Celebration of Life of: Sister Brenda Austin | RTAME FUNERAL

or pain for the old order of things has passed away my brothers and sisters we come at this time not for a funeral but for a homegoing celebration because we're grateful we're excited because sister brenda austin tell you the truth i'm a little jealous because she beat us to a place called heaven she beat us to a place where jesus came down and shed blood for us and i don't think sister brenda i knew her personally would want us to sit down on god right now i believe i could call on those who understand that there is a place called heaven can we begin to raise up and thank god for the legacy of sister brenda austin the gift that she was to us on this side can we thank god for the greatest gift ever given the gift of everlasting and eternal somebody ought to say this is a celebration of life a celebration of life and the legacy of our beautiful sister sister brenda austin amen you may be seated at this time amen the program will certainly go forth as outlined at this time we'll have sister ronda robinson to come and render a selection i must tell jesus following that selection there'll be a prayer of comfort by reverend jimmy gibbons who's the pastor of gethsemane baptist church in mitchellville maryland amen so i sang this so i sang this song for my parents as they passed and it comforted me and i sing it for brenda because it speaks to who she was she was a prayer warrior and anytime i contacted her about anything her first response was let's pray so i'm gonna i've sung it for her i'm gonna try and do it again i must tell jesus [Music] all of my triumphs i cannot bear these [Music] burdens alone in my distress he kindly will help me [Music] he ever loves and cares for his own i must tell jesus [Music] all of my troubles he is a kind and [Music] compassionate friend if i but ask him [Music] he will deliver make of my troubles quickly and in tempted and tried i [Music] need a great savior one who can help my burdens to bear [Music] i must tell jesus [Music] i must tell jesus [Music] i must i must tell jesus [Music] i must i must tell jesus he is a kind and [Music] compassionate friend i must tell jesus [Music] my my my my jesus jesus will help me [Music] only jesus alone [Applause] [Music] bless the lord o my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name somebody said bless you lord somebody say thank you lord we just got to give the lord some praise this morning for this wonderful woman if you would pray with me merciful father god we give thanks and praise unto you at all times in all things we thank you for this stay there god a day that none of us could imagine but yet it is day that would soon come but father we just thank you for the life oh lord the life of one who lived our dear sister brenda her father she was a wonderful woman she cared for many she loved many i remember oh god the many smiles that have passed her face and laughter that come through her so father we just ask now that you would be with us in this place that whatsoever tears there may be that those tears would recede i pray unto thee heavenly father that whatsoever sorrow there may be in this place that sorrow shall be removed i pray unto thee heavenly father that you would cover us with your precious blood cover us oh god under the canopy of grace that you have sent unto us oh lord remind us that your grace is more than sufficient spirit of the living god fall afresh now upon the family upon the friends and upon those god who worship with brenda holy spirit holy spirit hear my cry o lord as i call out unto thee in the name of your precious son jesus christ asking lord that you would hear all these things that have been surrendered knowing lord that from you comes peace knowing lord that from you comes joy knowing lord that from you comes all things and you did send this woman brenda and it is your yours and yours alone decision to take her away but you have called her home and for that lord i say thank you thank you thank you in the name of jesus christ our lord our god and our savior this is my prayer amen amen i want to thank pastor gibbons for that wonderful prayer wasn't that wonderful to talk to the lord right now and i believe it is the scriptures that can help us to be confident in these times so at this time i'm going to ask sister reverend rosa t church from shiloh baptist church she'll read the old testament psalm or come out of the book of psalms and then minister catherine epps will come forward and she'll read our new testament reading please come forward now amen a man amen yes it's like i can feel her spirit i don't know if anyone else is feeling it amen [Music] good morning brothers and sisters will everyone please stand up set the family for scripture reading please [Music] i will be reading psalms 116 from the king james virgin verses 15 and 16. precious in the sight of the lord is the death of his saints lord truly i am thy servant i am thy servant and the son of the handmaid thou has loosed my bonds this is the word of god for the people of god praise the lord everybody praise the lord for everybody i will bless the lord on my soul and all that's within me our blessed name god is good god is good god is good amen god is good amen amen i will be reading uh for you hearing um first corinthians chapter 15 beginning at uh 50th verse and i'll be reading from the niv and it reads now this i say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god neither does corruption inherit in corruption behold i show you a mystery we shall not all sleep praise god but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye praise god at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised and incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on in mortality so when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality