We had strobe lights, a fog machine and all of the microphones in place.
The concert began with a friend of mine, Brian, a Messianic Jew, who played the guitar and sang Hebrew praise hymns with a friend.
There was much excitement in the air and many people were there, some who had NEVER been to a church service before in their life. Others came dressed in Goth to show their support.
We held hands and prayed before our performance, asking that God protect us from Satan, who had already begun to fight against us.
I read a verse from the Bible. All of the lights were out and the strobe lights on. The sound of Thunder and lightning could be heard. We entered the sanctuary and walked up to the stage. I was carrying a wooden cross with Ex Nihilo engraved on it.
Our first song was "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk. One of the members of our group played the electric guitar along with the performance track. People were enjoying the performance and clapping their hands and whistling. The music was loud and the atmosphere was charged with electricity.
After the first song, I introduced the members of the band using stage names. Our first skit involved a young man in a leather mask who was in chains inside a cell. His name was Animal. I asked one of the girls to bring the Animal to me.
Animal growled and struggled with his chains. I explained that Animal had once been a wretched creature, but when he met Jesus, Jesus broke the chains of sin in his life and Animal became a new creature. I removed the mask and chains to signify the change in his life.
Next we sang "Breakfast" by the Newsboys. We threw little boxes of cereal out to the audience. Taped on the boxes were gospel tracts on how to be saved
Our next skit involved two young ladies who came to Boris' house to invite him to a party. Boris was a Christian and Jesus was there at his house (portrayed by one of the boys in the group). Boris was excited about going to the party, and told Jesus that he needed to stay home. There would be women, drugs and booze at the party and it was not a place for Jesus. Jesus insisted on following Boris. Boris finally grew angry and told Jesus to "Stay right here!" imitating crucifying him to a cross. Boris left with his friends, but then in shame, turned and returned to Jesus who he had crucified, kneeling at his feet.
The next song was "Shine" by the Newsboys. We turned the lights out during this song and each of us shined a flashlight into the audience, representing the light of God that we each carried within.
Our last song was "Wish We'd All Been Ready" by DC Talk. Our soloist began to sing up in the choir loft and then approached the stage where the rest of us were seated. It was a moving song.
The girls did a couple of dance routines and then we all left the stage amidst clapping and cheers.
There was a guest singer there that night and then a short sermon was given by one of our young men preparing for the ministry.
An invitation was given and one of my friends and co-workers sat down beside me on the back row. "God was here tonight.", he confirmed what I already knew.
After the concert we had refreshments and a time for fellowship.
I was so proud of the kids and we all believed that the concert had been a complete success and Christ had been glorified.
