President Trump Participates in an Easter Prayer Service and Dinner

Please welcome Charles Billingsley.

Let's start this evening by bowing our heads, and I'm going to sing a prayer over us.

Our father, Which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation.

But.

Deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.

I want to wish you all a very happy Easter. And, Mr. President, we want to just thank you for your strong stance and for honoring Easter the way it should be honored. So we're very grateful, sir. Thank you. I want to give you an old song, easy.

Yes, sir. Oh, well.

By the way, this is Adam Lancaster here on the piano, and it is truly an honor to be here. And I want to give you a little song that's to the tune of the old Italian aria O Solamio. But several years back, a man put Christian lyrics to it. And so the first verse is about Christmas, and the second verse is about Easter. And I want to give it to you.

Down from his glory Ever living story My God and Savior came and Jesus was his name Born in a manger to his own stranger A man of sorrow, tears and agony without reluctance Flesh and blood his substance he took the form of man Revealed God's hidden plan O glorious mystery Sacrifice of Calvary and now I know he is the great I am O I love him How I adore him My breath, my sunshine My all in all the great creator became my Savior and all God's fullness dwelleth in him.

Sam. O.

Love him How I adore him My breath, my sunshine My all in all the great creator became my savior and all God's fullness dwelleth in him.

Bless the lord.

Thank you so much, Charles. Absolutely beautiful. And it's an honor to have every one of you join us here at the beautiful White House with the President Trump and the White House Faith Office. And to have the world join us right now as we're streaming, I am very honored. It's actually the honor of my life. President Trump, I've been with you 24 years and to be appointed and to serve as the senior advisor to you for the faith, for the White House Faith Office and our faith director, Jenny Corn here, it is our honor to serve you all. And we've actually had over a thousand faith leaders in through the White House in just this short time period. As Christians, it is our most holy time. We are going to have great Friday on East or on this Friday. And then, of course, Resurrection Sunday. And tonight we gather not only to celebrate, but to remember. Before there was a crown of glory, there was a crown of thorns. And before the joy of Sunday morning, there was the agony of Friday afternoon. Jesus, the Lamb of God, willingly gave himself. He was betrayed. He was beaten. He was mocked. He was spit upon. He was crucified unjustly under the Roman law, nailed to that cross, not for his sin, but for our sin. And the Bible declares that greater love has no one than to lay down one's life for one's friend. And that's what Jesus did. Not out of obligation, but out of pure love. He took our place and he bore our shame. He hung between heaven and earth, arms stretched out wide as if to say, this is how much I love you. When he said, it is finished, it means it is perfectly perfect and completely complete. It was not a cry of defeat. He was not defeated. He was declaring that the debt that had to be paid for the fall of man had been paid by the perfect sacrifice, the spotless Lamb of God. And that debt was paid in full. And because of that cross, no sin is too great, no person is too lost, and no night is too dark. His blood still saves. His sacrifice still speaks. And tonight, before we rejoice over the stone that has been rolled away, I want to take a moment as we reverence the Savior who laid down his life. He paid it all so we could live free and forgiven forever. Father God, I come to you in the name of Jesus. And I thank you that on that dark day of Good Friday, the Bible declares that before the foundations were laid, the Lamb of God was slain. That you had a plan not to leave us lost or hopeless or helpless, but to rescue us, to save us. And we thank you for the price that was paid, for the blood that was shed and reminded of the old hymn, what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And what can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So I give you praise and glory in Jesus name. And it is my great honor to introduce my dear friend and a great man of God to all of us. He is such a hero of faith. And if you ever talk to him, he says, I'm just a sinner saved by grace. He's not going to leave us on the cross, but Reverend Franklin Graham is going to talk to us about that wonderful resurrection. Franklin.

