The 1952 Billy Graham Christmas Special

Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks on December 22, 2008

You can watch the original Billy Graham Christmas Special from 1952 online. The TV special is less than 15 minutes long and includes some awkward decorating, a song from George Beverly Shea, a [questionable] history of the Christmas tree from Cliff Barrows and a sermon from Billy Graham:

“Jesus Christ did not come for the purpose of being born in order that we might have a great holiday. Jesus Christ came for the purpose of dying! That was his mission. He looked over the battlements of heaven centuries ago and saw this world lost and doomed and separated from God. And he said, ‘I’m going to save that world.’”

That’s probably a subdued sermon for 1952, but it still has some fiery, finger-wagging moments (skip ahead to 5:34 to hear Billy’s sermon).

Many other archived Christmas video clips are available on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association web site.

As Billy said, “Goodbye and may the Lord bless you real good.”