Hope for a Broken Nation | Billy Graham TV Special

(Franklin Graham) Our nation is in trouble. (Greg Laurie) Almost daily now, sometimes even hourly, there's a new crisis. (announcer) Welcome to a special conversation with Franklin Graham and Greg Laurie. It seems like it's just escalating. I think it's scary to see all these things happening. Also, a timeless message of hope from Billy Graham.

I've been asked hundreds of times in my life why God allows tragedy and suffering. Plus, music from Charity Gayle and Michael W. Smith. What is the hope in the middle of all this darkness? Every time you turn on the news it seems like there's some new horrific tragedy.

No question about it. Our nation is in trouble. And with so much evil, where do you turn? What is the hope in the middle of all this darkness? This is an important question and we're going to talk about it and here with me to do that is my long-time friend, Pastor Greg Laurie.

Greg is pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship out of Riverside, California. He does his Harvest Crusades all across this county. He's been a friend of mine for over 40 years, and we've served on boards together, we've traveled around the world, and I'm so glad that Greg is here today to discuss this.

I don't think anyone would have better insight than Greg. So, Greg, welcome. Franklin, good to be here. Yeah, it's crazy what's going on in America right now. You know, I believe we are in the last days. And Jesus said the signs of the times, of the end times, would get closer and closer together.

And He compared it to a woman having labor pains. And it seems like every time we turn around, almost daily now, sometimes even hourly, there's a new crisis. There's a shooting here, there's a stabbing there, there's some other horrible thing happening, but of course, what is on our minds right now is the horrible murder, even the assassination of a fellow believer, Charlie Kirk, as he was on a college campus in Utah.

And I think that's especially traumatizing because even though you and I had met and knew Charlie, other people felt as though they knew him because they saw him all the time on TikTok. You know, he really had the ear of the young generation frankly. You know, a lot of kids today, they get their news on TikTok.

They don't watch television. And Charlie was all over TikTok and they'd film these little debates he'd do on campuses. And, you know, Charlie... When we say debate, he was a very friendly guy, very intelligent. Students would walk up to him, they would insult him to his face, and say the worst things to him, and he would just smile, and nod, and wait until they were done and then calmly and clearly answer their questions.

Yes, he talked about political issues, and what's going on in the county, but he was very upfront about his faith. In fact, right before he was shot he was talking about Jesus Christ. He said, I am nothing without Jesus. (Greg Laurie) Yes. And he was very vocal about his faith, as you said.

He talked about it all the time. (Greg) Yes, he did. And, so, and one of the things that he said I want to talk about Jesus and then he encouraged people to do that this weekend. Talk about Jesus. (Greg) Yeah. Tell someone about Jesus. He was, I guess he was an evangelist as well.

He was asked in an interview, "What do you want to be known for? Like after you die, And he said, I want to be known for my courage for speaking up for Christ. And you know, I think we need to mourn the death of this young man. You know Stephen was the first martyr of the early church.

He died a horrific death, as Charlie did, frankly. God gave Stephen a glimpse of heaven and we read that after Stephen died godly men mourned over him. And even though we know Charlie's in heaven, and even though we know he is safely in the arms of Jesus, there is a place for us as a nation to mourn the loss of this gifted, talented, wonderful young man of God thirty-one years old.

But then to also reflect on this fact. He packed a lot of life in. Corrie ten Boom once said, "Life is not measured by its duration, "but by its donation." Charlie did not live a long life, sadly, but he lived a very impactful life. and he made a great donation.

He did. And, Greg, we've seen other horrific violence just recently. A young girl in Charlotte, North Carolina, a Ukrainian came to this country with her family to try to find safety because of the war in her country. Yes. Now, I do think about that young girl sitting on the train, the light rail, It stops and then the camera shows her getting on and just sitting down, and the man behind her he said he didn't even know who she was, pulls out his knife and just stabs her.

And another thing that surprised me on that. No one got up to help her. And some people were filming it on their phones. and it's unbelievable. The Scripture warns us against those that call evil good, Yes, and good evil. Yep. And it seems like the nation, and many people around the world celebrate evil They do.

Even the assassination attempts on President Trump. Two of them. We've seen that. And all of this seems like it's escalating. It is. And maybe it's because we live in a digital age and we're aware of it, maybe more today than we were just a few years ago. But I believe, like you say, Greg, we are living in the last days.

