Billy Graham's Early Ministry and 7 Powerful Sermons

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Los Angeles in 1949

Crowds gather outside the 'canvas cathedral' at the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles where some 350,000 people heard Graham preach. — Crowds gather outside the "canvas cathedral" at the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles where some 350,000 people heard Graham preach. | (Photo: BGEA)

Said to be the crusade that launched Billy Graham into national notoriety, the 1949 Los Angeles Crusade lasted eight weeks and drew approximately 350,000 people.

Speaking at a large outdoor tent called the "canvas cathedral" that could seat about 6,500 people at a time, Graham declared, "I do not believe that any man, that any man can solve the problems of life without Jesus Christ."

"There are tremendous marital problems, there are physical problems, there are financial problems, there are problems of sin and habit that cannot be solved outside the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ," said Graham.