For Alexandra Osteen, growing up in a megachurch and being raised by parents who are recognized around the globe felt, surprisingly, normal. The daughter of Lakewood Church's Joel and Victoria Osteen, Alexandra has made a name for herself in recent years as a worship leader at the Houston congregation, as well as being a powerful voice for Lakewood Music, which released its new album, Oh How Worthy, this month.
"They've always just been my parents, and I could brag on them for days on end," Alexandra Osteen told Crosswalk Headlines. "They're great parents, and who they are on stage is who they are at home."
Lakewood Church is the fourth largest congregation in the United States, drawing 45,000 attendees each week and millions more tuning into its worship services worldwide on television and online. Alexandra was about 7 when the congregation moved into the former Summit/Compaq Center, the former home of the NBA's Houston Rockets.
"As I've grown up, I've… recognized [that] this is not normal," she said of the church's size. "This is the hand of God that's blessed us and given us this ministry. And we have to steward and do the best that we can with it, and always point to Jesus."
Oh, How Worthy includes 13 tracks featuring collaborations with Tauren Wells and Alexander Pappas and songs written by Brandon Lake, Steven Furtick, Joel Osteen, Mitch Wong, and Chris Brown, among others.
The album testifies of the "goodness of God that we've seen in our lives," she said. It was recorded live at Lakewood Church.
"All of these songs are inspired directly from Scripture, from stories and testimonies of what we've seen God do at Lakewood, how we've witnessed His goodness in our lives and in the lives of others," Alexandra Osteen said.
The album's first single, Outnumbered, includes Wells. It was co-written by Joel Osteen.
"That song has a really cool story because it actually started with my dad," Alexandra said. "... One day he woke up and he felt like God had given him these lyrics for this song, and it was based off the message that he was speaking that weekend in church."
Joel Osteen's sermon centered on the story of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, who, in 2 Chronicles, pleads with God to give the Israelites victory over a larger army.
"[Jehoshaphat] looked up to God and said, 'Are you not the God who is in heaven? I look to You and know You'll fight my battles,'" Alexandra Osteen said. "The message in that song is so powerful and such a declaration to make in any circumstance -- to just say the enemy is outnumbered because we know, with the Lord on our side, the enemy is always outnumbered," she added. "I hear people say, 'You and God are the majority' -- which is true -- but God is the majority without you."
Lakewood Music, she said, is "not trying to be the coolest band" but instead to write songs that will impact Lakewood Church, with the prayer the songs will impact the world. The goal, she said, is "to continue to spread the gospel and the hope of Jesus."
"All of us who release Christian music, worship music, we have the same goal of just lifting up the name of Jesus," she said, "and I love the different creative ways that we get to express and share the heart of Jesus."
WATCH: Lakewood Music | Outnumbered (Feat. Tauren Wells)
Photo Credit: ©Lakewood Music
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.