies of our Around the Corner and pastor's e-mails. Generally, my e-mail goes out by 3:00 pm on Fridays, so if you haven't received it, and don't want to miss it, head to our website. In addition, check your "junk mail" file to see if our e-mails were sent there. And finally, contact your Internet Service Provider and let them know about the problem.
Several people have asked over the last few months why we have a security ministry and whether there have been threats made against anyone at the church. We have never had any threats made against anyone at the church. We have had, on several occasions over the last seven years, persons who were troubled - and who either took an unhealthy interest in one of our staff (some we would call "stalkers") or who were easily agitated or provoked. In response to one particular situation last year, a team of volunteers was organized to look at the kind of security other large churches put in place for the safety of their staff and congregants. We have had volunteers who have been coordinating this ministry since that time. We hire off-duty police officers for major events including our weekly student ministries program; to ensure a safe setting is provided for our kids.
We have recently hired a Safety and Security Program Director at the church Bob Whisman, who brings 33 years of experience with the police department and the FBI. Under his direction we will develop a comprehensive plan for insuring the safety of our members, visitors and staff which includes emergency response planning (what to do in the event of a tornado or other natural disaster), medical readiness (working with the CART team and others), child protection programs, providing security for worship and major events, after hours building security and being on call if there is an emergency in the building. Most of this ministry will be done through volunteers.
We care about the safety and well-being of all who gather here. The security team notes they are the one ministry team in the church who hopes they are never actually called into action. Their presence is aimed at insuring this is the case. Thank you to all who serve on this team!
This year's annual Car Show is going to include a section for motorcyclists - both to promote fellowship and to enjoy seeing some fun bikes. We're looking for folks who love motorcycles to help organize this part of the show, which is scheduled for September 23 of this year. If you would like to help, please contact Brian Dale 913-897-4511 bdaleof@kc.rr.com or Joe Campbell 913-888-1968 rpcjlc@aol.com. We're also looking at organizing folks for a charity ride to benefit Community LINC - a transitional housing ministry here in Kansas City, which helps persons move from homelessness to self-sufficiency. If you are interested in helping organize this ride, please e-mail me at sue.thompson@cor.org.
4. This Weekend: Casting Out Demons
This weekend in worship we'll focus on the healing ministry of Jesus as we continue our series from the Gospel of Mark, focusing on Jesus Christ. My message will be drawn from one particular story of healing - the healing of a demon possessed man who had lived among the tombs and who had multiple demons dwelling in him. Jesus cast these demons out of the man and into a herd of swine. What do you know about demons? What do you make of this story? There's more here than meets the eye. I hope you'll be in Worship this weekend!
5. Searching for Artists to Help with Banner Guild
Many of you have expressed how much you've enjoyed the various banners we've placed in the sanctuary - banners that have coincided with the various sermon series. We're preparing to form a team of people who will take the sermon plans for the coming year and design banners and other forms of art that can be hung in our Sanctuary in the area where the Jesus Banners are now hanging. If you are a graphic artist or have worked on a banner guild before and would like to help in preparing our Sanctuary for worship and teaching, please contact my assistant, Sue Thompson at sue.thompson@cor.org. Please include in your e-mail your artistic background, skills and interests. Thank you!
I want to lift up to you four Internet Websites I have found helpful or inspiring, either for personal reading or for research. You may want to add these as buttons in your browser if you find them helpful.
The first is Daniel Clendenin's web site, www.journeywithjesus.net. Each week Clendenin posts thought provoking essays related to the Revised Common Lectionary, Scripture texts for the coming week as well as book reviews and other interesting tidbits that will help feed your soul. This week's article is about Pat Robertson. If you are someone who is a bit further along in your faith and you are looking for thoughts to challenge you, I think you might enjoy this website. As is the case with anything, you will not always agree with Clendenin, but you will be challenged by him.
The second is Dennis Bratcher's CRI Voice web site. Bratcher is a PhD from Union Theological Seminary and an ordained Nazarene pastor. The site promotes a Wesleyan theological perspective. I have enjoyed Bratcher's articles under "theological topics" as well as other essays. I would consider Bratcher an evangelical moderate. For those who want to know more about issues like free-will verses predestination, or inerrancy, you'll enjoy reading his essays. The website is found at www.crivoice.org.
A third site is one of the greatest reference libraries for Christians on the net. It is the New Advent site, which includes the Catholic Encyclopedia. This is located at www.newadvent.org. Click in the search box in the upper right hand corner of the screen and type in any theological or biblical topic and you'll find a great deal of information - it will be from a Roman Catholic perspective, but I think you'll find the information helpful and well researched. Try typing in "Mark" and searching the site - click on the first reference that comes up and read all we can know about the author of the Gospel that bears his name.
The last website I'll mention is our denomination's own www.umc.org. It is an excellent site with current events, history, theology and more. Check it out and enjoy.
Finally I want to take a moment to commend the following youth for reading and studying James this last week: Nicole Baith, Jessica Brady, Christine Stanwood, Trenton Bush, Jonathan James, Olivia Stella, Kendra Halverson, Kirsten Moore, Katherine Rist, Kristen Pflumm, Abbie Jackson, Elliott Brady, Danielle Sartain, Kristina Bjornson, Devon Perkins, Becca McDonald, Kyle Stalcup, Alex Castro, Erin Wilson, Emily Murphy, Joe Zwichel, Allison Porterfield, and Noah Linton. Sorry if I missed anyone. These kids daily studied the epistle of James and journaled about what they read. Great job!
That's all for today - I've got to get back to finishing up work on tonight's study of Philippians for The Summit. Hope to see you tonight and this weekend in worship!
In Christ's Love,
Adam Hamilton