Greenville Avenue Church of Christ Ministerial Transition - Ecclesiastes 4:12

so oh i just want to thank you i just want to thank you what a day what a day what a day i want to welcome each of you here today i have a wonderful responsibility of introducing our emcee our master ceremony and our mistress of ceremony but this day really reminds me of the day that lebron james chose to go to miami and they asked well how many championships are you going to win he says not one not two not three not four not five he kept going well he didn't fulfill his obligation they won two and that was it but today we are here to install not one not two but three ministers and we're so excited about that and at this point in time i want to turn things over to brother henry jones and sister nichelle wallace who will be our master and mistress of ceremonies today and so sit back enjoy have a wonderful time and at this time let me turn it over to our brother and sister how's everybody doing welcome michelle welcome henry welcome welcome okay okay we're stalling so brother floyd can get to the back and get in the procession and i think we're doing a good job i think we are i think we are okay okay all right we do want to take this time to actually thank all of you for being here and we absolutely want to just ask you to just feel relaxed feel real do you feel relaxed good because you want to be relaxed because the journey that we're going on is one that will allow us to really grow now before we can go on this journey henry yes henry has announcements right because what would a congregation be without announcements right every program has announcements right okay so now that you're relaxed let's start talking about covet so um due to covet protocols uh there will be no congratulatory receiving line please follow the instructions of the ushers as you exit and then tables will be set up for the well wishes and cards for the newly installed pulpit ministers and then we ask all families to remain seated for additional pictures now i'm sure you got all of those announcements and i'm sure you understood them and the main thing that you needed to get out of that was when this occasion is over you will just simply need to leave is everyone clear on that you don't have to go home but you got to leave here you got to roll out okay speaking of rolling we're going to keep rolling because right now we are in the moment of what we call the processional it's time to bring in those individuals who we are going to be honoring today in this auspicious occasion and so bear with us bear with henry and i bear with us as people come in we're going to say names that's what we're going to do and so those names are going to sound familiar to you and i pray that when i say my names they sound familiar to me okay so we're going to go ahead and get started we're super excited they're looking good out there they're smiling i see our first set and so let's call him in are you ready henry so i don't have my glasses on no he doesn't but she's gonna tell me and then i'll tell you as they come through okay we're ready we are ready that's why i get to do extra work so here we go we're going to start we're going to start with brother and sister ron woods our deacon and his wife are lovely and coming down the aisle at this time and we're very excited as they come down our next couple i'll get them will be brother and sister mark thomas again looking lovely brother and sister jane potts brother and sister [Music] [Music] in no short order our brother and sister harold and i tell you while we're looking at them coming down this eye look at sister belle look at sister belle okay thank you thank you [Music] god [Music] brother floyd smith and brother david phillips [Music] you can clap it's okay you can clap and then we have following them brother fred green and his lovely wife sister linda green and then we have brother otis and brother and sister otis eidelberg looking lovely looking loving next we have brother jason brother and sister jason mosley brother and sister raymond hart and as we end those were our elders and their wives and now we're about to begin uh introducing our ministers of the greenville avenue congregation we'll start with brother ben brother and sister ben myers yeah i'm gonna let them take that moment in let them take that moment in there you go there you go all right get it that was lovely that was a lovely okay without further ado the man that needs no introduction brother and sister shelton gibbs the third let's hear it let's hear it [Music] [Music] take that at this point we want to prepare our minds for those ministers who are coming in to usher in our next step of our journey we're going to start with brother and sister patrick worthy brother worthy is a native of lubbock texas and he became a member of the hamilton park church of christ in march of 1984. heap has been involved in many many work areas here at greenville avenue and in ministry in general such as teaching bible classes and working in the singles ministry and he even connected with assisting as we know as an assistant minister here at greenville avenue he has taken on a full-time associate minister role here as well as directing the singles ministry and what what you really want to know is how long has this man been married to that beautiful woman right there and the answer is 17 years with miss lashonda worthy and we want you to know that they have two sons chad and p3 patrick the third a little something that you might did you might not know about brother worthy number one you need to know that his favorite scripture is jeremiah 32 27 behold i am the lord the god of all flesh is there anything too hard for me amen the other thing that you might want to know is that the very first time brother worthy preached his first sermon was at the around the age nine years old what were