"Celebrating The Life Of Mrs. Ethel Sharkey" September 11, 2021

[Music] may we all stand [Music] lord thou has been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth forever thou hast formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting thou art god now turn this man to destruction and thou sayest return ye children of men for a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is passed and as a watch in the night thou carrier stem away as with the flood they are as a sleep in the morning they are like grass which groweth up in the morning it flourishes groweth up in the evening it is cut down and withereth for we are consumed by thine anger and by thy wrath are we troubled thou has set our iniquities before thee our secret sins in the light of thy countenance for all our days are passed away in thy wrath we spend our years as a tale that is told the days of our years are three score years and ten and if by reason of strength they be four score years yet is their strength labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off and we fly away who knoweth the power of thine anger even according to thy fear so is thy thyroid so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom the lord is my shepherd i shall not want he maketh me to lie down in green pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters he restoreth my soul he leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name sake yeah [Music] though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for thou art with me thy rod and thy staff comfort me thou preparest a table before me in the very presence of mine enemies thou anointes my head with oil my cup runneth over surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever if you know the words to this song sing it oh how [Music] oh how [Music] [Music] say you like your meeting oh how i love jesus [Music] that's how you gonna make it sing it oh how [Music] can somebody help me thank god for the life the love and the legacy of miss ethel sharky oh come on you can do much better than that she lived well she loved well and now she has left well we are so grateful for her life for her legacy and look at all the love that she has shared throughout the years it has made evidence by your very being here this day we want to welcome each and every one of you to the fellowship missionary baptist church on behalf of our senior pastor in his absence and the deacons and trustees leaders of this church we want to offer our sincere condolences to the sharky family knowing that god will take care of you through every day or all the way god will continue to take care of you i know miss shark is gone but god will still take care of you we want to also allow you to know that god is with you through every season and every step that is to come and we the fellowship church will be praying with you and for you we want to also give you some housekeeping uh if you this is your first time coming to fellowship if you go down either stairs on the main level you will find bathrooms for men and women we also want to remind you that we are in the midst of a global pandemic and we ask that you keep your mask on at all times in the sanctuary unless you are actively speaking we also want you to know that there are several hundred people viewing live through facebook and youtube we want to thank you so much for tuning in to this celebration of life i have to let you know something this is not a funeral i thought i'd get some help right through there this is not a funeral because there's nothing lost when you know where it is miss ethel sharkey is safer than she's ever been down here she had to struggle a little bit well i'll tell you right now she's rejoicing with the angels i know we're going to miss her i know we we we're going to miss all that she meant to each and every one of us but just know miss ethel is all right and because she's all right i want you to know we can be all right too all right the family has prepared a beautiful order of service and we are going to slightly deviate it from it uh just just a few things i want to let you know a musical selection will be brought by pastor vicky johnson pastor vicki johnson amen amen our scripture reading will come from deacon darnell sharkey new testament reverend samuel ray and our prayer from reverend niako sharkey let the church say amen [Music] [Music] lord i will lead [Music] [Music] is [Music] peace [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] strength [Music] of my life [Music] praise to [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] in total praise to you can the church say amen let the church say amen you lift your hands and say oh man [Music] mind [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so good morning i read the old testament from my ecclesiastics 3. there's a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven a time to be born in a time to die a time to plant and a time to uproot a time to kill and a time to heal a time to tear down and a time to build a time to weep and a time to laugh a time to mourn and a time to dance a time to scatter stones and a time to gather a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing a time to search and a time to give up a time to keep and a time to throw away a time to to tear and a time to me time to be silent in the time to speak a time to love and a time to hate a time for war and time for peace what do workers gain from that toyota i have seen the burdens god has laid on the human race he has made everything beautiful in his time he has also set eternity for the human heart yet no one can fathom what god has done for from the beginning and the end just gradually ecclesiastics uh chapter three verses one through twelve may the lord had a blessing reading of his word and i was granny's favorite by the way good morning family i'm going to come from a very familiar passage of scripture and i could hear an ether saying these words i'm coming from ii timothy 4 commencing that verse number six