March 2, 2006
Dear Resurrection Family,
I want to thank Pastor Molly Simpson for her excellent message last night at the Ash Wednesday service. Molly has been a full time intern here this year as she completes her Master's degree from Perkins School of Theology at SMU. She heard God's call on her life as a member of our congregation. I am grateful for each of our pastors - we are blessed to have a tremendous cadre of people who are gifted, compassionate and committed leaders, each of whom could be leading any church in the Conference. More on our pastors a bit later in this e-mail. Here's what I'll cover in today's e-mail:
1. This Weekend's Message: The Last Supper
2. Send our Video Promo for Sermon Series Via E-mail to a Friend
3. Marriage Retreat/Renewal of Vows on an Alaskan Cruise?
4. Launch of "Pastorates" This Weekend - Meet Your Pastor
5. Lenten Goals Set in Last Weekend's Worship
1. This Weekend's Message: The Last Supper
This weekend we begin our Lenten series of sermons: 24 Hours that Changed the World. We're focusing on the last 24 hours of Jesus' life starting with the Last Supper and culminating on Palm Sunday with Christ's crucifixion. This weekend we begin by examining the Last Supper. In Mark's gospel (as well as Matthew and Luke) the Last Supper occurs at the Passover Seder (in John's gospel the Last Supper occurs the night before the Passover as Jesus is crucified at the time the Passover lambs are sacrificed). To truly understand what was happening at the Last Supper as Mark describes it it is helpful to know about the Passover and the Passover Seder. Yesterday we interviewed Rabbi Amy Katz, one of the Rabbis at Congregation Beth Shalom - I look forward to sharing excerpts of our interview with her as a part of my sermon this weekend. I'll also share a bit of what happens at a Passover Seder before we take a closer look at how Jesus transformed the Seder into what we know as Holy Communion. You will learn and grow in your faith this weekend in worship and you will gain a deeper appreciation for the Christian practice of Holy Communion. You won't want to miss this!
2. Send our Video Promo for Sermon Series Via E-mail to a Friend
If you were in worship this last weekend you had the chance to see the video promo for our upcoming sermon series. But, did you know you can actually send this promo and an invitation to a friend so they can watch it and decide if they want to worship with us this weekend? This is a wonderful and non-threatening way to invite a friend to worship. Simply click on this link and follow the instructions: Invite a Friend.
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3. Marriage Retreat/Renewal of Vows on an Alaskan Cruise?
LaVon and I had been talking about fulfilling a dream of taking an Alaskan Cruise next summer for our 25th wedding anniversary. The response to the Making Love Last retreat has me wondering if there might be interest on the part of other couples in the congregation in taking a Making Love Last a Lifetime Cruise? During the cruise we would offer morning worship and Bible study each day for about an hour, and then late afternoon, LaVon and I would team-teach the material from Making Love Last a Lifetime on the Ten Practices of Marriages that Thrive. We would end the cruise with an opportunity for couples to renew their wedding vows at sea.
Aside from the two hours a day devoted to these two events the rest of the cruise would be unplanned free time for romance, fellowship with other Resurrection members, resting or pursuing whatever activities the ship offers. I understand costs vary depending on the ship, its amenities and the type of room one chooses - from what I've seen online it looks like this would cost between $1,500 and $3,200 per person depending on the type of room. This seems to include all meals. I have no idea if this is accurate - at this point I am just trying to see if there is enough interest to even consider it. I guess for many this would be a trip of a lifetime and one that would be very meaningful. If this trip sounds like something you are interested in, please let me know by clicking on the following link. If we go forward in planning this trip, those who respond to this e-mail will have the first opportunity to sign-up. Send your response to marriage.cruise@cor.org.
4. Launch of "Pastorates" This Weekend - Meet Your Pastor
This weekend Church of the Resurrection will officially launch a new model for offering congregational care. Our congregation has been divided into four smaller congregations within the larger church for purposes of providing care. Four of our pastors have each been assigned to oversee one of these "congregations" or "pastorates." They will each have several Stephen Ministers working with them. The aim is to help you get to know one of our pastors and to feel a connection with them when you need care, and to help them get to know you. The pastors will feel a responsibility for their particular congregation while still sharing responsibilities for the overall care needs of our church. Often our members don't know who to contact when they have a pastoral care need - our aim is that you not only know who to contact, but that you have a team of people who feel responsible for your well being. This weekend you can meet the pastor assigned to care for your household, pick up more information about our congregational care ministry, and even receive refrigerator magnets and key tags with the name and phone number of your congregational care pastor. Does this mean you cannot talk with a particular pastor? Of course not. All of our pastors are available to care for anyone. But, it does mean one of our pastors will feel a particular responsibility and care for you.
All of our pastors are terrific people - I am proud to serve Christ with them. Our goal in the launch of the pastorates is to ensure we are providing excellent care for our members and developing pro-active ways to encourage, care for and support you as you seek to follow Christ. For more information about the pastorates, feel free to contact any of our pastors or Stephen Ministers this weekend in the Narthex - they can answer your questions and will look forward to explaining in more detail the support they can offer and how this new program works. I am so excited - this is the fulfillment of a dream we've been talking about for seven years. Thanks to our pastoral care team for making this dream a reality!
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5. Lenten Goals Set in Last Weekend's Worship
Last weekend I invited you to fill out a goal sheet for your spiritual life and growth. I invited you to set three specific goals for yourself, tied into John Wesley's "three general rules." You were to choose one goal in each of the following areas: 1. Avoiding evil, 2. Doing good, and 3. Pursuing the spiritual disciplines that help you grow in God.
We are compiling the information from your goal sheets now, which will help us design sermons aimed at helping you fulfill your goals. For now I would encourage you to write your three goals out on a small piece of paper, taping it somewhere you look at each day; or, carry it in your purse or billfold, looking at it daily. On the first two goals, daily prayer is important. Whatever your goal may be, praying about it repeatedly keeps it before you and makes the change your seeking more likely to come about. For example, many of you listed "irritability" as something you wished to lay aside. Praying about this daily keeps it at the forefront of your thoughts, makes this change a part of the desire of your heart, and invites the Holy Spirit to help you lay this aside. Next, enlist the help of those with whom you are most likely to get irritable. Let them know that this is a goal. James in the New Testament tells us confessing our sins to one another and praying for one another really helps; and it does.
The good you plan to take on in goal number two, and the spiritual discipline you plan to focus on in goal number three, will require you to add these activities to your schedule. I am going to take up journaling again this Lent. So, today I am stopping by our bookstore, The Well, to purchase a journal to begin fulfilling this goal tonight before going to bed. On these, at least for me, it's a combination of "just do it" and setting time aside on my calendar. You have six weeks to focus on these three goals. The key is prayer, focus, desire and developing a plan. One great way to help fulfill all three goals is to join one of our 37 new small groups getting started next week. Each of these new groups is an opportunity for you to get to know other Christians, to enjoy fellowship and to study and pray with others. [To sign up for a small group simply or for more information visit our website or e-mail Shari Wilkins at shari.wilkins@cor.org with questions.] I invite you to take a look at your goal sheet today, before you go to bed, invite God to help you pursue these goals, and begin mapping out a plan for pursuing these things during the next six weeks. If you can do them for six weeks, you may find they (or in the case of goal one, refraining from doing something) will become a holy habit in your life!
I hope you'll plan to be in worship every weekend of Lent (if you are out of town on the weekend, look for a place to worship wherever you may be) as we study 24 Hours that Changed the World and that this Lent will be a time of spiritual growth and renewal in your life.
See You in Worship!
Adam Hamilton