Celebration of Life Service: Bro. Gary Coltrane | RTAME FUNERAL

brother gary deon cotrain amen i'd like for all to stand with exception of the family as we begin this service i am the resurrection and the life saved the lord he that believes in me though he was dead yet shall he live and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die i know that my redeemer lives and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall i see the lord whom i shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we shall carry nothing out the lord gave and the lord has taken away blessed be the name of the lord you may take your seats we've come today to celebrate the life of our brother who we love so dearly can we just give the lord just a hand praise for the love that our brother shared with us and we we've shared with him over the over the years amen we're going to ask now that uh sister silver sharp accompanied by brother dao hunt if they would come at this time with a musical selection and that'll be followed by the pray of comfort by reverend alicia hunt amen good morning praise the lord go on and praise the lord trust me gary's praise the lord so go on and praise the lord because i promise you i promise you gary's praising this is for our friend our brother our neighbor and one of the greatest to walk this planet they say time flies by when you're having fun it seems like only yesterday our friendship begun but tomorrow things are different you believe in i'll still be here so i hope you know i love you love you even while you're gone i try to imagine how it's going to be will you still know my name tomorrow in your eyes what will i see but in spite of all these questions there is one thing i know for sure it's till the end i love you love you even while you're gone so i memorized your smile and the sound of your laughter and it's safe in my heart for rainy but days one else can touch me the way that you do i'll be saving a place in my heart just for you gary cole trained just for you so please let me hold you just one more time and when you feel my heartbeat saying you'll always be before it's till the end i love you even while you're gone gone but never forgotten no i'll be whispering i love you love you even while you're gone thank you god bless let us pray almighty god it's in you o lord that we put our trust leaning and depending on you for the psalmist said i will lift up my eyes until the hills from which cometh my help my help comes from the lord who made heaven and earth we pray right now for the coach trained family and the friends that had gathered that you would be with them at this hour for you said that you would never leave us nor forsake us so we know god that you are with them right now lord we pray that you would send the comforter the holy spirit that it may be in this place for we already feel the presence of your holy spirit that you would wipe away tears that may be in the family eyes for what they're experiencing that their loved one has gone on to be with you they may be feeling hurt and pain and despair and but god in the midst of all the sorrow you can give him joy so we thank you god for that joy for nehemiah said that the joy of the lord is our strength so we pray that you release your joy right now in this place and god we just thank you for brother gary cochrane thank you god for his life for what he meant to his family the life that he led how he cared for young people how he loved them how he encouraged them how he showed them and taught them art and we just thank you god for his gifts and talents that he had and lord then we thank you that brother gary believed in jesus that he witnessed about the good news of jesus christ and we just thank you god that we're standing on your word this morning that the wages of sin is death but the gift of god is eternal life through jesus christ so we thank you god hallelujah thank you for eternal life thank you god for jesus for the the last enemy to be destroyed is death for this purpose jesus was manifested to destroy the works of the devil so we just thank you god that he died on the cross but thank you god that he didn't stay dead but that he rose again on that third day with all power in his hands thank you for your resurrection god hallelujah for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him shall not perish but have everlasting life so that's why we celebrate today we thank you god hallelujah on your word for god himself will descend from heaven with a shout but with the sound of a trumpet and the dead in christ arise then we will remain who are alive and remain are going to be caught up to meet the lord in the air together there shall we be with the lord comfort one another with these words we thank you god in jesus name we pray amen amen may you find comfort and encouragement from that prayer amen at this time we'll have our scripture readings and the old testament lesson will come from jalen coltrane in the new testament gregory coltrane and if you would we have a mic and stand here to my left and to your right amen good morning i'm going to be reading old testament proverbs 16 7-8 when the lord takes pleasure in anyone's way he causes their enemies to make peace with them better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice amen the word of god for the people of god good morning i'm reading from luke chapter 16 19-31 this message isn't for my brother it's for all of us and here today jesus said there was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed and who lived each day in luxury at his door lay a diseased beggar named lazarus as lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man's table the dogs would come and look his open sores finally the beggar died and was carried by the angels to be with abraham the rich man also died and was buried and his soul went to the place of the dead there in torment he saw lazarus in the far distance with abraham the rich man shouted father abraham have some pity send lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in the water and cool my tongue because i am in anguish anguish in these flames but abraham said to him son remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted and lazarus had nothing so now he is being comforted and you are an anguish and besides there's a great gap separate separating us amen anyone who wanted to cross over to your anyone who wanted to cross over to you from there stop at its edge and no one there can cross over to us then the rich man said please father abraham send them to my father's home for i have five brothers and i want him to warn them about this place of torment so that they will have to come up so they won't have to come here when they die but abraham said moses and the prophets have warned them your brothers can read their warning writings any time they