March 24, 2006
Dear Resurrection Family,
I wonder if you have been following the story of Abdul Rahman in Afghanistan. He is 41 years old and is said to have converted to Christianity 16 years ago. He is now on trial as it is against Islamic law to reject Islam by converting to another faith. CNN had this quote from cleric Abdul Raoulf in Afghanistan, "Rejecting Islam is insulting God. We will not allow God to be humiliated. This man must die." Another cleric exclaimed, "Cut off his head! We will call on the people to pull him into pieces so there is nothing left."
It is difficult for me to conceive of a religion that retains its adherents by fear of death. Unfortunately Christianity has had its own periods during which people were converted at the sword, or when, during the Inquisition, persons were subject to torture or death when their faith was deemed heretical. Even the Reformers like Calvin were known to have put to death those who were deemed dangerous for their rejection of established truth.
Tertullian, the second century church father, once said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church." It is likely that, if the clerics in Afghanistan have their way with Abdul Rahman, his death would only serve to further the cause of Christ - there would be many who would now wonder about this faith, that one man died for rather than reject. I am hopeful and pray the Afghan government feels the weight of international scorn for what would be an unjust crime, and chooses to set Rahman free.
I am wondering if your faith would be worth giving your life for? Would you be willing to stand and be counted as a follower of Jesus Christ regardless of the cost? This is precisely what my sermon was about last weekend, and points toward elements of this weekend's sermon as well. Why not pause right now, as you are reading this e-mail, and pray for Abdul Rahman?
Here's what I'll cover in today's e-mail:
1. This Weekend: Jesus, Barabbas and Pontius Pilate
2. Join Me for Coffee this Weekend?
3. Update on Alaskan Cruise
4. Thank You for Your Faithfulness - Good Start to the Year
5. Save the Date: Summer Festival July 8
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1. This Weekend: Jesus, Barabbas and Pontius Pilate
This weekend we'll continue our study of 24 Hours That Change the World: The last 24 hours of Jesus' life. We'll study Jesus' trial before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and the call of the crowd to "Crucify Him!" I'll share with you what I've learned about Pilate, other first century "messiahs" and I also take you, via video, beneath the Convent of the Sisters of Sion to see what some believe was the stone pavement where Jesus was on trial before Pilate. We'll see what this story tells us about Jesus and about ourselves.
2. Join Me for Coffee this Weekend?
If you are a visitor to the Church of the Resurrection, I'd like to invite you to join me for coffee and a chance to meet our pastors and other visitors at Coffee with the Pastors this weekend. We'll gather in the Narthex from 2:00 to 4:00 pm sharing with you the story of our church, what we believe as Methodists, and what is required if you choose to join the church. We'll have time for Q&A and then, at 3:40 pm those who are ready to join the church will make their way into the Sanctuary for our joining service which lasts about 15 minutes. For more information call 913-897-0120 ext. 2003.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned in this e-mail that LaVon and I were thinking about organizing an Alaskan cruise for the church in the summer of 2007 which would include a morning worship and Bible study and an afternoon talk given by LaVon and me on the keys to effective marriages based upon my book, Making Love Last a Lifetime. The event would include a service for the renewal of wedding vows. I was really just seeking to see if there was any interest in something like this, and if so, we would look further into it. So far we have 140 couples that have expressed an interest and this just from the pastor's e-mail. With this level of interest we'll take the next step and begin looking at dates and cruise lines. It will likely be May before we have any further information. If you would like to have your name added to the list of possible passengers on this trip, e-mail us at sue.thompson@cor.org. I don't know what the limit will be for the total number of people we can accommodate, nor do we have pricing or other information yet. We'll e-mail all who express interest in May with more information.
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4. Thank You for Your Faithfulness - Good Start to the Year
We've had a terrific start to the year here at Church of the Resurrection. I want to thank you for your faithfulness in worship attendance - we've had weekends in the last six weeks where worship attendance has been up as much as 20% over the same time last year. We had one of the largest joining groups ever in January. Offerings are running above projections so far. We've had a lot of new visitors. Our Children's Ministries and Student Ministries continue to soar. I am told we now have 130 youth who have signed up to serve on one of seven leadership teams in Student Ministries, and that is exciting! On this past Wednesday night alone the building was filled with more than 2,000 people who were coming for Bible studies, Lenten Academy, choir, support groups, and youth group. It is amazing just to walk the halls and peer into the various rooms to see what God is doing in our church.
On another note, we paid half of our annual denominational apportionments (funds each church is asked to contribute by the denomination as our fair share of the mission and outreach work of the entire denomination) for the coming year in February, and we will finish paying them in full for the year next week. Most churches pay these funds monthly throughout the year. Since we began Church of the Resurrection we've aimed to pay our apportionments in full in the first quarter as a way of helping and supporting the ministries dependent upon our gifts. Our apportionments totaled $950,000 this year. With these monies you help fund missionaries around the world, schools and universities, inner city mission agencies, new church development and so much more. It was money others had given in their apportionments that funded the start-up of Church of the Resurrection in the early 1990's and purchased our first 20 acres of land.
All of which is a way of saying, "Thank you!" Your commitment to Christ, the giving of your time in ministry, your faithfulness in worship attendance, and your faithful financial support of Christ's work in this place are making a difference in the lives of people near and far.
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5. Save the Date: Summer Festival July 8
In our early years as a church we planned certain events just to foster fellowship at the church - to build community and make it easy to bring a friend. We used to rent out the skating rink, take hay rides and have church-lake weekends. As we have grown it became difficult to plan events like this - there were no skating rinks that would hold several thousand people! But this summer we're planning a party - a gathering to reach out to our community while fostering fellowship and fun. It's going to be a blast. Among the things happening will be a car show with classic cars and motorcycles, a cycle ride, activities for kids, lots of food, entertainment, Christian comedy, a hot air balloon and a terrific evening concert. You'll hear more about it later - for now I just wanted to encourage you to put this date on your calendar - you won't want to miss this. Again, the aim is both outreach and fellowship.
Finally, I wanted to thank the two Disciple Bible Study classes I had the opportunity to be with this week - they were the winners of the food drive contest - between the two of them they brought in more than 5,000 pounds of food. What a joy to meet the class members and to hear their stories. Last night I was blessed just to listen as class members told their stories of how they came to this church and how this church had drawn them to Christ, had encouraged them to grow in their faith, and had helped them serve the Lord more faithfully. I left this group with such a sense of joy and gratitude at being the senior pastor of this congregation. I hope you have the same joy being a part of this place.
In Christ's Love!
Adam Hamilton