you doing when you were nine i'll leave that right there [Music] when asked the question what would you take if you were on a deserted island brother worthy said you'll be very excited to know about this sister worthy he said he would take his lovely wife lashonda he'd take his bible and a supply of chocolate chip cookies with pecans tracy that was for you okay i want you to know that okay lovely and the last thing you need to know is when asked the question how would you describe yourself three adjectives he says patient fun loving and sensitive and if you know brother worthy those adjectives are absolutely appropriate brother patrick worthy [Applause] next we have brother shelton t w gibbs iv and his wonderful wife francine [Applause] so for most of you you know that he was born in terrell texas and he is a fourth generation gospel preacher he was born into a legacy of church of christ ministers and as of late has served as the pulpit minister of lawrence and martyr street church of christ he is married to the wonderful love of his life sister francine gibbs and they are the proud parents of three children shelton gibbs the fifth hamilton gibbs and lyndon gibbs and with his favorite scripture he said james chapter 4 verses 12 through 17 and when did he preach his first gospel sermon the summer of 2000 at abilene christian university at north 10th treadway church of christ and the three items he would take not to be outdone by brother worthy he put the wife first you got you got to put the wife first right uh and daughter and then the other two suitcases he throw his sons in there so he had you know but you did see he put the daughter first i'm just gonna put that just only that y'all can talk about that when y'all get home and then the three adjectives to describe himself he said intentional committed and efficient let's hear it for brother and sister gibbs [Applause] our third minister making the cord strong thank you so much for the gives for that lesson this morning making the cord strong is brother and sister john r bradstraw jr he is a native of oak oakland california and he actually has been at greenville avenue church of christ for several years but at greenville avenue he assisted and has been assisting uh all of the minister ministers here but specifically brother worthy in the youth ministry for six years uh he's been a full-time youth minister and he currently serves as the education minister for the past 24 years he has been married to his best friend the former chanel gibbs and they too have three children john the third 22 excuse me 22 years old janae 20 years old and james 17 years old and old is the operative word here because i'm feeling very old listening to those ages i'm feeling very old now now what you need to know is his favorite scripture first john 1 5-10 and he taught his first sermon in the fall of 1992 at southwestern christian college the three items that he would take on a deserted island i mean these men love their wives but chanel he did put you under the bible he's going to take the bible first okay because we can't do anything without the bible so we're going to take the bible and then he's going to be a whole jew okay now he did say he was going to bring his library and he didn't mention his kids so y'all are going to have a wonderful time in the lord studying studying and without your children so the three adjectives that he would describe himself as is considerate witty and resourceful put your hands together for no none other than brother john r bradshaw oh [Music] yes to that put your hands together for the company the company okay for some of you at home if you're streaming that was not a cd the company is in the house that that was live yes that was not memorex for you older people y'all remember those commercials yes yeah okay you remember okay okay i love that memorex don't act like you don't remember memorex i don't okay okay but i do have a job to do so let me get right to it one of the things that you have to think about when you have a program of this magnitude is that it certainly cannot be done by one person and just like it takes a congregation leadership to come together to make a congregation strong it takes an entire group of people to put a program like this together so today we before we start our program we want to make sure that we take some time to thank all of those individuals who had a hand and who are currently having a hand in putting this program together first of all we want to make sure that we take the time to just thank our leadership the entire gacc leadership and all of their wives we also want to thank all of you who are intended who are in attendance both in person and all of you who are live streaming we in addition want to just take the time to to thank all of you who uh are here and you've traveled from all over near and far to support those who are going to be newly installed and we want to thank our newly installed ministers and their families for the purpose of traveling in the way that you have done to support them we would be remiss if after hearing all of those beautiful melodies we did not thank the company who is held all the way in from fort worth texas and we know that is no small feat with all the construction we've got going on so we want to thank them for coming and we want to thank them for their heart and being a part of this experience we have others who are here who are taking pictures all around and we want to thank all of all of the staff who are taking pictures we want to thank those who are hosting our hostesses and our hosts and just in general i think you understand we want to thank who everyone that's what i'm talking about it takes a it takes an entire village for you to be able to fill in that blank for me we just want to thank everyone okay and we we really appreciate it so let's give everyone a round