Church

Anthem For WYD08 Inspires Young People To Be Christ’s Witness

“Receive the Power,” the anthem for the World Youth Day in 2008 (WYD08) has been described by the WYD08 coordinator, Bishop Anthony Fisher OP as capturing the theme for the world’s largest youth event to be held in Sydney next year.

“Receive the Power,” the anthem for the World Youth Day in 2008 (WYD08) has been described by the WYD08 coordinator, Bishop Anthony Fisher OP as capturing the theme for the world’s largest youth event to be held in Sydney next year.

Bishop Fisher set out the criteria for the anthem to be chosen. First the song must be stirring and uplifting, he said. More importantly the song must capture the theme for the WYD08, which in essence means the listener will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, he explained.

Bishop Fisher believed the theme song has matched those criteria. He said: “To put it simply, 'Receive the Power' hit the mark on every level. Clearly, Guy (Sebastian) knew we needed a song that would inspire the young people of the world to take up Christ's challenge to go to the ends of the Earth and be His witnesses; for many people in the northern hemisphere, Australia is the ends of the Earth!"

The writer and singer for the song will be Guy Sebastian, who has won the Australian Idol competition in 2003. Since then, he has released three top five albums and seven top 20 singles, including three number ones.

Guy started writing songs for his church since he was 13 years of age and is a prolific songwriter. In 2005, Mr. Sebastian was appointed Ambassador for World Vision and visited Uganda to shoot a documentary highlighting the issues of poverty and civil war and their impact on the population.

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