and it reads for i am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand i have fought a good fight i have finished my cause i have kept the faith amen somebody henceforth there is laid up for me a crime of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not to me only but unto all them also that love his appearance and may the lord add a blessing to the readers hearers and especially the duels of his holy word let's go to god in prayer the god of our weary ears and the god even of our silent tears lord we come to you as humble as we know how on this day even now saying thank you jesus even at a time like this god we're able to say thank you because we know that we did not get here by ourselves we're thankful because of the life that was lived god we're thankful because we know where she now resides we're thankful because you gave us the opportunity to live a life and experience miss although sharky god we bless your name on today at this great celebration of life god because we know where she is she is there with you saying holy holy holy with the angels she is there with you saying god i bless you i give you all of the glory and all of the praise right now god so if that's what madiya is doing then what about us who are still here right now god we say thank you jesus thank you jesus for saving us and giving us the opportunity to to live another day and get it right on this side of glory god we say thank you jesus and lord we bless you for all of the years that you blessed us to to endure and be under her and learn from her and be raised by her and be fed by her and be lifted by her and be encouraged by her and be loved on by her and be hugged on by her and even be put in our place by her god we thank you for this great matriarch of this family god for that's something that seems to be extinct in these days god we thank you because they don't seem like they make medias like like elsa anymore god our children got to experience the real media our children's children got to experience a real madea god we thank you for that time that's something to cherish and that is a blessing that we bless you for on this day and now god as the days go on and we wake up on tomorrow god without her physical body being here god we need to learn how to come to you for ourselves we can't lean on her prayers anymore god we gotta find some relationship with you for ourselves and god so we thank you for this family who knows who you are as well god and we ask that your holy spirit continue to abide with us each and every day as we get closer to you and closer to you and closer to you and then one day we all have to leave here for ourselves god and we just pray that your holy spirit continues to guide us until we too can say god uh our lord i'm good to see you jesus good to see your holy spirit and good to see you god and hear those words servant well done that is our honest prayer in the name of jesus on this day and let the people of god say amen amen and amen amen we want to thank all those who have participated in our program thus far we want to continue on with acknowledgement of condolences by miss jesse sharkey followed by resolutions by the state senator maddie hunter rainbow push correlation miss betty magnus fellowship missionary baptist church miss joni jennings and we also have a resolution from the miss ludella evans reed choir we also want to make note that there is a slight deviation the first remark will be coming from laverne dortch followed by deacon johnny johnson followed by mr edward hunter we ask that those of you who will be giving resolutions or remarks please do so from the floor my right your left please come at that time in that order let the church say amen first giving honor to god who is the head of our lives to the pastor the executive pastor the eulogists and everybody who has thought of the sharky family every any everything you have done or said will be acknowledged at a later date and thank you all for loving my media god bless you thank you praise the lord saints good morning everybody i am illinois state senator matty hunter from the third legislative district and on behalf of my leader senate president don harmon and the governor of the state of illinois j.b prisker as well as the other 59 state senators in the state we send our condolences to our family the shocky family i'm the cousin of uh of um ethel sharkey and uh through my father uh lucious they called him biabo bible hunter and he was uh born in a little bitty small town in mississippi called hush pugginer okay and uh my mother was from uh mount bayou you know so my family hails from that part of of mississippi and so we give our condolences to our family and it's so good to see all of y'all we all know that cousin ethel was a woman of god she loved her family and every time there was an event a family event she was always there she tried to make it and she was what she was such a great cook such a great cook y'all and i think that runs in the hunter family because i think when i was born i was weighing about 20 pounds and i was born so you know but on behalf of the hunter hunter sharkey family y'all we please send our condolences thank you and god bless you in memoriam mother ethel lee sharkey now we know that if this earthly tent we live in be destroyed we have a building from god an eternal home in heaven not built by human hands ii corinthians 5 and 1. he will wipe every tear from their eyes there will be there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away revelations 21 and 4. whereas again a human spirit has taken its flight at the call of the heavenly father to the mansion prepared for her from the foundation of the earth by an all-wise and loving god we pinned this resolution to express our most profound sympathy to the family of mother ethel lee sharkey and whereas she has completed her charge on this earth and has gone to be with god in eternal peace she fought a good fight finished her course and kept the faith her love will endure forever through you