Many rejoice as they see years of prayer come to fruition. The Holy Spirit has moved their loved ones to finally respond to the Gospel. This scene never gets old. There is not a sight more beautiful than thousands streaming down those steps to the field where they will make the most important decision of their lives. To the grass they tread, bringing their guilt and their shame. They bring their loneliness, their pain, their hopelessness. They bring their fear of death. They bring their sin.
On that field Jesus meets them, offering forgiveness, a love they cannot imagine, and a freedom that the world can never give them. In an instant lives are changed. Every shackle of sin that has kept them bound is gone. Hope is renewed. They are loved. They are forgiven. They are cleansed. They are free.
Pastor Greg Laurie has been presenting the Gospel at evangelical events since 1990. For many years, Harvest Crusades have been in baseball stadiums to accommodate larger crowds. In the last few years, the ministry has incorporated live stream technology which has enabled them to telecast the crusades across the U.S. as Harvest America. This year God lead the team to consider an even larger venue. When Pastor Greg announced that Harvest America 2016 would be held at the 82,000 capacity AT&T stadium in Texas, I admit my first thought was, “Wow! That’s ambitious. I hope a lot of people show up!” But where we see challenges, God sees opportunity. Not only did people show up last week, but they packed the stadium to capacity!
One of the best tweets of the night came from James, who’d driven 9 hours to attend the event, but was content to be turned away at the door when greeted by this sign.
Pastor Jack Graham enthusiastically started the evening with that announcement.
This is the first Christian event in the history of this stadium, and it is [at[ full capacity; people are outside and [watching] all across America… God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ask or think, according to the power that works in us. –Jack Graham, Pastor Prestonwood Baptist Church
A great time of worship followed with musical guests Switchfoot, MercyMe, Lecrae, and Chris Tomlin. Pastor Greg began his message with four things he assured the audience he knew about them, “You’re empty, you’re lonely, you feel guilty and you fear death.” From there he shared accounts of his own life, describing how he also used to feel those things before he gave his life to Christ. The message resonated with the audience, bringing 6,300 people to the field to make professions of faith. The response was tremendous, but the most amazing part, is that the 82,000+ people at AT&T Stadium were less than one-quarter of the total audience that night!
Harvest America was simulcast to over 7,200 remote host locations, with an additional audience of 180,000 people. It was also streamed live on the internet to over 89,000 viewers, and it was broadcast on over 600 radio stations. Harvest America was viewed live in all 50 states, and in 123 countries. It was the largest evangelical event ever held in the United States, with a total attendance of 351,769 people, and 25,342 professions of faith!
The numbers are just amazing, showing the phenomenal power of the Gospel to save.
We only celebrate these statistics because they represent the personal lives changed by the transformative gospel message. –Greg Laurie
Here is a short recap of Harvest America 2016.
What an awesome privilege it is to see the Holy Spirit drawing people into the family of God!
To watch the archived web cast, use this link: http://harvestamerica.com/texas-2016/home.html
Special thanks to Jordan and James for granting permission to use the images in this post.
On the journey toward Home,
