Joel Osteen is best known as the Senior Pastor at Lakewood Church and one of the most highly renowned televangelists of this time. Joel Osteen sermons are known to deliver messages of hope to millions of his listeners both at his church, online and to those watching at home. Lakewood Church is currently the fastest growing and largest Christian ministries in America. Each week, people fill up the church to listen to Joel Osteen sermons which are known to always be positive and full of hope.
The strength that Joel Osteen has in his sermons is that he delivers rich messages that are focused on being positive and having faith in God. He makes people look at life in the perspective that no matter what they are going through, God is able to make things right for them. Due to this approach, he focuses more on faith, God’s grace and sometimes prosperity.
There are critics who say that Joel Osteen sermons are one sided in that he does not pay much attention to sin and repentance but looks more at prosperity and happiness. They state that due to this, someone who is struggling with a particular sin in his life may not really deal with that sin based on his sermons. This is because what he will hear more is how if he has faith things will be aligned in his way but no step by step instructions on what the bible says about dealing with that particular sin. Therefore, for this person, the sermon will become more of entertainment rather than being life-changing.
Whether these claims are true or not, Joel Osteen is loved by many in the world for his powerful messages of hope. Each and every person has his struggles and failures in life. There are many people who may want to give up because of different things not really working out at the time that they wanted. When you listen to Joel Osteen sermons, you will get inspired and realize that such things will only work at God’s time. He is also known for his encouraging phrases such as, “Extraordinary challenges happen to extraordinary people.”
Joel Osteen is the son of John Osteen who is the founder of Lakewood Church. John had encouraged Joel to preach for many years but Joel always declined and preferred working behind the scenes. He felt compelled in 1999 to oblige and the first of the great Joel Osteen sermons was done on January, 17th 1999. This was also John Osteen’s last Sunday alive.
The weekly attendance of the church quickly skyrocketed and in 2005, under Joel’s leadership, the church moved to its present location. Lakewood Church is currently located at the former Compaq Center which has a seating capacity of 16,000 people and was formerly the Houston Rockets team’s home.
Joel Osteen sermons are the reasons behind the extraordinary success of his Christian ministries . His core message is that God is great and desires to bless anyone who is obedient and faithful to Him through His son Jesus Christ. Joel deeply desires that his life can exemplify that principle. He also hopes that his message will convince his listeners to accept Jesus into their lives and enjoy more of God’s goodness and mercy. He always closes his sermons by calling people to salvation.
