Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

So there I was, feeling (in the words of the old hymn) weary and worn and sad.  I'd crunched the car, I was really down.  Trust Dr Cummings to come up with a tonic!  Before anyone had sung a note, as soon as I saw the rainbow hues of the choir's shirts, I felt better.  Then the band kicked off and Darlene Zschech's in with the opening song "All Things Are Possible" and I was engulfed in a worship experience, and got blessed to bits.  After a while I gave up watching and just listened - thanks to NICAM stereo it was almost as good as a front row seat.  Three words could sum up the Australian attitude to life, the universe and everything - passion, enthusiasm, energy - this video has all three in abundance, along with a band that cooks (amazing to see four girls in a six-piece horn section - real sax appeal!), singers that can sing, a set of songs that range from pop praise to acoustic worship to call-and-response gospel to straight ahead rock, the Hills Centre kids' choir getting involved in good quality music instead of cheesy rubbish, and the incomparable Mrs Zschech to lead it.  There's a short intro piece featuring Darlene, along with church pastor Brian Houston and music pastor Russell Fragar, giving a bit of background to the event and there's an altar call at the end, where numerous people respond, so the Spirit was definitely moving.  The next best thing to being there, I suppose; now where did I put that QANTAS timetable.?

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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