then shall he want to pass the saying that is written death praise god is swallowed up in victory oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to god which giveth us the victory through our lord jesus christ therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the lord praise be to god amen and amen [Applause] and amen you may be seated god bless you it was the word of god and now we'll have a selection by sister yolanda brown very fitting and we got some things to complain about on this side but our sister ain't got no complaints because our spirit is with god as she comes and renders the selection i won't complain amen i've had [Music] i've had some heels to climb [Music] i've had some weary days some sleepless nights [Music] but when i i look around and i think things over all of my good days [Music] sometimes the clouds hang low i can hardly see the road i ask the question lord why so much pain but he knows what's best for me although my weary eyes they cannot see [Music] so i just say thank you lord i i won't complain i'm just gonna go back to the beginning cause today is one of those days i've had some good days i've had some hills to climb i've had some weary days and some sleepless nights [Music] but when i when i look around [Music] [Music] and i i won't complain [Music] sometimes the clouds hang low i can hardly see the road i ask the question though [Music] lord why was so much pain [Music] but he knows he knows what's best for me although my weary eyes they they cannot see so i'll just say thank you lord [Music] i i won't complain [Music] the lord he's been so good to me [Music] although my weary eyes they they cannot see [Music] so i'll just say thank you lord i [Music] [Music] nothing to complain about because she's she's in a good spot in fact she's in the best spot and we are excited thank you for such a heartfelt rendering of that selection sister yolanda brown amen at this time we come to the place of the service where we will give reflections and i just want to emphasize that the family's requested two minutes max two minutes max and oftentimes people would come to the service they think that's the only time this conversation should be on at the dinner tables this conversation should be the stories that the generations the younger generations need to hear this is not the only place where this conversation takes place so please please please be obedient and let's keep it to two minutes amen so for the reflections we have a neighbor adopted family sister joyce bd alan gunju i hope i pronounced your name correctly then a god child representative reverend mary reed family representative brother timothy e roberts the saxophone selection precious lord brother marvin wiggins and then we'll have uh well let's just come in that order for now amen could you come at this time there's a microphone to my left and to my right god bless you my family and i met auntie brenda in the early 90s and we moved into our home on finn's lane in 1990 and she was just a few houses down the street my mother had a salon downstairs and she would auntie brenda became one of her customers but very soon after meeting her we knew this was going to be more than just another customer she became our family and this was solidified in 1996 when my school said they were organizing a trip to greece and i told my mom i was like mommy i really want to go on this trip but it's a family of six my mom was a hair stylist we didn't have a lot of money and so auntie brennan was in the room when i said this and she said you know what we're gonna bake cakes to send you there and i remember thinking how in the world are cakes gonna get me to go all the way across the pond but little did i know um after that nights and days of mixing and pouring and cooking and listening to stories together we baked a lot of cakes and i got to go to greece and these weren't just regular cakes these were auntie brenda's famous pineapple upside down cake her classic cream cheese pound cake her marble cake these were amazing cakes but what this story showed me was that auntie brenda had a heart for serving she saw this little girl who had this desire and her heart was to find a way to serve to make this desire come come to pass and she did that and this was who she was every piece of her life seemed to be giving of herself for someone at church for her grandchildren taking this person here that person there and she poured her life out on countless others she loved giving of herself and she loved living to the fullness always a trip to partake of an adventure she lived life to the fullest when i when my mom died of cancer in 2015 auntie brenda was there by her side and she promised she said she's going to take care of us even though we were adults she promised to my mom and said i'll take care of them even though you have to go and she truly kept that promise we didn't have family here because we're immigrants from nigeria and she was our family we didn't have uncles and cousins and aunts auntie brenda was our family she was our aunt and she was a gift to us god gave us that gift and every baby shower every celebration every loss she was there she even flew all the way to south africa to come and attend my wedding and she was like my matron of honor taking care of us tying my dress helping to take out my braids last minute just so many ways pouring herself out even still and so even now there's not enough words in the world to say how thankful we are that we have had the gift of auntie brenda in our lives so we're simply saying and i stand here on my behalf of my family to simply say auntie brenda thank you we love you we appreciate you and we will see you again someday amen hey man what a wonderful tribute amen reverend may [Music] good morning good morning this morning i stand to represent