June 16, 2006
Dear Resurrection Family,
I hope you are having a great summer so far. Each week while on Sabbatical I'm updating you on what I'm up to and hoping, in this way, to stay connected to you while I'm away. It has been a terrific week and I have several things to share with you today including the following:
1. Photos and Reflections from Visit to Three Houston Churches
2. A Day at Youth Camp Yesterday
3. A Preview of Sermons for 2007 and 2008
4. Alaska Cruise Dates Set - July 21-28, 2007 - more details
5. Vacation Bible Camp: Awesome
6. Resurrection Members Ordained at Annual Conference
7. Father's Day Reflections
1. Photos and Reflections from Visit to Three Houston Churches
Last weekend members of our worship team and I traveled to Houston to do planning for worship for the next year and to visit three larger Houston area churches. We had a wonderful time and were able to get a lot done. We prayed and worked together to take the sermon series ideas I generated (with your help) last week, and put them into a plan for the next two years; more on that below. We began to flesh out some ideas for several of these sermon series in ways I am really excited about - you'll see the first example of this on August 20 - in what promises to be a fun and exciting sermon series we're keeping under wraps until then.
We visited three churches in Houston as a way of thinking outside the box with regard to worship. The three churches we visited were The Fellowship of the Woodlands - a church of 13,000 per weekend known for over-the-top kind of sermon illustrations (moto-cross bikes doing flips in the air over the chancel during the sermon?!). The second was Second Baptist Church of Houston, which has five campuses and a total attendance of over 20,000 per weekend. The service we attended included choir and orchestra and was fairly traditional. The third was the Lakewood Church - pastored by Joel Osteen - a church that converted the Compaq Center (Houston's Kemper Arena) into a Sanctuary that seats 16,000 - they are the largest church in the U.S. today with somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 per weekend in attendance. If you'd like to read my reflections on these churches and see a few photos of each, click on this link.
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2. A Day at Youth Camp and a Report from the Youth Musical Mission Trip
The last two weeks have been a time of incredible ministry with and by our youth. 95 youth just returned from the music mission trip and I've heard incredible stories of the kids' ministry to people in homeless shelters and the profound way our youth touched the lives of others. They drew crowds of people who were blessed by their music and witness everywhere they performed. One of the more interesting places they performed was in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One of the adult sponsors I spoke with teared up as he told me of the way in which our youth shared God's love everywhere they performed. How exciting is this?
This week our youth are at the YouthFront Camp near LaCygne where they are having an amazing time. I went down for the day yesterday just to see what they were up to. In addition to having a blast riding ATV's, swimming, doing the ropes course and just hanging out, the kids are in worship three times a day. They have quiet time in prayer, time for spiritual conversations with their cabin groups and one on one time with their mentors. I listened to the testimonies of the kids as they shared how God was working in their lives. This is an awesome experience for many of our youth. I am proud and grateful for our volunteers and youth staff that invest their lives in helping teens grow in their faith. This week 14 kids have made first time commitments to follow Christ and 20 others have expressed they believe God may be calling them to ministry as a vocation.
Next up for our youth are the mission trips - we have three different youth mission trips coming up this summer - one local, one to Saint Louis, and another to Mexico.
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3. A Preview of Sermons for 2007 and 2008
This last two weeks I've focused on laying out the preaching plan for 2007 and 2008. Each year I have an overarching theme for the year, with at least two or three sermon series tied to this theme. This year the focus has been on Jesus Christ. Next year we're going to focus on the Bible and in 2008 on Christian Beliefs. 2007 will begin with a six-week walk through the Old Testament - using maps, timelines, photos and video of the actual locations of the stories of the Old Testament we will help our congregation understand the grand sweep of the Old Testament's story while listening for six major themes of the Old Testament that speak to our lives today. We'll follow this up with a four-week journey through the New Testament. This ten weeks through the entire Bible will lay a foundation that will help each of us read and understand the Bible better than we ever have before.
Following Easter we'll have a bit of fun with a series of sermons entitled, "Lessons from the Barn" - in which we'll address the kind of personal and pastoral issues many of you e-mailed me requesting sermons about. Following this we'll return to a study of the Old Testament in a series entitled, "Meet the Royal Families." This will be a series based upon the books of I and II Kings where we will study six to eight of the Kings and Queens of ancient Israel, learning from them life lessons, and gaining an understanding of God's will for our lives today. In the fall we're going to spend six weeks in a New Testament study entitled, "Letter to a Dysfunctional Church: I Corinthians." This will be followed by two weeks in a series entitled, "Letting Your Light Shine (Without Blinding Your Neighbor)" in which we'll learn how to share our faith with others. This is not a comprehensive listing, but gives you an idea of what's coming up in 2007. In 2008 we'll look at Christian beliefs, which will include a series on Questions Thinking People Ask, a series on the Apostles' Creed, a series on the Holy Spirit, and more.