want us the rich man replied no father abraham but if someone is sent to them from the dead they will turn from their sins then father but abraham said if they won't listen to moses and the prophets they won't listen even if someone raises from the dead the word of the lord amen the word of god amen powerful word of god bless you this time we'll have a musical selection by evangelist myrna summers accompanied by brother carlton hicks time is filled with swift transitions fill changing hands in him who will not leave you whatsoever years may bring still more closely to him clean oh hold to his hand god's unchanging hand hold to his hand hold on to is to god you have been true hair and brightness in glory god's unchanging hold to his hand god's unchanging hand yes hold to his hand god's unchanging hands build oh to god's unchanging hands come on let's hold to god's unchanging hands know some powerful hands my god he can do it and he can bless our lives that way amen amen at this time we're going to move forward with reflections and um the family has selected persons to do that and we like to ask to come in this order nehemiah rucker gregory coltrane thomas boone and shayla simmons if you would come in that order and if you would as much as possible let's try to keep it within that two minutes if you can amen bless you as you come today amen what a wonderful musical tribute by our sister silver and our other sister what a wonderful ship to gary that has been good morning my name is butch gary is my nephew but he was more than my nephew he was my brother he was my fellow believer he was my friend oh soul consolation is the fact that god knows all things he's in control of all things and all everything that he does he does in accordance with his divine will and the determined counsel of his foreign knowledge the fact of the world fact of the matter is that this world is not all home for our home is in heaven moreover god has given each of us a task and work to do he knew us before we were born and before we came forth into the world he had work for us to do and when our task on earth is complete he calls us home to be in his glorious presence where there is no more tear no more sorrow no more sickness no more death our consolation is in the fact that gary our dear beloved brother is absent from the body but present with the lord he's in a better place now he's been called home and he has been united with his beloved mother and his beloved grandmother and other loved ones who preceded him glory him in glory whom he dearly loved and admired we therefore gather together today not so much to mourn his death as those who are without hope but as has been mentioned to commemorate his life and to rejoice that god has called him to his eternal home and glory where the angels right now are rejoicing and where there is joy forevermore i was asked to hold my remarks by two minutes but it is impossible so indulge me a little on occasions like this we are compelled to reflect upon several profound realities some of the most upon some of the most fundamental issues of life and death upon the sovereignty of god who as i mentioned knows all things is in control of things and nothing escapes knowledge or or control we have compelled to reflect upon the brevity of life which the bible likens to a vapor which is here today but vanishes tomorrow we're compelled to reflect upon the university of sin upon the reality the inevitability and the certainty of death and what occurs thereafter and finally we are compelled to reflect upon the irony and apparent contradiction of death in psalm 116 15 the word of god reveals that precious in the sight of god is the death of his saint precious in the sight of god is the death of his saints in ecclesiastes three verses one or two reveals that this is a time it is a time for everything and a purpose for everything a time to be born and the time to die and in ecclesiastes chapter 7 1 it reveals that the day of the believer's birth is not so important as a day of his death amen my brother in this regard when a person is born into this world he's born with a body subject to sickness and illness and death a body which encloses a soul is spiritually dead by virtue of our inheritance of adam's corrupt fleshly sin nature however when the child of god is born again he is born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of the holy spirit of god hey my brother and we go one more we'll ask you at this time we we sure appreciate your reflections all right but in all fairness just just in all fairness to your rest of your family members right we asked if you would would you mind gregory and he has given me the additional permission so so uh compromises will be made okay i previously arranged all right my brother i will be brief gary was very instrumental in the lives improving the lives of many and he touched by virtue of your being here many of you who are here this morning so i will cut my remarks brief like many of us gary made several encounter very challenges various challenges in life however he was a more than conqueror than christ who strengthens him he fought the good fight he finished his course he kept the faith and henceforth there is laid for him a crown of righteousness not only for him but for all who love the parents of our lord jesus christ i could say many other things about gary how he touched my life and how he touched the lives of many others both young and old but i would like to leave with the words of the following song which is one of my favorites in which i think that gary's life exemplified so well many of you may know it it is called if i can help somebody as i pass along it goes like this if i can help somebody as i pass along if i can share somebody with a word or song if i can show somebody he's traveling wrong then my living shall not be in vain then my living shall not be in vain then my living will not be in vain if i can help somebody as i pass along then my living will not be in vain if i can do my duty as a christian steward if i can bring beauty back to a world upright if i can do my duty as i pass along then my living shall not be in vain thank you gary we love you and may god continue to be a blessing to you as you have been to many of us thank you god bless you my brother god bless you this time we'll have brother thomas thomas boone or just like i said a mine will be two minutes and his is going to be two minutes so we will make it very quick for you uh proverbs 22 1 i think of gary a good name should be chosen rather than silver and gold loving favor rather than riches gary didn't have an abundance of wealth in fact he struggled financially the world is enamored with wealth prestige and job titles however gary coltrane my brother had an enormous amount of wealth but it was godly wealth he had my brother placed his