Chris Tomlin leads thousands in worship at AWAKE Houston: ‘We honor You’
Chris Tomlin led thousands in an hour of worship at AWAKE Houston on Sept. 19, filling the Smart Financial Centre with some of contemporary Christian music’s most recognizable anthems before evangelist Dr. Michael Youssef delivered the evening’s keynote message.
Tomlin, a Grammy-winning worship artist whose songs have become staples in churches around the world, performed a career-spanning set that included “Whom Shall I Fear (God of Angel Armies),” “How Great Is Our God,” “Good Good Father,” “Great Are You Lord," “Holy Forever" and Bethel Music’s “Goodness of God.”
Throughout the set, Tomlin frequently stepped back from the microphone as the crowd of 3,100 sang the lyrics back to him, at times filling the arena with little accompaniment.
“What a beautiful sound tonight,” Tomlin told the crowd. “The people of God singing the praises of God in the presence of God. There’s no other sound like it, so let’s fill up this room together.”
Later, Tomlin paused the music and reflected on what it was like to watch the crowd worship from the stage.
“It’s so beautiful to lead these songs with you tonight, share these songs,” he said. “I wish you could stand where I’m standing tonight, see people just praising God all over this place. ... There’s nothing like the sound of the people of God praising God.”
The Texas native also reflected on three decades of making music and joked about the challenge of choosing songs from his extensive catalog for a special event like AWAKE Houston.
“This has been 30 years now for me playing music, and I started when I was 3 years old,” Tomlin joked. “It’s been an incredible run, 30 years of music. I’m thinking, what songs do I play?”
Tomlin then shared a story about his manager encountering a group of college students while wearing one of the singer’s tour hoodies. When his manager asked the students to name their favorite Tomlin songs, nearly all chose his 2022 hit “Holy Forever.”
But the final student had a different answer.
“You know what? I like the OG Chris Tomlin,” Tomlin recalled her saying.
Asked what she considered “OG,” the student replied, “Good Good Father, the old stuff.”
“What she doesn’t know, because she wasn’t alive, is that I had 20 years of music before ‘Good Good Father,’” Tomlin joked.
“If it’s OK with you, I’m going to go OG OG for a second,” he told the crowd before revisiting earlier material from his career.
The lighthearted moment came amid an evening focused on a more serious call for spiritual revival and evangelism.
AWAKE Houston was organized by AWAKE America, a ministry of Youssef’s Leading The Way, as part of a nationwide effort to call Christians to prayer, repentance and renewed commitment to sharing the Gospel. The Sept. 19 gathering brought Christians from across Greater Houston together for worship, prayer and biblical teaching.
Dr. O.S. Hawkins hosted the gathering, while Dr. Ahmed Joktan, founder of Mecca to Christ Ministries International and a former Muslim, was among the featured speakers.
Organizers said the gathering was intended not simply as a one-night event but as a catalyst for Christians to take their faith beyond the arena and into their homes, churches, workplaces and communities.
Tomlin’s set served as a lead-in to Youssef’s keynote message, in which the Egyptian-born pastor and evangelist was expected to issue a call for repentance, spiritual revival and bold Gospel proclamation.
“Will we wake up in time? Will we get serious about the Great Commission? Will we boldly and fearlessly take the Gospel to our non-Christian neighbors? Will we finally become obedient to the word of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ and go across the street and across the world?” Youssef asked the crowd.
“This is not a time for retreat. This is not a time for capitulation. This is not a time for hiding in the church pews," he stressed. "This is not a time for crawling into our Christian ghettoes. This is not a time to be silent. This is a time to prove our love for the One who gave everything for love’s sake.”
Ahead of the event, Youssef told The Christian Post that he believes revival must begin within the Church before a broader spiritual awakening can occur.
“A revival has to happen within the Christian believers,” Youssef said. “Christian believers can experience a revival when they are repentant, when they are not rationalizing or baptizing sin into the church.”
Tomlin closed his hour-long set with a prayer that reflected the evening's evangelistic theme.
“We honor You tonight. We worship You, Lord, tonight,” Tomlin prayed. “We say You are the King of Kings. You’re the Lord of Lords. You’re the name above every name. One day, every person who’s ever lived and breathed will confess that You are the Lord. And we just confess it tonight and praise You and worship.”
“Where would any of us be without Your grace?” he prayed. “Thank You for Your grace in our lives. We pray in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