And I want to encourage pastors and churches, this is a good time for your church to review the Scriptures and to look at prophecy, and what does the Bible say about end times. And are we really, are we prepared for what God has in store? But our nation is in trouble.

What would you say, Greg, to people who say If God is really a God of love, He would not let this happen. Why does he allow evil things to happen? If He's God, He could stop this. I don't know the answer. I mean, why... When I don't know the answer to the why question, I pivot back to the what and the who question.

You know Charlie was a young man. And, as you know, Franklin, our son Christopher died at the age of thirty-three in an automobile accident. And we spent a lot of time asking the why question. And you get to a point where there's just no answer that satisfies you, so, it comes down to this.

We don't live on explanations; we live on promises. We go back to the promises of God. So, here's what I don't understand. Why did this happen? I don't know. Here's what I do understand. God loves us. Yeah. I know God loved Charlie. I know that as Joseph said to his brothers, who sold him into slavery, "You meant this for evil, but God meant it for good. "to save many people alive."

So, what happened to Charlie is a horrible tragedy. We should mourn his death, but at the same time, we should be inspired by his life. Yeah. and we should carry on what he did. That's what he would want. I mean, if I'm Charlie Kirk, sitting in heaven, I'd say, "Preach the Gospel, because you're going to be here before you know it with me in the presence of Jesus.

So, I think, you know, as the Bible says, "Work while it is the day, for the night is coming "when no man can work." And so, just follow his example, and we can't always answer that why question but we turn to God, and what do we do? We give people the Gospel and call them to Christ, because death will come for all of us.

We don't know when. Charlie had his hope in Christ, and so the moment he took his last breath on earth, he took his first breath in heaven. And if we trust in Christ, we can have that same hope. I don't feel sorry for Charlie. It sounds maybe a little strange to say that, but he's in the presence of God.

Now, I feel very sorry for his wife and his two little children. Erika. This is very, very difficult, very tough. You know, Franklin, your Dad once said, in response to the question, "What has been the greatest surprise of your life?" He said, "The brevity of it." We look at Charlie.

Young man, 31-years old. This young lady from Ukraine coming here to our country, seeking refuge, losing her life so suddenly. Life can end quickly. We need to be ready for the afterlife. Life is so short and we're all, we're all dying. We're just at different stages of dying.

Death is coming for all of us, and the question is, "Are we ready?" "Are we prepared?" Yes. A lot of people, Greg, just don't want to talk about it. They don't want to think about it. And they just think they're going to live... That life's just going to keep going. but it doesn't.

It comes to an end. I think it's scary to young people right now to see all these things happen. Jesus said, "Let not your hearts be troubled, "neither let them be afraid. "In My Father's house are many mansions," or dwelling places, "If it were not so, I would have told you. "I go to prepare a place for you, "and if I go and prepare a place for you, "I will come again and receive you unto Myself, "that where I am you may be also."

At a time like this, it can be scary, but we should not have troubled hearts. We should look to the Lord. And I remember a story I heard about a father who was an atheist. And he wanted his daughter to be an atheist as well. So he wrote down on a piece of paper, "God is nowhere."

And he said, write that down. "God is nowhere." And she sounded it out, God is N-O-W H-E-R-E. Oh, I understand, Daddy, God is now here. She saw it differently, and I think this is what we must realize. God is now here. Yes, it's a tragedy what happened to Charlie Kirk, but we should follow his example.

He's passed his torch on in his short and impactful life, and we should pick that torch up and say, "Okay, let's not be silent because the only hope is the Gospel. Because the heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. And only God can change the human heart.

Only God. Politics can't change it. Technology can't change it. Religion even can't change it. It's Christ. And so, we need to keep proclaiming that message to this world more than ever. We live in a troubled world and our country seems to be broken, morally, spiritually. We've turned as a nation; we've turned our back on God.

It's a spiritual problem. Yeah. It's a spiritual problem of the heart. And the Bible says, "We have all sinned and come short of God's glory." All of us are sinners. And so we've failed God but God loved us enough to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to take our sins and to die and shed His blood for our sins.

The only hope is the Lord Jesus Christ. In tragedy, there are times when people turn to God, Yeah, for a brief moment, and we saw that after 9/11. The nation was looking for why. The churches were full. Churches full. And George W. Bush asked my father to come to Washington for a special prayer service.

