Lakewood Church founder and lead pastor Joel Osteen delivered a much-needed, spiritually-reinvigorating sermon as part of his weeks-long ‘Power For Your Purpose’ that reminds us all that we each have a unique purpose in life, directed by God just as we were uniquely created by Him.
On his website, Osteen writes that “No bad break can stop what God has planned for you. The Spirit of God who lives within you will empower you to fulfill your purpose.” He acknowledges that life can be hard, and uses the analogy of being attacked by a lion, a figure often seen in biblical allegory and perhaps most famously with Daniel. That hero, of course, would survive a night in a den of them following expulsion from a royal court.
Speaking from the gigantic stage of his church, formerly the home to the NBA’s Houston Rockets, a clip of Osteen’s larger presentation reminds us all that no matter what challenges seem overwhelming, there is always God at our side.
Captioning the video on the social media platform X from his personal account, Osteen writes: “What God purposed for your life will come to pass. Your mistakes didn’t stop it. You may not be where you should be in life. You got off course, distracted. The good news is God is not finished with you. What He’s assigned for you is still on the schedule.”
In the video, the megachurch pastor confidently declares there is nothing each of us can’t do, for we have God behind us. “You are God’s property when you made Jesus the Lord of your life. Yes, the lion may attack. It seems bigger, stronger. He thinks you’re an easy game. But what he doesn’t realize is you belong to the Most High God,” Osteen says in part of his message.
“You are not doing life on your own. When the enemy attacks, God doesn’t sit back. Watch what happens. He sends His Spirit to rise up in you. There’s not a lion you face that you can’t tear apart, not a problem you can’t overcome, not an addiction, a sickness, a bad break that can keep you from your purpose,” a short clip finishes.
As previously mentioned, Osteen inhabits no regular church. A megachurch of megachurches, for the past two decades his congregation has flocked to a former stadium, retrofitted to accompany tens of thousands of worshipers during any given service. “In 2003, Lakewood Church acquired the Compaq Center, former home of the NBA’s Houston Rockets,” Osteen’s website mentions.
Describing the renovation, it continues, “the next 18 months were spent renovating the arena, and on July 15, 2005, the first of seven weekly worship services was held in the new 16,000-seat auditorium. That first week, Lakewood added over 10,000 new members, and within a year became one of the most popular out-of-town visitor destinations in Houston. Over the next few years, Lakewood continued its growth and currently draws more than 45,000 weekly attendees.”