Bishop Elijah Hankerson eulogize his wife, First Lady Rachel Hankerson

bless you shall we all pray father we thank you for this wonderful opportunity that you have afforded us to celebrate the life of this tremendous woman of god we thank you for what she means not only to all of us but specifically even to my own life and we thank you for the example that she has been we thank you for the great mother that she has been the great wife that she has been the great friend that she has been we thank you for the example that she has given us not only in life but also in death and we pray that you would bless us to say something right now that would edify the people of god that would bring to remembrance her labor and also that would glorify your name because god that's what she would want so we thank you for this right now thank you for the saints that have gathered and we pray that you would bless us to share as you would give and we ask it all in jesus name and all the people of god said thank god amen let's give god the praise in spite of all the what we are facing right now and for the strength [Music] that he has given [Applause] i want to thank god for jesus because he is the one that has blessed me there's so many great preachers that are here and we could have got anybody to present the word of god but really no one knew and you all forgive me she is evangelist hankerson lady ankerson all of those various titles but we were just elijah and rachel so if you can just allow us to present in that particular manner tonight she was my best friend and i thank god that we were not just married but we were best of friends and i miss her dearly and i've tried to do all of my uh meltdown at home and the kids were trying to knock the door to me and i had my meltdown there i tried to come in and be nice in front of you all and had another one and so you just forgive me when you have a good wife when you have a good marriage [Music] i had a good marriage awesome woman of god and one of the preachers one of the preachers had me laughing and thank god for those of you that have tried to make me laugh one of the preachers said now if you have a bad wife or a bad marriage just saying lord let your will be done but i want to thank god that i have the pre-woman of god an awesome woman of god and please forgive me if you all can allow me not to just go through all of the protocol but i do want to honor my bosses that are here tonight bishop sheared in his absence and god bless you bishop macklin our first assistant god bless you bishop wooten our second assistant and bishop daniels all the way from milwaukee general board member and all of my brother bishops that are here will you please stand all the bishops please stand let's recognize them in their respective places all of them man i appreciate you so much standing by my side all of the national officers i want all the national officers the church of god in christ please stand up let's recognize all of them i see chairman edie all of them all the hang family all of evangelism god bless you life center god bless you uh missouri midwest god bless you appreciate all of you and god bless my wonderful children elijah the four raquel and matthew we give my kids a great big hand [Music] celebrate them i celebrate all those that came from the state of washington washington state please stand up let's recognize them that's my home state they're sitting with the family [Music] everybody that flew in or drove in from out of town please stand up let's recognize everyone that came in from out of town i want to thank you so much thank you so much god bless my mother wave your hand wave your hand wavy hand my mother many of you never met her you've heard me testify about her she's thank god for this wonderful choir give the choir a great big hand singing an old walter hawkins song never alone i don't have tough glory to worry because i am never alone so i thank god he is with me right now all right all right all right they're ready [Music] i told them i said i'm not feeling it right now feel it you all be a block behind me get ready out ahead of me and take me there so i thank god give the band a great big hand give them a great big hand and uh i want you to know that i had like i said an awesome wife and that was because she was raised in the fear of god and in holiness she was brought up first of all that evangelist center church of god in christ under the late superintendent w.b laird where she was in the shut-ins and uh she fussed us out one time in springfield we were having a shut-in and we went and got water and everything she said that's not how you do it you're not supposed to have no food and no water we had breast milk she said no you all the carnal-minded chewing gum and everything she got that from elder laird and finally pastor stewart and lady stewart became her pastors but she's fourth generation church of god in christ all the way back to lexington mississippi and i want to thank god for her father and mother mother mccain and elder mccain raising an awesome woman of god will you please give them a hand thank you mother mccain thank you so much ellen mccain went outside but um from what they tell me in the family when i came i was old school i was old school mother gatlin i was old school and i went and i asked permission from elder mother mccain could i we didn't say date could i court her and then could i have her hand in marriage and from what they tell me i was the only one only gentleman that came in there to approach one of their daughters that elder mccain did not pull out the shotgun and start cleaning [Music] and so truly i thank god for these awesome people of god just allow me to just speak to you for a few minutes i won't be before you long but i felt lady putin that nobody could really talk about lady hankerson and her life like i could or like her mother could and this is very difficult i know of course she's gone on to be with the lord and these are just her remains but i'm sure you all can attest to the fact that this is a very difficult time for me many have asked me how i'm doing i said i'm doing terrible but i'm going to be all right eventually and i could hear rachel telling me right now don't you get up there messing up falling