Welcoming Bishop Ruben Saenz to Resurrection This Weekend

Dear Resurrection Family,

This is my last few days of sabbatical leave. I’m in Seattle right now, officiating at the wedding of a high school friend. Yesterday I was able to spend the day with my Dad who lives in the Seattle area. We spent the day hiking and talking together. Here’s a pic – we were a little wind blown after a day of hiking, and yes, I know we look like brothers.

I’ll wrap up my sabbatical early this coming week in Nashville for 24 hours, recording small group videos for my new book and study on The Lord’s Prayer. Then I’m back in the office preparing my message for next weekend as we kick off our study of the book of Romans.

THIS WEEKEND IN WORSHIP: BISHOP RUBEN SAENZ

This weekend we have the privilege of having our bishop, Bishop Ruben Saenz, preaching with us. Bishop Saenz shepherds the 1,000 United Methodist churches in Kansas and Nebraska, and the 220,000 laity in those churches, including our own congregation. His sermon this weekend is titled “Superfood.” He is an amazing preacher, teacher and leader, and I’m looking forward to this weekend’s message! Invite a friend to join you for worship this weekend: in-person at 9 or 11 am at one of our locations, online Sat. at 5 pm and Sun. at 7:30 am, 9 am, 11 am or 5 pm; or on KMCI Channel 38 at 8 or 11 am (all Central Time). Click here for our physical locations or for information about joining us online or on television.

DON’T MISS NEXT TUESDAY NIGHT’S VESPERS

This week I interviewed Bishop Saenz – you’ll hear four minutes of our interview in worship this weekend. But next Tuesday, I’ll share the entire 30-minute interview in which we speak together about what it means to be a Christian, one key component to making marriages last (he celebrates his 40th anniversary in two weeks), what he loves about the United Methodist Church, and the future of the United Methodist Church given the divisions in the denomination. It’s a wide-ranging interview with our bishop that I believe will inspire and encourage you. Don’t miss this at 7:30 pm Central Time on my Facebook page: Pastor Adam Hamilton on Facebook. You’ll also be able to view it later on my Facebook page or on the church’s YouTube page after Tuesday night.

FALL KICK-OFF AUGUST 14/15!

Next weekend – August 14/15 – is fall kick-off at Resurrection! I’ll be kicking off a new six-week sermon series on Romans (more on that below), our kids and youth at every campus will be moving up to their next grade-level in Sunday School, adult Sunday School classes are resuming, as well as our mid-week programming. You can check out these opportunities at cor.org/next. As our kids head back to school for the fall semester, I want to encourage all of you, if you’ve missed a bit of church during this summer break, to return in person if you can, or online or television as we kick off our fall at Resurrection.

FALL SERMONS ON THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LETTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD

It is not an overstatement to suggest that Paul’s Letter to the Romans is the most important and influential letter ever written. It played a huge part in shaping the Christian faith and with it all of Western civilization. One-third of the world’s population find in it words from God. It contains some of the most compelling and beautiful passages in all the New Testament… and a few of the most confusing and misunderstood passages as well. We’re going to take a deep dive into this letter, what might be considered, The Gospel According to Paul. While I’ve preached from various texts of Romans over the last 31 years, I’ve never preached through the entire letter.

We’re going to spend six weeks studying the letter, reading it together as a congregation, memorizing six of its key verses, and considering its major themes and how they speak to our lives today. We’ll also look at some of its confusing verses, including Paul’s words about the role of the Law, same-sex relationships, predestination, the eternal fate of the Jewish people and how Jesus’ death saves us. Despite these confusing passages, Romans contains some of the most loved and often quoted verses in the New Testament.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

If God is for us, who can be against us?
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We know that in all things God works for good for those who love him.

There are so many others. Don’t miss this chance to study this really significant letter! By the way, our video team prepared two “rough-cuts” of a promo for this series – one is modern, focused on studying the letter – it’s about 30 seconds long and you can see it here. The other captures Paul writing the epistle and includes some of its key verses. You can see it here. I’d like to encourage you to post your favorite on your own social media feeds and invite friends next week!

The GPS will help you to read through the book of Romans, verse by verse. And, we’ll be launching new small groups where you’ll have a chance to connect with new friends while discussing this important letter together. On Wednesday nights we’ll have groups meeting on Zoom or in person at our various locations. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to meet new friends and grow deeper in your faith through this remarkable study of the New Testament’s most important letter.

Sign Up for the Romans Study Now →

EVENING WORSHIP SERVICE ADDED AT LEAWOOD LOCATION

Along with our fall kick-off, we will also be restarting the Sunday evening service at 5 pm at the Leawood location. We’re gradually adding back in-person services we held pre-COVID. I have heard from many of you anxious to see the worship service you attended in person pre-COVID restarted. I’ll be talking about our latest thinking on this during my Vespers on Tuesday, August 17. I hope you’ll plan to join me for this conversation next Tuesday night!

25TH ANNIVERSARY RESURRECTION GOLF CLASSIC TO BENEFIT NEW MOBILE FOOD PANTRY

Registration has opened for this fall’s Resurrection Golf Classic – our 25th annual tournament. Sign up to have fun while doing good. As you play golf, you’ll have a chance to help fund our new mobile food pantry – a specially equipped bus that will be used to deliver fresh fruits, vegetables and other food items to “food deserts” in Kansas City where people have limited transportation options and even more limited ways to access fresh fruits, vegetables and other needed food items. You’ll help to ensure people in Kansas City have access to nutritious food as you enjoy a great day of golf!

Register now to play, volunteer or become a hole sponsor →

Resurrection, I’m so looking forward to hearing from our bishop this weekend and so excited for our fall kick-off and church-wide study of Romans that begins August 14/15!

With love,

Adam