of applause for their assistant [Applause] and most importantly we want to thank our heavenly father for allowing us to be here so we thank him and remember she said everyone so when you're walking down you say well they didn't say my name you were everyone you was you was in there everyone so we didn't leave anybody out when we said everyone okay uh yeah so we left that let me stick back to this where we okay okay so now if you see your program because the sake of time we didn't go through everything with their bios and everything going on as far as the questions that they answered but you have that information in your program so please make sure that you read that but we want to make sure that we stay on schedule so we're going to go ahead and jump in to uh what's next so we'll let you we'll give you the next three things that are going on so we we won't come right back up but as you see in the program we're going to have our prayer vision from our elder brother mosley then the occasion from brother myers and then we'll have our minister charged by brother shelton gibbs iii so we'll have those three and then we'll come back up brother jason mosley let us go to god in prayer holy and righteous father which art in heaven we come before you today with thanksgiving we're excited about this occasion for patrick worthy john bradshaw and shelton gibbs iv in the establishment of this ministerial team we're grateful for your vision for each man and the lives you have allowed them to live the skills you've allowed them to possess the talents that they have and how you've directed their lives to this point we pray that we move forward in your direction in your guidance and with your spirit and they be on each man and thank you that you will give them insight that they will need to lead your people here at greenville avenue church of christ lord we ask that you bless them as they work together inspire them to bring forth your vision for this congregation may you get the glory in all that we try to accomplish and do thank you for this ministerial team thank you for each man in his life and thank you dear heavenly father for the blessings of this direction these things we ask in the name of christ jesus i pray amen every hindering [Music] shall [Music] mountain time [Music] snapped it down [Music] [Music] national [Music] shall be so grateful for this incredible time as a congregation those of you that are here in person as well as those individuals who are looking at this via the stream we're so grateful for your presence we're grateful for this opportunity my assignment uh this afternoon is to really talk with regard to the occasion of this moment i have to let you know that this has been years in the making truly it took us 40 years to get here because we have to wait till shelton put 40 years in shepherds and ministers have been talking about this transition for some time and i say that just to say that this is no you know quick thought process we looked at the men that are going to be charged this afternoon and each one of these brothers bring to this ministry a wealth of experience knowledge and commitment and so the occasion of us being here today is simply this and that's our monumental milestone this ministerial installation milestone that we as a congregation has has now fully opened the door and we're going through it when you look at hebrews chapter 4 and verse number 12 it's all right to quote some scripture and preach some scripture right the bible talks about the importance of the word of god the word of god is living and active sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul and of spirit and of moral and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart and no creature is hidden from his sight but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we have to give an account when we talk about this occasion we're talking about preachers being charged now to go forward and pick up the mantle of ministers of this congregation this occasion is not just for these ministers but also for the greenville avenue church of christ this is a partnership this is a relationship this is a fulfillment if you will of god's holy and divine will that his people continue to grow his people continue to walk after him and so this occasion is not just for these men as capable as they are but it's for the whole family of god we're here because we are part of the greenville avenue church so not only is the word of god important but i want you to know this this afternoon that preachers are important as well 27 books in the new testament three of those books are written specifically to preachers first second timothy and also titus if you read commentaries and scholarly reports they talk about how these are what's called pastoral books and i beg to differ these are preacher books because ephesians 4 let us know that there's a difference between preachers and pastors and so these three books really help us to understand what the importance of preaching is all about and this is the occasion that we're here this afternoon god only had one son and guess what he was a preacher when we look at the fact of what paul wrote in romans chapter 14 and verse number 10 won't be long how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher so this occasion helps us to understand beyond a shadow of doubt the significance of these three brothers coming forward to pick up this mantle this mountain that has been safely put in place if you will for the last 40 years and now they will assume the role as ministers of this congregation a tremendous tremendous statement that we're having this afternoon this is our occasion for being here i want to drop three thoughts to you and then i'll have my seat you can read first second timothy and titus and you can get a whole lot out of there we don't have four hours to talk about it today just