time and energy and family friends school children elderly that's where he took his time that's where his wealth came from my brother was truly a servant of the lord in these past days i realized i took my brother for granted my brother's passion was serving people but most importantly god i had a quick story one day gary called me and i had a slight cold and he called me and he says hey greg do you need anything i said gary i'm fine gary lived in mount rainier i lived in acake maryland which was not close gary says but greg you sure you don't i said gary i'm fine i'm fine an hour later my doorbell rings he's at my door you sure you don't need anything that's how gary was in closing my brother was extremely wealthy but is wealth the world will never understand good morning i was asked who is gary coltrane it's very simple he's a man of god gary was the type of guy and i know i talked to reverend deck about it he would give you that 6 30 a.m wake-up call even when you didn't want it there were times i would say gail why couldn't he call it eight but that was gary gary would call you asked you how you doing and before you could respond you was on the phone for 15 minutes without saying one word that was gary gary will always take care of you if you thought you needed something you got it you had to ask for it he just showed up as greg said just to make sure that you're happy gary was the type of person as greg said his wealth was in your happiness his wealth was making sure others were taken care of many of us not like that we want those titles we want that money we want those status but that wasn't gary whether it was intended on that's what he wanted or he was just serving the word of god i don't know i but i know that was gary he just wanted everyone to be happy so one day i'm finished with two stories you can put you gotta get out of here but there was gary and my wife gail it was a table in the house and gail wanted the table to be a little higher and i said please do not mess up this table oh it's not gail and gary runs the lows get all the supplies and the whole time i'm saying they're gonna mess this table up i know it i leave the house i'll come back later and the table is just the way my wife wanted it and i'm gonna let you know gary reminded me of that every time he came to the house hey tommy is the table right now i'm like yeah gary the table is right well one day my last story one day we were talking about charles drew and i don't know how we got on the story about blood plasmas we were talking about that and i said oh yeah that's my fraternity brother he says really i said yeah a normal conversation we hang up as gary as greg said two hours later gary shows up at the house with a picture that he had already drawn of charles drew now to me this is worth a lot i know gary could have taken this anywhere and would have gotten it money for it but his gift was my happiness his gift was no tommy you take this you hold on to this and i would never forget that because like greg i live down south and he drove 45 minutes at least to get to my house to hand me this i would never forget it and i would miss him 6 30 am calls that he gave my wife thank you very much amen wonderful wonderful sister shayla hello okay it goes without saying that my uncle gary loved his family and that included us his many nieces and nephews his love was in the form of quality time if he could not be there he would be sure to ask you for all the stories he wants to see every picture every question that he asked you he hung on to every word of your answer that's very rare in a world where it's so easy to get caught up and what are you doing as my dad said and your titles and your status and uncle gary did not care about any of those things he cared about people he cared about their experiences he cared about you he also encouraged us his nieces and nephews but also every young person that was so lucky to be in his presence to live as boldly as colorfully as happily as you could if you could speak it you could achieve it he thought that you could accomplish anything as we grew up and said we wanted to leave the country he used to ask where are you going um when we asked you know what what can we do next he asked how can i help we were moving on to the next thing he asked what was it you could probably argue that he had blind faith in us or at least in me um because the story that i remember most about him is when i was about 12 or so and he just came randomly one day wanting to hang out as he was so often to do and i told him that i started cooking around the house to help out my mom and when i said cooking i meant i could do simple recipes nothing extravagant or anything but in his mind he heard that i can cook and so he gave me free reign of his kitchen that was a mistake we ended up eating warm i guess you could say pickled chicken i don't even know but he ate it with a smile on his face down to the last spoonful that he could get and that was uncle gary he wanted people to be happy he wanted people to be encouraged he wanted people to know that they could do anything even if you didn't think that you could do it too he was a listening ear he was always there with a smile he was an encouraging message of stay the course and keep doing what you're doing and now i realize that to stay the course means several things it means to find your own happiness to march to the um the beat of your own drum it doesn't matter the criticism it doesn't matter what others may say your happiness is what you make it because you only have this one life to do what it is that you would like those are the words that we were left with uncle gary at every phone call every time he popped up at the house and those are the words that we still have today even though he may not be there to share them and to have such a genuine loving kind man be gone far too soon in many of our opinions i leave you all with the words of ecclesiastes 3 1-8 to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven a time to be born a time to die a time to plan and a time to pluck up that witch is planted a time to kill to time to kill and a time to heal a time to break down and a time to build up the time to weep and the time to laugh a time to mourn in a time to dance a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing a time to get up and a time to lose a time to keep and a time to cast away a time to run and a time to sew a time to keep silent and a time to speak a time to love and a time to hate a time of war and a time of peace thank you amen awesome awesome amen amen we'll now have uh sister gail boone to come and share cards followed by brother eddie with a poem and then brother nate bryant the chaplain of the coalition of concerned black men will follow him with a tribute amen in that order hello to the coltrane