Thank you, Paula. And thank you, Mr. President, for inviting us here. And I think I can speak on behalf of all of us. How grateful we are for your leadership in standing tall, standing firm. There's been a spiritual drought in this city the last few years and in this house. And so I'm very grateful for the Easter declaration that you put out. Thank you. Let us pray. Our Father and our God, we come tonight to say thank you. Thank you for sending your son, Jesus Christ to this earth to take our sins. That he died on the cross, shedding his own blood for each and every one buried in a tomb of sin. But on the third day, you raised him to life. And Father, we know that if we confess our sins, repent and believe on the name of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. And, Father, it's my prayer tonight that many people this Easter would turn from their sins. And by faith, believe on the name of your son. And it's his name that we pray. Amen. I was told to introduce the President. It feels so dumb to have to introduce the President of the United States in his own house. But ladies and gentlemen, what a privilege, isn't it, to have the President of the United States invite us here. So, Mr. President, please.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. It's a real honor. And we've all worked very hard to get here. And I want to thank you for the tremendous support that we had. Just about 88%. I'd say that's good. I said, why didn't we hit 90? But it's pretty good. And all friends and everybody in this room is a very special friend. I want to pay great homage to the White House. There is no place like it. I've been in many houses. I've seen the nicest of the nice, and there's nothing like it. And really what it represents and being here with you in the middle of Holy Week, as we remember two of the most monumental events in all of history. The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I want to thank Pastor Paula White and Reverend Franklin Graham, all of the incredible, respected, highly respected members of clergy and friends, just friends, friends of great faith. Many thanks as well to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He's been fantastic. Many faith leaders that are here tonight. Angel. Mom. Patty Morin, who's been through hell. Where's Patty? Patty. Stand up, Patty, please. Yes. Her incredible daughter. And her daughter is looking down on Patty today. This was someday for you. We appreciate it, Patty. And we're all with you 100%. And you are indeed an angel. Mom. Thank you very much. Then a very special thanks to Charles Billingsley for the magnificent performance. Thank you, Charles. That was. Nearly 2,000 years ago. During the sacred week, the living son of God entered Jerusalem in triumph. Soon after, the savior of mankind, who brought truth and light into the world, was beginning. Betrayed, arrested and tried, beaten and nailed to a cross and crucified for our sake, he gave up his life. And as the very great Reverend Billy Graham once said, God proved his love on the cross. When Christ hung and bled and died, it was God saying to the world, I love you. Those are beautiful words from a great man. Franklin, right? A great man. Franklin's incredible father. I went to Yankee Stadium with my father many years ago to watch your father. You think we have big crowds today? It was some crowd. Never forget it. So thank you very much. And thank you for being here, Franklin, very much. Three days. Your father would be very proud of you, by the way. Incredible job you do. Three days later, Christ's followers found the empty tomb. Jesus had defeated darkness and death and promised new life to all of humankind. And that's what we celebrate each year at Easter. As we joyfully proclaim on Sunday, he is risen. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the essence of the Christian faith. Whether rich or poor, healthy or sick, young or old, or in times of peace or war, Christians everywhere find solace and hope in the knowledge that Christ died for them and that they could be united with him in heaven. And that's what we want. That's what we all want. The miracles of Holy Week set in motion a transformation in human existence. Countless millions of Americans have been moved by Christ's example to heal the sick, defend their families, lift up their communities, and make our country stronger, better and greater than ever before with God's grace Over these past three months. And we have had a great three months, they say maybe the best three months ever for a president and an administration. It was really great. We have fantastic people, and they're people that believe like you do. But we've achieved more than most administrations. They've been saying do in four years or even eight years, just in a short period of time. And I think there's a whole new spirit in our country. And I think there's a whole new respect for our country. Our country was not respected five months ago, six months ago. Although I think November 5th did a lot to get that respect. Franklin. I think it was. I think it was a big day. I hope it was. Is going to go down as one of the most important days in the history of our country. November 5th we're restoring our prosperity, securing our borders. We're rebuilding the US Military. We've. I did it once, now I'm going to do it again. And even more so, we're standing up for a persecuted Christian and so many Christians that have been persecuted all over the world. So horrible what's happened. And defending religious liberty. We had nobody fighting for our Christians in other parts of the world that were being so incredibly destroyed, killed, injured, hurt, but they died. So many died. You wouldn't think that could happen in this time, in this sort of modern time. I proudly created the White House Faith Office and a brand new DOJ task force to eradicate anti Christian bias. And there is anti Christian. You don't hear about that very much, but there is anti Christian bias. We're stopping the radical indoctrination in our schools and supporting school choice. And we're going to be moving our education department and various educational departments down to the States where they belong. We spend more money per pupil than any country in the world. And we don't get the answer. We are in the lower, lower tier of 40 nations, the 40 nations that they rate. And I think when we do this, it's going to make a tremendous difference. Think of it. We spend more per pupil than any country in the world. And yet it's Denmark and Norway, Sweden, even China does very well in top 10. And so we can't blame it on size. We're big. China is really big. And we're going to be there. We're going to be there soon when the states run their education department instead of some bureaucrat in Washington. It's going to make a very big. I think it's going to make a very big business. And I also, and this was a very easy one for me. I guess some people still fight light it, because I saw on television today a Democrat congressman fighting so hard I banned men from women's sports. Seems easier now. And I signed an executive order making it official. And the official policy of the United States that God created two genders, male and female. That's not too difficult. So there's so much to celebrate this Easter. This is really, I hope, going to be one of the great Easters ever. Because we have something going that I don't think this country has seen in a hundred years. And as we gather with family and friends, we'll not forget the true source of our joy and our strength. America has put our trust in God. It will always be in God we trust. We will never change that. You know, there's a movement to change it. It will not happen. We won't let that happen. Can you imagine a movement to change that, Robert? You're not happy about that when you hear that. Look at him. He's getting angrier and angrier. We can get angry, too, can't we? No, it's never going to change. And with God's help, we can overcome every challenge, triumph over every evil, and restore the spirit of faith in the United States for generations to come. We have a very simple slogan. Make America great again. And that's exactly what we're doing. We're making America great again. And I'd like to say, I like to add that I really believe greater than ever before. So once again, let me wish you all a very joyful and blessed Easter. And I would now like to ask Pastor Jensen Franklin, a supporter, right from day one been right. He's been here, I think, Paula, from the first moment that we started. And who would have known that it was going to turn out this way? But the support I've had from evangelicals, Christians and everybody, people of faith, really has been incredible. I believe it's been unprecedented, actually, by a lot, not just by a little bit. So, Pastor Franklin, if you would, please come up. Thank you very much. Thank you for your support.