all of mama brenda's god children if you're here if you can stand and we're here we're rocking our red this morning in honor of mama brenda if you know me i'm more of a pink and green type of girl but yet and still only she would get me out in red and so this morning i just want to say a few words about mama brenda seven months ago when we buried papa jim i don't think any of us imagined that we'd be here in this spot but brenda was such a kind and gentle spirit she took care of all of us all of us knew her as mother miss pat i'm sorry but randy is brenda's daughter and i can just think of so many times even in my own life and you know as we just heard the tribute before when my mother passed in 2000 there were three women that stood up and said i will mother you one was lillian pruden who passed several years ago misty harris and mama brenda and there was not a milestone in my life that she missed she was there for my wedding she was there to walk me through that process when i had my children she stayed in that waiting room she was the one that convinced me to have kids because she said i need some more grandbabies she had dylan and elijah but she said i need a few more she called me out of work we actually worked in the same building and she called me out of my office one day and she said i'm going to retire so that you can have kids and i'm going to take care of them that's it whoa slow down mama but we talked about this for many many years and when i told her that we were thinking about having children um we were at my husband and i were actually in the process of adopting because me having children that was never like a thing i thought i'd do and so the day that we found out that a child that came up for us to adopt was the same day that i found out that i was pregnant about two weeks later found i was pregnant with twins and so you can imagine the joy that she felt um and she celebrated that and we celebrated that together and we said we have time you know you're going to be our grandmother we know that you're taking care of papa jim but our time is going to come and covet hit and but she would pop up and have gift for the girls and say i can't wait to put my arms around them and just hold them and spend time with them at that time this never came but brenda she was a soldier she was the soldier in the army of the lord because even through her sickness every time we spoke she said i trust god i believe god she was steadfast unmovable abounding in the works of the lord and we know that her labor was not in vain amen and we see that from all of us who are here today to celebrate her life because there's not a person in this room that she did not personally touch or put her hand on her labor was not in vain and even in those final moments as we stood by her bedside with the gospel playing the song that played was yes yes god i will obey and i believe in those final moments as she took those final breaths of life i believe that she was responding to the word of god if god called her name i believe she said yes god i hear you god i hear you and god i will obey and if it is my time then lord i am coming to dwell with you and though tears flowed from her eye yes i believe that in that moment she saw the lord for herself and those were tear of joy not of sadness so know that she was walking with god she believed god and we know without a shadow of a doubt though her body is here we know that her spirit is sitting in the presence of the lord now and she is before his feet and she is bowing down and she is worshiping her lord so family we don't need to be dismayed and we don't need to be troubled we can rejoice today knowing that she is with her maker we can rejoice in knowing that she is with her lord we can rejoice in knowing that she is not in pain we can rejoice in knowing that there is no sorrow we can rejoice in knowing that she was loved that she is loved and she will always be loved and remembered and that we will be her legacy and we will talk of her we will speak of her we will share her stories we will even share her recipes and we're going to love on her even from here and we're going to be glad that we knew a woman named brenda stanley stephenson austin we thank you god we thank you lord for her life let us go on and remember who she was and let's never ever forget the love that she shared and let us model that love and that joy and that kindness that she gave to others amen amen amen we want to move quickly uh at this time we have um brother timothy roberts look there he is be mindful we have to get to the graveyard at the same time i understand please okay give it unto god saying some friends i'm still attempting to wrap my mind around losing auntie these past few days has really been difficult for me i talked to pat saying things that to represent her everything that everyone else has said about her i felt i call her auntie even though she's my cousin because he has a few years older than me but she was always there for me as if she was looking out for me i look at her now as a mom because the 10th of august of 2011 my mother passed and she was there for me from the very beginning she got me through to my moments and everything else and now i'm going to miss it i took the time to write something hopefully it makes sense god allowed you to stay here with us a little while and with each word of kindness you brighten our lives the time you spend here with us was not in vain because your virtue and thoughtfulness will always remain our hearts are truly thankful for every moment spent conversing with you as you poured out wisdom into our lives even the times we upset you we knew your stare and start and smart mouth was still done in love we know god takes the best you will be missed because we love you so much your presence will forever live in all of our