family gary was one of the kindest human beings i've ever ever met he will be missed so dearly thank you for sharing him with us love allison 107. dear mr coltrane thank you for being an amazing and positive influence to our girls you are a blessing to sophia lillian and our family we are grateful for all you do at bethel you make a big impact and we thank god for you we hope you enjoy a great summer god bless sophia lillian sarah and alex sanchez thank you for your light in my direction i'm going to miss you friend stay the course gary coltrane love tia what ultimately matters is not the size of our mountains but the strength of our mountain mover so happy to hear from my brother greg that that our cards can't even read the writing this must be an artist opened and shared among the family so please accept our loving offering so glad to walk with you all through the celebration of life a life well lived and always be reminded we will see our loved ones again holding tight to god's word and wisdom see psalms 147 33 love you sister phyllis love you all greg and sarita family prayers for your comfort with sympathy wishing you peace and love gary was a great guy very funny and a great presence all around thank you he will be missed raven and hunter for our favorite teacher mr gary coltrane teachers are heroes teachers are full of patience teachers never give up and won't let you give up either teachers take kids seriously teachers love to teach teachers see genius even when it's hiding teachers help save the world one lesson plan one imagination one mind at a time and this was from my son from years ago dear uncle gary my gosh you have been near me like two peas in a pod so i thank you for that and i applaud you also we may talk a lot and most of them are heart talks so god bless god has blessed me with an awesome uncle but sometimes uncle gary i think we are brothers that is how close i think we are and i'm not just saying this but i don't know how you feel about me and what you see in my future but when i look in your eyes i see a person who looks at me with enthusiastic feelings so i bless you with the best of luck in anything you do so merry christmas ho ho ho from trey god bless my longest and best friend since we were six years old gary coltrane gary coltrane was a man who loved his art and always showed me his paintings he was always kind and friendly he attended all my family events birthdays holidays and graduations never missed one we talked the day before he passed he seemed fine but i lost him the next day i love my friend till the end and it's 55 years of friendship i miss you gary and you used to say to me stay the same you too my brother in heaven love larry flack amen amen brother eddie brother eddie if he would come at this time amen god bless you i greet everyone in the name of yeshua hamashiach simply my messiah our messiah your messiah i want to read you something uh oh gary it says love and blessings were the theme of gary's talk the grand finale of the evening it was more moving than works of all the professional speakers on the program the mayor mayor berry mr crawford and all the politicians uh the city council chairman david clark and we know how hard it is at times to express true feelings an artist's business is to express true feelings and that's what gary cochrane did um i was a fellow artist with him and i was in entrenches with him and he understood me and understood him he told me a lot of intimate things about his family because i told him a lot about mine and in our 25 years or 30 years of knowing each other we became intimate if you know what i mean by intimate gary was more than a friend he was more than a brother all right uh gail greg i have this this martial heights community development i'm not going to take up much time i enjoyed what god's uncle said i believe that was a pre-eulogy and i love what he said because he knew his nephew the unseen power he is alpha and omega the beginning and the end no man can enter the kingdom of heaven except he cometh through him the earth and all the riches of the earth are his i have a rich father this i believe and why i know there is a god somewhere the sun and moon they have no war each knows it's time each has its place the stars they do not interfere or build nuclear weapons in the air no starred confusion everywhere the sun the stars and the moon all work on different hours because they are controlled by an unseen power the birds that sing such beautiful tunes with flowers so pretty with petals they bloom so lovely is spring and the month of june the grass the trees the ants make their appearance on the scene these things are not controlled by a man in the tower it is the power of god the unseen power who knows our destiny oh our fate there is survival but no escape for what the future man may hold god has the reins and mysteries untold man knows no time no place no hour it is the power of god the unseen power thank you amen wonderful amen good morning church first we give honor glory and praises to god and just thank him for all that he's done for us my name is nathaniel bryant i am the chaplain for the coalition of concerned black christian men of prince george's county maryland at this time i would ask all members of the coalition president to please stand you can see the support that gary had within the coalition thank you very much my brothers the first four books of the new testament are commonly referred to as the gospels they tell the story of jesus his birth his teaching and preaching his death his glorious resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of his father in heaven important too in these books are those individuals that jesus chose to be his disciples they were dedicated and unselfish in their service to jesus and to mankind some have said that those 12 men literally change the world i would humbly submit to you that gary coltrane was a modern day disciple he was a servant to many brother coltrane was an artist he showed a desire to bring out the best in everything he combined that commitment to young people being a public school teacher serving as a role model and as a mentor to many the gospels say that the disciples organized the people and served two loaves of bread and three fish to a multitude of over 5 000 and they all were fed and they had extra members here reid have told me that brother coltrane would deliver food to seniors every monday and every wednesday brother coltrane demonstrated a steadfast and dependable commitment to serve others within the coalition brother coltrane is loved and appreciated and will always be remembered so we have come here this morning to celebrate his life but more importantly we've come to pray that he will rest well in his father's house amen wonderful wonderful amen wonderful at this time we'll have reverend mildred