And my father was able to speak to the nation. And so, the air space was still closed. I remember that my father had to, we had to get special permission from the FAA to fly into Washington. The whole country was afraid. The country was kind of on a lock down.

And so, my father addressed the nation from the National Cathedral. This would be a good time just to hear the words of comfort that my father brought to the nation at that time. (Dr. Billy Graham) We've seen so much on our television, heard on our radio, stories that bring tears to our eyes, and make us all feel a sense of anger.

But God can be trusted even when life seems at its darkest. But what are some of the lessons we can learn? First, we're reminded of the mystery and reality of evil. I've been asked hundreds of times in my life why God allows tragedy and suffering. I have to confess that I really do not know the answer, totally, even to my own satisfaction.

I have to accept by faith that God is sovereign, and He's a God of love and mercy and compassion in the midst of suffering. The Bible says that God is not the author of evil. It speaks of evil as a mystery. In I Thessalonians 2:7 it talks about the mystery of iniquity.

The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah said, "The heart is deceitful above all things, "and beyond cure. "Who can understand it?" He asked that question: "Who can understand it?" And that's one reason we each need God in our lives. The lesson of this event is not only about the mystery of iniquity and evil, but secondly, it's a lesson about our need for each other.

What an example New York and Washington have been to the world these past few days. None of us will ever forget the pictures of our courageous fire fighters and police, many of whom have lost friends and colleagues. A tragedy like this could have torn our country apart but instead, it has united us and we've become a family.

So those perpetrators who took this on to tear us apart, it has worked the other way. It's backlashed. It's backfired. We are more united than ever before. I think this was exemplified in a very moving way when the members of our Congress stood shoulder to shoulder the other day and sang, "God Bless America."

Finally, difficult as it may be for us to see right now, this event can give a message of hope. Hope for the present and hope for the future. Yes, there is hope. There's hope for the present because I believe the stage has already been set for a new spirit in our nation.

One of the things we desperately need is a spiritual renewal in this country. We need a spiritual revival in America. And God has told us in His Word time after time that we're to repent of our sins and turn to Him and He will bless us in a new way.

But there's also hope for the future because of God's promises. As a Christian, I have hope, not just for this life but for heaven and the life to come. And many of those people who died this past week are in heaven right now. And they wouldn't want to come back.

It's so glorious and so wonderful. And that's the hope for all of us who put our faith in God. I pray that you will have this hope in your heart. This event reminds us of the brevity and the uncertainty of life. We never know when we, too, will be called into eternity.

I doubt if even one of those people who got on those planes or walked into the World Trade Center or the Pentagon last Tuesday morning thought it would be the last day of their lives. They didn't-, it didn't occur to them. And that's why each of us needs to face our own spiritual need and commit ourselves to God and His will now.

Here in this majestic National Cathedral, we see all around us symbols of the cross. For the Christian- I'm speaking for the Christian now- the cross tells us that God understands our sin and our suffering. For He took upon Himself in the person of Jesus Christ our sins and our suffering.

And from the cross, God declares, "I love you. "I know the heartaches and the sorrows "and the pains that you feel, "but I love you." The story does not end with the cross. For Easter points us beyond the tragedy of the cross to the empty tomb. It tells us that there is hope for eternal life, for Christ has conquered evil and death and hell.

Yes, there's hope. I've become an old man now. And I've preached all over the world. And the older I get the more I cling to that hope that I started with many years ago, and proclaimed it in many languages to many parts of the world. Several years ago, at the National Prayer Breakfast here in Washington, Ambassador Andrew Young, who had just gone through the tragic death of his wife, closed his talk with a quote from the old hymn, "How Firm a Foundation."

We all watched in horror as planes crashed into the steel and glass of the World Trade Center. Those majestic towers build on solid foundations were examples of the prosperity and creativity of America. When damaged, those buildings eventually plummeted to the ground, imploding in upon themselves. Yet underneath the debris is a foundation that was not destroyed.

Therein lies the truth of that old hymn that Andrew Young quoted, "How Firm a Foundation." Yes, our nation has been attacked. Buildings destroyed; lives lost. But now we have a choice... whether to implode and disintegrate emotionally and spiritually as a people and a nation, or whether we choose to become stronger through all of the struggle to rebuild on a solid foundation.