whom she leaves behind and whereas the rainbow push coalition family was deeply saddened to learn of mother sharky's passing we share your sorrow but know that the assembly of angels are rejoicing in her arrival today as we pin this resolution for the family of mother sharkey we want to especially express our condolences to her daughter may she is an original member of the bread basket reunion choir and has volunteered consistently may is indeed a part of the glue that over the years has held our organization together therefore be it resolved that on behalf of the board of trustees our founder and president reverend jessiel jackson senior officers staff and membership of the rainbow push coalition we offer our heartfelt sympathy support and prayers to the entire family of mother ethel may sharkey during this hour of bereavement respectfully and prayerfully submitted this 11th day of september in the year of our lord 2021 reverend jessie l jackson senior founder and president tricia ck hoffler esquire chairman of the board resolution chicago illinois september 11 2021. be it resolve that speaking on behalf of the pastor the administrative staff officers members of the fellowship missionary baptist church and especially all members of the senior choir that i respectfully take this opportunity to express our love and our heartfelt sympathy to the entire family members of mrs ethel lee sharkey to all of her children her grandchildren her great-grandchildren and especially to those family members who are members here at fellowship jessie may tremail edward senior and edward jr fellowship is here for you be it also resolve that one of mrs shark's most favorite books of the bible is the book of psalms psalms is a book that notably expounds the daily experiences of an individual some of them good some of them not so good but psalms is also a book that exhorts a crucible for victory through prayer and through faith in our lord and savior jesus christ anyone who knew mrs sharkey knew that prayer and faith were both inherent characteristics of her personal persona be it lastly resolved that one might believe that since mrs sharkey had been ill for quite some time that she and god had a conversation and that they both agreed that this world should no longer be her home that she really was just passing by that her hope and all of her treasures were laid up in heaven on high and since she no longer felt at home here on this earth anymore she and god on august 30th decided that she should move on into heaven through god's always open door only submitted by the fellowship missionary baptist church reverend clay evans founder reverend reginald rayne sharp jr pastor resolution chicago illinois saturday september 11 2021 the dr ludella evans reid traditional gospel choir take these few moments to convey our heartfelt sympathy to our member jessie mae sharkey and the entire family of sister ethel sharkey for we all know once a shipite always a shipite someone once said if two angels were sent to represent the lord one to the white house in washington dc and the other to sweep the streets in the ghetto each would feel equally honored and be equally diligent and faithful in the performance of his or her task such was the person of sister ethel sharkey she was an angel sent to the fellowship missionary baptist church located in the heart of the ghetto of chicago illinois to represent the lord she felt honored and she was diligent she was happy just to be in the choir giving service see in the service of the lord the important thing is not the prominence of the position we occupy but faithfulness in our place until illness beset her you could find sister sharkey fulfilling her ministry in our senior choir she was a faithful dedicated and committed choir member no she was not a lead singer or soloist nor was she a leader but rather a supporter whether it was our annual festival of flowers music in the old time way or just our regular sunday services monthly musicals and even choir rehearsals you could depend on her she's saying in the soprano section with the likes of mary davis stinson sylvia coleman gene gunther emma bolden elder dr carolyn walker betty magnus and the late dorothy brown mildred little gwen white melissa martin genevieve lee geneva lee and norvell west and so today because she loved the lord the church and the choir we remember the sweet gentle spirit of sister ethel sharkey and thank god for sending her our way lovingly submitted by dr ludella evans reed traditional gospel choir the late reverend dr clay evans was our overseer dr ludella evans reed minister of music a copy of this resolution will be given to the family thank you good morning everyone good morning i was asked to say a few remarks about mama sharkey our families grew up together in the projects at 11 30. and um we were very very close the shocky family is a big family our family is also a big family the christian family was a big family we all grew up together we all loved each other and we especially loved mama sharkey her my mom and her and mama shockey was very very close friends and um we were just she's like a second mother to us so i just want to say i love you all of you guys and we will we're going to miss mama sharky we loved her so much she was so funny she will give make jokes and make us laugh and we're going to miss that but we appreciate that we had her for the time that we did i love you guys and thank you so much in the words of reverend clay evans my mind my mind what a family what a family what a family mama made ever you didn't know what you were leaving behind i didn't know if this was this many shockers in the family i i really thought it was just only howard and james and may and couple other girls but this is a whole army called shockist we celebrate the shocking family today miss shocker joined under reverend clay and she joined the choir and you know when you join this church you had to join some auxiliary you couldn't just come in and say i just want to be a bench member