valletta come and share the church paper amen praise god to all the beloved people of god god bless you to sister ashley coltrane sister gail boone brother gregory coltrane and the family of brother gary deon coltrane on behalf of the officers and members of re temple amy church please accept our deepest sympathy for your loss while we cannot lessen your pain please know that we the members of re 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 5 and 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 disappointments that comes our way he will never leave you alone even when you feel like there is no one around god said come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest he gives you new hope he gives you a new determination and he gives you the power to stand in the midst of all of your trials and struggles he is a god of love peace joy and long suffering he will deliver us out of all our struggles and sorrows hebrews 12 and 2 says look to jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endure the cross despising the shame and has set 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 that we the family of re temple can do for you during this time please let us know because he lives i am rev dr mark e whitlock jr senior pastor and to the family of brother gary deon coltrane on behalf of the reed temple family i want to express our sincere sympathy to you and your family and your loss of your loved one please accept this miniature clock as a momentum from read temple amy church because time is eternal and 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 rev doctor mark e woodlock jr senior pastor may god bless you amen family amen we love gary here at reed temple he was our brother down to the heart we loved him at this time let's take a moment if you can let's reflect on the wonderful life that my brother lived before people and before god if you look at the obituary for a silent reading just for a few moments and then we'll move into a musical selection this demonic selection by evangelist berna summers and then we'll have the eulogy by reverend joseph p deck iii our director a pastoral care here and just a wonderful man of god that he'll share the word of god that i believe will touch hearts today and will encourage hearts today amen let's look at the take a moment with the obituary so if you wanna know where i'm going where i'm going soon if anybody asks you where i'm going where i'm going soon i'm going to be with i'm i can take the pain the heartaches they bring the comfort isn't knowing i'll soon be gone as god gives me grace i'll run this race until i see my savior under to be with my lord growing up to be with my lord amen going up yonder oftentimes we come to this place as christians i've heard it been said get a little jealous because he's beat us to a place that we're trying to go to so giving honor to god and to his son jesus christ and to the holy spirit our comforter to our presiding officer reverend david clarke to clergy reverend hunt reverend bellette evangelist summers brother hicks thank you so much and to this family i felt as if i knew you before i even talked to you because as you know gary bragged about every one of you all the time so now i can put faces to the stories that i know amen as reverend hunt prayed not to be too concerned about time i felt the spirit jump on me so we're gonna do what the lord will have us to do don't have to be long to be eternal but we will honor what god will have let us pray heavenly father we come to this moment at this hour truth be told months ago if you said we'd be here we wouldn't we'd be in utter disbelief but god you purpose the life of gary coltrane you knew the time that you had allotted for him like you know the time you have allotted for us now god as we celebrate him today we ask that the legacy be celebrated that we have a homegoing celebration may your words speak to those who are yet still on this side of glory and we honor you for allowing your son to shed blood on a cross to give us the greatest gift ever given that is indeed the great the gift of eternal life lord the grass withers and the flowers fade but it is indeed the word of our god that will last forever brothers and sisters like to come from the old testament book book of lamentations the book of lamentations the third chapter verses 21 through 26 that's lamentations the third chapter verses 21 through 26 and the word of god reads this way this i recall to my mind therefore i have hope through the lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassions fail not they are new every morning great is thy faithfulness the lord is my portion says my soul therefore i hope in him the lord is good to those who wait for him to the soul who seeks him it is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the lord for a few moments i'd like to speak from the topic guided by hope stay the course guide it by hope stay the course everyone knows that was one of gary's pet sayings stay the course my brothers and sisters i don't have to share this with you you something you already know life is indeed a journey life is a journey we go through mountaintop experiences and we go down into valley experiences life is full of ups and life is full of downs we are disappointed one day and then within a few hours we can really be excited about something that happened life can be difficult at some certain times and it's easy at other times one minute you're up one minute you're down life can seem slow when you want something really bad or seem fast when you don't want anything to come your way gary was an interesting traveler on this thing that we call life he had an interesting personality and an interesting way but if i can quote a scene from the movie mahogany between billy d williams and diana ross uh those under 40. go to youtube look it up the quote merely says life is nothing unless you have someone to share it with yeah life is nothing unless you have someone to share it with and i can say this our brother gary coltrane he knew how to share his life with not just his family but everybody became his family yeah he strangers that would get in his car when he was ubering around town gary never met anyone that he didn't want to drop some verbal knowledge on yeah my boy eddie his main man i know eddie took it hard eddie and i talked on that fateful day where the lord had called him home and we began to share stories about how gary would call us as my brother said it seemed like gary would always call you the time that you were the busiest he'd always see that he called the time we didn't have time to talk with it and it really didn't make any difference to him if he told him you need to get off the phone uh but what that tells me is gary had a key to unlock the door that i think we need to walk into he knew that