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?”