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Sunday Night Meditations 10 Message and Song - 1950's
Welcome Detweiler

Welcome Detweiler (March 25, 1908 – March 31, 1992) was an American preacher, evangelist, and church founder whose ministry bridged his Pennsylvania farming roots with a vibrant Gospel outreach in North Carolina. Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Mennonite parents, Detweiler grew up on a 97-acre homestead raising registered Holstein cattle and Percheron draft horses. At 18, an open-air preacher’s charge to “go out and preach the Word of God” ignited his calling, though he initially balanced farming with Bible study. On May 26, 1931, he married Helen Lear, and they raised three children—Jerry (1935), Gladys (1937), and Cliff (1941)—while he preached part-time across various denominations. By 1940, Detweiler entered full-time ministry as a song leader and evangelist, leaving farming behind. In 1944, he joined evangelist Lester Wilson in Durham, North Carolina, leading singing for a six-week revival that birthed Grove Park Chapel. Sensing a divine call, he moved his family there in January 1945, purchasing land on Driver Avenue to establish a community church. Despite wartime lumber shortages, he resourcefully built and expanded the chapel—first to 650 seats in 1948 using Camp Butner mess hall wood, then to 967 in 1950 with a Sunday school wing—growing it into a thriving hub with a peak attendance of over 1,000. Known as “Mr. D,” he led youth groups and preached with clarity, often hosting out-of-town speakers in his home.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the preacher addresses a student who is feeling discouraged and lonely. The preacher explains the simple plan of salvation as found in the Bible, emphasizing that Christ died for our sins and offers salvation by grace to all who desire to be saved. The preacher highlights the deep longing in every soul for reality and truth, and the desire for an abundant life both in the present and in the hereafter. He encourages the listener to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and find the fullness of life by knowing they are on the way to heaven. The sermon emphasizes the need for acknowledging one's sinfulness, accepting Christ as Savior, and resting in His finished work for assurance of peace with God and a new and beautiful life.
Sermon Transcription
Greetings, radio friend. We count it a happy privilege to bring the claims of Christ to your attention. Those who have been saved by his matchless grace desire to share these wonderful blessings with others. Our blessed Savior has commissioned us to proclaim the good news of his salvation to all the world. As you listen to this gospel program, I trust that the messages in song and from God's precious word will be a blessing to you. This is Welcome Detweiler speaking and asking you to listen prayerfully. Today or tomorrow, the theme is taken from Matthew 24 verse 42 which reads, Bring plenty of my reason may bring I troubling thing. I know not the hour, whether morning or night, sickly around me sad. The stay of my soul in nature and practically looking earthward rejoicing is this. It may be tomorrow or even this eve my place in the glory be sweetly secure. But faith takes the word as its own proper for that wonderful change from weakness and sickness, from evil and darkness to beauty and light. In this comfort or even today, the fullness of glory will burst. The introduction of the telephone into our business and family lives was a great avenue for linking people together. But since the coming of radio as a means of amusement, education and interest, the number of listeners have increased by millions. And so many are obviously very enthusiastic about their favorite programs. They are good listeners. When we consider the different avenues of interest, there is not one part of our normal lives upon which we may not hear someone talking with the great hope that we shall be attentive and appreciative. Then if we reflect that the are just mortal men and women, it is amazing that so much confidence in place is placed in what they say. In the realm of eternal truth, the word of the Lord Jesus Christ are of permanent value, everlasting value. It is all the more remarkable that so few are willing to listen to what he has said and has still to say. To a world of people that are in sin, he desires to speak and to bless. Christ's words are full of seriousness, truth and peace. Should we not become earnest listeners to his words? All his utterances are pure, whereas the words of men are very often impure and frequently disgustingly so. The entrance of his words bring light to the mind, soul and spirit. The words of mere men are not really worth the great attention given to them, and by their changeableness from day to day, they lose their value altogether. But the words of God as recorded in the Bible and the voice of God speaking to the conscience bring everlasting forgiveness, life and peace to all who hear and believe them. In Jerusalem, Jesus said something very important on this great subject of listening. It was this, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. To listen to the voice of Jesus is of the highest importance and urgency. By believing his way of salvation, exercising faith in his atoning death on the cross of Calvary, you can enjoy the possession of a presence and eternal salvation. In Jesus name, amen. The title of my little talk tonight is, Life Can Be Beautiful. This should be of special interest to those who feel that thus far, life has been anything but beautiful. Some time ago, a preacher met a student who usually seemed to enjoy all that life had to offer, but on this particular occasion, he seemed discouraged and lonely. The preacher asked, what's the matter with you today? And the reply was, I'm not feeling too well. I've been thinking a bit and wondering whether life is worthwhile. But you are so young, said the preacher, and you haven't really seen life. The young student dropped his head and said, but life is boring already, and it doesn't seem worth living. I want something to live for, but I just can't put my finger on it. With this confession, the preacher suggested he never would be satisfied until he had some assurance regarding where he would spend eternity. Perhaps that's it, replied the student. So tell me how I can know that all will be well when I leave this scene. From that point, the preacher began to unfold to him the simple plan of salvation as we have it in the Bible, how Christ died for our sins and offers salvation by grace to all who desire to be saved. Deep in the heart of every soul is that unquenchable thirst for reality and truth. The longing for an abundant life in the present is overshadowed by yearning for a new life hereafter. The desire constantly drives every soul to seek a solution. Some try to pacify this quest for peace of heart and mind through wealth, maybe popularity, or religious rituals, or time killing pastimes. The one who tries to suppress this heart longing by substitutes will always become despondent and discouraged. One of the reasons for feeling that life is not worthwhile is because the individual refuses to face the true facts. God says that the source of the trouble is that man is a sinner by nature and by practice. