Tickets to Kanye West’s ‘Sunday Service’ at Joel Osteen’s church being scalped for hundreds of dollars
Free tickets to rapper Kanye West’s Jesus Is King “Sunday Service” concert at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, are being scalped online for hundreds of dollars ahead of the touted event expected to draw “huge crowds” in what is to be the biggest installment of the event yet.
“Selling 4 Kanye West x Joel Osteen Sunday Service tickets at Lakewood Church 300 each 1000 for all,” one account listed as @takingpayment announced on Twitter Friday.
Several other accounts were also promoting the sale of the tickets to the event, a spokesperson from Lakewood Church told The Christian Post on Friday, adding that the tickets are free and won't be available to the general public until 10 a.m. Saturday through Ticketmaster.
Selling 4 Kanye West x Joel Osteen Sunday Service tickets at Lakewood Church
— ~~~ (@takingpayment) November 15, 2019
300 each
1000 for all pic.twitter.com/XLxtwOUsiq
TICKETS FOR SALE
— PePe ???????? (@SGPepe7) November 15, 2019
Kanye West x Joel Osteen
Sunday Service
Lakewood Church
Houston, Texas
November 17th, 2019
Will send account login upon payment#SundayService#KanyeWest#JoelOsteen#Tickets#ForSalepic.twitter.com/4qDJdvmACh
“This is a FREE event, but attendees must have a mobile e-ticket. A FREE general admission mobile e-ticket can be obtained through TicketMaster.com or the TicketMaster App beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
"Anything other than Ticketmaster would be fraudulent," the spokesperson added.
It was noted that approximately half of the tickets for the just under 17,000 seats available for the concert at Lakewood Church were being made accessible to church members through a special pre-offer that requires a code.
The concert is expected to begin at 7 p.m. but the doors to the church will open at 5:30 p.m. while concertgoers can start lining up at 4 p.m.
“The evening Sunday Service will include musical performances with Kanye West and his choir. It will be streamed Live on Facebook.com/JoelOsteen, YouTube.com, LakewoodChurch.com, the Lakewood Church App, and sundayservice.com,” the statement from the church said.
West is expected to share his conversion testimony at the non-ticketed 11 a.m. service at Lakewood Church on Sunday where he will chat with Osteen before the megachurch pastor’s regularly scheduled sermon.
“The 11 a.m. service will include a conversation between Joel and Kanye about overcoming adversity and his faith journey. The service will be streamed Live on Facebook.com/JoelOsteen, YouTube.com, LakewoodChurch.com, and the Lakewood Church App. The morning service and parking is free and open to the public,” the church said in a statement.
The Lakewood spokesperson said both Osteen and his wife, Victoria, are excited about what God has been doing through West.
“We’re excited. It’s really neat to see what God is doing in Kanye’s life. Joel is very excited, Joel and Victoria. It will be a fantastic weekend,” the spokesperson said. “It’s going to bring a lot of people who have never been to Lakewood as well. Kanye has a big influence on the culture.”
West started his popular Sunday Service events, which generally include prayer and live music, in January 2019. At the time, his wife, Kim Kardashian West, said her family was on a path to spiritual enlightenment.
The journey has since led to West's recently released first faith-based album, Jesus Is King which has gone on to make history on Billboard's Hot Christian Songs and Hot Gospel Songs charts. The set opened at No. 1 on both the Top Christian Albums and Top Gospel Albums tallies (dated Nov. 9) with 264,000 equivalent album units earned in its first week (ending Oct. 31), according to Nielsen Music.
In a recent interview with radio DJ Zane Lowe, West explained how his faith journey inspired his new album.
"Now that I am in service to Christ, my job is to spread the Gospel. To let people know what Jesus has done for me," West said. "And in that, I'm no longer a slave. I'm a son of God now. I'm free through Christ,” he said.