Each December, our Onething conference brings thousands of visitors to downtown Kansas City. Teens, young adults, families with babies, seniors, and adults in the marketplace arrive with varying expectations, all braving chilling temperatures to participate in the packed schedule of corporate worship and biblical teaching during the conference.
Many are not disappointed. From miraculous healings to encouraging teaching that dismantles strongholds in the mind, Onething enables believers to encounter God in various ways. The conference also provides many practical benefits for believers who desire to seek the Lord wholeheartedly in this generation, regardless of age or season of life.
1. Eternal Perspective
At Onething, teaching from IHOPKC leaders and internationally known Christian speakers highlights the undeniable truth that there is more to this life than what we see. Our lives do not end when we die; we will actually live forever.
Yes, it’s easy to focus our attention on the requirements and pressures of the day-to-day; we have real obligations. But as followers of Jesus, we have to live with the understanding that this life is short compared to eternity with the Trinity. Our scheduled speakers will highlight the truth of God’s ultimate plan of redemption and our place within His sovereign design.
2. Secret Place
One aspect that draws numerous attendees to Onething is the desire to increase their time in the secret place with God. It’s true that there are numerous events scheduled throughout each conference day and that thousands of people from around the world convene in the same location for several hours.
However, there is a designated space for speaking with Jesus and fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit. Our prayer room is moved downtown specifically for conference attendees. It can be one of the primary locations for taking time to speak with the Lord, listen to His responses, and delve into His Word. Regardless of the activity around you, it will still be possible to spend quiet times with the Lord, encountering the God who hears and speaks to His children.
3. Love for the Word
Jesus is the living Word and the truth we base our lives upon. The Bible is the unshakeable, unchangeable truth that instructs us on the different aspects of life, helping us to better know our God who was, who is, and who is coming again.
At Onething, our scheduled speakers know the power within the Word and have experienced the blessing of God-breathed passages on their own lives. They have not just studied the Word for years with the sole intent of memorizing verses, but they have encountered Jesus within the pages of the Bible, leading to intimacy, better knowledge of the Trinity, and confidence in God’s love.
4. Corporate Worship
After sixteen years of night-and-day prayer with worship, many people who attend Onething are familiar with our prayer room. During Onething, we literally move the prayer room to the convention center in downtown Kansas City, allowing conference attendees to join in the worship and intercession sets at their leisure throughout the day.
In addition to the prayer room, every teaching session throughout the conference is preceded and followed by a time of corporate worship. Led by our IHOPKC worship leaders and internationally known Christian artists, corporate worship is a time to engage in the reality of Psalm 111:1 as we worship the Lord.
I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. (Psalm 111:1)
5. Encounter with the Man Christ Jesus
The centrality of our faith in Jesus Christ as God is the defining factor that sets Christianity apart from every other religion. The Bible reminds us that we have a High Priest who is well acquainted with our weaknesses, who came in the flesh, lived as a man, and is now ruling and reigning as King in His glorified body.
Many times, the reality of Jesus’ humanity can seem distant. Our idea of God sometimes isolates Him to the heavens, far removed from the concerns of His children. But our God is very close; in fact, He is living inside of us. Jesus’ personhood is just as real as His deity. He didn’t despise His human design and now inhabits it in all His glory, even with the scars from His gruesome and costly crucifixion. The teaching, worship, and times of ministry at Onething are anchored in this reality of Jesus as a living man.