Thank you, Mrs. Gravel. I was sitting there and I saw the card they gave me where I was sitting at Table 1. From Eastern North Carolina originally, and God called me to preach out in a cornfield and to be here, being honored to represent ministers across the nation who don't get an opportunity like this. We want to say thank you. This is so you don't have to do this. You're too busy to do this. But we want to say thank you. We see all that you do, all your family goes through, and we're so thankful. God assigned an angel to stand between you and that bullet. To God be the glory. And Jesus walked into a room like this with religious leaders named Peter, James, John, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and some might have been on the back table, and some might have been watching in a ministry somewhere that nobody's never heard of. And you, Pastor 50 people, and you do it with all of your heart for the glory of God. And Jesus walked into a meeting like this with. And he took a pot of water and he went from table to table, washing the feet, giving dignity and honor to everyone, and also washing and cleansing. And that's what this is all about this week. And to have a president and his first lady make a statement like you made on social media about this week. You just don't understand how God is using you. There's a movement going on in our churches, Mr. President, and I think this group here can testify. We've never had attendance like we're having. We're running over. Our buildings are packed. God is moving in this nation mightily, and we're thankful for that. And if you're watching right now and you're broken and you're hurting and you're lonely, or maybe you're in a hospital room or you're wondering, is there any more to life than this? You need Jesus. He's not a religion to us. And we don't do this for careers. But he bled and he died. And he rose from the dead to give us all that blessed hope. And I thank him for it. Lord, we love you. We thank you. We're so honored. And we pray for President Trump and First Lady Melania and their precious family. We do hold them up in this room tonight, and we believe that you have them in a bubble of protection. Keep them and watch over them. Give him wisdom, give him favor, and let your goodness and your mercy reign in this nation like never before. And we'll give you the praise. Bless this food. Bless this evening. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thank you, Paula. We love Paula White. Isn't she amazing?