I spent the first couple of days this week reading James (for a 3-week series this fall) and the parables of Jesus (for a six-week series this fall), and then I've spent the last couple of days reading I and II Kings and looking at which kings we might include sermons on for next summer. I want to thank you for allowing me two weeks each summer just to read, study, pray and then to plan for the sermons that are coming up.
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4. Alaska Cruise Dates Set - July 21-28, 2007 - more details
This week we finally set the date and the specifics of the Alaska Cruise next summer focused on Making Love Last a Lifetime. We'll sail out of Seattle on July 21, 2007 on a Holland America Cruiseship for seven nights, stopping at four ports of call (Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan, Alaska as well as Victoria, B.C.) and spending a day at the Hubbard Glacier before returning to Seattle. Each day there will be time for worship and LaVon and I will lead the group in a study of how couples can experience the kind of marriage God intends. On the last day of the trip we'll lead a renewal of wedding vows at sea. If you've ever wanted to see one of the most beautiful stretches of land on this planet, and you would enjoy strengthening your marriage while experiencing great Christian fellowship, this trip may be for you. Children are welcome, as are singles that may not be interested in the workshops but would enjoy the fellowship. There will be a special informational meeting coming up for those of you who have e-mailed indicating an interest in the cruise. If you would like to have your name added to the list of interested persons who would like more information, please e-mail my assistant at sue.thompson@cor.org.
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5. Vacation Bible Camp: Awesome
More than 1,200 children and 500 adult and youth volunteers came together last week for an awesome Vacation Bible Camp studying the stories of Jesus' miracles. This is one of the most important things we do at the church - helping children grow in their faith and shaping them as followers of Jesus Christ. By all accounts it was an awesome experience for the kids. Thank you to each adult and youth who gave of your time to help children grow in his or her faith. You are an amazing group of volunteers and staff! Every year our children collect an offering for a special mission project. This year the children were collecting funds for the Children's Center at the Main Street United Methodist Church in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, where our teams have been staying as they are repairing homes flooded by Hurricane Katrina. This church was also flooded and is being repaired by teams. The children raised an amazing $10,027.11! Twice what was expected. And our missions team had already committed to match these funds, resulting in over $20,000 we will give to help rebuild the kitchen that serves meals for the children's programs and site work as they rebuild the playground. Great job kids!!!
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6. Resurrection Members Ordained and Commissioned at Annual Conference
Two weeks ago at annual conference 6 of our own Resurrection members were ordained or commissioned as pastors and deacons in the United Methodist Church. They are:
- Rev. Claudia Hubbard, Ordained Elder
- Rev. Ken Baker, Commissioned Probationary Elder
- Rev. Molly Simpson, Commissioned Probationary Elder
- Rev. JoAnn DeFrain, Commissioned Probationary Deacon
- Rev. Stephany Gagen, Commissioned Probationary Deacon
- Rev. Jennifer Wilson, Commissioned Probationary Deacon
This is an incredible group of people whose gifts and leadership will have a profound impact on the church for years to come. One of the visions of our church is that our congregation will help prepare leaders that will renew and revitalize our denomination. Some of these pastors and deacons came out of our church, others joined while in seminary. Congratulations to each of them!
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7. Father's Day Reflections
As we prepare to celebrate Father's Day this weekend I am struck by several thoughts. First, being a father is one of the greatest blessings in my life. I love my children so much. I delight in watching them grow up. I have a deep longing to connect with them and be close to them (not as a friend, but as a father). I love it when we talk together. I want the best for them. I want them to choose ways of living that are good, right and which will fill their lives with meaning and joy. I want to help them, and I actually enjoy it when they ask for my help (though this can get old if the only help they ask for from me is money - in which case I begin to feel like an ATM after awhile!).
I also have known the ups and downs of parenting. When my kids were little I was their "hero" - they trusted me, they wanted to play and hang out with me. Then came adolescents, a rollercoaster ride of emotions and hormones - a mixture of storms and sunny days - and a time when I became a "ridiculous" father who was an embarrassment to them both because I was a pastor, but also because I was very uncool. Even in the midst of that season there were moments of joy. Now, particularly with my oldest and on occasion with my youngest, I sense admiration, understanding, respect, appreciation, and a growing and deepening love for their dad (maybe this is just wishful thinking, but I'm going with it!).
It is when I consider these things that I understand why Jesus spoke of God as "Father." I believe all of these things are true of how God looks at us, longs for us, desires to connect with and care for usand that it is often true that our relationship with God is not so different from our relationship with our earthly dads.
If your dad is still alive, find some way to bless him this weekend. If you are a father, pray for your kids this weekend, and express your love to them. And for all of us, consider what Jesus may have meant when he taught us to pray, "Our Father"
Blessings!
Adam Hamilton