in order to have a friendship you had to have a relationship and and you had to have no matter how busy life is gary knew that quality time as his niece said was a great gift he understood the fact that i don't have to have rubies and diamonds and platinum pearls all i got to do is give you the most precious commodity that we all have and y'all know what it is don't you time time is more valuable than the ring on your finger time is more valuable than the watch that you're wearing time is more valuable than the car that you drive time is the most valuable commodity that we have and you cannot control it we say that we can do time management can i tell you right now it's false it's false you cannot stop time you can't slow it down you can't speed it up you cannot manage your time but you only think you can do is manage your energy to meet the demands of time and can i just go ahead and tell you right now if you got a little energy in your body we don't know when the hour will come when god will call our number so i believe that if time is the most valuable thing you have i would spend a little time talking with jesus because like gary i want to know that i have a place to go to after i got through with the time down here that's important you got to do something with your time gary gary i told you this life is a journey and he would bring us all into this journey and he loved people i even knew just heard the story about connie's godmother thank you gail who passed just moments before gary did i believe on the same day uh interesting i and i thought about that for a minute and i said that's like gary he didn't like being alone yeah that sounds just like gary to me he loved to share his gift of art didn't he i have a piece in my office a very afro-centric piece i had no idea gary had studied things that i liked and just came down to my job one day like he did brother and said uh man this is yours and i said gary i can't afford your art he said no this is yours and it's can i tell you it's one of the most precious pieces i have in my collection i would go to his place in mount rainier and see the big jaws of dizzy gillespie blowing a turned up trumpet i would see the red hat of dorothy height meticulously made up he could deal with any medium that that he had gary understood the beauty that art i believe for him was a starter of a relationship to be able to spread his love to other people yeah well let me get on here to my first point uh in this text because i believe that gary and jeremiah had a lot in common yeah they had a lot in common jeremiah was walking around preaching the gospel talking about the lord gary loved to do the same thing no matter he never met a stranger he didn't want to talk to every time gary would get a chance to talk about how good god was in the land of the living it didn't matter who you were it didn't matter where you came from didn't matter your ethnicity didn't matter your station in life gary had a way of sharing the good news of the gospel and oftentimes i told you life was a journey that as he walked this journey you often you believe like jeremiah who complained that people didn't even know god seemed to be the ones that prospered the most i told you he and jeremiah had a little bit in common jeremiah would complain to god i'm doing everything i could that i can do and yet uh you got me out here looking crazy but jeremiah went on down and said it's like fire shut up in my bone i think gary had the same kind of fire shut up in his bones because jeremiah starts off as saying this i recall to my mind therefore i have hope when you walk in this thing called life and life can come at you fast it blindsides you with a situation that you weren't expecting every now and then you got to remember that god has given you some receipts because the fact that you can even remember means that you kept your mind you can you can take those things for granted every now and then the fact that you can remember that god has been good to you along your journey let you know that he kept your mind stayed on him god has a way of letting you know that all this thing that you're dealing with now seems difficult it seems hard seems like you don't have enough resources you got to keep on serving jeremiah you got to keep on serving gary because i've got something good that's coming your way yeah yeah and god will prepare us how do i know because i was there i was there i heard the story i knew ashley before i knew anybody there was ashley up here and there was a twinkle in his eye actually and and and i knew when you got a managerial position i knew when you worked at the library knew everything about you i thought he was gonna pay a detective to follow you to keep you protected i was scared he made me nervous a couple of times but i do believe and understand that he loved you with all of us you bought your first house lord you thought gary bought 20 houses i mean his chest was out to here because you bought your first house yeah he he and didn't stop there lord asia i i've never been on the campus of brad dice i know it's a prestigious jewish university i know when you get in brandeis you somebody believe me you somebody to your uncle cause i heard about it all day long jaylen i understand high school he he loved you he every time i turn around jaylen is doing this daylador then shayla's writing stuff i said that she wanted to pull a surprise yeah it's on the way trey in football i mean his loved his daughter loved his decent loved his nephew jada the firefighter i'm sitting here going good lord is the all the talent in the cold train family can the other family share in the talent but my second point gary was faithful again like jeremiah gary was a very faithful brother he came on friday night something we call fresh oil fliedes and could the fresh old brother just wave your hand let folk know you in the house gary enjoyed fresh oil he would begin to to talk about his life and it was a place where he could come and unload the vicissitudes of the issues that he was dealing with in a courageous and safe place he was grateful and glad that he had some brothers that he could come and talk about what he was dealing with in life gary knew that if he came to a safe place it would make him better in the way that he lives his life so that he can pass it on to the other generation that was important to him i told you he was faithful he loved the seniors it's already been said he would deliver food to seniors on mondays and wednesdays the seniors could count on gary he was faithful in that ministry to concern black christian men gary would i knew more about their business than they did at their business meeting he didn't tell me many secrets don't get alarmed but he did share what he was doing i mean down at arbor terrace nursing home he would go with us we'd go twice