out in front of the people and embarrassing the family and right about now she'd be sending me a text keep it together keep it together so i'm going to do my best for her to keep it together we were real with each other and what bothers me so much is not the fact that my wife passed away but i saw her suffer and it broke my heart let me hold it together to see her suffer and seeing that was very difficult no one should have to see the things that i've seen the last 25 or 30 days or so but i saw one of god that no matter what she was dealing with she continued to maintain her trust in god and we were for real and i remember one time i was in her face and she was all frowned up it looked like she was just suffering i said are you cold she said no no i said are you hot no i said what's wrong she said your breath stinks so bad i said is it that bad yes somebody we were just real with each other we were just real with each other there was no putting on [Music] and so bishop macklin i was a little upset with the lord i said well that's in the lord i was expecting a miracle here i am in front of these doctors talking about god can heal and god can bless and god can you know breathe through and they're giving their report and i'm stating my faith and she went on and passed and went on and left us but the lord told me he said no you were a witness he said because they saw genuine love between a christian couple the nurses they would come up to her and say oh you're just so blessed to have a man like this i told the nurses don't you touch her don't wash her don't clean her i said i'm going to take care of all of that and they would tell her would say oh you're so lucky to have a man like this i said no i'm lucky to have a wife like this because when i was sick yeah she wore those high heels and yes she was stately but she didn't mind taking care of me when i was down and when i was out she was a sanctified woman one time she had a male nurse lady thuster she had a male nurse and he told me that well she's not talking to me she's not saying anything i said she's not gonna talk to you that's a church woman that's a sanctified woman and she's not used to another man feeling on her and touching on her like that i said so you're gonna have to get somebody else [Applause] y'all said saints don't fight that's what y'all said but from the book of john chapter one verses 6 through 8 for the next few fleeting moments the bible says that there was a man sent from god whose name was john we all know that if lady rachel was sitting right there she'd be the first one standing up the same came for a witness to bear witness of the life that all men through him might believe he was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light the scripture says there was a man sent from god whose name was john for the next few minutes i want to talk from this subject there was a woman sent from god and her name was rachel saints of god i want you to know that this was a woman that god had sent to my life she was not just a woman but she was sent by god and i want you to realize that you're not going to find this brother lambton in the church of god in christ hymnal and i know that uh there's various individuals here from various religious persuasions and you're not going to find it in the national baptist hymnal or in the methodist hymnal but bill withers was one of our favorite artists and he had a song called just the two of us we can make it if we try just the two of us and then when she would walk in the room the song would come to my mind it's going to be a lovely day [Applause] she left me and she went on to be with god but now i'm singing my friends ain't no sunshine when she's gone [Applause] brother bishops i want you to realize that this is my first time having the cross and the chain on in these last 30 days my wife was a woman sent by god that saw so much that was to come in the future her last message at life center she stated to us she said get your house in order because something is coming and it's going to be something that you've never experienced before some of you may say she was talking about herself but if you go to isaiah chapter 57 verses 1 and 2 the bible says that god will take the righteous out before the evil day comes don't touch your neighbor but touch yourself and say get this house in order she's the one that encouraged me she looked forward and as a matter of fact she saw all of you and she told the kids weeks before she went into the hospital and said be sure to tell everybody thank you so much for coming to the funeral she saw my future i told her she looked at me and she gave me a kiss goodbye and i said rachel you can't do this she said no you're going to be all right i said i'm not going to be all right we're team we're like peanut butter and jelly i wish i had a witness batman and robin raising an oatmeal come on we're together we're a team everything that we have done it has been together she said no you've got a great work to do i said i can't do anything without you she said don't you give up i said come on rachel i said listen and bishop shearer can tell you this when he comes tomorrow all i had to do was hit the enter button i was ready to send it and i told bishop shirt i said i'm ready to give up the church i'm ready to give up the jurisdiction i'm ready to give up the national ready to give up everything somebody's saying did you put her on that kind of pedestal no we were always like this you didn't see one without the other and i said how can i go on and i don't have the one that god has sent me but she told me she said you continue to go forward she was my best friend a lot of you look at me and you say well you know people lose their spouse all the time she was not just a spouse she was a friend she was a woman that god had sent john was a witness and how many know that he was not the light but he was a witness of the light and i come to tell you this woman of god was a witness of the light no one could sing calvary like her pastor madison god bless you and thank you for allowing us to be here but the late bishop r.j ward would take you to calgary and lady hankers and i were a team i would paint the picture and tell the people can't you hear the hammer ringing she