Billy Graham preached the Gospel face-to-face to more people than any other individual in history. In sixty-eight years of large stadium evangelistic campaigns, he preached to over 200 million people. With today’s internet media opportunities, these types of large stadium revival meetings are seldom done anymore. Thus, no one individual will ever again even get close to this number of people reached in person by the Gospel.
Along with that, Billy Graham’s ministry started right at the beginning of the television age, and he was the first preacher to make extensive use of that new medium. His televised services reached many millions more. His recorded sermons are now on-line, so his sermons are still being viewed every day.
When I was growing up, Billy Graham’s television ministry was at its peak. Once or twice a year, every evening for a week, there would be a one-hour service from the “Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.” These were major television ‘events’ in those days, which many people would be discussing each day at work, coffee, or on the phone.
From 1950-2018 Billy Graham met with thirteen presidents. He spoke at many national events, including the gathering at Yankee stadium after the 9-11 attacks on America. Each year from 1946-2020 the Gallup Company conducted a poll to determine the most admired men and women in America. Billy Graham made the top-ten sixty-one times, far more than anyone else. He was truly “America’s Pastor” for over a half a century,
My father was a milk hauler in those days, picking up milk at dairy farms. Cows don’t take Sundays off, and neither do dairy farmers, and neither did Dad—so it was difficult for him to attend worship with the family each week. But when Billy Graham was on TV, we were all required to watch every program with him. We had ‘church’ together whenever we could, so we never missed Billy Graham.
Billy Graham was a North Carolina country boy, the son of a dairy farmer, and he never lost the common touch. To that he added a sincere, simple, and Biblical style of preaching that appealed to a wide range of listeners all over the world (he preached in 185 countries—I think that’s all of them). Along with that, he lived an admirable life, without ever even the hint of a scandal. For more on his life, sermons, and other resources, go to:
https://billygraham.org/
(His sermons are at: https://billygraham.org/classics )
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Here is an example of just one of the many sermons that can be found on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association website:
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In Billy Graham’s final days, he had a deep desire to preach one more time. This is his last message—recorded in his North Carolina, mountaintop home:
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Psalm 90:1-6…10-12:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:
In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered…
Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Hebrews 9:27-28 — Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Luke 23:39-43 — One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
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Sinner’s Prayer by Billy Graham:
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins. I want to turn from them. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son, and I believe He died on the cross for my sins and that you raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus’ Name. Amen
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