a month on first sundays and third gary was right there at arbor terrace bringing a message every now and then because he loved youngins he loved elders gary was that kind of brother but listen to what jeremiah says he says through the lord's mercies we are not consumed and there's some good news right there in case you can't understand what what jeremiah was saying that god even though we can fall on some issues and some things in life god's mercy the fire never goes out god stalks us with grace and mercy he makes sure that we're going to get through this thing now there are two ways to look at it if you look at it through the natural line might look difficult it might seem impossible and it might seem that you can't make it through but god has mercies that make sure and guarantee you that you're not only going to get through it but you're going to come through it victoriously because god has never lost a fight god has never lost a battle those that love the lord with all of their heart and all of their mind and all of their soul god will get them through it because the lord that he served the lord that gary served the lord that jeremiah served is the one that will get him through because his compassions never fail we serve a compassionate god a god that when we deserve to be punished for stuff god's mercy and grace picks us right back up and allows us to get through that thing even though we were bad sons and daughters god's mercies our compassion propel us to do right yeah it does yeah yeah in fact these mercies are so good god doesn't give you anything stale you can go to the baker and get some stale moldy bread but god's mercies are fresh every day come right out of the ovens of heaven 400 degrees ready for you to eat you don't have to worry about god's staleness anymore these mercies are new these mercies are tender that god they are new every morning that's why we get the great hymn of the church great is our faithfulness gary was faithful his faithfulness is legendary his faithfulness is part of the legacy that is leaving you your nieces and nephews his faithfulness was unparalleled because gary was a faithful brother yeah yeah and then jeremiah goes on to say the lord is my portion says my soul therefore i hope in him it's interesting now because your mind can mess play tricks on you that we call the jedi mind trick your heart can fool you but when your soul talks jeremiah said my soul began to talk that's the part of you that god placed in you and anything that is not made by human hands that does not touch by human hands the word says that we have this this body this flesh that this tabernacle that comes from god and because this tabernacle comes from the lord your soul when it begins to speak it doesn't speak from the opinions of others it speaks on what god has planted inside of you and i can tell when gary spoke lord this is my last point gary always had an answer for everything didn't it because gary know that he would challenge you he would speak he had many viewpoints and you had to watch the news to keep up with him he would call me to get my opinion on what was happening in the world gary had strong opinions about the covet vaccine strong opinions about race relations strong opinions about politics strong opinions about spirituality but in him one thing that i noted was constant gary always had hope he always had hope that it was going to get better no matter how bad it looked on the news he always had hope that it was going to get just a little bit better race relations will get a little bit better politicians would get a little bit better gary understood that if he kept right on praying kept right on walking kept right on talking to the lord eventually things were going to be all right in his passion in his passion i understood the fuel for his art he had a fuel for the love of family and friend and gary will bait you real slow he'd ask you just a little innocent looking question and if you didn't understand gary you fall for it you could sense he was beginning to rev up the engine once you heard that this thing happens in the marketplace i don't know if you ever heard him say it but once he's right there at the marketplace baby you going for a ride because he could go from zero to 60 in a matter of a minute one second gary's like yeah everything's okay and then he begins to get that stern look on his face and he got something to tell you when that look comes on his face yeah yeah gary had to get it out as if intuitively he knew that his time was short the lord here's what jeremiah said the lord is good to those who wait on him gary had to wait for a few things in life gary understood that the way the world sees things is not the way god sees things and he trusted in the lord he believed god he didn't believe the opinions of men and women gary stood on a solid rock of christ yeah he said his soul jeremiah said his soul seeks him and it's good here's jeremiah that one should hope and wait quietly here it is for the salvation of the lord that's where it all comes together all of your work all of your living all of this journey i just talked about all of your connections all of your friends is to get you to the place where you can see the salvation of the lord and can i tell you there's nothing sweeter there's no honeycomb in the forest sweeter than god's saving power there's nothing on earth that can get you what god has for you so all i got to tell you now is like my friend would say go ahead and stay the course yeah he would tell me take the scenic route let's go ahead gary speak to him he would say sip a little tea along the way he said stay the course and and here is why i know god had it for him the week before the lord called him home there was some unfinished business here it is ashley's car allegedly was broken and she needed to get back and forth to work oh gary being the dutiful father would pick his daughter up take her to work bring her back home take her to work bring her back home an interesting thing the mechanic said i don't find anything wrong with this car this car is all right i believe sometimes god when he's getting ready to call you home if there's a little bit of unfinished business the mercies i told you that are fresh every morning the mercy of god pushed them together so that they would have a little more time until god would make it home well i got to get out of here now for real i didn't get a chance to tell you how he used to show me all the old pictures of the family all his uncles and one i think he would take to the doctor i didn't have a chance to tell you when he debate gail he'd look at it and say girl you saying something right there i got to get out of here but can i finish with a story there was a little boy that wanted some chocolate cookies real bad from his mother he begged for them she kept on saying