would break out on that song supervisor brown calvary surely he died on mount calvary she was a witness for the lord not only that saints of god but she was a pure woman i'm just giving my testimony can i give my testimony don't let nobody tell you don't let anyone tell you that you can't be single and saved and sanctified and filled with the holy ghost i'm just giving my testimony when we both married we were both virgins when we got married we were faithful to each other through marriage holy before we met one another holy while we were married and anybody got any ideas will be holy even after death i wish i had because sometimes people get different ideas but i had the bible say come out from among them and be separate saying the lord and don't even touch the unclean thing i know we're not touching our neighbor but look at someone and tell them you can live a righteous life in this world not just when you die and go to heaven follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the lord look at someone and tell them holiness is still right not a denomination but it's a lifestyle it's an experience where god separates you and this was a sanctified faithful in marriage we were holy we uh had a home that it was a refuge to us there's so many people i want you to know that they experience marriage can i tell you something but can i get something folks put you together with somebody and get married have a first lady to the bishop we got buried out of love [Applause] don't let no one match make you he that findeth the wife not somebody else finding somebody for you [Applause] so because we love one another our home was a refuge we love going home love being in the home together many times what's that thunder god speaking lift your hand say yes lord but our home was a refuge we love coming home many times we talk to the kids do you want to go here do you want to go there they said no we just want to go home as i travel around the nation bishop hoot and i would tell people make sure you get me the latest flight into your town and the earliest flight out of town so i can get back home and be with my wife and be with my children i want you to know that how many know the bible said love your wife even as christ love the church we truly had love for one another her her witness and and family it was sent from god people would laugh at us many times administrative assistant michaels they would laugh at us down in memphis we would ride all around the country together and i'm frugal i'm frugal i'm frugal no no elijah the four said everybody knows you're cheap i said no i'm just [Applause] don't pay attention to them listen to me i'm frugal so i would get the most inexpensive car i could get a little economy car and when we'd show up in memphis everybody would laugh they said watch this his little car five people are gonna get out of the car and we travel all around the nation like that all lower 48 going to various places just for family vacation and we enjoy being with one another balance because if it was left up to me the kids would be in church every night you know and she said no that's not going to happen the kids need to stay healthy and they need to have something besides just being in service all the time and uh football season came along i said loose talk about football on a sunday she said the kids are in service every night of the week at least let them have this particular time and i'd get out of service and go and be there with the family with the kids i was able to provide a house but she made it a home i'm talking about a woman sent from god her name was rachel not only that but i want you to look at this program she was an entrepreneur my wife was an educated woman earned four different degrees went to school while taking care of the family just look at it and just read about it when you look at the obituary somebody may say it doesn't say a whole lot about i didn't want a whole lot about me because sometimes when it comes to you uh pastors wise first ladies a lot of times it's all about husband but i want you to know that she had an identity herself that accomplishments herself a confident moment and the last day's and i witnessed worth woman of god transition and go through something that seemed so unfair she started coughing around about april or so and i told her i said rachel what's what's going on you must have a cold or something like that we tried to give her cough medicine we tried to give her honey and lemon we tried to give her uh oh fireworks we tried to give her teeth well you know you know in our you know when i'm sitting at the church sometimes there's gunshots but my bible says watch and pray it doesn't just say praise watch [Applause] we can dug for a minute and get up and keep on preaching but saints of god we didn't know what was going on we said well maybe you have covered she said no i took the test and i don't have code and i never will forget that night going to the hospital and so many of you were praying wait a hand if you sent me a text and you were praying look at all the people that just prayed and so many that are watching the cameras that you were just praying all around the nation and we didn't want to go into the hospital my wife saw so many things she saw the kids future she saw my future again she saw each and every one of you she saw what was going to happen in the hospital i didn't want to receive it i didn't want to accept it but she said if you put me in the hospital i'm not going to come out and we went there to the hospital to the emergency room because the pain was just so intense in her body and got there and the doctor said doctor said no you have stage four cancer stage four cancer can you miss step one and step two step three and go straight to step four i watched a woman of gods to me unjustly and unfairly his cancer was in her pancreas her liver and her lungs and her brain and her bones and her lymph nodes and i heard her crying out to god god why me why me why me and it broke my heart god would have me help me god help me god help me she was asking god to help her but as we were there at the hospital and so many of you were praying and all of you this is your friends by audio and mother you sent your prayers all of those that sent