Thousands attend Easter service with Tebow

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GEORGETOWN, Texas, April 8 (UPI) -- About 15,000 people attended an outdoor Easter Sunday service in Texas where New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow spoke.

The crowd at the non-denominational Celebration Church in Georgetown worshiped at the musical service and then participated in a question-and-answer session with the devoutly Christian signal-caller, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

During the session, Tebow talked about his religious beliefs.

"[Jesus Christ] died on a cross for me publicly. ... Do we not have the same courage to get up and say: 'You know what? I'm going to put my trust in you publicly,'" Tebow said.

"We're football fans, so Tebow making an appearance here just inspired us to come out," attendee Jaime Sandoval told the newspaper. "What drives him is the internal knowledge that if people say you can't do it ... you can still overcome adversity to succeed."

The congregation's pastor, Joe Champion, touted Tebow's popularity.

"In Christianity, it's the pope and Tebow right now," Champion said. "We didn't have enough room to handle the pope."