Department for External Church Relations
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Billy Graham’s book ‘Happiness of Living in Christ’ presented in CMI
On March 4, 2019, Billy Graham’s book Happiness of Living in Christ. Billy Graham’s Sermons was presented at the Ss Cyril and Methodius Institute of Post-Graduate Studies (CMI). The book was prepared by the Poznanie Publishers as part of a joint project of the CMI and the Billy Graham Evangelical Association.
The book was presented by the CMI rector and the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations (DECR), Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, and the president of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association, Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of the famous preacher.
Opening the presentation, Metropolitan Hilarion said, ‘Billy Graham was not just an outstanding preacher of the 20th century, but also a legendary man’ whose sermons brought together whole stadiums of people.
‘Billy Graham loved Russia and was not shy of this love’, His Eminence stressed, ‘In spite of the confrontation between the USSR and the USA, Billy Graham did not just use to come to our country but also addressed large audiences, including in America, speaking about our country.
The metropolitan pointed out to Billy Graham’s Christ-centered sermons. ‘He was a Protestant preacher but the spirit of his preaching was Orthodox. Trough vivid images he managed to bring the Gospel’s message home to people and even convince non-believers’.
‘Our Churches have much in common, and our moral positions coincide in many ways’, His Eminence summed up his remarks.
The son of the preacher and continuer of his cause, Franklin Graham, too, spoke about his father’s love of Russia and the Russian Church: ‘My father’s heart was very much disposed to the people of Russia; he prayed for them, He came not for the sake of politics and for speaking about Christ Who assumed our sins’, the leader of the Evangelical Association recalled.
In spite of the fact that Billy Graham ‘did not want to be spoken about himself but wished that all the glory should go only to God, he was delighted at the publication of this book’, the preacher’s son recalled. Metropolitan Hilarion and Franklin Graham also recalled with warmth the only meeting His Eminence had with Billy Graham, which was a great joy for the both.
CMI Press Service
Patriarch
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Sermons
24.01.2021
06.11.2020