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the opening slot( Bob did great!) Then we asked the regular opener, the worship team band Thrive from Bayside Church in Sacramento, to play for five minutes longer to give our travel challenged middle slot artist more time to make it to the venue. That guy weaving through traffic at that time happened to be our good friend Lincoln Brewster!
His tech team from his home church Bayside( sound, lights, cameras you name it) had all come down and volunteered to be our crew for the night, and Linc’ s band had sound checked earlier, so we had everybody but the front man ready to go. The promoter in me wanted to play it safe and have our closing act Marcos Witt and his band take the stage first and then have Linc close the night. But the staging of the backline was in place for the order of the evening, so if we made that call, it would certainly complicate things.
We chose the“ let’ s wing it” strategy and hoped Linc would make it. The Thrive worship team was really good, and then we took a break telling the largest audience we have ever had( 1,700 or so with people standing along the back of the ballroom as the chairs were full) we will be back in 10 minutes with Lincoln Brewster. I could say this as I heard he had just pulled up in front of the hotel, threw the car keys to the valet guys and was rushing to the second floor. Five minutes later I found Linc and band huddled behind the curtain about to go on stage, and as I was hugging him with his Strat guitar on his body, I said,“ Linc, you know I love you, but you about gave me a heart attack!” Linc replied,“ I about gave myself a heart attack!” We laughed and he took the stage. Whew!
If you haven’ t seen Linc in a while you need to, because not only is his band tight and his worship songs engaging, but he really has developed a pastor’ s heart. Before his last song he stopped the band and spoke plainly to the crowd, mentioning that although the music is important, the reason they are really there is to lift up the name of Jesus and to extend an invitation to those who would want to accept that free gift of salvation you can only find in Christ.
He asked everyone to close their eyes and prayed and then asked those who wanted to start a relationship that night with Jesus, to wave their arms at him. He wrapped up the prayer and played his last song. During the intermission before Marcos Witt came on I found Linc back stage. I waited for him to wrap up a few conversations and then we had some time to catch up and talk about several things going on in our lives.
In the meantime, Marcos Witt had taken the stage. I had just met him for the first time that night but I had heard so many good things about him from trusted friends who had been involved with his music over the years. What I didn’ t realize was just how good he was as a singer and worship leader, and also how good his whole band was. They were players! They sang most the night in Spanish and Marcos jokingly told the crowd,“ You better get used to it … as we will all speak Spanish in heaven.” Ha!
In wrapping up with my conversation with Lincoln, I asked him how the response was from the crowd to the invitation he gave for Jesus. He said,“ Bruce, it was amazing. I couldn’ t believe it. There must have been 40- 50 people waving their arms at me, wanting me to see them!”
That blew my mind. I am still excited about it as I write this to you. As a promoter, I was concerned about the production and the artist actually showing up, but the Lord had a bigger and better plan for the evening … an eternal plan.
The whole night was amazing and I am grateful to the Lord for it. We co-sponsored the event with Yamaha Pro Audio and Yamaha Musical Instruments, Shure mics, Elation lighting, Kyser capos, and CCLI, but the real producer and promoter was the Lord himself. The packed to the gills audience loved the evening of worship music, and a whole bus-load of people found a new life in Jesus!
This really was more than I expected...
In His Grace, Bruce & Judy
NOW HEAR THIS continued from page 37
been serving in the local church( Centralcc. ca) and leading worship for more than thirteen years. In addition to his own ministry, Greg has recently toured as the opening act for such artists such as Paul Baloche, Michael W Smith, High Valley, Robin Mark, The City Harmonic, Martin Smith, and more. His latest EP entitled Reverse features 5 newly penned songs of worship that explore such themes as faith, God’ s mysterious power, and His plan for His people.“ Just the Beginning” kicks off this little album with infectious pop energy, and Greg encourages God’ s people to press on in Jesus’ name when life gets tough because of the reward we have in heaven. The title track is a fresh approach to how God works in the lives of His people, with driving pop rhythms wrapped around his smooth vocals. Greg’ s vulnerability and deep faith come to forefront on the intimate prayer,“ Need You Now,” which calls for the Holy Spirit to enter into us until we are“ in over our head.” This little EP left me wanting more tracks to listen to from Mr. Sykes. Having met him personally at CMS Northwest in 2016, I can honestly say that Greg Sykes has the heart of a servant. He loves God and the people he is called to serve in ministry. Go pick up this little gem of an album and get ready for more good things sure to come.
54 Mar � Apr 2017 WorshipMusician. com