oh no you had to do some work and when you joined the choir you know that was a full-time job from nine in the morning until nine at night 3 30 services he said i don't know just no little quiet when i go out i want my whole choir and that's how we got to know mrs shockey and this great family let me just say that we thank god for her service serving with other members like you don't know some of these people but you've heard of them brother jake rose that's saying it is well with my soul it's well worth her soul brother r t smith all that i have god gave it to me then we go on down to stonewall yates when he gets happy he just started jumping just start jumping because the spirit of god was all over him florine dillard adam a dixon margaret coleman woodrow wilson seeking for me you know when the lord seeks for you and find you he gonna change your attitude gonna change your mind what of what a christian woman she was then mrs shockey raised all these kids and and made you know me don't you how many of you know me how many know me all of you know me james and howard they choir james they work with our bus ministry our men's ministry just doing everything that a christian young man and young women are supposed to do in the church we didn't come in here just to sit down but we came in to serve to serve may she just all all over in a good way in a good way you know our church has always been a family church a family church and when we grow together and come together we're just one great big family under the union of our lord and savior jesus christ i'm just glad to be a member of the family myself we come to the morning service and and that's at nine o'clock in the morning this sunday school and here we are broadcast nine o'clock at night all day and all night it's a song called all day and all night and in church we all in church all day and all night under reverend clay then we got pastor jenkins we thought we was going to have a little time where we went from one church to two churches one church here and one out south and now we got pastor shop we have church every day something is going on in this church every day starting at seven o'clock in the morning but we thank god that we are saved and filled with the holy spirit we don't want to be no bench members now you come in here you got to do something you got to do something so thank you may thank you howard james the rest of the family for being good members and good christian members and in the words of our pastor shaw he said that if you live well you got to take care of yourself in order to live well you got to love well care for each one of them your children care for your aunts care for the elder care and the last one is you're going to be like mother shocking you go leave well god bless you god bless you good morning i realize that a lot of ceremonies of this nature seem to be rather sad this particular one is not yes we're sending my cousin home because she has served here on earth very well um i noticed that i only had two minutes but everybody gotten up here has forgotten the time i'm not going to do any better my cousin came to memphis to take care of my mother when i couldn't she left her job to take care of my mother and in the end you know i grew up with her as a child and her sisters and i and our brothers were like sisters and brother i grew up as an only child and i thought i had a cousin but i wind up with another mother and that was even after i lost my mother and my wife it's so hard to realize you lost another mother after my mother passed and my wife she called me say uh we need to talk you know it's just a cousin so it's fine she um told me in the middle of that conversation we'll do this every month and like clockwork it was every month and don't let me forget to call then it was a blessing on the side so those things i will miss but most of all i'll miss her because i grew up with her in my heart i remember when they lived in a little town called well mississippi and at that time she was a chestnut and my grandfather who was her grandfather on a mother's side was a stable of that family so like maddie over there i'm a hunter so that's where the rest of all of this grew from it's you know it in and thinking what i was going to say what came to me was the song by the oj's a family reunion and that's what this is it's a family reunion i've seen people i've never seen in my life and that's in 76 years of living and there's so many people in my family that i had never seen so the one request that i have of this family is that whenever we have a family reunion do your best to get there it you'll be surprised at what you're missing besides missing sov i'll miss you all too and god bless can we thank god for all these wonderful tributes amen amen it's good when you live a life when when people get up at your home going they don't have to lie live a life like that we want to um also make additional modification reverend jarvis hanson pastor of the new nazareth missionary baptist church he was the sharky's home church and we want to offer you an opportunity to come if you would like thank you sir thank you sir just give him a hand for being here i also want to ask that everybody check your cell phone check your cell phone i've been hearing ringtones all morning i'm about to get up here and start dancing all these interesting ringtones we got so check your cell phones please silent those we will now have tributes from the family miss marquita dandridge she's miss sharky's granddaughter then we'll have mr percy sharky miss ethel's son follow that we will have a musical selection again by pastor johnson and then we will be blessed with the eulogy by reverend charles strait pastor of the united methodist church in dalton illinois amen good morning everyone may i have 3g come all of 3g this is my party oh man [Applause] we're almost there we're still missing one hello everyone these are granny's grandkids 3g that's what that's true okay i'm marquita aka may sharky's daughter don't let that