Weekly Update from Pastor Adam - July 25, 2025
July 25, 2025
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July 25, 2025
Dear Resurrection Family,
The last few days and most of next week are part of my annual study and writing leave. As a church, you grant me two weeks each year specifically for reading, studying and writing that I could not do in an ordinary week. I’ll tell you more about that below. I’ve also included a lengthy article on Politics and Discerning the Truth with a focus on what’s happening in Gaza.
While I’m out of the pulpit, I’m grateful we have excellent preachers on our team who get a chance to share their gifts with you. This weekend, Pastor Scott Chrostek, our Executive Director of Ministries and Programs, will be sharing the message at Leawood, Downtown, Blue Springs and Liberty, while our location pastors will share the message at West, Overland Park, Brookside, Springhill and Lee’s Summit. I’m grateful for our amazing team of pastors and excited for them to share their gifts with you.
WORSHIP THIS WEEKEND – NEW RHYTHMS: LATER
This weekend, we begin a new three-week series of messages we’re calling New Rhythms. We all have some kind of rhythm in our lives – regular patterns and practices that define us. Mine include spiritual rhythms as well as rhythms with LaVon and my kids, exercise and more. In this series of messages, we’ll explore how New Rhythms can draw us closer to God.
This weekend’s message is Later. How many times have you said, “I’ll do that later… We’ll go there later… I’ll volunteer later”… But what if later is now? Jesus walked through the Galilee during his public ministry, and he rarely waited; he always acted. He befriended, healed, called, visited, fed, and met people almost always in the moment, no matter what the moment was. This weekend, we’ll look at Jesus’ example and consider how he invites us to also live and love in the “now” and not the “later.”
This will be a powerful series as we prepare for the end of summer and a fall filled with new opportunities to know, love and serve God and others. Plan to join us in person if you can, or online if you are traveling or out of the area. I am looking forward to this weekend’s message!
BACK TO SCHOOL DRIVE AND SUPPORT FOR PARTNER SCHOOLS
This is that time of year when our entire church turns its attention to back-to-school time and comes together to support our Partner School Ministry, which supports 12 schools across the Kansas City Public Schools, Kansas City, Kansas, Olathe and Shawnee Mission school districts, serving approximately 5,000 students in 250 classrooms each year.
The mission of our Partner School Ministry is to walk alongside students, teachers, and families by meeting their practical needs, showing appreciation, and helping to create safe and welcoming environments where all can thrive. Your support of this annual drive can make a significant impact.
Teachers in under-resourced schools often spend their own money each year to meet their students’ needs (90% of teachers report spending their own money to provide school supplies and other items for children whose families can’t afford them). Through Resurrection’s support, we are able to come alongside them and provide an average of $350 per classroom to hundreds of classrooms to help meet these needs by providing school supplies as well as winter coats, shoes, hygiene items, and cleaning products for children and families in need, and appreciation events and encouragement for staff and students.
You can provide this support by sponsoring a classroom through a financial donation (click here). LaVon and I just did this, and it took less than 10 seconds to sponsor a classroom! You can also provide support by purchasing and donating essential classroom supplies (bags with lists are available at our locations or click here).
Beyond meeting physical needs, this ministry is also about presence – building relationships, offering encouragement, and reminding students and staff they are not alone. When we show up in consistent, tangible ways, it communicates worth, hope, and dignity. There are a variety of ways you can volunteer in our Partner School Ministry, from reading with a child to supporting a classroom teacher to volunteering for special events and activities in the schools. You can learn more about opportunities to serve in the schools here.
CHRISTMAS AT RESURRECTION BUY-ONE, GET-ONE TICKET SALE CONTINUES THROUGH THIS WEEKEND
Last year, I saw the buy-one, get-one special going on, and I didn’t take advantage of it, wishing I had when we bought eight tickets for family and friends in November at full price. So this week, we bought our tickets for the Saturday night performance. I don’t want you to miss this year’s Christmas at Resurrection – it’s going to be amazing. The theme is “Let Heaven and Nature Sing,” and it will feature giant, larger-than-life animal puppets, great visuals, and, of course, beautiful music and storytelling.
This weekend is your last opportunity to take advantage of discount tickets to this year’s Christmas at Resurrection performances, December 11-14 – the BOGO special ends this Sunday night (July 27). Don’t miss this opportunity to take advantage of this must-see Resurrection tradition and purchase your tickets here!