lives you've touched thank you amen well done brother timothy well done amen at this time we're going to call brother mark wiggins who will give us a saxophone selection precious lord amen let's receive him as he comes forth amen it's all right the clap that's all right the clap amen [Music] hey [Music] hey [Music] hello [Music] [Music] oh [Music] ah [Music] [Music] ah [Music] i am [Music] [Music] hmm [Music] [Music] hey [Music] hey man brother marvin brother marvin accompanied by brother hicks man wouldn't that smooth they all i mean that was just beautiful and classy and just like sister brenda uh my home girl from north carolina i used to always anybody know me i always talk about bun north carolina carolinians would always get happy when i talked about home amen thank you so much for that beautiful selection uh at this time we have acknowledgements and an ecsu proclamation uh sisters erica harris and phyllis elmore if you're here there they are come on at this time the family would like to thank all who express kindness and sympathy during their time of loss today i will acknowledge a few of those sentiments to the stanley family it is with deep sympathy and tenderness of heart that we your brothers and sisters in christ upon hearing of your loss send you these words to express to you in a feeble way our sincere sympathy for you in the death of brenda stanley austin we say to you look to god who is able to sustain you in this hour of sorrow please know that shallow baptist church of landover maryland is praying for you and your family during your hour of bereavement we know that the loss of a loved one takes us through deep pain we don't understand but we can only trust and believe in the god of mercy and wisdom who sees all hears all and knows all that's why we must look unto the heels from whence cometh our help for our help cometh from the lord who is the maker of heaven and earth as god consoles you he reminds us that earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal as we pray for you and your family may you take comfort in god's sustaining words to let not your heart be troubled may god's love presence and comfort you as you call upon him in this time of sadness respectfully submitted pastor b lewis collington of shiloh baptist church thinking of you and your family may your hearts feel the tenderness of god the caring love of friends and the cherished comfort of memories patricia so sorry to hear about the death of brenda i know she was not just a friend to you but to you and your family you consider her a sister an aunt and she was a second mother to your children may god bless and keep all of you as you go through this difficult time with heartfelt sympathy and prayers sincerely edna and family blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted matthew 5 and 4. jesus hears the prayers of your heart just as clearly as he hears the prayers others are lifting up for you patricia and family so for as long as you grieve may it be comfort to remember this the more you need him the closer he will be with sympathy and your loss leonard and carolyn johnson praying that you find comfort in god's love and knowing that brenda is with him no more sickness and pain all joy just as lovingly as god has called your loved one home he is drawing near to you now with comfort with peace with hope thinking of you and asking god to surround you with his perfect peace and love with deepest sympathy debbie with sympathy and prayers no life passes without a purpose no sorrow goes uncomforted warm thoughts of sympathy are with you now along with the prayer that god will be especially close to you in the days ahead love cousin bardel and peggy mclawhorn of georgia wishing you peace tenderly may time heal your sorrow gently may friends ease your pain softly may peace replace heartache patricia and may warmest memories remain with sympathy my thoughts and prayers are with you and the loss of your sister friend brenda juanita williams my heart skipped a beat when i read this greetings from new orleans brenda and patricia worship with us at union bethel ame church and my family had the honor and privilege to fellowship with them after they accepted my invitation to join us for our sunday family dinner the faulkner family home was blessed with their presence and friendship was established instantaneously please accept my sincere condolences to patricia martin the family of brenda stanley austin and the reed temple church family may the beautiful memories and time shared comfort you at this time thank you hello reed temple and brenda's family i am phyllis elmore coming to see you as a viking are any vikings in the house will you please stand the one thing that we all knew for brenda as a viking and and i'll tell a short story was brenda um decided i guess a few years back maybe our attention she was going to join another alumni chapter where her classmates called me and said um you you need to go talk to brenda well i don't know brenda from a can of paint but you need to go talk to brenda and i you know after i heard the conversation wasn't so much talking to brenda to bring her back it was to bring back this pound cake these jokers would worry about this pound cake we didn't want that pound cake in another chapter we needed it in the dc metro chapter so i went to miss austin's house and i said brenda i'm phyllis and i'm the hospitality chair and i'm here to bring you home so it feels like i'm i'm i'm i'm not ready but brendan we're ready for you to come back we're ready for your pound cake to come back and on friday night we're having a meeting and your pound cake need to be in the house that's all i said and we began the fellowship and talk so that friday night i was like so nervous that let's see if she going to come well she lived right around the corner from where we