Aaron Damiani preached on 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 on April 25, 2010.  You may listen or download here.

The Rev. Christian Hofreiter recently gave a lecture on the reliability of the Bible at England’s Southampton University. His title: ”Talking snakes, virgin births, walking on water, rising from the dead… you can’t believe the bible in the 21^st century, can you?” Several other lectures on the validity of Christianity, given by Christian’s colleagues, can be found here.

Christian and Helen Hofreiter live, study and minister at the University of Oxford in England. Following completion of Christian’s doctoral studies, they plan to return to Christian’s native Austria as church planters. Before moving to Oxford, Christian served as a pastor at the Church of the Resurrection in Washington, DC.

Dan Claire preached a sermon entitled ‘Money and Mission’, based on 1 Corinthians 16:  on April 18, 2010. You may listen or download here.  If you’d like to read further, you can check out the book that Dan mentions in his sermon -“Money, Possesions and Eternity” by Randy Alcorn.

Here’s a summary of what happened at the Up Meeting on Sunday, April 18, emceed by Elyse Anderson and Greg Justice.

News & Testimonies

Meriwether Anderson shared briefly about her recent trip to Egypt to visit her brother, Matt, who is coordinating the 2010 Summer Institute in Muslim-Christian Studies in Cairo.

On behalf of the Parish Council, Joannella Birdsall gave thanks to God that after planting two churches in two years, our congregation has moved from surviving to thriving to overflowing. She mentioned the annual Parish Retreat and Holy Week as two recent examples of our enthusiastic participation, loving community, and spiritual growth.

Dan Claire gave an update on recent meetings and travels, including work with a new church in Harrisonburg, a presentation given to a grant-giving foundation, the Breaking Ground conference at Beeson Divinity School, and the North American Network meeting with Tim Keller. Dan encouraged everyone to listen to Keller’s lecture on Gospel Ecosystems.

Aaron Damiani gave a big shout out to the men who served during Holy Week in the logistics of footwashing in the Maundy Thursday service, and in the feast after the Vigil. Their service came as a direct answer to prayer, and so Aaron challenged us to keep praying for the kingdom come.

Erin Duffy and Justin Thorp gave an update on rezchurch.org, which gets an enormous amount of visitors from around the world. The website team needs more volunteers; everyone can help by taking photos and sharing stories.

Katie Doherty updated us on the children’s ministry. “Our children love to give,” as evidenced by many recent projects. The children’s chapel every Sunday includes singing, prayers and teaching. The nursery will soon double, and we are in need of more volunteers.

Lauren Johnson shared answered prayers in the ministry of International Justice Mission, particularly in the work of rescuing girls from sex trafficking in India.

Randy Kenna updated us on church finances. As was anticipated last year when we approved the 2010 budget, we are now experiencing a 30% shortfall between income and expenditures, and are making up the difference from savings. Regular financial giving is vitally important for our ministry. The Parish Council asks you to pray for our financial needs, and for the Council as stewards of our resources.

Kristi Kiger shared about the growing interest in adoptions and foster care in our community, and invited everyone to stay for a dinner on May 16 to hear testimonies from adoptive parents.

Virginia Patton and Emilie Kao gave an update on a former member, Courtney Cook, who is back home in Alabama. Courtney will be back in June to graduate from Reformed Theological Seminary. They encouraged us to send greetings to Courtney.

Raquel Rogers and Rachel Trego shared testimonies of God’s work in and through the dance ministry at Resurrection.

Dee Scriven talked about God’s faithfulness in a season of unemployment, the blessing of a new job, and the joy of rediscovering one’s identity as a child of the King.

Randy Smith shared about his week in Haiti, helping a church community in the aftermath of the earthquake. In witnessing the vitality of this Haitian Christian community, Randy “experienced how good it is to be in Jesus.”

Needs & Prayer Requests Mentioned

Pray for our friends in Harrisonburg, VA, who are starting a new church (Dan Claire).

Pray for and contribute to the financial needs of the church. Pray for the Parish Council as they steward the resources of the congregation. (Randy Kenna).

We need volunteers to help in our Nursery & Children’s Ministry (Katie Doherty).

We need volunteers to help with website content, photos, video, etc. (Erin Duffy).

Upcoming Events Mentioned

7pm Sun, May 16. Adoption & Foster Care Dinner after Worship, featuring two Christian families who have recently gone through the adoption process.

5pm Sun, June 6. Bishop Thad Barnum will ordain Aaron Damiani as Presbyter.

July 25-Aug 13. Summer Institute in Christian-Muslim Studies in Cairo.

Matthew Mason preached on 1 Corinthians 15:35-58 on April 11, 2010.  You may listen or download here.

Reneé Bondi, author of The Last Dance but Not the Last Song, will share in word and in song the personal and spiritual lessons she learned after a bizarre accident left her a quadriplegic. The event will be held at the Rivendell School auditorium (5700 Lee Highway) in north Arlington on Monday, April 26, at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.reneebondi.com.

In February, Pastor Dan Claire was a panelist in a two-day interdenominational discussion on church planting at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. Dan joined three other panelists from Baptist, Presbyterian, and African Methodist Episcopal denominations as together they shared thoughts and experiences related to the calling, struggles, successes and realities of establishing new churches. Download or listen to the entire conference online here.

The conference was moderated by Dr. Lyle W. Dorsett, Billy Graham Professor of Evangelism, and Dr. Kurt D. Selles, director of the Global Center at Beeson Divinity School. The other panelists were Phil Chambers, Christ Presbyterian, Helena, Alabama, Darren Paulson, Providence Baptist, Vacaville, California, and Ronald Sterling, St. Stephen AME, Birmingham, Alabama.

Visions & Dreams: Why Are We Planting Churches?
The Passion & Principles for Planting Churches

Counting the Cost: Praying & Plunging into Church Planting
The Preparation for Church Planting

But God Gave the Increase: Building a Team & Working Together

Don’t Lose Your Way: Holding to Biblical Models in a Marketing-Driven World

Keeping Your Hand on the Plow: How to Serve When the Going Gets Rough

Strategies & Struggles

Rev. Dan Claire preached the Easter Sunday sermon last night, on ‘The Mission of the Resurrection’.   You may listen or download here.

Aaron Damiani preached on Maundy Thursday during Holy Week – you may listen or download here.

Dan Claire preached the Good Friday sermon at a combined service of Resurrection and Advent in Columbia Heights. You may listen or download it here.