Thousands of people stood and cheered when Chris Tomlin took the stage at the Brownwood Event Center on Sept. 20.

For the next 90 minutes, the Grammy Award-winning Christian recording artist, known internationally for hits like “Holy Forever,” “Good Good Father” and “How Great is our God,” led a night of worship hosted by Howard Payne University and sponsored by Bruner Auto Family.

“I just want to say thank you to Howard Payne for putting this on. The university did such an incredible job,” Tomlin said after the concert, during which he sang more than a dozen songs and shared stories.

“I want people to know that this university really put their heart and soul in it, and it’s so powerful,” Tomlin said. “To stand there and see so many people coming from all around the area – thousands of people out there – it was so beautiful. I always count it a real privilege to lead people in worship, and I love coming back to my home state and doing that.”

The concert was free and open to the public. In addition to hundreds of Howard Payne students, faculty, staff and their families, the event drew people from across Brownwood and Brown County, as well as hundreds from throughout the region and the state. Buses from communities as far as three hours away carried people to experience the event.

Attendees were greeted with beautiful weather. A consistent breeze provided a drop in temperature at concert time, and a brilliant sunset pushed through large cotton-like clouds to give the night a memorable backdrop.

“I feel like there’s a hunger that people have – not only to worship God, but to come together as a people of faith,” Tomlin said. “I’m seeing that more and more around the country. People are wanting something that’s real.”

The singer said he saw that during the concert when people began dropping their phones and raising their hands.

“Worship helps us remember the goodness of God in our life, the grace of God in our life, the greatness of God, the power of God,” Tomlin said. “And to see this large group of people come together and saying, ‘Yes, this is what we believe, this is our faith, this is our hope, this is everything’ … that’s so special.”

Tomlin said he was impressed by the hundreds of volunteers from the university and the city who worked to host the event. He said it was a testament to the university’s commitment to leading people to Christ.

“To come to a place like this, where it’s so well done – with volunteers! – this is not what you all do for a living. That you would put that much heart into it speaks to your heart for people to just know the Lord, to experience God and have an encounter with God,” he said. “It makes what I get to do so much better, so much easier. There are no distractions. It’s just a beautiful night. I applaud the teams. It made me really proud of this place and I’m honored to be here.”

When talking about the students in the crowd, Tomlin said it reminded him of his formative college years, when God spoke to him and gave him dreams of doing what he does today. He had a message for HPU students.

“Take advantage of every second you have here, every moment you have here, because this is the time in life where God puts dreams in you and puts vision in you, and I love there’s a place here that cultivates that,” he said. “What is the vision God’s put in your life? What are the dreams that God has put in your life? How do you want to change the world that you’re in – for the Gospel, for the Good News? To have a university where that’s the heart of it? … What a great place for students to find themselves.”