October 13, 2006
Dear Resurrection Family,
I was driving down Metcalf Avenue yesterday when I noticed a car in front of me, covered with bumper stickers. One of them caught my eye. It said, "Jesus was a liberal." What do you think? Was Jesus a liberal or a conservative? We've just started a series of sermons on the Parables of Jesus and this weekend's parables, the Parable of the Wineskins, the Parable of the Older Brother (part 2 of the Parable of the Prodigal Son) and the Parable of the Storeroom Treasures (Matthew 13:52) may help us answer that question. Here's the Parable of the Wineskins from Luke 5:37-39,
No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, "The old is good."
And here is the Parable of the Storeroom Treasures in Matthew 13:52,
And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
These are important parables. As we understand them, we'll see how they speak to each of us. I hope you'll plan to be in worship as we learn why Jesus spoke these words, how wineskins functioned, and how this parable speaks to us today.
Here's what I'll cover in today's e-mail:
1. Report from Last Week's Leadership Institute
2. Report from My Visit to Resurrection West Last Weekend
3. A Special Invitation for This Saturday
1. Report from Last Week's Leadership Institute
Just a brief update from last week's Leadership Institute: We had a terrific Leadership Institute - the best yet. More than 1,600 pastors and leaders were ministered to by over 1,600 of you, our members, 200 of whom took time off of work to help lead and run the Institute, and 1,600 of whom were prayer partners for our participants. Among the 1,600 participants we had 9 different denominations represented, and participants came from 38 states as well as Russia and Ukraine. Here is just one of the e-mails we received in response, but it gives you a sense of the event:
What a wonderful weekend I had at the Church of the Resurrection!!! I came back feeling so full and revitalized, my experience was incredible. I totally enjoyed the workshops that I attended and I left the worship service on Friday evening feeling so spiritually fed!! I am anxious to take on the tasks that I have on hand here at my church and apply everything that I learned there at COR. What an amazing place. You could just tell that all the COR folks look so forward to this event, the place was just dripping with hospitality. If you walked away feeling empty, you just were not paying attention, everyone did a fantastic job at presenting the materials.
The Leadership Institute is like throwing pebbles in a pond - the ripple effects are incalculable. Whether you were directly involved in helping produce the Institute or not, all of you who are a part of this church were indirectly involved - by supporting this church, by your participation and by helping this church to be what it is today.
2. Report from My Visit to Resurrection West Last Weekend
This last Sunday morning I had the chance to worship at Resurrection West. This was very exciting. In addition to assisting in leading the worship services, I had the chance, during the second service, to slip out during the Bishop's sermon, to see the children's Sunday School and nurseries. Once again there were over 500 people at Rez West this last weekend. It took us three years to reach this point here at our central campus. The music at both the traditional and contemporary services was great, the Spirit was evident, and, having sat in the Saturday evening service at our central campus and heard the Bishop preach live, and then sitting hearing it on video at Rez West - I felt every bit as engaged at Rez West as I did here at the central campus. I was pleasantly surprised. I want to thank all of the missionaries and apostles - Resurrection members who are helping launch Rez West - for your efforts. You are building a new church that will reach people for generations to come. I spoke with one couple after worship who told me how their lives had been changed by becoming a part of Rez West. It was exciting to meet people who have never even been to our Leawood location but who are making Resurrection West their home! This coming week Resurrection West will send its first mission team to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi as a part of the ongoing Katrina Relief Efforts. If you have a friend who lives in Olathe, Lenexa, DeSoto, Shawnee, or Lawrence, and if they don't have a church home, invite them to worship at Resurrection West. For more information, click on this link: http://www.rezwest.org.
3. A Special Invitation for This Saturday
This Saturday (tomorrow) our church is hosting the Fanning the Flame Conference for the Kansas East Annual Conference. There are over 500 pastors and lay people coming from across Kansas for this event. The keynote speaker is Dr. Leonard Sweet - professor of Evangelism at Drew University, and author of a host of books that have shaped the religious landscape in the last ten years. Here's what others have said about Len, "One of the church's most important and provocative thinkers." "No church leader understands better how to navigate the seas of the 21st century." "A writer of vast imagination, poise and charm." "I can't imagine a Christian leader in America who hasn't read one or more of Leonard Sweet's books." "Some statistician-types will drown you in doom and gloom. Sweet's message is uplifting, hopeful and relevant." I am personally excited to have the chance to hear Len right here in our Sanctuary. I hope you'll join me - there is no charge for attending this keynote address. Join us at 2:45 pm.
I hoped to share with you an article I'm writing entitled, "Bring Back the Latrines! The Problem of Biblical Literalism" but I'm out of time! I hope to finish this article and pass it on to you next week. I'll give you a taste of it in worship this weekend.
In Christ's Love,
Adam Hamilton