'I am alive, I am alive on God's great dance floor.' Wednesday, Day 3 of Hillsong Conference, kicked off with a bang as worship leader, Martin Smith and the team sang to an erupting crowd of applause and praise.
In a stadium packed with 21,000 people, you could easily get lost in the crowd but the welcoming smiles of volunteers makes you feel at home. 'There's something about serving as I am able to bless people' says Alan, one of 4,531 volunteers taking time off work this week to serve delegates flocking to Sydney Olympic Park.
'I love Jesus Christ!' declared an adamant Rick Warren, founder and senior pastor of Saddleback Church in the opening of the morning session. "In your life the most important thing is hearing from God', he says as he distils practical steps on how we could hear from God and discern his voice, starting with the act of submission.
In the next session, Let's Talk Church, Brian Houston, senior pastor shared the two things that Hillsong is most well known for, worship and leadership. With its focus on leadership and long-term commitment to raising leaders, the key theme coming from the session was 'whoever wants to be great must become a servant.'
After a short break, masterclasses about how to reach and influence the world through the pillars of society covering avenues such as business, sports, education and media. The business stream saw Nabeh Saleh, successful businessman and founder of Gloria Jeans in Australia and Dr Dave Martin, America's number one Christian success coach shared wisdom on attaining success in the business world. Mr Saleh commented 'Do something you enjoy, not endure. Every step you grow, you grow joyfully. Ask, what gives you the greatest joy? And do that.'
Joy is witnessed throughout Hillsong Conference with many travelling from across the globe to hear from world class speakers and listen to the voice of God. They were not disappointed with the last speaker of the night, Jentezen Franklin – Senior Pastor of Free Chapel in North America who preached a deafeningly powerful message on the whisper of God.
Jentezen declared exhuberantly 'God speaks to you today' demanding listeners 'to get the clutter out of [their] ears...do you ever get quiet enough to hear from God?' In this world 'we Facebook more than we seek his face... we text more than we seek his text [but] if you can hear His voice, He has a plan for your life!'
The audience hung onto every word of Jentezen's empowering message, standing spontaneously and erupting in praise, he finishes 'The greatest whisper is not in your past but in your future'
Quick Facts
Hillsong Conference Nights continue Thursday, 2nd of July to Friday, the 3rd of July, 2015 at Allphones Arena, Sydney Australia. Free and open to the public. Nights are packed with creative items, powerful praise & worship with Hillsong United and Hillsong Worship and incredible teaching from world-class communicators.
Thursday and Friday 6pm (doors open 5pm)
For the full program or to register, go to http://hillsong.com/conference/sydney/#program
Nathaniel Truong is a writer living in Sydney's South Western Suburbs. He runs a finance brokerage and consulting business, The Loan Lounge.
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