YOU CAN BE PART OF THE TEAM THAT MAKES WORSHIP HAPPEN!
Creating a meaningful worship experience takes a dedicated team of volunteers in a variety of roles who are passionate about building a welcoming and inspiring community. Whether you have a gift for music, enjoy interacting with people, or have a heart for serving, there’s a place for you. From singing and playing instruments to greeting guests, assisting with communion or seating, or contributing in other ways, you could help enrich the worship experience for everyone. Just let us know that you are interested by submitting this form, and we’ll help you find your place to serve with the team that makes worship happen every week!
DO YOU WORSHIP WITH RESURRECTION FROM OUTSIDE KANSAS CITY?
Geo Groups are a way for online worshipers to connect with one another in their geographic area. Led by volunteer hosts, these local groups hold monthly in-person gatherings for social activities, community service projects, or a combination of both. Browse the available groups and register by clicking here. Don’t see a group in your area? Email us here if you’re interested in becoming an online host.
OLETA ADAMS SINGING AT AFFIRMATIONS GOSPEL WORSHIP!
Mark your calendar and make plans to invite your friends when Affirmations: A Night of Worship returns to Resurrection on Saturday, September 6, at 6:30 pm in the Leawood Sanctuary. Isaac Cates, our Director of Music Outreach, is known across the globe for his work with gospel music. He will be leading an amazing group of musicians and vocalists, including Kansas City’s own, Oleta Adams, Callie Day and so many more. You won’t want to miss this powerful, inspiring evening dedicated to uplifting music and heartfelt performances. This event is free, and no registration is needed. Here’s the link to a promo video that you can share on social media.
WHAT I’M WORKING ON THIS WEEK…
This week, among other things, I’ve been working on small group videos that I’m preparing with Abingdon Press, United Methodist Communications, and our team for a book I recently finished, based on our Lenten sermon series, “Why Did Jesus Have to Die: The Meaning of the Crucifixion.” This book is near to my heart as the question is one many have struggled with. Christians know Jesus died for them but struggle to understand precisely how it “works.” I prepared the Lenten sermons at Resurrection, knowing I would be writing a book on this topic – in a sense, you were my “guinea pigs” to see if the ideas resonated with you. The book will be published in December; it is currently undergoing final copyediting. The videos, which we’ll film Monday and Tuesday, will be used by thousands of small groups across the US. My hope in preparing these resources is to help people find faith and/or grow deeper in their faith.
After filming the videos, I’ll be finishing work on the next sermon series, which I’ll be preaching from England as I’m leading two different groups in an exploration of the beginnings of Methodism. The sermon series is called, Rekindling the Flame. I’ll tell you more about that in next week’s eNote.
POLITICS AND DISCERNING THE TRUTH
This week I watched the film, October 8, with two dear Jewish friends. It began with the atrocities of October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched an attack on unarmed Israeli civilians, murdering, raping and taking hostages. The film footage and reports point to atrocities that cannot be dismissed or justified – Hamas undermined the cause of the Palestinians and brought untold harm to them. The film then highlights the protests on college campuses against Israel and for Palestinians and the treatment of Jews on college campuses that left Jewish students afraid. I appreciated the film for highlighting the experience of these students and the extreme anti-Zionism that was sometimes expressed in these protests.
As with so much in our world today, the film captures in a compelling way one perspective on the truth (another, I have not seen, called The Encampments, attempts to tell another perspective). I agree with October 8 it as far as it goes – the horrors of October 7 cannot be ignored. Protestors carrying Hamas flags and people celebrating the actions of Hamas on October 7 feels unthinkable and immoral in the light of the atrocities. And people threatening Jewish students on social media and students being afraid on their college campuses should never happen. For most Jews, seeing the marches and seeing signs supporting Hamas in the light of the atrocities of October 7 is frightening. It felt like the antisemitism that has historically been present in America was returning. I was struck by a quote attributed to Irish writer Conor Cruise O’Brien, “Antisemitism is a very light sleeper.”
