(The Dallas Examiner) – Grammy Award nominated singers Jordin Sparks and Kenny Lattimore, along with gospel musician and producer Myron Butler, provided powerful performances during the Nov. 2 live recording of What an Incredible Life! in Southern Dallas.
The gospel music-inspired Christmas special will air nationally on ABC Television Dec. 25. The Southwest Region Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and Interfaith Broadcasting Commission hosted the recording, which was open to the public and held in the sanctuary of Inspiring Body of Christ church, better known as IBOC.
The special also featured rapper, singer and actor Raymond “Daddy Yankee” Ayala with an inspirational testimony. He shared the story of his Christian journey.
Dr. Carlton P. Byrd, senior pastor of Dallas City Temple Seventh-day Adventist Church and president of the Southwest Region Conference was the featured speaker.
“We praise God for this evangelistic opportunity to provide awareness and exposure to millions of individuals to Jesus Christ and the Seventh-day Adventist Church – as in our last holiday special, 88% of ABC Television affiliates in the United States broadcasted our conference’s ministry,” Byrd expressed on social media.
Members of Byrd’s previous church, Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, traveled to attend the live event.
As pastor of Berean, Byrd founded the Berean Outreach Ministry Center, which consisted of a food pantry, clothes closet, barbershop, hair salon and fitness center for the community. Additionally, the church was awarded a $5.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to build Berean Village Senior Housing, a 50-unit apartment building for the city’s senior residents.
Prior to starting, Byrd led the audience in prayer, praise and worship, and an altar call.
As the live recording began, floor director George Velez invited audience members to clap, stand and sing along with the performers since footage of the filled sanctuary would be captured.
“We need you to actually look like you’re having a good time,” Velez jokingly asked of the audience.
Lattimore began with a soulful rendition of the classic Oh Holy Night. He was accompanied by the student orchestra of Southwestern Adventist University, which is located in Keene, just south of Fort Worth.
Lattimore also performed a musical original titled Just Like You.
“To worship you in spirit and in truth, Lord I wanna be just like you,” Lattimore sang.
Sparks contributed her melodic vocals to two other classics, Angels We Have Heard on High and Do You Hear What I Hear, accompanied by the university orchestra.
Between musical sets, Byrd spoke three- to five-minute sermons on topics such as ‘Jesus is a light in the darkness,’ and ‘Tomorrow will be better than yesterday.’ During his light in the darkness message, Byrd asked the directors to turn out all lights in the sanctuary.
“Do you trust the person sitting next to you? Are you clutching your purse a little tighter?” Byrd asked the audience. “Darkness can be unsettling, but Jesus brings the light.”
Byrd then spoke about the difficulties that some people face as the holidays approach. He referenced the movie It’s a Wonderful Life to illustrate that the hand of God is working in everyone’s lives, even through the most difficult times.
“Jesus wasn’t specifically born on Dec. 25, but praise God He was born,” Byrd concluded. “He gave us a wonderful life.”