your prayers i played those to her eight hours a day everybody has a time to go but how many know that when the saints pray there's power when the saints pray and many times death would come in that room and i saw her even rebuke death off of me i had literally passed an airplane last year when i came to her her eyes were large her face was red and all the people around were just looking at me and said what's going on she said you were completely gone and i looked at her i said what did you do she said i feel the blood of jesus i said these people on the plane i don't know where that is she said and started lifting the blood also but i told her i said you should have left me where i was at because i had peace over there i said i experienced something like i had never experienced before no worries no concern no sickness no pain no disappointment you just left me over there i didn't realize that god was giving me a glimpse of what she was going to experience [Applause] i see if she left me over there was a wonderful place and it was something like i've never seen before but i watched this woman of god pray and and she told me don't leave me she wanted me to stay with her 24 hours a day seven days a week i said i'm not going nowhere see the elijah where are you at i said i'm just around the corner i would have to go around the corner and cry and and just get away but i heard her cry until she prayed through to the will of god saints of god this was a woman that was sent from god because i heard her cry out to god until she surrendered to his will she started off saying god like me why me but they're in the hospital she started speaking glory to god speaking in other tongues now she spoke in other tongues she would start saying yes [Applause] i'm sorry that's not her tongue that's [Applause] mine she cried out to god and she told me that it was going to be all right and as that pain began to hit her body i want you to know that i told god i said god i said please please i said god whatever you do i said please take this off of her please take all of this pain over her take all of this sickness off of her i said god i have lived a good life you have blessed me you have done so many great things but there's so much that she desires to do i said god take it over her and i put it on me know that god spoke to me during that time and he said hankerson you've been preaching the gospel now you understand the gospel because that's how jesus was all of the sin we had a witness and all of the transgression that we had in our life and there was punishment upon us i heard the bible say in romans chapter 3 verse 23 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god but then he picked it up in romans chapter 6 and 23 and said the wages of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus christ our lord and he says now you understand the gospel because that's what the son of god did the son of god said instead of all that pain being upon them i want you to take it i want you to put me upon me saints of god i want you to know that this was an awesome woman i don't know what the future holds but i want you to know that she told me that it's gonna be all right she told me that god's hand is on my life she told that god is watching out for me she told me to just continue to pull up and say something i know that there are so many that are oh i feel something scratching they're touching me right now i know that there are so many people in here tonight that your heart is broken because of what has happened but i want you to know that this woman's life was a witness she was a light for jesus christ she was an evangelist for jesus christ she was a soul winner for jesus christ she loved the people of god in spite of different disappointments that she would face even in ministry she would continue to smile and continue to hold her head up i watched her in that hospital as pain was touching her and bishop spirit would call in different ones would call and she would raise up and get enough strength when they talked to her she said bishop i'm doing fine how can you say you're doing fine when you have cancer in your body how can you say you're doing fine when death is knocking at the door the reason why you can do it is because you are a child of god and you know that all things work together for good because we love god and saints of god if lady henkerson was here today she would tell you to praise god in spite of it praise god and spider your tears praise god in spite of your disappointment praise god in spite of the tests and trials that you're going through i heard the songwriters say through many dangerous toils and snails i have already come it was grace that brought me safe thus far and grace is going to lead me on i don't know what the future holds but i know god is watching over me my heavenly father is watching over me somebody let your hand tell god thank you come on from your hand and tell him thank you come on and clap your hand and tell god thank you i heard the scriptures say in numbers chapter 23 verse 10 let me die the death of the righteous and saints of god that's how i feel tonight let me die at the death of the righteous i watch the woman of god go through i watched dear stream down her face but as she began to listen to the gospel music she was saying i don't have to wait till battle is over but i can shout right now even while i was crying in tears streaming down my face i would play praise music i don't mind praise and worship help but how many know that when you in a battle sometime you got to grab the tambourine happens [Music] i i would turn on the shouting music and say it's time to shout out and even on the hospital bed my wife would begin to move around heaven and begin to clap her hands up and give god praise saints of god help in the church now we've taught folks how to give we've taught them how to have church we've taught them how to raise an offering but we've got to teach the people that you got to suffer because the scripture says [Music] and all that will live godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution it's easy to praise god with money in your pocket it's easy to praise god when everything is going your way but can you praise him heaven when tears