get out i'm here to represent the strong awesome presence of ethel's grandchildren we represent the next storm coming we represent the passing of the torch but more importantly we represent what granny has instilled in her children all the good that has been poured into us our grandmother was a leader a fighter a christian and a believer and an amazing provider you could always depend on her our grandmother was always the one if you were acting up she would put you in your place no matter whose child you were our grandmother was the one that never said no you could all she would always check up on everyone she made sure you have a birthday card even if it only had two dollars in it you're getting that card i remember summertime shy at granny's we will have so much fun because we have all her grandchildren i remember the days when she would allow all those boys to come over spend the night of course larry would be there um then b.j darnell giggy earl burr tremail marcus simmons he would be there she let them put up a basketball room in the backyard and go off about them playing every time she would always make sure we went to church on sunday morning but not before maypress everyone's here with tcb we got jerry curls and she still put the tc people for real for real used to run away to granny's house i remember she would always have a meal ready because she knew someone would be over there which usually happened it was always someone coming by auntie's uncles cousins sisters her nieces or her nephews friends it was never an empty house because that's how welcoming our granny was she had a good conversation a good meal or couch to sleep on for anyone always that's who she was she built a strong foundation in her children which trickled down to her grandchildren which trickled down to her great-grandchildren and will continue to trickle our grandmother was so loving so giving she was an independent woman that as a little girl picked cotton for food but grew to become a property owner our grandmother has seen both hitler and a black president our grandmother raised her boys into men and her girls into strong independent women my grandmother has lived an amazing life i'm just not sure who enjoyed her life more her or us we had good times i thank god for the blessing he gave us in her she was the goat she was a blessing and i was her favorite grandchild i said what i said it was me thank you [Applause] family we're going to ask that you please refrain from recording video recording while in the service amen thank you yeah good morning still morning i'm reminded of believe the year 2000 who was at our dad's homegoing slash comedy show get with uh give me some of the brothers who were there they can explain that to you better this was down in mississippi and uh it's on a rural road called sharky road so and if you think that the family is big i mean heck we got a a blacktop road in mississippi so but uh long story short that was where i actually had the opportunity to meet a lot of my siblings uh that was our first time some of our first times and meeting only had met a couple of them prior to that which i think was earl and uh the other timer on the other person oh can i do this please thank you it was the other girl and uh tyrone who is the other well that's the person i'm the other person and a couple more but it was also that day where i got to meet who i called madeira and first thing she said to me we had lost our biological mom back in 96 so she told me well y'all don't have a mom now and all these kids are mine so if you would have me i would be your mom too and that was a turning point a major turning point in my life as well as my other uh siblings nico nam vita it was just a turning point in my life and not on after that we came to our very first family reunion here in chicago and we met the whole clan the whole sharky gang and uh even then we didn't realize we had so many you know we didn't we didn't realize we was that deep but it was a joy to find out that we was that deep and we had so many loving family members who welcomed us into the family with open arms and made us a part of the family instantly at that moment and and it's been that way ever since i often recall that uh i put on facebook that i'm going to miss the sunday calls because she called me just like she called tyrone in arizona and probably some other siblings across the country at that time and she made her business to call me even if i missed a sunday calling her she would call me and and me and my wife's real we were here um i didn't know i didn't hear from you on sunday so i just thought i'd call and check and call and check on y'all and see how you doing you know made us you know made us feel guilty and we have to apologize sorry we missed sunday uh but that was the whole uh moral of the story you know they made us a part of the family and we have been a part of the family all our last names are sharky it's gonna be sharky you know until the end i love all you guys always will um one key thing to remember today though i still see some tears being shared from tears running down your faces the bible says weeping will endure for a night weeping here has already been endured now it's time for joy this is a celebration she lived her life and she made an impact on everybody in the room this is a celebration of life joy is here i love you god bless you [Applause] elder beezley you thumbnail praise the lord everybody praise the lord this is a sad occasion in one way but it's a joyous occasion another i i know may a long time but i didn't know she had a tribe behind it oh my god and i've seen mothers sharky so many times this you know fellowship is is one of those churches that if you belong to anybody's church in chicago fellowship is part of your church and uh yeah that's just the way i felt because pastor evans he was like a grandfather because my pastor former pastor rep milton brunson was the son of this church so always look to him as like a grandfather but for me in the family i