Sydney Thanksgiving Service for Dr Billy Graham
Thanksgiving Service for Dr Billy Graham at St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney.
A special thanksgiving service was held at St. Andrew’s Anglican Cathedral in Sydney on 9 March to honour the life and ministry of Dr Billy Graham. The service was led by the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Rev Dr Glenn Davies and the Dean of St Andrew’s Cathedral Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, and included an address by former Archbishop, Rev Dr Peter Jensen who testified that he came to faith at the 1959 Billy Graham Crusade.
Over an hour before the service commenced, the cathedral was filled with hundreds of people, many of whom attended the 1959, 1968 and 1979 Billy Graham Crusades.
Rev Dr Peter Jensen shared a Gospel message and spoke of the impact Dr Billy Graham had not only on himself, but on the world. He shared, “Here was a man whose faith in an outmoded God enabled him to speak with certainty but humility about truth and about right and wrong… He spoke with an overwhelming certainty, he explained, invited, exhorted, shouted; …He called for repentance… He preached the Christ of the Bible.”
Rev Dr Peter Jensen continued, “But the thing we know now is this: he has gone; the last enemy has claimed him; he is no more among us; but he has now gained the glory of being with Christ for ever. And he has done so, not because of the wonderful things he did, though they were, and the way he shook and shaped our city, though he did; no, he is in glory because Christ died for him, and the Holy Spirit opened his heart, and because his Saviour has now led him home. And now he is with Christ.”
One of the highlights of this service was also the choir, mostly made up of original members from the 1959, 1968 and 1979 Crusades leading in the singing of a few Crusade favourites; ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’, ‘How Great Thou Art’, ‘Blessed Assurance’, and ‘Just as I am’.
Rev Dr Glenn Davies shares after the service, “We are greatly indebted to the gifts of God in the person of Billy Graham. He has brought millions of people to faith, under the power of the Holy Spirit, and we praise God for him and thank God for those who continue to put their trust in the Lord Jesus.”
Dean Kanishka Raffel also shared about the service, “It was a fitting service to a servant of the Lord who exalted Jesus Christ, and I think people wanted to gather together to say thank you to God for Billy, for his ministry and pointing people to Christ.”
We, at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association are most grateful to Archbishop Rev Dr Glenn Davies, Dean Kanishka Raffel, and Former Archbishop Rev Dr Peter Jensen.