Amid global unrest, wars, political upheaval and alarmingly rapid advances in technology and artificial intelligence, Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell believes Christians should be paying close attention.
The 43-year-old founder of 2819 Church, a rapidly growing Atlanta congregation that regularly draws thousands of worshippers, says he is convinced believers are living in a season that demands spiritual urgency. Scripture, he said, and current events point clearly toward what Christians have anticipated for centuries: the return of Jesus Christ.
“I personally believe that we’re living in the final hours of the church age,” Mitchell, whose church takes its title from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19, told The Christian Post. “I personally believe that time is running out on us, and I feel that what God is trying to do in the earth is awaken as many people as possible, first beginning with His bride, His own people.”
Mitchell’s concern for the fidelity of the Church as Jesus’ return looms serves as the impetus behind “For Christ Alone,” the debut release from 2819 Worship led by worship pastor Trey Heflin.
The 13-minute anthem, which includes the lyrics “For Christ alone, we lay down our lives/ For this Gospel, until the end of time/ All this is for Christ alone/ For Christ alone, we lay down our lives,” emerged from Mitchell’s years-long journey through the Gospel of Matthew.
The New York native shared that as he preached through Chapter 24, where Jesus teaches about the End Times and His eventual return, he found himself increasingly burdened by what he saw in both Scripture and the world around him.
“When I turn on the news, I look at the global headlines,” Mitchell said. “It is very apparent to me personally, both in my prayer time and my study of Scripture, that I see the headlines of the global news reading right out of the pages of Scripture.”
For Mitchell, biblical prophecy is not meant to inspire fear but to spark an awareness among believers.
“Biblical prophecy was not given to us to make the believer afraid,” he said. “Biblical prophecy was given to us to make the believer aware.”
“We know that when the leaves start falling off the tree, winter is near,” the pastor added. “In the same way, based on the things we’re seeing in the news, a person who’s awake can see that the end is near. The leaves are falling off the tree.”
The message eventually found its way into music: Heflin shared how he was inspired to put the sermon to song after hearing Mitchell’s teaching on Matthew 24:30, which describes Christ returning in power and glory.
“He said something in that message that sat with me in my heart,” Heflin recalled. “‘In the end, there will not be any more arguments about who was telling the truth.'”
“After just constantly meditating on that truth, the Lord began to download melodies in my heart,” Heflin said. “From those melodies in my heart, He gave me lyrics to put melody to the message that was preached.”
Working alongside the worship team, Heflin developed what would eventually become “For Christ Alone.” The group initially introduced only a portion of the song during worship gatherings and expected little more than a moment for their congregation.
Instead, videos began circulating online, and requests for the full song poured in. Before its official release, the anthem had already generated widespread attention. In April, Reach Records announced they signed 2819 Worship to their label.
“We just wanted to tease the bridge into the gathering,” Heflin said. “We did not really expect the type of impact that it would have on the church and on the culture.”
“What language would you want your bride to have except the language that you’re soon to come?” the South Carolina native said. “How would you want your bride to think except that you are soon to come? How would you want your bride to live except living in light of the reality that you are soon to come?”
The atmosphere surrounding the song has become a defining feature of 2819’s worship gatherings. Heflin acknowledges that to an outsider, the services can appear almost concert-like, but in reality, discipleship and spiritual transformation are taking place.
“What you feel is not just jumping and shouting,” he said. “You feel a rally cry of believers in one space that’s just, ‘He’s really coming,’ and we’re going to sing it with the level of urgency and passion that it actually requires.”
“I cry every time I watch the video,” he said. “It’s really people believing the lyrics that they’re actually singing.”
The song’s success comes as 2819 Church itself experiences extraordinary growth. Once a relatively small congregation, the church now draws thousands each week and has become particularly popular among young adults seeking doctrinally robust preaching and worship.
“I think what it says is that people, especially in Gen Z, are hungry for truth and not gimmicks and games,” Helfin said of the church’s young demographic. “They’re hungry for truth.”
Unlike many contemporary worship songs focused primarily on personal feelings or self-improvement, the anthem repeatedly points listeners toward Christ, eternity and the hope of His return. Mitchell said that focus was intentional from the very beginning.
“If anyone would take the lyrics of ‘For Christ Alone’ and read them very slowly, they will see every verse in that song was born out of Scripture,” he said. “It’s not even just an echo of Scripture. They were all born directly from the Word of God.”
“As the bride of Christ sings ‘For Christ Alone,’ they are actually singing the Word of God back to the Father,” he said. “We are talking about the next greatest event that’s about to happen, which will be His return.”
Mitchell believes the song’s popularity serves as evidence that God is redirecting the Church’s attention toward eternity, and there’s undeniable power, he said, in proclaiming biblical truth through song.
“If we are closer to the end, and if Jesus is soon to return, then the question is, what do I want my bride singing?” he said. “I want them focused on the return of my Son. I want them focused on eternity.”
“What we’re seeing amongst Gen Z and millennials, both in our church and globally, is that they are passionate about the return of Christ as they sing that song,” he said. “The Lord has used this song globally to unite the church, to put our focus on Christ and not on ourselves. What Christ is doing through that song, what the Spirit is doing through that song, is making His bride ready. He’s preparing the way for the coming of Christ through the song.”
Leah Holder Green left a promising legal career to dedicate her gifts to full-time ministry. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, Phi Beta Kappa, she earned her juris doctorate (J.D.) from the University of Texas School of Law, and she is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Education degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. Leah is married to the love of her life, Clarence “Champ” Green, and they have recently welcomed their first child — a beautiful girl named Caylen Joy. She is the co-author (with Pastor Michael Pender) of No Trespassing: I’m God’s Property (Morgan James Faith).
