More than 82,000 individuals gathered at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Sunday for Harvest America, an annual evangelistic event in which Pastor Greg Laurie of the Harvest Crusades speaks on the gospel. Hundreds of thousands more tuned into the event via livestream or radio / TV broadcasts, according to the organizers, and the event was remotely hosted in over 7,200 locations.
Of those who gathered at the stadium, over 6,000 individuals made a faith commitment in response to Laurie's message titled "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly," in which Laurie addressed feelings of of loneliness and emptiness, and said that only Jesus is the solution.
The most Google-searched terms during nighttimes are "porn, lonely, and suicide," Laurie noted.
"Not a woman, not a man, not a drug, not an experience, not a possession will fill the emptiness inside you," he said. "God has an answer for your loneliness and it is Jesus Christ, his son."
"Your religious beliefs are not enough, either. You're not good enough on your own," Laurie added. "Jesus alone is uniquely qualified to bridge the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity."
Major Christian worship artists were present at the event, with Chris Tomlin and MercyMe leading a choir of some 2,500 individuals, along with Switchfoot and Lecrae.
Various notable local church leaders endorsed and promoted the event, including Dr. Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church, Matt Chandler of The Village Church, and Dr. Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas. Over 4,000 local church members volunteered during the event to be counselors, ushers, and prayer room volunteers.
Donna Lee, 46, was one of 30 volunteers from her church, New Beginnings Community Fellowship in Cedar Hill. She told The Dallas Morning News that she hopes "that God moves the hearts of a lot of people to come to know him. If one more person comes to know Christ, it will be a success."
The event marks the first Christian event ever hosted at the AT&T Stadium.
Laurie is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, located in Riverside, and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, and heads the Harvest Crusades, a series of evangelistic events that have taken place since 1990. More than 5 million people have attended Harvest Crusades and over 450,000 people have responded to the events with faith commitments.