were having the meeting and then she comes with this this this cake plate and you can see her seasoned vikings like jumping for joy pound cake was in the house and we rejoiced that night and from that point on brenda and i became like the best of friends so vikings and reed family and pat and family i speak to you as a viking she was an honor to be in our chapter the one thing brenda did she served and we have one thing in common with at the viking home put children through college she would make a cake and sell it so you could put a child through college because she believed her cake would get you through college and lord knows her kate got some children through college at elizabeth city state university so on behalf of the d.c metro chapter uh the chancellor of elizabeth city state university i'd like to present this proclamation from the university and it reads as follows dear friends and family of elizabeth city state alumni for brenda austin on behalf of the entire elizabeth city state university community we extend our sincere condolences on the death of your loved one brenda stanley austin we hope the memories of her provide you with comfort and peace in the days and months to come as a 1969 graduate of elizabeth city state and a life member of ecsu's national alumni association incorporated an alarm and a lawyer lawyer royal blue supporter as you can see what you came in here in today royal blue supported the elizabeth city university and dedicated member of the washington d.c metro alumni chapter further alumni austin a woman of strength wisdom and character demonstrated very well through her professional accomplishment the excellence of education she received as an ecsu student and graduate she leaves and indeed an incredible imprint on all of us to follow the death of our fellow viking affects all of our entire university family and we know that all of us will remember brenda as a special viking and a friend please know that today nearly 20 000 ecsu alums all pause at a moment to give thanks for the life of alum austin and vitality she brought to our viking community and the world may her soul rest in perfect peace we pray we pray that the almighty will bring you peace give you strength comfort your heart during this difficult time sincerely chancellor dixon president director of alumni relations and engagement enoch bonds and president of the alum of the elizabeth city national alumni association us abdu rashid viking pride viking pride viking pride we love you all amen let's just thank god what a rich life what a rich life at this time i'd like to call reverend alicia hunt she will come and read the church paper from a reed temple and reverend clark will be a part of a special presentation thank you reverend day to the family of sister brenda stanley austin sister brenda stanley austin and angel [Music] august angel a member of the august beloved community has made her transition from this earthly life to an eternal mansion in heaven sister brendo was a wonderful class leader faithfully called members sent emails and made birthday calls to members of the august beloved community on behalf of the august community of reed temple a me church please accept our heartfelt and sincere condolences to the family for the loss of sister brenda we pray that the lord will be with you all all through through the valley of the shadow of death that you fear no evil because god is with you and his love embraces and comforts you during this time please feel free to contact us as we know as you know there if there is anything the family needs let us know respectfully submitted reverend deborah jeff jefferson the chaplain of august community [Music] to the family of brenda austin on behalf of the officers and members of reed temple a b church please accept this our deepest sympathy for your laws while we cannot lessen your pain please know that we the members of reed temple share it may god surround you and support you as you move through this valley our prayers are with you and your loved ones god is with you as you move through this valley he loves you and he cares about you god said in 1st peter the 5th chapter verse 7 cast all your cares upon him for he cares for you may he turn your cloudy days into sunshine and your trials into victories may god renew your strength console your heart and surround you with his love god is forever present in our lives and whatever disappointment that comes our way he will never leave you alone even when you feel like there is no one around god said come all ye who labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest he gives you new hope he gives you new determination he gives you the power to stand in the midst of your trials and struggles god is a god of love peace joy and long-suffering he will deliver us out of all our struggles and sorrows the hebrews the 12th chapter verse 2 says look to jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him and joy endured the cross despised the shame and sets down at the right hand of the throne of god jesus will give you the victory in any situation put your trust in him and he will take care of you if there is anything we the re temple family can do during this time please let us know because he lives i am the verve and dr marty whitlock jr senior pastor amen and then to the family on behalf of the family i will i will express our sincere sympathy to you and your family and the loss of your loved one please accept this miniature clock as a memento from read temple and me church because time is eternal so are the precious memories of your deceased loved one as the hands move to designate time on this clock so will you gradually heal and be restored because he lives i am the reverend dr mark e whitlock jr senior pastor amen amen let's just thank god for all the proclamations and thank