stream down your face can you praise him when your wife has gone on the glory i stopped by to tell you how somebody told me they said hankerson the eyes of the world are all upon you but can i tell you something yes i'm crying but i heard the bible say we've been married and do it for a night but it comes in the morning i can praise god [Music] that know what i'm talking about sometime you got to preach to yourself sometimes you got to encourage yourself and i come to tell you yes i'm talking to y'all but i'm talking to myself what the devil has meant for evil help god help is gonna turn it around help and use it for my good how can somebody say yes [Applause] [Music] she was a witness that i will have bless the lord in all time and his praises shall continually be in my mouth in the good times i'm gonna lift him up in heaven in the bad times i'm gonna lift him up i'm gonna praise him when i feel like it i'm praising help when i don't feel like it in happens with my head held down cause i know heaven my heavenly father is watching over me have lift your hand to god and say god i know you're watching how you're watching over me you up my strength sure of the lord is my strength the lord it's my health salvation whom shall i fear the lord by the hell is the strength of my life of whom i have shall i be afraid because god that help is my refuge of god health is my strength health because he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high house shall abide under the health of the almighty god i will save the lord he is my refuge he is my strength he is a present help help in the time i have a troubled health saying i got to go i got to get out of here but y'all know if i was up preaching she was [Music] come on now let's go to calgary come on now and let's look at a man that stopped the house for you and i have something to happen on that crosstalk i heard isaiah say who have i believed our report and to whom is the arm of the lord is it revealed let it skip now surely he's born our greek health here at our sovereign health and we have seen him have smitten of god and afflicted but he was wounded from my transgression for my iniquity the chastisement health of my peace was upon him because of calvary it's gonna be all right i'm talking to myself because of calvary it's gonna work out how i know i have we got social distance yes he did die for your sins but can't you see how our heavenly father has seen his son have dying on mount calvary for you and i have said saints of god i want you to know how that when i think about how what he done for me if you look outside the house you'll find the house the mississippi river it goes down half to the gulf of mexico it flows half to the atlantic ocean but can i tell you how something tonight happened i know something happened that's greater than the mississippi health is greater than the gulf of mexico how it's greater than the atlantic ocean lean on somebody and certainly there's a fountain filled with blood could and say it got all right [Music] and he all right resurrection one thing i and magnifying god praise god help everybody have to turn around in a circle go around the room point to someone help and let them know i may be crying but every time [Music] until god does help open up your mouth and say every time so so so so so so so [Music] the lord bless you everybody stand up [Music] [Applause] [Music] bishop robinson are you here if you don't know jesus it would be a shame before god to hear this much gospel and you not give your heart to the lord when our bishop comes to pray after hearing this man of god pour his heart out you have an opportunity to give everything you have over to god nobody knows the time or the season when we're going to leave here but i pray tonight that the message that has been sent [Music] that everybody in here will leave here knowing that they're saved and sanctified and filled with the holy ghost we will pray for this our bishop and for his family bishop god give your strength today everybody point your hand in his direction come on and say god give him of your strength [Music] spirit of the living god we thank you tonight for this family that stands before us we thank you tonight for their strength that you are giving them right now we thank you father for the gift of the holy ghost that resides on the inside of them that is keeping them in perfect peace tonight oh god as they keep their minds stayed on you father we submit and surrender them to you father to your comfort and to your care knowing that you are going to take good care of the hankersons of the mccains oh god cover them keep them oh god touch them right where they are oh god allow them in the late night hours to feel a tangible touch of your presence oh god god wrap your arms around bishop anchors and wrap your arms around elijah the fourth raquel and matthew oh god and allow them to feel your touch your comforting presence let it be with him oh god we thank you god for what you're doing on their behalf we thank you for this woman named rachel that came amongst us and showed her light oh god now that the legacy of rachel hankert and live forth oh god we bless you we glorify you and we thank you for the anchor sins oh god thank you for keeping them thank you for keeping them oh god thank you for keeping them father thank you for your keeping power thank you for your keeping ability we trust you with them tonight god we trust you with them for the days the weeks the monster ye come keep their minds o god cover them and keep them bothered this is our prayer in jesus name amen

Channel: Be Revived with Pastor Keith Martin

Views: 130,790

Rating: 4.8295341 out of 5

Keywords: Funeral, Homegoing, Lady Hankerson, Lady Hankerson funeral, Rachel Hankerson, Rachel Hankerson homegoing, bishop elijah hankerson, bishop elijah hankerson preaching, bishop elijah hankerson wife, bishop j drew sheard, church of god in christ, church of god in christ for all saints, church of god in christ preaching, cogic preaching, funeral service, homegoing celebration, homegoing funeral service, homegoing service 2021, rachel hankerson cogic, rachel hankerson funeral

Id: 6kT8I9tH-Gk

Length: 46min 50sec (2810 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 03 2021