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. That's Romans 5 and 12. You can be lost on an automobile trip for a long time before you're aware of it, and just so you can be lost spiritually for a long time and not know it. Someone must call your attention to the fact that you are lost, and that's the reason why life seems so empty. The sad part about it is that when I try to help a lost soul, very often he resents the facts and tries to evade the truth. In such cases the person evidences that he is content to be miserable, and so he misses the whole purpose in living. The person who is not afraid of facts will acknowledge his need and listen carefully to God's remedy. God says that because you are a sinner you deserve to be punished for your sins. God cannot overlook sin. His holiness cannot permit sin to continue unpunished. But God in mercy found a way whereby he could pardon the sinner. Because his son Jesus Christ volunteered to take the sinner's place when he died on Calvary's rugged cross. Christ so loved us that he took the punishment that we deserved, and God offers forgiveness on no other ground than through the death of our substitute. By accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, resting completely on his finished work, I can have the assurance of peace with God, and life becomes new and beautiful. The heart is light and gay when it is free from physical and mental worries. Imagine the joy of the person who knows that his sins, which have been many, are forgiven and will never be brought up again. Everything is different when a person is saved. A new life, new desires, new attitudes, and joy beyond description. When one knows that heaven will be his eternal home, he can say, life has become beautiful. I know of no other way in which you can ever find a true and lasting joy in living. If, like the young student, you have found that life is already boring and empty, it's high time that you should be ready to accept the fullness of life, the joy of living that God offers to those who are honest enough to confess their need. If I wasn't saved, if I didn't know Christ as my Savior, I know that I would have to admit that life is hardly worthwhile. How can life be beautiful? It can't until you are saved and know that you are heaven-bound. You may try every other means, but you will never find peace of mind and the joy of living until you come to Christ for salvation. What I am saying is more than mere theology. This is a tried-and-proved fact. Hundreds of men and women in the whole world can witness to this truth, for in days past they were looking for something to make life worthwhile. They found even more than they expected to find when they trusted Christ and were born again. Life has become beautiful and worthwhile. It seems like poor reasoning when I meet some who freely acknowledge that life to them is an empty grind, but they seem to have no interest in changing the situation. Evidently there are some people who love misery enough to continue on, rejecting all the help that Christ offers. There's an old saying that opportunity knocks once, but Christ has no doubt knocked at the door of your heart before. If he wasn't so plenteous in mercy, he might only knock once. Behold the stranger at the door. He gently knocks, has knocked before, has waited long, is waiting still. You used no other friend so ill. O lovely attitude! He stands with open heart and outstretched hand. O matchless kindness! And he shows his matchless kindness to his foes. Admit him ere his anger burn, lest he depart and ne'er return. Admit him o'er the hours of hand when at his door denied you stand. Life can be beautiful, but only for those who are saved and on the way to heaven. I ask you, my listener, will you trust the Lord Jesus Christ this very hour and find the fullness of life by knowing that you're on the way to heaven? And now we want to thank you for listening to our gospel program. We trust you have enjoyed the messages in song and the message from God's precious word, and we trust that you'll become a listener to this gospel program. And now your closing message in song.
Sunday Night Meditations 10 Message and Song - 1950's
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Welcome Detweiler (March 25, 1908 – March 31, 1992) was an American preacher, evangelist, and church founder whose ministry bridged his Pennsylvania farming roots with a vibrant Gospel outreach in North Carolina. Born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Mennonite parents, Detweiler grew up on a 97-acre homestead raising registered Holstein cattle and Percheron draft horses. At 18, an open-air preacher’s charge to “go out and preach the Word of God” ignited his calling, though he initially balanced farming with Bible study. On May 26, 1931, he married Helen Lear, and they raised three children—Jerry (1935), Gladys (1937), and Cliff (1941)—while he preached part-time across various denominations. By 1940, Detweiler entered full-time ministry as a song leader and evangelist, leaving farming behind. In 1944, he joined evangelist Lester Wilson in Durham, North Carolina, leading singing for a six-week revival that birthed Grove Park Chapel. Sensing a divine call, he moved his family there in January 1945, purchasing land on Driver Avenue to establish a community church. Despite wartime lumber shortages, he resourcefully built and expanded the chapel—first to 650 seats in 1948 using Camp Butner mess hall wood, then to 967 in 1950 with a Sunday school wing—growing it into a thriving hub with a peak attendance of over 1,000. Known as “Mr. D,” he led youth groups and preached with clarity, often hosting out-of-town speakers in his home.