god for all that we have heard elizabeth city stayed and proclamations from the churches and all of your acknowledgments amen at this time we want to take just a few moments to read the obituary silently so so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] amen and of course you'll be able to read it over and over and over the rich life that sister brenda had on this side and now we come to the place where i believe it is indeed the word of god that will bring us all that we desire the comfort the holy spirit will bring comfort through the word listen intently to the words of the eulogies our eulogist today is the minister to seniors at reed temple ame church reverend ben lali i know him well we've come to be very close friends he's all the way from louisiana and the thing i know about reverend lolly a lot of people don't know usually you say your left brain and right brain he's very strong in the sciences and physics and but then he was called to the lord and it's so interesting as he's a big brain person but his compassion is unmatched reverend lolly not only called sister brendan made sure he prayed with her but he does it for over two thousand some seniors and each senior he calls with a special compassion as if nobody else matters and so we're grateful for his ministry as he comes forth so after the playing of the somatic selection uh brother marvin wiggins will come back and he'll render the lord's prayer with saxophone that's what i was told he's telling me no so that that audible was not there uh at this time those who know the lord's prayer will you just let's sing it together [Music] [Music] name [Music] thy kingdom come [Music] thy will be done [Music] on earth [Music] as it is [Music] give us this day our daily breath and forgive us our deaths as we forgive our dead [Music] and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thy is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever [Music] amen [Music] amen reverend lala amen amen this is the day that the lord has made let us rejoice let us rejoice and be glad in this celebration of a life well-lived sister brenda austin a life well-lit [Music] first giving honor to god who is the head of all of our lives and to the ministers that are gathered here today in particular the friends and family from shiloh baptist church pastor collington reverend jimmy gibbons who is now at gethsemane reverend church minister epps reverend may reid you know i i've actually heard about you i didn't it didn't come to me until uh you got up and spoke but i heard brenda speak about you and i didn't know reverend deck had pipes like that i did not know that i really appreciate reverend deck and reverend hunt and uh reverend clark for their support for this particular day and they know what i'm talking about amen but we come to celebrate on this day and we honor the family and friends of sister brenda austin we love you we adore you we know you we know that all of you loved her and she told me about that yes she did yes she did my wife and i were planning a trip to the rehab center to see sister austin before she passed i had coordinated with sister patricia it was going to be a surprise we had made two attempts on the first attempt my wife got sick earlier that week so we decided not to go we planned to go on a monday morning since we did not go on that friday morning on a sunday night i was having a conversation with reverend deck he had called me to ask he asked me to stand in for him on monday morning for the noonday bible study i told him i said reverend i can't make it i'm going to see sister brenda austin tomorrow morning now less than 30 minutes after i got off the phone with reverend deck i was in an ambulance headed to the emergency room time is filled with swift transition my wife had packed a bag with fruit puzzles books all kinds of stuff to go but we never made it time is filled with swift transition we never know what's going to happen and when it's going to happen let us father god we thank you we adore you we praise you o lord we thank you o god for allowing us to gather together here today to celebrate the life of sister brenda austin we come to celebrate oh lord god because we know she is with you we know lord that she has transitioned and she is there with you and oh lord we thank you and we adore you and we praise you god in the name of jesus we say amen amen and amen i first met or spoke with sister brenda austin during the end of 2017 maybe 2018. not sure of the time exactly but she called me to discuss a recent noonday seniors bible study lesson but during that conversation i found that we had some things in common she was a delta and i was a cue roof she had lived a life traveling she was a military wife and i was once in the military my wife and i share her experiences and we also love traveling but the thing in common that was more significant than all the others she was an only child and so was i we often shared our experiences around these commonalities especially those associated with being an only child we talked about what it meant to find a friend who was special to us for her sister patricia martin was that friend sister harston joined reed temple after a meeting with the pastor at that time reverend dr lee paul washington i did not know what was discussed during that private meeting but the result of that meeting was that she felt that her commitment to god could be fully fulfilled by worshiping and serving at this branch of zion a few years later sister austin began to have significant personal challenges related to her health and the health of her loving husband during the conversation and prayer session with sister austin when her husband brother jim was still alive sister austin told me she was at peace on that day like other days when we occasionally spoke during the pandemic