Thursday, January 11, 2007

Multi-generational Worship

There are a lot of churches in America and all over the world right now that are experiencing an amazing revival in worship. These churches, mostly made up of college-aged students are experiencing a joy and freedom in worship that has previously not been opened to them.

Young people are buying worship CDs, they are spending money to go to worship events and they are constantly longing for an opportunity to experience God. Church for them is no longer about sitting as a spectator, listening to music and hearing a message preached, it is about an encounter.

The problem, however is that, for the most part, these churches are made up of white, college kids and they do not represent an accurate picture of heaven, or the church.

What is amazing to me though, is that we are uniquely positioned here at Clovis Hills with a large cross section of people of various ages and ethnicities and an opportunity to dive into this experiential worship of God.

No one is doing this! There are no churches that I know of that are our size and have our diversity that participate in this kind of worship experience.

What does this mean? It means that we have a unique opportunity to not only dive into the presence of the Lord, but to do so with each other, in an environment where young people can be mentored and helped to grow by those that have experienced life and where older people can be refreshed and renewed by a younger generation eager for God. Multi-generational worship is the goal, but it's not happening.

I believe if we were to embrace this idea of diving into God, which for some means trying new things and for others means going a little slower than you'd like, we will be a church that impacts and changes our community and the world!

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