just want to sing this song okay i've had some good days [Music] and i've had some heels to climb [Music] i've had some weary days and some lonely nights but when i look around and when i think things over all of my good days they outweigh my bad days so i i won't complain sometimes my clouds hang low i can hardly see the road [Music] i ask the question lord [Music] so much pain [Music] but he knows what's best for me even though my weary eyes they just can't see so i say thank you lord thank you lord i won't complain for god has been good to me he's been [Music] so good to me [Music] more than this world could [Music] been good to me he drives all of my tears away turns my midnights in today so i say thank you lord thank you lord i won't complain for god has been he's been so good to me [Music] more than this world could ever be [Music] [Music] [Music] so i just want to say thank you lord thank you lord you've been real good to me thank you [Music] yes okay he drives all of my tears away but then he turns my midnight in today so i pray thank you lord thank you lord when i don't know which way to go and you show me thank you lord [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] amen amen god has been good to me [Music] most gracious and loving god we thank you for this uh time together today we thank you most of all for the life of ethan lee sharky thank you for sending us this way thank you for blessing us with a wisdom and with a love and with her passion thank you god for her uh showing us the way to service thank you for showing us through her faithfulness and diligence thank you dear god for allowing her to be an example not to one not to two but three generations of people that could aspire to be more like her as she lived to be like you so god in jesus name as we move forward in this worship experience bless us that we might live in honor of the work that she's imparted to our hearts and minds god she's gone but we must live so holy spirit comfort us and lead us and guide us and help us to make this world a better place in jesus name we pray amen god bless you family it is such a great privilege to stand here again to be able to share with you a few words from the lord and i want you to pray with me as i try and talk to you a little bit about what thus said the lord now i want you to help me preach to you will you do that help me it's been a long week i'm tired and i need a little bit of a boost so help me help you uh thank you very much uh darnell for reading the passage of scripture that i want to talk to you for a little while from ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 1. for everything there's a season a time for every activity under the heaven for everything there is a season a time for every activity under heaven in the book of ecclesiastes widely credited to solomon as its writer he discusses the meaning of life and not just the meaning of life but the best way to live it solomon points out in this section of ecclesiastes his first section of ecclesiastes that god has a plan for all of god's people god has a plan for your life he said for everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven that includes each and every one of us god provides cycles of life and with it its own work for us to do you do realize that god has been with you from the very beginning god had a plan for you even when you didn't know who you were or whose you were god has a plan for your life it's important for us to recognize how that plan plays out in our lives when when we're in spring or summer fall or winter god's plan is active in us if we allow god to work through us children are in the spring of their lives you know where i was going with this before i got started children are in the spring of their lives and and they're just starting out and it's important for them to not try to be adults not try to live like they know more than they know not to live like they're in the winter of their lives they should dress like children they should act like children they should talk like children but god has a plan for children too often we try to silence our children you know the old saying children ought to be seen and what but we've got to allow our children to be expressive because god has given them something even at their young age we've got to allow them to become the individuals you do know that god even where you are what you are god knows you as an individual and it's god's purpose to use you just the way you are god didn't make robots god didn't make us all uh just alike god gave us individuality and to nourish that individuality and our young people is a huge part of the plan that god has for their lives god wants them to know him at the earliest possible point in their lives that's why jesus said to the disciples when they were trying to push the little children out of the way don't take them away suffer the little ones to come unto me because i want to know them and i want them to know me children are important to god and christian parents you need to testify to your children and tell your children what god has done in your life in the spring of their lives they need to be nourished so they can grow up to be big and strong the spring you see is a time of growth it's a time of development we have got to feed our young children so that they will know god and so that they will grow in god and so they will become what god has intended for them to be take that bible down off the shelf open that bible app on your phone read to your children from the word of god so that they will know that god's presence is alive in and around them god has a plan for children in the spring of their lives those children will grow up into the summer of their lives and their lives as they become youth and young adults need to know that god has his hand on them and that they're on a path that will make this world a better place if they let god lead them there's so many temptations for our youth and young people in this life all it takes to alter god's plan