she was preparing a meal i had already gotten the impression from previous phone calls that she loved to cook when i read the reference to her love of cooking in her obituary i was not surprised but it was on this day that she began to share with me the health challenges that she and her husband were experiencing she said to me that dave reverend ben no matter what the outcome will be i am going to remain faithful to the end she said i am at peace reverend ben i'm at peace and i declare today she is at rest i'd like to draw your attention to the book of hebrews chapter 3 starting at the 12th verse and i'm going to read through to chapter 4 verse 1 and it reads be careful then dear brothers and sisters make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving turning you away from the living god you must warn each other every day while it is still today so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against god for if we are faithful to thee trusting god just as firmly as when we first believe we will share in all that belongs to christ remember what it says today when you hear his don't harden your hearts as israel did when they rebelled and who was it who rebelled against god even though they heard his voice wasn't it the people moses led out of egypt and who made god angry for 40 years wasn't it the people who sinned whose corpses lay in the wilderness and to whom was god speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest wasn't it the people who disobeyed him so we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest god's promise of entering his rest still stands so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it i want to speak for a few moments on the subject she is at rest she is at rest and because she is at rest we can celebrate we can celebrate because she is at rest in regards to the scripture text just read i ask you to recall the biblical story of the liberation of the israelites from slavery in egypt with that story as a backdrop the hebrews writer recounts the defiance and lack of faith of that wilderness generation their lack of faith is vividly portrayed in their decision to choose not to enter the land and possess it you know the story 10 of the 12 spies came back from the land and spread rumors of doubt only joshua and caleb remained steadfast and faithful to the promises of god upon hearing the news from all the spies the israelites were faith faced well two options these options were one to remain faithful to the god that brought them out of egypt and go up and possess the land that had been promised by god or to they could continue to wander in the desert wilderness and die they chose the latter they chose to ignore god's promise to deliver the land to them their disobedience excluded them from their promised risks they were condemned to wander in the desert wilderness for 40 years and died sister austin was essentially faced with these same two options she had a husband that she loved dearly who was gravely ill she herself was suffering from cancer and then after her husband passed she became faced with not only cancer but a heart attack and major heart surgery she could have given up threw up her hands but through all she endured she remained faithful to god and even a little bit honorary to the end and now she is at rest the trials and tribulations that came her way are over she is at rest as i said earlier she told me reverend ben i'm at peace i'm at peace with my god she said she said it many times i'm at peace those of us who are still among the living are still faced with the same two options presented to the israelites and to sister austin remain faithful to god or be tempted by sin but more importantly we must remember that we face these options as a community as a church sister austin faced her end of life with her church her family her friends but first and foremost she faced her life through the saving grace of god the redemption in jesus christ the power and the comfort of the holy spirit the story of the israelites in the wilderness is a group story and a community experience in other words a church experience with the behavior of some affecting the behavior of all my brothers and sisters the promises of god were not heard individually they were heard together the message or the sermon in the letter in hebrews is addressed to the whole congregation the preacher says repeatedly us we and you in the poor there is concern for the individual but it is a community concern that none of you may be heartened let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it it being peace and rest peace and rest is what i'm talking about today and because she has peace and rest we can celebrate we can celebrate the preacher in hebrews understood that shepherding is a congregational responsibility so let us exalt and encourage one another every day the introduction to hebrews of the theme rests in our christian life provides a striking image of the rhythm of faith movement and rest is the rhythm of a healthy life but hebrews reminds us that the life of faith is not simply scheduled as periods of movement and periods of rest rest says the text does not just follow pilgrimage but occurs during the pilgrimage as well the rest of god is both present and future the rest is the realm of the already and not yet the rest resides in the middle of a theological tension both by faith in christ all spiritual blessings are always hours already but the full enjoyment of these blessings is not yet ours this is the life of faith the insurance of things hoped for in the future and the convictions of things not seen in the present this is life between the times just as the near eastern proverbs said there is going in my staying and staying in my going the preacher in hebrews declares there is risks in movement and rest in movement