Weekly Updates from Pastor Adam - Oct. 28, 2022

Dear Resurrection Family,

LaVon and I returned from vacation this last Monday, and I’m looking forward to being back in the pulpit this weekend as we conclude our series of sermons on Micah 6:8, God’s call to BE Just, Kind and Humble. Last night at dinner, I ran into one of our members who’d been golfing with his friends in Raymore and said, “I saw our signs from the golf course!” Another sent me a picture of a painted rock they’d seen that said, “Be Kind.” Everywhere I drove this week I saw the campaign signs – a visible and daily reminder of Micah’s words and a witness (in the midst of the campaign season) of what Micah says God requires of us. These three big ideas that unite us were in the yards of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents! If you have your t-shirts, join me in wearing them to worship this weekend!

THIS WEEKEND IN WORSHIP: WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE, WITH CHARITY FOR ALL

A recent poll found that 43% of Americans believed that a Civil War was at least somewhat likely in America in the next ten years. The title of my message this weekend is drawn from Lincoln’s second inaugural address which was only seven minutes long. Delivered March 4, 1865 (the Civil War was nearly over), Lincoln was trying to heal a nation that had lost over 600,000 people in the “war between the states.” He called them to have “malice towards none,” and “charity for all” – ideas drawn directly from scripture, which he alludes to six times in the four paragraphs of his address.

In this weekend’s message, we’ll consider conflict in the Bible (there are over 900 references to war, conflict, violence, and hatred in the Bible), and what Jesus and the apostles said about resolving it. I’ll share a bit of an interview I had with former White House press secretary turned seminary professor, Mike McCurry, about healing our conflicted nation. I’ll tell you a bit about former Kansas House Speaker and founding Resurrection member, Wendell Lady, who died recently, and how he modeled the connection between faith in politics. And, you’ll hear from two Resurrection women who were on opposite sides of the political divide, who sat down for a conversation together about guns, abortion and other issues that divided them.

Don’t miss worship this weekend, and, if you have one, join me in wearing your BE campaign t-shirts or campaign buttons (we still have a few t-shirts at our Leawood bookstore).

Click here for worship times, locations, as well ways to worship online or TV. →

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THOSE WHO WORSHIP ON TV

NOT this Sunday, but next Sunday, November 6, our 11 am televised worship on KMCI, channel 38, will occur at 10 am instead of 11 am due to a nationally televised sporting event occurring that Sunday. Again, that is NOT this Sunday, but I wanted those of you who worship with us on television, at 11 am, to be aware of this now, so you can prepare for next weekend.

TRUNK OR TREAT IS THIS WEEKEND!

Don’t miss the fun at one of our biggest community events of the year – Trunk or Treat. If you have children or grandchildren, bring them! And invite your friends to a fun and free fall event. If you don’t have children, don’t let that keep you away. We can always use additional volunteers to help welcome our guests. If you are able to help us out click here. Last year we had thousands of children, in costume, stopping by across the metro area. It was awesome.

Here are the times and locations:

• October 29 from 3-5pm at Leawood
• October 29 from 3-5pm at Overland Park
• October 29 from 5-7pm at West
• October 30 after the 9 and 11am services Downtown
• October 30 from 3-5pm at Blue Springs
• October 30 from 3-5pm at Brookside

KEEP SPREADING THE “BE CAMPAIGN” MESSAGE ACROSS THE CITY

You can still pick up some yard signs after worship this weekend and put them out around the city in public spaces wherever you see candidate campaign signs. We’d love to have a BE Campaign sign everywhere there is a political sign as a reminder to “Be Just, Kind, Humble.”

THANKSGIVING SERVING OPPORTUNITIES

Can you believe Thanksgiving is just a month away?! I love this holiday both for what it represents, and for the meal with family and friends. But, each year in Kansas City, there are people who struggle to make ends meet, for whom a turkey and a Thanksgiving meal would not be possible without a little help. We’ll have multiple opportunities this next month for you to help in providing food or volunteering to serve Thanksgiving meals. One of these is to provide a sack of food items to area households through our Resurrection Food Pantry, our Food Mobile, and our partner food pantries throughout the metro. Click here for a list of food items you can purchase, helping to provide Thanksgiving to a family here in Kansas City. You’ll also find a link there to donate monetarily, and our team to shop for you. Donations need to be returned by November 13. We will also be collecting winter warmth items like coats and hats, and we have opportunities for you to serve a holiday meal with one of our partner agencies.

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THANK YOU FROM FLORIDA UNITED METHODIST CHURCHES

As I mentioned last week, you donated $320,000 to assist United Methodist Churches in Florida to help provide immediate assistance to those impacted by Hurricane Ian. This week Bishop Ken Carter from the Florida Conference shared an article that appeared in their conference newsletter about the profound impact your generous gifts to disaster relief are having on the people and churches in Florida. I had previously shared his kind words of thanks but thought you might like to read this article as well. Here’s the link. I am so proud of your generosity and am consistently inspired by your compassion and generosity.

VESPERS THIS COMING TUESDAY

Last Tuesday night as I attempted to go live for Vespers, there was a problem with Facebook Live. It froze as I was speaking. I attempted, three or four times, to restart the livestream, but it would not work. I later learned this was happening nationally with Facebook Live video that night. This coming Tuesday I’ll be coming to you live from Houston where Pastors Anne Gatobu, Cheryl Jefferson Bell, Dan Entwistle and I will be serving as delegates to the South Central Jurisdictional Conference, along with hundreds of other delegates from Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas. We’ll be electing three new bishops as three bishops from these various states retire. I’ll give you an inside look at what happens there, and we’ll talk a bit about All Saints Day (which is next Tuesday), what we believe about the saints (Should we pray to saints? Does burying a statue of St. Joseph in your yard help your house sell faster? etc.), and if our loved ones who have died watch over us from heaven. Join me live on my Pastor Adam Hamilton Facebook page, from Houston, next Tuesday at 7:30 pm or catch the replay on YouTube later in the week.

VOTING INFORMATION AND VOTER GUIDES

We’ve been campaigning to BE just, kind and humble, but this does not take the place of voting. I want to encourage each of you to vote regardless of your political affiliation. I’m committed to voting and have time blocked on my calendar to vote. If you live in the Kansas City area and would like to vote early, click here to find out what you need to vote and where you can vote early.

Often, we get to the voting booth and don’t know who to vote for. We have an idea of the major races, but not on the lesser-known races. Each election, I try to find objective information on the candidates for myself, read up on candidates on both sides, find those who most closely share my values, and vote for them regardless of party affiliation. Here’s the best site I know of for Johnson Countians to get more information about the elections and to read candidate profiles they themselves have filled out about what matters most to them: https://votejoco.com. I don’t know of a similar website for Jackson County or other cities and states across the US; try vote411.org where you can plug in your address and get information from the candidates themselves in your area.

I worshiped the last two weekends online while LaVon and I were on vacation (once from a hotel room, and the second weekend while on a plane from 35,000 feet!), I am so looking forward to being back in person for worship. If you live in Kansas City and haven’t been to in-person worship for a while, this would be a great weekend to worship in person.

In Christ’s love,

Adam