in their life is for them to stray away and make one mistake listen especially if you're a black male in this country one mistake is all that it takes one brush with the police one arrest one time in jail one wrong sex partner one night in the wrong place at the wrong time can get you to a place where you cannot recover from the mistake that you've made young people are the engines of this world they have the ideas they have the innovation they have the concepts that will change the world and they have the energy to do it god has a plan for young people he needs them those of us that are old you see i got lots of ideas i got plenty ideas ask me about my ideas i can tell you but i don't have the energy to make those ideas come to life it's hard for me to get up go to work every day let alone get up go to work and run everything and do everything but young people they can do your job my job and somebody else's job and still have time to go out and play and do all the other stuff that they want to do we have to keep the world moving forward and our young people are the engines that will make things happen they are the ones that will bring about equity for the poor they are the one that would invent drugs that will cure sickness they are the answer that will cause food and water to be present in places in developing worlds where they have no food and water young people are the ones that will answer the problem of global warming young people are the ones that god will use their minds in order to create bigger and better things not for themselves but for the glory of god young people god has a plan for them in their lives and their season must be nourished so that they can become the people that god has called them to be i know you were waiting for me to get to your season adults older folk god has a plan for your life too and let me start with the same thing i said about the children grown folk old folk folk that's been around for a minute we should not act like we are young [Applause] that doesn't mean that you shouldn't be spry you shouldn't get up and go do what you want to do when you want to do it you shouldn't be healthy and and active i'm not talking about that i'm talking about you ought to dress like an older person appropriately you ought to talk like you got some sense like you've been around a block a time or two older folk we all not be running after everything that comes along because you know what i'm saying we you know you were young you could do stuff you know oh man what you gonna do when you catch that young woman listen listen i'm getting off track we have a season god has given us a season live in your season as an adult stop pretending like you're not aware of the season you're living in let me let me let me just say this as adults we're living in the winter and if you don't know what the winner is look in the mirror gray hair winner if you got more meds then you got money winner if you got to hit a walker to get from the bed to the bathroom winner if you go see the doctor every week winner if more things hurt than don't winner if things hurt that you didn't even know you had winner the bible says when i was a child i thought as a child i acted like a child but when i got grown i put away childish things and let me tell you something don't be ashamed it's a wonderful thing to live as long as it's shocking it's a wonderful thing to live to see your children grow up your grandchildren and great-grandchildren but remember god has a plan for you right where you are we have the collective winner uh uh uh wisdom of all the seasons we can tell those young people what it's like to be in the spring we can tell them what it's like to be in the summer my grandmother used to tell me baby don't you think i know what you're going through i've done everything you trying to do and then some we have the collective wisdom yes listen we know that god will keep you even when you can't keep yourself winter is a good time to live in because we know that god can make a way when there is no way because we've lived through it and we watch what god has done we know that god will feed you when you're hungry we know that god will be a mother when your mother is gone and one of the blessings of living in winter is that you know that time ain't as long as it's been and so knowing that gives you the opportunity to cherish every moment those of you that are sitting there that's got hairs gray as mines well here i got something i i got i got some it's right down here those of you that's got hairs grace minds you know that there is joy in life and that every day you take advantage of it and you enjoy what god has given you there's nothing wrong worse than and i say this uh uh all the time there's nothing worse than a christian walking around with their head hung down sad and mad look like they've been eating lemons you know just it is nothing worse i have the joy of the lord in my heart and the joy of the lord gives me strength from day to day i may not have everything that i want to have i may not be able to do everything i used to do but i have the joy of the lord in my heart and when i think about who god is and whose i am i get happy all over i get joy just thinking about what the lord has done for me the winter might bring sickness and cold but i have joy on the inside that warms my heart the winter might bring coal and trouble but i have joy on the inside that warms my heart the winter may bring heartache and cold and pain but i have the joy of knowing that there's a comforter that speaks to me and warms my heart in the winter you learn that the part of god's plan that we have in particular is to show the world how to be grateful oh folks fall into that trap of the devil that caused you to complain every day talking about what you don't have talk about what you can't do oh i can barely make it don't anybody want to be around you when you act like that you wonder why your children won't come by to see you you wonder why your grandchildren won't take you to the