Written by: Arie DeHoog
Article source: media.billygraham.org
“I’m so grateful to be back in London. I’ve been looking forward to this,” said Revd Franklin Graham, the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and Samaritan’s Purse, as he began speaking to the huge crowd of people that filled ExCeL London from wall to wall on Saturday, 21 June 2025.
The capacity at the venue had recently been increased to 15,000 because there had been so much interest in the God Loves You Tour. But when 17,000 people showed up on Saturday, the venue was filled to overflowing. Every seat was taken and the walls were lined with people standing on their feet. Security at the venue had to turn thousands of others away, but instead of becoming frustrated, many of them started clapping their hands and breaking into spontaneous worship songs outside.
Inside the venue, young people gathered in front of the stage with arms raised in praise as Grammy-winning artists CeCe Winans and Michael W. Smith, as well as The Afters, led everyone in worship. Between songs, a chant broke out among thousands of youth who shouted together, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”
CeCe Winans
Revd Graham and BGEA partnered with more than 550 churches throughout London to bring the God Loves You Tour back to ExCeL London for the third time on Saturday. Leading up to the event, more than 2,000 young people across the UK attended Pursuit—BGEA’s youth-focused events designed to encourage young believers in Jesus Christ.
Rebecca and Patrick Pretorius, youth leaders at Freedom Church, Colchester, held one of the events last month where they saw 14 young people give their lives to Christ—including their two children. Tonight, the same 14 young people came on one of the hundreds of free buses provided by BGEA. This time, they brought their friends who have never been to church before. Rebecca Pretorius described the renewed interest that UK youth have in faith in Jesus Christ right now by saying, “There’s fire. There’s an ember there, and it’s catching light.”
On Saturday, the group from Colchester and thousands of other people listened closely to the message that Revd Graham shared from the Bible. “Since I last preached here in London two years ago, the world seems to be one step closer to Armageddon,” Graham said referencing the wars in Ukraine, Israel and Iran, Sudan, and China’s threats toward Taiwan. He continued, “Many people feel hopeless, and they’re asking is the world running out of time? Many of you who have come tonight feel hopeless. You begin to wonder if the world will fall apart. You can come to the One who can turn that around, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ—God’s Son. The Bible says that God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
When Revd Graham invited people to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, hundreds of people flooded forward, including a 16-year-old girl who said, “Everybody is hungry for God in my generation right now, and He is moving. Everybody is ready for it, and God is there, for them to receive Him. They just need to come to Him.”
Michael W. Smith
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Date published: 12/07/2025
Feature image: Photo credits to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
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