Delegates from 71 nations, representing 21 denominations from around Australia and all over the world are attending the five-day conference that commenced last night and culminates on Friday night.
Guest speaker at the opening rally on Monday night, Rick Warren, challenged the delegates to discover the higher purpose. “It’s not about you,” he said, in the words of his best-selling book “Purpose Driven Life” which has sold over 30 million hard copies worldwide.
Speaking on the area of ‘Stewardship of Affluence and Influence’, Pastor Rick encouraged people to recognise that with God’s blessing comes great responsibility to live lives focused on benefiting others.
In the first morning rally, he continued to encourage believers to see the purpose of the local church.
“You cannot grow as a Christian without the Church. You need the Church. To say you love Jesus and not the Church is an insult to God. If you don’t like local church, you won’t like heaven,” said Ps Rick.
This year, the Hillsong Conference brings together some of the world’s finest church leaders including renowned evangelist, Reinhard Bonnke, Bill Hybels, Jentenzen Franklin, and UK group Delirious?.
From humble beginnings of just 150 delegates at the first Hillsong, this local church conference has grown to become the largest annual conference in Australia.
“The vision and heartbeat has never changed. The Conference exists to 'champion the cause of the local church’ and make God’s name known around the earth,” said Hillsong’s Senior Pastor, Brian Houston.