Today was my first day to lead worship at Austin Stone Recovery. It is the highest honor to get to worship in an environment like this where Jesus is truly a felt need and the gospel is cherished in such a serious way.

Many churches have a similar ministry by a similar name, but it’s hard to peg exactly who this ministry is dedicated to helping. You could say it’s for people fighting addiction, but that wouldn’t fully cover the scope of it. You could say it’s for people who are doubting the truth of the gospel, or God’s goodness, and that would be closer, but I think this ministry is ultimately just for people who are broken and need a Savior.

Recovery is for every believer in Christ. We’re all Being recovered by Jesus from something. It is a more concentrated form of a regular church service, where people speak matter-of-factly about their sins, their true identities in Jesus, and hand over control of their lives, piece by piece, to him.

I am planning on leading worship regularly from now on. It is a humbling honor to worship with these people. Their zeal and readiness to grab onto the grace of Jesus with both hands is so infectious. I felt like the Holy Spirit was at work holding me together, not trying to get through my exterior like he usually does. But his job was keeping me standing, and out of a mess of tears so that I could lead worship like I was supposed to.

I know this is rambling, but I wanted to write this the first night I got the opportunity to worship with the folks at Recovery. So it’s not so structured as it is a representation of my feelings immediately following the event.

If there is any way you can handle coming to a meeting at Recovery, I know you’ll experience the grace of Jesus in your life. Whoever you are, you’re not too put-together, or too broken-apart, to benefit from a ministry like this. Find out more at austinstone.org/recovery.