i'm not gonna give you those cookies but when they got to the checkout line he got some courage and he pulled together a little bit of hope you know what that little boy did he put his little hands together and he began to pray to jesus he said jesus my mother won't give me those chocolate chip cookies that i need and that i want but i learned in sunday school that whatever we ask in your name it shall be done the mother told him boy you better hush your mouth she must have been from north carolina joe you better hush up because i'm gonna tell you right now you're not gonna get those cookies but the moyes butter said no a little boy began to pray a little bit harder and his voice began to feel the supermarket and when his voice filled the supermarket those that gathered around begin to say why don't that woman get that boredom cookies he ain't gonna shut up and after a while his mother feeling embarrassed she went ahead and gave him those cookies yes she did so they shake it get out of the store well let me get on out of here like this one day one day you're gonna be ready to check out of here you're gonna be in the checkout line there's gonna be some things that you want some things that you need you gotta do like that little boy call on the name of jesus because he'll answer by am i call on the name of jesus and he'll answer your very cry call on the name of jesus when you think that you need something that the earth can't give you call on the name of jesus when people turn their back call on the name of jesus and get what you want how do i know that this hope will unlock god's gift in your life this same jeremiah said i know the plans i have your you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope there's that word again plans to give you hope and to give you a future that's what my god will do i know that you're sitting here i understand the tears that are flowing but can i give you some hope today there is a place another realm called heaven and in that room called heaven there is a god who sits up high and he looks down low he's searching for his sons and daughters that know how to call his name if you want chocolate chip cookies call him right now but if you want something higher say lord i'm tired of the troubles of this whole world it's time for me to end my labors it's time for me to come on home i can see gary now can't you see him going and looking in the last book of life and as he gets to his name you see gary coltrane there and there i can hear it gary you have run the race gary you have finished the course now laid up for you is a crowd a crown a crown a crowd of righteousness family catching here gary looking back at all the splendor of heaven wondering when y'all coming up with him i can see gary looking at jesus face to face you know how he respond in true gary's fashion what you say now lord this is mine what you say now all this is mine this house of many matches is mine oh lord lord i thank you for a house call heaven hallelujah and amen hallelujah amen lord is good i just know that gary is has positioned himself to a place that we're trying to get to and that place is called heaven that place is called heaven at this time we're going to have a committal body funeral directors if you would thank you ministers as they come goodbye down here is a hello up in heaven the only thing final down here is the flesh that we shed from ashes we come to ashes we return whereas those that are able to stand this is the final honor we can bestow hear the words of jesus he said i am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he die yet shall he live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die job said for i know that my redeemer liveth and at last he will stand upon the earth and after my skin has been destroyed then from my flesh i shall see god whom i shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another yes so now for as much as it has pleased almighty god in his wise providence to take out of this world the soul of our deceased brother gary coltrane we therefore now commit his body back to the lord earth to earth ashes to ashes and dust to dust looking for the general resurrection in the last day and the life of the world to come through our lord jesus christ and whose second coming and glorious majesty to judge the world the earth and the sea shall give up their dead and corruptable bodies of those who sleep in him and she will change in that glorious body if you know it let's say the lord's prayer together our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thines the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever amen and now may the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with us henceforth now and forevermore until we see our brother again in the spirit and see our lord face to face amen amen now turn it over you're okay i'll take it i mean recessional family and friends on behalf of the coal train family the briscoe tonic funeral home mr mrs tonic in their absence the family would like to thank each and every one of you for coming out to share with them during their time of bereavement please note that a more formal thank you will be forthcoming at a later date to the clergy reverend deck your words of courage and hope to the family was definitely appreciated for those of you gentlemen that will be serving as paul burrows your assistance will be greatly appreciated today we've witnessed that mr coltrane was a loving father and adored brother and by the number of you gathered here today a cherished friend for all of you who had the honor and privilege of knowing and meeting him please know that his song may be over but his melody will live on in each and every one of us amen i just like to add at this time so that we all follow the safety guidelines uh we're asking that everyone if you would not fellowship here in the sanctuary or lobby if you would to please go outside of the church to fellowship so that everyone can stay safe okay amen also we ask that if you will allow the clergy to lead us out then the family and everyone else can process after the family amen i am the resurrection and the life said the lord he that believes in me thor be dead yet shall he live and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die i know that my redeemer lives and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall i see the lord whom i shall see for myself and my eyes shall behold and not another we brought nothing into this world and it is certain that we shall carry nothing out the lord gave and the lord has taken away blessed be the name of the lord amen so take me to the game i don't have much to breathe my heart is

Channel: Reid Temple AME

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Length: 101min 11sec (6071 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 15 2021