After an inspirational praise morning session, Steven Furtick (Lead Pastor, Elevation Church – Charlotte, North Carolina USA) lit the main arena on fire with an inspiration message to not "Stop on Day 6" from the "Fall of Jericho" in Joshua 6. He managed to bring a new light to this story reinforcing the power of perseverance and holding fast to the "promise that still stands".
The morning was then filled with a focus on crisis and an array of vulnerable moments from lead pastors, teachers and mentors from the platform whilst still managing to bring that shade of humour throughout the day.
Honour throughout conference from each pastor on the platform has continued to be evident towards the Senior Pastors of Hillsong Church (Brian and Bobbie Houston). The way they have held fast to chasing the God dream during the up's and down's was really valued, appreciated and honoured throughout the day.
Post the morning session and the gold nuggets from young and old, masterclasses split the arena yet again into LEAD.HELP.CREATE streams.
This included sessions that covered; Leadership Q&A with Pastor Brian Houston and Joel A'Bell, Songs & Sounds of the Album with Joel Houston, Legends on the Frontline Hot Seat with Darren Kitto / Phil Dooley / Christine Caine / Biju Thampy / Tim Hanna and everything else in between. Click here for the Hillsong Conference 2014 full program.
As the day was wrapping up – the sun was started to set and the lines started and the night rally kicked off with an incredible praise and worship session from the Hillsong Worship team.
This was then followed by the main preacher for the evening, the highly talked about (and celebrity magnet as some put it, although this writer would say the biggest heart for people) Lead Pastor for Hillsong NYC, Carl Lentz.
Pastor Carl Lentz started the message with the well-known Psalm 23 but added "Whether you like it or not" title. At the basic level, he showed that Jesus is likening us, people, to that of sheep. Not a vicious or furious animal, but a sheep which is dependent on its shepherd in order for it to be protected and corrected when tempted to stray away.
In this message, Carl showed how Jesus is our shepherd and our one goal is to follow the shepherd and stay close similarly to John 10 verse 4 when Jesus is speaking .."he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice".
The night had only one thing remaining – the worship party to close the day was led by none other than Brian and Jenn Johnson (Worship Pastors, Bethel Church – Redding, Cali USA). The arena almost echoed to the end with "Your love never fails, never gives up, never runs out on me".
For more information visit: hillsongconference.com/sydney
Meenal Chandra is a Sydney based writer who understands a love worth giving.
Meenal Chandra's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/meenal-chandra.html