The Return of the Prodigal

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7237383.post-63210232088167796712008-04-05T11:25:00.004-05:002008-04-05T11:38:27.767-05:00The Return of the Prodigal<a href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_WW7ZOngBH3I/R_eoK-mmxkI/AAAAAAAAAfY/O_x3P4d6bdQ/s1600-h/Terry.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5185798402497496642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_WW7ZOngBH3I/R_eoK-mmxkI/AAAAAAAAAfY/O_x3P4d6bdQ/s400/Terry.jpg" border="0" /></a>I was blessed to experience my first Tulsa Workshop last weekend. ZOE was invited to lead some of the worship times. On Sunday, we visited Memorial Drive Church of Christ and also led during the two morning services. Their worship leader, Shane Coffman, was a wonderful host to us all weekend. Terry Rush is the minister, and he has been at Memorial for over 30 years from what I understand. We were invitied to tour his office-- a shrine to the St. Louis Cardinals! It was very impressive. He goes to camp with them every spring and has become a huge influence upon the team. His sermon was entitled, "The Return of the Prodigal Son." I must confess, I wasn't anticipating hearing anything I hadn't already heard before--- I was wrong. He came at the story from such a wonderful new perspective. He talked about how most of us feel we are only worthy of living in the "barn", but that the Father invites us to stay in the mansion. In fact, his main point from the parable was, "We must party!" His son is the fatted calf who was killed so that we could get back home-- and not have to stay in the barn. He explained that the early church felt a sense of "awe" and that we should, too. That church should be the party place where we celebrate what He has done for us. Whether we are the older brother who can't accept the celebration or if we are the younger son who can't understand why He would offer us a celebration-- God still wants us to share in the party. I told Terry that I wanted to bring him back to Nashville with me.... You can just tell that he has a heart of gold. It is obvious that he is dearly loved.Amy Westermanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16044475083219864329noreply@blogger.com