June 15, 2007
Dear Resurrection Family,
I hope this e-mail finds you doing well. I was in northern Ohio, at Lakeside Assembly on the banks of Lake Erie on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and then I've been on retreat working on sermon plans for the next eighteen months the rest of this week. I want to tell you a bit about both of these things, but first, a word of thanks to all of our staff and members who assisted with the Kelsey Smith funeral. Jeff Kirby had been Kelsey's pastor when she was a child, and had even baptized her. He played a key role in the service and did an outstanding job. There were so many of you who demonstrated Christian hospitality in taking time off of work to help in so many different ways. As always, I am so proud of who you are as a church, and the love and compassion you exemplify.
I'd like to celebrate a few things with you today, and let you know about a couple of others. Here's what I'll cover in my e-mail today:
1. Over 700 Sign-up to Paint Philips Elementary School in Urban Core!
2. 110 Adults and Children Join the Church Last Sunday
3. Three Awesome Preachers This Weekend for Father's Day!!!
4. Join Us at Resurrection Night at Theatre in Park Sunday NOT Tonight
5. A Report from Conference in Ohio
6. Sermon Planning, How it Works, What's Coming Up
1. Over 700 Sign-up to Paint Philips Elementary School in Urban Core!
Once again, I am speechless at the generosity and commitment you, our members and visitors, have to demonstrating the love of Christ in tangible ways in Kansas City. Over 700 of you have signed up during the month of June to paint Philips Elementary School in the Kansas City School District. Our people have been prepping the walls the last few weeks, and the painting portion of the project begins tomorrow at 9:00 am as we have a huge blitz going on - almost 200 will be there to paint. It kicks off with Principal Brown of Philips, and some of the teachers joining our volunteers and leading them in prayer. We still have three shifts during the daytime that need painters, and we have space for a total of 100 more painters if you would still like to volunteer. To sign up, e-mail Ann Carter or visit the website.
2. 110 Adults and Children Join the Church Last Sunday
Once again this last Sunday at Coffee with the Pastors we had a wonderful group of people who joined the Church of the Resurrection. I love Coffee with the Pastors because there is always such an excitement on the part of our new members - some of whom are making a commitment to Christ for the very first time in their lives. Others are coming back to church after a long hiatus; and others are transferring here. They all share something in common - they have felt your welcome, and they love this church. 110 adults and children officially made Resurrection their church home. We'll welcome them at the beginning of worship this weekend.
3. This Weekend for Father's Day: Three Preachers, One Message
This weekend there are three different preachers at Resurrection each offering a Father's Day message that will bless, encourage and inspire you. At Rez West Russell Brown will preach - Russell does a great job and this will be a great Father's Day weekend at our West Campus. At the Central Campus we've invited two preachers that I've admired and looked forward to having here at Resurrection for some time. On Saturday night Dr. Charles Briscoe will preach. Dr. Briscoe pastored the Paseo Baptist Church for almost 36 years, from 1967 to 2003. He still serves as Pastor Emeritus there. During his tenure he established himself was one the leading voices in Kansas City, serving on the School Board, and as a director of a host of community based organizations aimed at improving the quality of life of those in the inner city. I know him as a humble servant of God and I have wanted to have him here to preach for several years. He'll preach on Saturday evening. On Sunday morning and evening Carey Casey will preach. Carey heads the National Center for Fathering. He is a dynamic speaker you will love. Prior to coming to the National Center for Fathering Carey served for years with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys under Tom Landry, and was Chaplain for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. He was a running back at the University of North Carolina where he helped lead his team to the Atlantic Conference Championship. I will lead worship in all our services at Central Campus and look forward to this Father's Day Weekend. Bring the significant men in your life and join us for a great weekend of worship!
4. Join Us at Resurrection Night at Theatre in Park Sunday NOT Tonight.
This Sunday night our family is heading to Theatre in the Park for Resurrection Night - we have 500 places reserved for our members and guests - as we'll enjoy a great evening of fellowship, food and theatre. If you've never been to Theatre in the Park, you'll love it. Bring your own picnic supper and either blankets (if you want to sit in the reserved section) or lawn chairs. Invite your small group or friends to join you. The gates open at 7:00 pm, and the reserved seats can only be reserved until 8:00 pm. The performance begins around 8:30 pm. The cost to attend is $6 for adults and $4 for kids. Theatre in the Park is located at Shawnee Mission Park (take 435 West to the 87th Street exit, go west to Midland, and then north to the entrance for Theatre in the Park). PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DESTINATION RESURRECTION BROCHURE WAS INCORRECT - IT SAID THAT RESURRECTION NIGHT IS TONIGHT - IT IS SUNDAY NIGHT.
5. A Report from Conference in Ohio
Part of our vision here at the church is the renewal and revitalization of other United Methodist and mainline churches. Believing that leadership is part of the key to the transformation of struggling organizations, we offer a host of leadership events and other resources for pastors and church leaders in other congregations. As a part of this mission I speak at about twelve different conferences each year. This last week I asked for your prayers for me as I was traveling to Ohio to speak on Tuesday of this week. Thank you for your prayers. I felt them. The West Ohio Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church had 470,000 members in the 1960's. Today they have 230,000 members. I spoke to the pastors and lay delegates of the annual conference - 2,900 church leaders, at the Lakeside Assembly. I shared with them eight principles of leadership and eight concrete ideas for strengthening their churches. I invited them to recommit their lives to Christ and reminded them of why the work of our churches matters. Each time I speak at conferences like this I hope to plant seeds of renewal - to encourage, inspire, motivate and equip people, and I felt that happened for many this past Tuesday. I could hardly sleep when I finally got home late that night; I was so moved by this experience. I want to thank each of you who join me in prayer for these events. Our church is helping others experience hope and new life.
6. Sermon Planning, How it Works, What's Coming Up
On Wednesday I began a time of retreat to develop and revise my preaching plan for the next 18 months. 65 of you sent e-mail in response to my invitation a couple of weeks ago - you included nearly 200 sermon ideas. Your e-mails were very helpful and I read each one. Thank you! Next I read through the 40 plus sermon ideas submitted by our newest members at this last weekend's Coffee with the Pastors. Next I carefully read the 100+ ideas submitted by our staff. Thanks to all of you, I have enough sermon ideas for the next 25 years!
As I'm praying and reading over these responses I listen to see what trends are present in these ideas, and I try to discern if God is calling me to put this or that particular idea down as part of the preaching plan. I begin to group ideas together, and I begin to lay out sermon series. Finally, I lay out a grid of five types of sermons I attempt to preach each year: Sermons aimed at evangelism, discipleship, congregational care, equipping you to serve God, and messages to strengthen the church - and I place the various series ideas on this grid. My aim is to provide you with a balanced diet of different types of messages aimed at helping you to know, love and serve God. Ultimately, I will put together a tentative plan and share this with our worship team and others for their final input.
Just a teaser of what's coming up: In August and September I'll preach a series of sermons entitled, "The Voyage: Navigating into the Deep Waters." Similar to last year's sermons with the Mustangs, we'll look at metaphors from ships and sailing, to look at the Christian life, and how we move beyond a shallow and superficial faith, to a faith that is exciting, vibrant and which has real depth. We'll shoot footage and interviews for this sermon series this summer while on the cruise to Alaska. We'll have clips for the sermons from Titanic to Gilligan's Island (on the importance of having ship-mates as you grow in Christ!). This should be fun, inspiring and motivational as we seek to become deeply committed Christians.
I look forward to seeing you this weekend as we celebrate Father's Day together and enjoy a time of great worship and fellowship.
In Christ's Love,
Adam Hamilton