store cause they get on the phone where they don't get on the phone they text each other and they say you're going to see grandmama today no i can't go you're going to go pick up granddaddy no i can't listen to another story i don't want to hear not one more time about why he used to be able to jump over the fence and now he can barely get out to bed i just can't do it but when you share with them how good god is when you show them how you can live a full life and still have joy in your heart even when they see you bedridden even when they see you barely making it when you can look up at them and say god is good and i'm so glad to see you because i want you to know that when you get to look like me when you get to be like me you can still make it because god will keep you and god will protect you and god will take you through ms sharkey lived to see the winner of her life she lived through trouble heartache and pain she lived through some difficult times but she was able to say thank you so very much brother larry she was able to say i've had some good days and i've had some heels to climb and i've had some weary days and some sleepless nights but when i look around when i look around and when i think things over all of my good days they outweigh my bad days and instead of being upset and mad and mad at god and ask him how can he let me lay here like this and asking god what is he doing to me i can look and say lord i won't complain family sometimes the clouds hang low [Music] sometimes i can barely see the road i every once in a while have to ask the question lord why so much pain but then i stop and i recognize god knows what's best for me although my eyes may not be able to see and so i learned to say thank you i won't complain in the winter of my life saints my testimony is the lord's been good to me right now and you know what i'm gonna stop claiming when i might just be in fault i may maybe i'm not as old as i think i am maybe i'm but but whatever the season god has been good to me more than this world could ever be i'm through people of god i don't care what season you're living in i don't care where you are in life i want you to know that god loves you and god has a plan for you right where you are right now as the individual that you are god knew you from the very beginning and god has a plan for your life whatever season if you're young if you're middle age if you're a young adult whoever you are wherever you are god has a plan for you and in this season of your life god wants to use you god wants you to be in god's service god wants you you you you may feel like you're different you you may feel like you uh are not like everybody else and and and you have no place but god has a place for you in god's plan let me tell you something i was different than everybody i grew up with all of my friends they sometimes didn't understand me and and reverend johnson and i grew up together uh right here in this church and she used to make fun of me she she was she was cruel growing up but god had a plan for my life and as i look back at it now i can see what god was doing then i didn't recognize it at the time i need you to know in your uniqueness in your individuality in your differentness god wants to be in your life god has a plan for you that will take you to places you never thought you would go and introduce you to people you never thought you would meet and when you get there and when you meet them god wants to have your light shine so bright that the folk that god take you to will look at you and say what must i do to be saved today if you don't know god's plan today if you have not met jesus today if you're in whatever season you're in and you want god to use you just give him a moment and allow him to come into your heart allow him to take control allow him to be in charge and i promise you god will do great things he did it for your grandmama for your great grandmother he did it for your mama he did it for sister sharky he'll do it for you god bless you [Music] can we thank god for this awesome message from reverend straight what a wonderful reminder of god's goodness we want to ask the evans funeral home to come now as we prepare to commit miss ethel's body to the ground i want to ask that all those with the exception of the family please stand that's not that mania y'all [Music] deacon johnny called it the sharky army amen [Music] in as much as it has pleased the almighty god to take from us the soul of our dearly departed sister miss ethel sharkey we do now commit her body back to the ground earth the earth ashes to ashes dust to dust remembering the words of john the revelator who said blessed are they who die in the lord for their labor is not in vain in their works do follow them let's thank god again for the life the legacy and love of sister ethel sharkey i want to ask now that we all follow these instructions ministers are going to lead the casket out of the sanctuary following the casket we would like the immediate family to follow behind and we would like now that 10 granddaughters i need 10 granddaughters to come forward to be flower bearers thank you so much time is filled with swift transition [Music] none on earth on who can stand [Music] you are to hold to his hand god's unchanging hand oh to his hand god's unchanging hand [Music] trust in him who will not leave you will the family please stand your years [Music] [Music] god's unchanged [Music] cup that so rapidly decay seek to gain heavenly treasures for they shall never pass away but until then you gotta hold [Music] [Music] [Music] your [Music] [Music] your hope in glory glory to your enraptured soul [Music] but keep on holding to his hands [Music] your hopes on things in turn [Music] god's unchanged [Music] is [Music] god bless you thank you so much for joining us thank you so much you

Channel: FellowshipChicago

Views: 1,449

Rating: 4.625 out of 5

Keywords: Fellowship Chicago

Id: 9TaoBsyMWSk

Length: 91min 35sec (5495 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021