Will Graham Brings “Good News” to Gainesville; Christian Concert and Sermon at Depot Park

Tuesday evening, Christian Evangelist Baptist Preacher Will Graham hosted an event in Gainesville as part of his Florida “Sunshine State Good News” tour. Will Graham is the grandson of Billy Graham, a famous pastor who passed in 2018. Will Graham is the third in the Graham lineage to preach under the banner of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA).

According to a BGEA website, multiple churches in the Gainesville area are affiliated with the organization, including Gator Christian Life Church, Parkview Baptist Church, and Alive Church.

The event featured an over-hour-long concert with performances by Christian musician Christine D’Clario followed by Jeremy Camp, and then a 30-minute sermon from Will Graham. Both D’Clario and Camp sang and played a number of their most popular tracks with testimonials in between songs. 

Camp said, “Many years ago, I watched my first wife; she went through cancer and just suffered. It was a difficult time in our lives and tested my faith greatly. She went to meet Jesus literally three and a half months into our marriage. I think the enemy knew that trust was gonna be a thing that I was gonna struggle with. Every single day is a choice for me to say 'God, I choose to trust you, or I don’t.'”

D’Clario said, “I understand that we hurt. I understand that in this world we have trouble. Believe me, I do know a little bit about trouble and pain. I survived childhood sexual abuse at the age of five. I lost my father to addiction at the age of six. By the time I was seven, I was broken, rejected, abandoned, orphaned, and I still didn’t understand a thing or two about what life truly was. There was more pain than anything I could reference to, but God… He always had a plan.”

During Will Graham’s sermon, he stated, “There are some of you here today who grew up in a good home; a Christian home. Then you got here, and you’ve gotten off track. You’ve been sleepin’ around, messin’ around, wasting time, hanging out with the wrong people, whatever it might be, but you're a long ways from God. Tonight, you can come back home too. I’m gonna ask you to make a decision here in a few minutes. Tonight, I’m gonna ask you to come stand right down here if you want to have Christ come into your life… I’m gonna ask you to make that decision publicly… I’m gonna ask you to come stand right down here, and I’m gonna have a word of prayer with you. Listen, I’m not here to embarrass you. I’m not here to make fun of you or anything like that. I just wanna have a prayer with you. See my friends, God is beckoning you to come back to Him; He wants you to return. You just have to be willing to come, but you can’t live it your way anymore; you gotta live it God’s way.”

Will Graham told the audience that their decision on whether or not to pray in front of him was the “most important decision” of their lives.

Will Graham went on to say, “I’m here to tell you tonight that many of you are in the wrong. You’re saying, ‘Well Will, don’t tell me what I am.’ My friends, the Word of God says what you are. The Bible says that you and I, we’re sinners. We’ve sinned against God. We’ve all broken—look at me—Will Graham—Will Graham is a sinner. I have broken God’s laws; we’ve all broken God’s laws… I’m here to tell you tonight, I know it’s not a popular thing to hear, but listen, in God’s eyes, if you haven’t given your life to Christ, you’re a sinner and you deserve punishment. You deserve death; we all do.” 

Will Graham further stated, “Hell's not a big party, my friends. That's what the devil wants you to believe, but that's not true. It's a place of torment… It's says that burning like fire, total darkness and the only two sounds you hear are wailing and gnashing of teeth. That is hell. That's where you spend eternity if you don't ask Christ to come into your life. Hell is a real place, and you're not going to go there for six months and get out on good behavior. You don't go there for a year or two. No, you don't go there for a hundred years and get out. Not a billion years. You're there for eternity with no chance of getting out. That's why this decision is so important because you may never get another chance like this.”

A few minutes later, Will Graham invited attendees to come in front of the stage and pray with him, and he was joined by a large fraction of the crowd. After the prayer, he told attendees he knows they had faith because they stepped forward.

What is the BGEA and Their Beliefs?

BGEA was founded by Billy Graham in 1950, and the current head of the organization is his son, Franklin Graham.

The BGEA mission statement says they want to “support and extend the evangelistic calling and ministry of Franklin Graham by proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to all we can by every effective means available to us and by equipping the church and others to do the same.”

BGEA members at Depot Park set up several tables where they handed out pamphlets and booklets that give more information about the organization.

One of the pamphlets promotes the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team, a unit of chaplains that formed after the 9/11 attacks and responds to crises internationally. Another pamphlet promotes a ministry for police and advertises a marriage retreat for selected officers and their spouses. 

One of the booklets handed out, titled, “One life at a time,” depicts individuals turning to Christianity during hard times. One of the sections depicts a woman finding “renewed hope” with her cheating husband because she heard “more about God’s love for her,” and he “rededicated his life to Jesus Christ.”

Another section of the booklet promotes the BGEA’s online ministry, stating, “Sarah was raised in an observant Jewish family, but by the time she was 13, she described herself as agnostic. Now in her 60s, she realized how hollow her belief system had left her. She found PeaceWithGod.net after looking for answers about Christianity online and enrolled in our Know Jesus course.” 

Upon entering “PeaceWithGod.net,” users will have the option to go to a page that shows a Q&A on biblical and general life-related questions in the context of BGEA’s theology. One of the sections is titled, “When does the world end?” The webpage says, “Jesus said not to listen to the scientists, religious figures and so-called experts that predict when our world will end.” The webpage goes on to state, “However, the Bible does lay out specific things that will happen before Jesus returns and we see many of those today.”

Another section of the “Peace with God” website is titled, “Why abortion is wrong?” The webpage refers to abortion as “murder.”

Another BGEA website calls abortion the “lesser of two evils” in “isolated cases” such as “when the mother’s life is clearly at risk.”

In a 1988 episode of the Larry King show, Billy Graham answered questions from people watching at home. An individual called in an asked him his “stance on abortion in the case of violent rape.” Billy Graham responded, “I would be for abortion in violent rape. I’m against abortion. I take the same stance that the Pope takes. I’m against abortion except in cases of rape and in cases of violent rape I would say, and then in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.”

According to a Main Street Daily News article on the Depot Park “Good News” event, Will Graham commented on Charlie Kirk’s death, with the outlet reporting he “acknowledged the enormous impact Kirk’s life had on college students, and on campuses around the country, and how his death has brought on a wave of new commitments to the Lord and to Kirk’s ministry, Turning Point USA.”

Will Graham and BGEA traveled to Tallahassee earlier this week for their “Good News” tour, and today they will hold another concert/sermon at 7 pm in Sarasota at the Sarasota Fairgrounds. The final stop on the tour will be in Pompano Beach at 7 pm on Saturday at the Pompano Beach Amphitheater.