and movement in rest sister brenda austin in her movement of faith she has received eternal rest that's why we can celebrate because she has received eternal rest is just like the songwriter who said i heard the voice of jesus say come on to me and rest and songwriter went on to say lay down and i wear it one lie down thy head up on my breasts and he goes on to say i came to jesus as i was weary and warm and sad and then he goes on to say i found oh my brothers and sisters he said i found in him a resting place you hear me now i found in him a resting place and he has made me glad she's at rest she's at rest my brothers and sisters she's at rest we're still here in between time seeking to rest we're in the middle of the rest after a movement and then we got a movement and a rest but she found in him a resting place and oh my lord and she oh lord and he oh lord has made her glad [Music] on another day on another conversation after her husband had passed yeah she told me again she was at peace on that day she reflected on the people in her life who had helped her along the way okay she spoke about her church family and the friends she had made since she been here at reed temple she talked extensively about her husband's church shiloh baptist church she also spoke about her time at mount nebo mount nebo amy church she spoke about the gentleman that mowed her yard or mr edwards she talked about how helpful he was she talked about mr tonsille the gentleman that handled the veterans administration submission on behalf of her husband jim and she even talked about me for not putting in my va application ask me why haven't you submitted that thing you know you deserve an upgrade she talked about how kind and patient this man was yeah she told me about stephanie barrett who was a loving caregiver for her and her husband especially her husband she told me how she could not have made it without stephanie she spoke about her cousins and their life together growing up the thing that we had in common because i all also speak about my cousins since i don't have any siblings so i talk about my cousins she talked a lot about her neighbor joyce and you know as she talked about george i wondered if joyce was a family member she spoke about her friend patricia and patricia's husband paul patricia was a friend that was more than a sister a sister that allowed her to adopt her family for several weeks while we talked during the pandemic i actually thought that randy was brenda's daughter not a goddaughter i thought and i'm gonna use two names but she named many i thought dylan and elijah were grandchildren i didn't know it was just the conversation that we we had she mentioned many more names i probably forgot a lot there's a lot of you here today and i know she mentioned quite a few names and i'm gonna tell you right now if she talked to me about the man that mowed her yard i'm certain that she talked to me about each and every one of you here today because when you started a conversation with her and she was in the middle of cooking i never saw a cook i just we were talking during the pandemic she would talk for a while as long as she had the strength but my brothers and sisters what is more compelling than anything else is that these persons mentioned and those not mentioned those names that i've forgotten these members these persons this family of saints were the ones that gathered either in person or in spirit with sister austin when she achieved eternal rest now she is at rest my brothers and sisters not just a rest from a day's journey she is in eternal rest in other words she heard the voice of jesus saying come on to me and rest she probably went on and said i i found in him a resting place oh and he has made me laugh amen thank you i just felt the spirit of god in that eulogy i mean it was just so well done and so spot on we think you can tell that the preacher spent time with brenda you can tell i and it was just so wonderful to see and to hear we just want to thank god to the family we go god is with you god is with you and i encourage everyone to keep this family in prayer and don't stop visiting don't stop calling let them know that you still love them that you're there for them because oftentimes after this day it can get very very lonely amen this time we'll call forth the funeral directors if they are here if they will come forward uh the benediction and internment will be at cedar hill cemetery that's 4111 pennsylvania avenue in suitland maryland and before we are truly dismissed and funeral directors say a few things remember that we still are under pro covet protocol what that means is please when you exit stay socially distance at least six feet if you can we will ask that you not congregate uh at outside of the sanctuary in the northx but go to your cars and get ready to go to the cemetery amen as we get instructions from our our funeral directors we're gonna have the clergy we'll begin to process out and i think i got a call for flower bearer if you will come and help with the flowers please at this time [Music] you thank you [Music] please [Music] amen as long as we have life we are living in the lord as long as we have life we are living in the lord amen the lord is my shepherd i shall not want making me to lie down in green pastures for if we live we live to the lord and if we die we die to the lord so then whether we live or whether we die we are the lords amen paul said it this way to live is christ and to die is gain jesus said it like this in my father's house there are many mansions and if it were not so i wouldn't have told you but if i go i go to prepare a place for you amen [Music] do [Music] you

Channel: Reid Temple AME

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Length: 85min 49sec (5149 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021