The SAP Center is known for hosting NHL hockey, not worship. But this week, the arena was filled with 15,000 people gathered for one purpose. Christian artist Brandon Lake walked onstage and immediately pushed the focus away from himself, telling the crowd, “Tonight is not about me. But it is about one man – and His name is Jesus.”
The event sold out in one of the most secular regions of America, a fact that stunned even mainstream observers. Music critic Jim Harrington called Lake’s rising influence “historic,” writing that the 35-year-old artist is drawing attendance numbers “arguably beyond anything ever seen in the CCM genre before,” as reported by The Mercury News.
Breaking News. Spirit-Filled Stories. Subscribe to Charisma on YouTube now!
Lake mixed high-energy rock moments with quiet prayer, even stepping into the audience to pray over a concertgoer. Then, toward the end of the night, he gave a clear invitation for salvation. Thousands lifted their hands, publicly declaring they had prayed to accept Christ.
Lake later told the crowd, “I think we are living in some type of revival. And I think that 15,000 people showing up in San Jose is evidence of it.”
That claim may sound bold, yet across the country, the numbers are beginning to support it.
In recent months, the UniteUS movement has been drawing unprecedented crowds on college campuses. More than 8,000 students worshiped at the University of Tennessee. Nearly 9,000 gathered at the University of Oklahoma. Over 5,500 attended at the University of Cincinnati. Organizers say more than 40,000 students have shown up to UniteUS events in a single semester.
These meetings are marked by repentance, worship, baptisms and altar calls. Hundreds of students have been baptized on the spot. Crowds have filled arenas commonly used for sports, turning them into impromptu worship environments. Many universities are asking the movement to come because students are overwhelmed with depression, anxiety and a cultural vacuum that leaves them spiritually unanchored.
What Lake saw in Silicon Valley, a public hunger for Jesus in a place known for secularism, is precisely what is happening on campuses nationwide. These two movements, although different in form and audience, are revealing the same pattern: Gen Z is searching for something real.
Lake’s declaration does not stand alone. The crowds, the responses and the spiritual momentum building from California to the Southeast suggest the beginnings of a broader shift. Whether it becomes a full-scale revival remains to be seen, but the signals are undeniable.
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
From sold-out arenas to overflowing college stadiums, something is happening in America’s least expected places. If these trends continue, Lake’s words may prove more than an observation. They may prove prophetic.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a background in journalism from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine.
