We are several days removed from Easter Sunday at Thrasher Park but I haven't quite stopped thinking about it yet. I have appreciated each and every Sunday night since Generations began and I am energized by the times we come together, but Easter felt, I would guess rather appropriately, like something new was happening.

I know there were a lot of incredible things happening in a lot of churches across the city, state and country on Sunday, but I must confess that I wouldn't trade our time together at the park, worshipping in the center of the city God has called us to for any of those other experiences. And when I say "worshipping", I am not referring to music and singing, but to what took place between 8 a.m. (when the early birds were arriving) and 3 p.m. (when the last people were leaving). Some of you may not see it as worship or maybe it just wasn't worship for you personally, but the perspective I believe God wants us to adopt as a people, is that all of life is worship.

I was overwhelmed by all the adults that loved on kids as they played and laughed; as I looked over the spread of food that everybody contributed to and so many helped to set up and clean up; as you all interacted with each other, especially those of you who brought kids, parents, grandparents and friends who are not normally with us; as I watched some of you support, in very tangible ways, a mom whose car was broken into while we were together; I was overwhelmed as I watched before my very eyes, a group of people beginning to function in the manner that God has called them to function... as a family.

Generations is a name birthed out of our understanding of God's vision for his redemptive purposes in our world, which prevents us from experiencing His blessings and favor only to hoard it for our own enjoyment and comfort. Instead, we see our mission is to invite everyone around us into loving community with Jesus and His people. Generations is about us taking seriously God's call to commend his works to the generation that follows us, and family is a huge part of that. We saw at least four generations interacting with and celebrating together on Sunday.

God is beginning to create a family for some of you that don't have close families, either relationally or due to proximity, and He is enlarging the family that many of us already do have. As I watched this transpiring Sunday, in the specific setting of celebrating Jesus' resurrection, and reflecting on our time these last few days, I was and am moved by the fact that Jesus' death on the cross freed each of us from our insecurities, fears, hurts, distrust, and all that keeps us from being known by others, and his subsequent resurrection frees us to enter into relationships where we are comfortable, confident, forgiving, vulnerable and authentic. His resurrection secured our new life, and one of the great gifts of new life is a new family.

Mike and Heather Redden were such a beautiful example of this as they exposed so much in their lives to all of us. Mike's story of living secretly for so long had no hope of a good ending apart from Jesus. Mike's fears were crushed at Calvary, and his vulnerability emerged as the result of an empty tomb. Their testimony is not just a story for us, but an invitation to us. Whose heart was not touched by the raw honesty Mike displayed? Whose heart was not challenged by Heather's words about forgiveness and covenant relationship? Who among us does not love and respect the Redden's more today than on Saturday? Their example should remind us that the One who knows us best loves us most and he does so even while we are at our worst. When our hope and trust are in Jesus and his gospel, we are liberated to let people see who we really are because we are already secure in our salvation, known fully by the only one that really matters. The great, unexpected gift is that when we are humble enough to be vulnerable, we are better, our hearers are better, and we are all connected at a deeper level as a result.

That's community. And when living in community to the glory of God, it's an act of worship.

May we never confuse worship with singing songs. Instead, may we listen to each other, serve each other, open our hearts and lives to each other and die to ourselves and to our pride, as an act of worship. May we worship by consciously allowing God's spirit to move us toward humility which produces vulnerability. May we each strive individually to contribute to a culture of authentic community as worship to Jesus. And may we realize that all of life is either to the glory of God or the glory of something else, either worship or idolatry... and may we choose worship... After all, Jesus is alive!