The BET Awards aired Sunday night from the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and renowned gospel artist Yolanda Adams brought everyone to their feet with a spirit filled performance of "Jesus is Love" written by legendary soul singer Lionel Richie.

Adams was chosen to sing as part of a medley mash up in honor of Richie. John Legend kicked off the medley with "Hello," and "Still" while Ledisi performed "Brick House." Adams ended the medley with "Jesus is Love" and as she belted out the tune, Richie was moved with emotion and stood to his feet along with all those in the audience. Some were singing along and others were evidently moved by the powerful performance.

Directly after the rendition, Richie walked on stage and said of the amazing display of talent he had just witnessed, "After listening to 'Jesus Is Love,' I'm glad I sang the song first. Otherwise, I would not be up here. That was absolutely amazing."

He went on to offer the audience advice about what had helped him greatly in the past, "These are all the songs that they told me would ruin my career," said Richie during his acceptance speech, "Soul is a feeling, not a color. Talent is a God-given gift and not a category. And out of the box, out of the box is that magical place where talent - true talent - goes to live and thrive and breathe. And may you never give that up as long as you're in this business."

Social media immediately erupted with praise as fans and performers shared that the gospel song had touched them as well.

"YOLANDA ADAMS! One of the greatest performances I have ever seen from her. EVER. The Spirit of God swept through this room. WOW. ?#BETAwards," Artist Manager EJ Gaines tweeted.

Gospel singer James Fortune said, "My GOD ?@Yolandalive just brought the Holy Ghost to the ?@BET Awards! ?#JESUS ?#BETawards2014."

A fan wrote, "?@Yolandalive just gave these ppl JESUS!"

Watch a performance tribute to Richie with a collection of his greatest soul, pop and gospel hits below: