Gen Z For Jesus: Hundreds of Salvations, Baptisms, Miracles - 4,000 Rally at Historic Angelus Temple

ANALYSIS

Declaring Gen Z will be saved, healed, delivered, and empowered to preach the gospel to the nations, thousands worshipped Jesus for 12 hours at a Los Angeles church where mighty moves of the Holy Spirit have lifted, literally, invalid people from stretchers to their feet during its 100-year history.

Angelus Temple, the first church founded in 1923 by the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, hosted a new generation of young people passionate for Jesus, reaching the lost, healing the sick, and freeing souls from devils.

Gen Z For Jesus, which began Saturday morning with a gospel presentation, worship, prayer, commissioning, and baptisms, continued until 11 p.m. on September 9th near Los Angeles' Skid Row. 

Before its conclusion, Gen Z For Jesus youth leaders and supporting pastors welcomed the Holy Spirit's miracles – reminiscent of Aimee Semple McPherson's ministry at Angelus Temple, where ambulances brought crippled bodies for divine healing.

At least 4,000 people gathered inside the historic Pentecostal church, and thousands more engaged via the livestream, totaling 7,500 registrations.

In miracles of salvation, hundreds of people streamed to the altar during an invitation to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. The online audience was also invited to receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Jesus.

"The hunger for God was amazing," said Joel Bomberger with Circuit Riders and The Send worship, evangelism, and prayer ministries. 

A self-described preacher of Jesus, Bomberger arrived in L.A. a few days before the 12-hour worship marathon to pray and prepare to minister in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Before the day-long event began, prayer ministry Awaken the Dawn covered Angelus Temple with intercession for three days, opening heaven over L.A. for an outpouring of signs, wonders, and miracles.

"My buddy led somebody to the Lord while getting lunch," Bomberger said. "Another group led prostitutes to Jesus, then brought them back to Angelus Temple to be baptized," he added.

After dozens of baptisms, miracles were manifested through words of knowledge that the Lord wanted to heal people with cancers, autoimmune diseases, blindness, and deafness.

Others were offered freedom from tormenting demons of suicide. "Gen Z will be suicide-free," leaders declared. 

"So many getting touched and healed by Jesus," Bomberger said. "California is not too dark. America is not too far gone. This generation is for Jesus," he said.

Lou Engle, who for decades has called young people to lives of fasting, consecration, and prayer through The Call, invited Gen Z For Jesus to live like John the Baptist.

"Jesus said of John, a forerunner, that in the power of Elijah, he would turn the hearts of the fathers to children, and the rebellious to the wisdom of the righteous," said Engle. "Let's be that generation, starting a revolution stronger than the transgender and LGBTQ movements – a generation that's filled with fire stronger than lust, the internet, iPhones, and addictions of the heart."

He encouraged Gen Z to live as burning and shining lamps in a dark world, directing people to the light of the world – Jesus.

UPPERROOM Dallas, led by Pastor Michael Miller, joined Gen Z For Jesus partner ministries One Voice, Circuit Riders, Jesus Clubs and Lou Engle in asking the Holy Spirit to transform lives through communion.

"I want to talk to you about the table of the Lord, where there's a seat reserved for you," said Miller, who taught briefly from 1 Corinthians 11:26 about the Lord's Supper. "My hope is that you become well acquainted with your place at His table. It is for young and old believers in Jesus."

"The elements, representing the body and blood of Jesus, are actually weapons – instruments that feed our faith. It's called the good fight of faith," Miller said, explaining the New Testament ordinance commemorating Jesus' death.

Miller then encouraged Gen Z For Jesus to partake of the cup and bread, remembering Jesus' ultimate sacrifice for sin and hell.

Gen Z For Jesus, an initiative of One Voice Student Missions, is an outgrowth of Jesus Clubs in public high schools – started by Brian Barcelona when he was a teen. Barcelona encouraged Gen Z For Jesus to take responsibility for the spiritual atmosphere over public schools by starting Jesus Clubs like he did.

"I went into my first high school when I was 18 years old because God said He would save them," said Barcelona. He showed up for his first Bible club, and there were three kids who joined him. "I said, 'God, this is not America; this is three kids.' I preached to those three kids, and they got saved," said Barcelona.

The following year he got into a new high school, where the first Bible Club drew six students. "We doubled in a year. I remember asking this group of kids, 'What do you think God can do?'" A young woman told Barcelona, "'I believe Jesus can save my school.' I said, 'If you believe it, I'll believe it with you,'" said Barcelona.

He asked her to secure the school's theater, which held 500 people. "I told her, 'If you get it, He will fill it,'' said Barcelona, borrowing a line from the hit movie Field of Dreams.

It turned out to be a prophetic word as the Bible club grew from six to 600 in one month, filling the theater with teens hungry for the Word of God.

"Gen Z For Jesus is a byproduct of preaching in public schools," said Barcelona, who moved to LA after a prophetic dream about a specific school and Bible Club.

Ultimately, the Lord opened a door to establish a Bible club at the LA school Barcelona saw while sleeping. Today, he encourages students to lead Bible clubs everywhere – including studies in elementary schools.

Praying for baptism in the Holy Spirit and assignments to go the nations, a leader from Virginia called Gen Z to heed the Lord's call to specific people groups. R.A. Martinez, whose MAPS Global Prayer Room sends and supports laborers in 10/40-window-missions, spoke to future missionaries, worship leaders and intercessors, then prayed for God to call them to a half dozen nations.

"We're going to ask the same Spirit who set apart Saul and Barnabas to set apart men and women in this room to pray, preach, and sing in nations where there's no access to the gospel. Lord of the harvest, we stand before you. Holy Spirit, in the same way you marked Saul and Barnabas, would you put a marking right now on men and women," Martinez prayed asking for nations and orphans. "Would you wrap them with power to be witnesses to the ends of the earth?"

Words of knowledge for healing from a variety of conditions including Stage Four cancers concluded at the venue marked by miracles of the Lord. 

A man watching the livestream commented he was touched by the Holy Spirit. "I'm not even Gen Z but I started watching toward the ending with words of knowledge, and my ear was healed," Timothy Fisher wrote.