On Wings of Song A Devotional Broadcast on Salvation by Faith

On Wings of Song — A Devotional Broadcast on Salvation by Faith

Overview

This is a 1950s-era Christian radio program from Cicero Bible Church featuring Dr. William McCarroll's sermon on assurance of salvation through faith in Christ alone, interspersed with gospel music from Ruth Lawrence and the Crusaders Quartet.

Key Points

• 🎙️ Format: Devotional broadcast combining Bible teaching with congregational singing and solos
• 📬 Free Offer: "How to Lead a Soul to Christ" card available by request, sized for Bible insertion
• 💰 Support Model: Listener-funded through freewill offerings; letters from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan acknowledged
• 🎯 Core Message: Salvation comes by trusting Christ, not by trying, feeling, church membership, or moral effort
• 📖 Key Verse: John 3:16 — belief brings everlasting life, with no mention of feelings required

The Sermon: Making the Right Connection

Dr. McCarrell builds his message through personal evangelism stories rather than abstract theology. On a train to Minneapolis, he steered a weather conversation toward heaven — "you don't have to hope so, you can know so" — and left the man with tracts.

He tells of a thief and alcoholic who tearfully confessed he'd lied about being saved just to get rid of a visitor. Kneeling with an open Bible, McCarrell walked him through simple questions: Do you believe God tells the truth? The man read "he that believeth hath everlasting life" and finally grasped he had everlasting life — not would get it, not might get it. The result: restored marriage, reclaimed family, transformed life.

A university-educated Western Electric worker kept "trying and trying" to be saved, looking for feelings. McCarrell pointed him to Romans 4:5 — "to him that worketh not, but believeth" — and the man became pastor of Amarillo Bible Church.

A six-year Sunday school worker stumbled on the same obstacle: "don't feel it." McCarrell had him read John 3:16 repeatedly, then asked why he inserted "feeleth" where God put "believeth." He later became an elder.

What Won't Save You

McCarrell systematically dismantles false dependencies:

• Works and self-effort — "It's not trying, it's trusting"
• Feelings — "Your feelings are not the criterion"; they change hourly, salvation doesn't
• Church membership — No church died for your sins
• Moral refinement — Charlotte Elliott's story: "Just as I am, without one plea" — no plea of goodness, worth, or self
• Willpower and vows — John B. Gough's story: an alcoholic so enslaved he'd drink knowing it meant hell, yet transformed by collapsing into Christ's arms

Program Details & Invitation

🎵 Musical lineup: "Wonderful Story of Love," "He Will Answer Every Prayer," "It Is Well With My Soul," "My Prayer," and "Blessed Quietness"

📍 Cicero Bible Church: 2230 South Laramie Avenue, Chicago's west side

📅 Summer Bible Conference: Fourth week begins Monday at 7:45 PM (7:00 PM Sunday) with Reverend Thomas Lawrence of Hartford, Connecticut

✉️ Contact: Request literature or share decisions — "Bring great joy to our hearts by letting us know"