The atrocities of October 7 cannot be justified, but they must be understood in the light of the experience of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank over the last 75 years. I did not understand this as an American Christian until I began traveling to the Holy Land 30 years ago and spending part of that time in Palestinian villages like Bethlehem, Jericho, Nablus (biblical Sychar where Jesus met the woman at the well) and others. It was interviewing Palestinians, breaking bread with them, listening to them describe their experiences, seeing them pass through checkpoints that treated them as prisoners in their own land that opened my eyes to another side of this story. It was hearing a doctor who spoke here at Resurrection several years ago as part of the Seven Days of Kindness describe walking into his bombed home in Gaza finding the dismembered bodies of his daughters after an IDF attack that targeted the wrong house, and other stories that led me to see the Palestinian side I’d never understood.
Which side is true? They are both true, and there are grave injustices on both sides. Injustice breeds injustice. Someone recently criticized me for my “both-siderism” – I think that was the term they used. Sometimes there are not two sides – there is only injustice. But often there are two sides, or two perspectives, to each story. Our tendency as humans is to hear one side and miss the other, to regurgitate something we’ve heard or read and not take the time to actually find out if it is true, or what may also be true on the other side.
When it comes to Palestinians and Israelis, understanding both sides leads me to compassion for the Palestinian people in the light of their history of displacement and marginalization. It leads me to abhor the fact that 60,000+ Palestinians have been reported killed in the last 19 months and a huge number of people have had their homes destroyed. I can’t look at the photos of the devastation in Gaza and not be moved. I’m disturbed when I hear of settlers in the West Bank harassing Palestinians, destroying their homes, and cutting down their olive trees. And seeing the photos this week of emaciated children starving in Gaza angers me.
Understanding both sides also leads me to say that atrocities in the name of fighting injustice (i.e. the October 7th attack) only compound injustice (or, as we learned growing up, “two wrongs don’t make a right”). It leads me to understand that most Jews in Israel want peace and justice for both themselves and Palestinians. They don’t want children dying of starvation. But they also don’t ever again want to see their friends murdered in an atrocity like October 7. There will never be peace for Israel until there is fairness (justice) and a just resolution for the Palestinian. And there will never be peace and prosperity for the Palestinians until there is a willingness to accept and find ways to partner with Israel.
I am against terrorism and violence perpetrated by Hamas, and I am against the atrocities that have been perpetrated against Palestinians in the name of rooting out Hamas. I am for doing whatever must be done to ensure food aid is being received by those who need it in Gaza, and for seeing that people are not starving to death as we say nothing. (And yes, I have read the Jewish Federations paper published yesterday claiming the fault is not with Israel, but with aid agencies, distribution processes and Hamas – as well as several articles published in the last few days by the Jewish Israeli newspaper Haaretz offering somewhat differing views).
Understanding both sides of this and other complex issues means not watching only Fox News or MSNBC and believing you have the whole story. It includes doing some homework and actively and empathetically seeking to listen to people whose perspectives may differ from your own. And, in the face of a wrong, with humility and grace, making your voice heard and when you can do more, to do more. In a time when there are so many things happening that are troubling, none of us can research and study every issue. But as often as possible make it your aim to understand before forming an opinion, to seek balanced sources of information, and when you have an informed opinion on something that is bringing harm to others, speak up as Proverbs 31:8-9 tells us, “Speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable. Speak out in order to judge with righteousness and to defend the needy and the poor.”
THIS WEEK’S PODCAST: WILL THERE BE PETS IN HEAVEN?
In this week’s episode of my podcast Making Sense of Faith, I tackle this question that I’m frequently asked. We’ll explore what Scripture reveals about this, some personal stories, and I’ll reflect on how our beloved pets can deepen our understanding of God’s character and offer profound hope. I hope you’ll share this with your pet-loving friends. To listen to it, click here.
In Christ’s love,
Adam
Adam Hamilton
Resurrection Senior Pastor
Reverend Adam Hamilton is the senior pastor of Church of the Resurrection and the author of 22 books. He has been married to LaVon since 1982, and she has been a critical partner in every dimension of Adam’s work. They have two daughters and one granddaughter.
Adam’s writings are known for helping readers make sense of challenging theological questions, exploring the significance of the biblical stories, and equipping Christian leaders to be more effective in their work. He earned his MDiv from Perkins School of Theology and graduated with honors from Oral Roberts University with a degree in Pastoral Ministry.
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