UPDATED: Well-known American evangelical preacher, John Piper, is set to preach at a one-off major event at either the 10,000-seat Sydney Entertainment Centre or 13,000-seat ACER Arena.
John Piper has been serving as the Preaching and Vision Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis for 29 years where he has developed the internationally-reknown Desiring God ministry.
His personal motto, "spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ," is what is bringing him down under.
He will speak at four separate events in Sydney in August 2011.
Katoomba Christian Convention (KCC), an inter-denominational ministry, will bring Piper to Sydney. KCC also brought another well-known American preacher, Mark Driscoll, to Sydney in 2008.
KCC Executive Officer, Richard Earley, said the visit will include a major event which will be held at either the Sydney Entertainment Centre or Acer Arena at Homebush on August 31.
“When we first enquired Acer Arena was not available, however this has recently changed. We are currently finalising this decision, but encourage everyone to keep the date free.”
Piper will speak to pastors at the 3-day Oxygen conference to be held at Australian Technology Park, Redfern from August 29-31. This will be the inaugural Oxygen event, which is designed to "help pastors rediscover the joy of ministry'.
KCC's Engage conference is aimed at young Christian workers and tries to help them integrate their work lives into their faith. This year, Steve Timmis from The Crowded House church network in the UK addressed attendees. Engage has also hosted Matt Chandler, another evangelical American preacher. Engage will be held over two weekends in August.
The final event will be the one-off event at one of Sydney’s major stadium venues, and is in the same vein as Burn Your Plastic Jesus, which was held in 2008 as part of Mark Driscoll's tour.
Piper expressed his excitement about coming to Australia to spread the great news of Jesus.
"I hope to learn and I hope to grow and I hope to overflow with what God has shown me concerning His great supremacy in all things," he said.
"I'd love to spread what I see about God and what I love about God in Australia. I'd love to do it for all peoples, I'd love to do it for your joy; so if God gives grace in these next few months we'll make our way there and I'm eager to unpack God's Word for you and with you," he said in a video promoting his appearance.
