Last night my brother took me to the AMAZING Hillsong United concert, “Empires!” It was such a worshipful night. Here are a few thoughts that stuck with me from the powerful and fun evening.
- God is not impressed with our talents and strivings (Philippians 3:7-9, ). He wants our broken hearts. This was so beautiful to hear, because it qualified every single person at that concert to worship and obey Jesus. Sometimes we think we need glamorous gestures or big acts to impress God, when in reality all He’s craving is a heart-to-heart relationship with us.
- We tend to complicate God’s simple truths. God’s truth may not be easy but it is usually simple. So instead of all the labeling, diagraming, and creating, let’s simply rest in the truth we know today: we are loved and held by our Creator who said we were worth dying for, proved it, and rose from the dead.
- We should be aware of those around us. At the concert they specifically mentioned World Vision and how to help refugees. As God’s church on earth, we should cultivate awareness of the world around us. It’s his world, after all, and he’s called us to be stewards of it (Gen. 1:27-28). As the worship continued, I thought of the persecuted church and of how many people in the world suffer unimaginable consequences for proclaiming the name, “Jesus!” May we seek God’s direction and act how he wants us to as we become aware of what’s going on around us. And may we never take for granted the amazing privilege of shouting his Name.
- During the concert, there was an abundance of loud noise and flashing lights. During one of these moments, everyone was worshiping and I wondered if heaven would be a little like that. See, I’ve always thought of worship in heaven as very solemn and old fashioned, but I wonder if there will be some contemporary, happy songs too. I think what really matters to God is the heart behind the worship, not the style or beat. But I wonder….
- Oreo milkshakes are a giant blessing for those of us battling indecisiveness. After the concert, Alec and I got milkshakes. After a long evening of worship and fun, my brain wasn’t functioning all that well and I really didn’t want to choose between chocolate and vanilla. So Oreos, the mix of chocolate and vanilla, came to my rescue. Thanks, Oreo.
- Confetti falling from the sky pretty much makes everything better. I don’t want to make a generalization here…but I can’t think of a scenario where confetti wouldn’t make it better. It’s just great. At the end of the night giant confetti rained down on us and it was magical and beautiful (until I tried to grab a piece of the falling stuff and ended up missing and smacking the girl next to me…oops).
- Something wonderful happens when God’s people connect. During one of the songs a bunch of us all turned on the lights on our phones and waved them high in the air. It was amazing looking around and seeing hundreds of different lights representing hundreds of family members in Christ (1 Corinthians 12). So today, let’s bond together as God’s people. When we do, there is power and love. One other thing Hillsong reminded us of was that God will defeat the enemy once and for all, and that our enemy has zero power over God and that evil must bow at the feet of Jesus. This is our song and it cannot be silenced. Praise the LORD! Let’s worship our King Jesus today.