And I believe that we're in the process of starting to rebuild on that foundation. That foundation is our trust in God. That's what this service is all about. And in that faith we have the strength to endure something as difficult and horrendous as what we've experienced this week.

This has been a terrible week with many tears, but also it's been a week of great faith. Churches all across the country have called prayer meetings. And today is a day that they're celebrating not only in this country but in many parts of the world. And the words of that familiar hymn that Andrew Young quoted, it says, "Fear not, I am with thee. "O be not dismayed for I am thy God "And will give thee aid; "I'll strengthen thee, help thee, "And cause thee to stand upon my righteous, "on My righteous, omnipotent hand."

My prayer today is that we will feel the loving arms of God wrapped around us. And we'll know in our hearts that He will never forsake us, as we trust in Him. (Franklin Graham) In the darkest of times we can hold on to the promises of God. Jesus said, "In this world you'll have trouble, "but take heart, I have overcome the world."

No matter what trouble the world brings to us, Jesus is our hope. And I want you to hear a very special song from my friend Charity Gayle and Michael W. Smith, titled, "I Speak Jesus." And this is what Charlie's life was all about. He spoke Jesus and so I thought this would be a very special song for us today. ? ?

I just want to speak the name of Jesus ? ? ? Over every heart and every mind ? ? ? 'Cause I know there is peace within Your presence ? ? ? I speak Jesus ? ? ? And I just want to speak the name of Jesus ? ? ? 'Til every dark addiction starts to break ? ? ?

Declaring there is hope and there is freedom ? ? ? I speak Jesus ? ? ? 'Cause your name is power, Your name is healing ? ? Your name is life ? ? ? Break every stronghold ? ? Shine through the shadows ? ? Burn like a fire ? ? ?

And I just want to speak the name of Jesus ? ? ? Over fear and all anxiety, ohh ? ? ? To every soul held captive by depression ? ? ? I speak Jesus ? ? 'Cause Your name ? ? 'Cause your name is power, Your name is healing ? ?

Your name is life ? ? Life more abundantly ? ? Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows ? ? Burn like a fire ? ? ? Shout Jesus from the mountains ? ? And Jesus in the streets ? ? ? Jesus in the darkness ? ? Over every enemy ? ? ?

Jesus for my family ? ? ? I speak the holy name of Jesus ? ? (Gayle) Ohh... ? Shout Jesus from the mountains ? ? Jesus in the streets ? ? Ohh! ? ? Jesus in the darkness ? ? Over every enemy ? ? ? Jesus for my family ? ?

I speak the holy name ? ? Jesus ? ? 'Cause your name is power, Your name is healing ? ? Your name is life ? ? We declare it right now! ? ? Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows ? ? Burn like a fire ? Speak Your name! ? ?'Cause your name is power, Your name is healing ? ?

Your name is life ? ? Yes, it is! ? ? Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows ? ? Burn like a fire ? ? ? And I just want to speak the name of Jesus ? ? ? Over every heart and every mind ? ? ? 'Cause I know there is peace within Your presence ? ? ?

I speak Jesus ? ?? Where is Jesus in your life? Do you know Him? Have you put your faith in Him? Have you put your trust in Him? If your life came to a sudden end like Charlie's did, are you ready to stand before God? Are you ready to go into His presence?

And if you say, "Well, you know, I think so." No, I'm not talking about thinking. Do you know it? Are you sure? Are you confident? You see, the Bible says we have to repent, to turn from our sins. And we have to believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him as our Savior.

Have you ever invited Christ into your heart and into your life? Have you ever told God, "I'm a sinner and I'm sorry?" If you haven't done it, you can do that right now. Just wherever you are, just say I want to be like Charlie. I want to be sure I'm ready to stand before God, And I want to confess that I am a sinner.

I want to repent. I want to turn from those sins of mine, and I want to put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And if you've never invited Christ into your heart and life you can just pray this prayer with me right now. Just say, "God, I'm a sinner. "I'm sorry. "I want to turn from my sins. "And I believe that Jesus is Your Son, That He took my sins to the cross and He died and shed His blood for me and that You've raised Him to life.

And I'd like to invite Him to come into my heart and I want to trust Him right now, and I want to follow Him as my Lord from this day forward forever, amen. (announcer) If you just prayed with Franklin, or if you have questions about a relationship with Jesus Christ, contact us.

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