about four more minutes only three thoughts here when we think about preaching not only is it their commitment but ours as a congregation commitment as well number one when you hear the word preacher you automatically think he's preaching uh it's like talking about gardening and not expecting to see somebody with dirty hands it's kind of like talking about cowboys and and and you expect people that love horses or maybe a carpenter and you expect people to have some kind of tool in their toolbox preachers preach the word it requires faith and that faith come through the word that they preach according to romans chapter 10 verse number 17. heaven and earth shall pass away but the words that these brothers will be preaching will never pass away that's what jesus said in the synoptic gospel in both matthew mark and luke his word will never pass away be ready in season out of season reprove convince rebuke warn exalt i've read an interesting commentary and that's the contemporary english version they said something interesting about verse number one and two or first second timothy four he says i command you to preach god's message do it willingly even if it isn't popular isn't the popular thing to do you must correct people and point out their sins but also cheer them up and when you instruct them always be patient the work of the minister be an example paul talks about how this requires a clean conscience and i'm saying this not just for these men and their families but for us as well we have some young brothers out here that are going to be preachers one day and we as a congregation can appreciate this wonderful occasion this is a milestone this is not something you do every week it took us 40 years to get here a clear conscience paul wrote to timothy in first timothy 1 19 holding faith in a good conscience which some have been put aside to put away concerning faith have made shipwrecked holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience first timothy three and verse number nine paul warns that we need to be imitators of him in in first corinthians chapter 11 verse number one uh paul talked to the the elders for at malicious those elders from ephesus and he says in chapter 20 verse 20 i held back nothing these are the examples if you will that men who take up the mantle of a gospel preacher is required to fulfill and that is i want to be an example and finally equip the saints shelton preach this morning an excellent lesson on the idea of the value of partnership isn't it interesting in ephesians chapter 4 we talk not only about preachers but we also talk about the partnership the preachers and the elders and teachers and apostles and prophets all have because we're about the same purpose and as the development the growing the equipping of the church of our dear lord jesus so the occasion our celebration if you were this monumental milestone is about installation and celebration of this wonderful time that's why we're here this afternoon and to god be the glory to god be the the honor because of this great privilege he has entrusted to us to be here this moment at this occasion may god bless you and may god keep you thank you very much [Music] for brother myers giving us the occasion which by now we all know is a very somber one and very important one preaching is what god has put into his great plan for the salvation of the world men who are called and take up the mantle of preaching realize that they are called by jesus christ himself and it is he who charges them to preach the word in season out of season prove rebuke exhort with all long suffering and so we come to this point in the history of this church the day that we will install three men brother john bradshaw the shelton gibbs iv and brother patrick worthy jr but before i call them to the rostrum i want to recognize a minister you've all known him as one of our oldest but he really served as a minister here first the person of brother johnny rogers singing the rogers if you feel like it would you stand and let us give you a great love upon you and joanne both amen john shelton patrick would you come forward john bradshaw jr shelton gibbs iv patrick worthy jr in the presence of this assembly will you commit yourselves to this new trust and responsibility in the confidence that your calling comes from god the father god the son and god the holy god to spirit will you preach and teach in accordance to the holy scriptures in all seasons dedicating yourselves to the truth found within the holy scriptures will you be diligent in your study of the scriptures will you love this congregation serve this congregation protect this congregation from false teachers and teaching will you nourish and lead this congregation by your own example in faithful service and holy living will you promise to be watchful in all things enduring afflictions and they do come brethren and do the work of an evangelist making full proof of your ministry y'all must have practiced all right right all right let's get serious all right will you men serve as the ministerial team working together and carrying out these responsibilities as a unified body under the oversight of the elders of this congregation amen amen this time having heard john bradshaw jr shelton gibbs iv patrick worthy jr make pledges and commitments to fulfill their duties and responsibilities as ministers of the greenville avenue church of christ and serve together as the ministerial team to the elders will you accept and support these men as they discharge their duties will you do so by standing amen to the deacons of this congregation will you accept and support these men as they discharge their duties and will you do so by standing all deacons beautiful to the members will you accept and support these men as they discharge their duties will you do so by standing amen thank you you may be seated having heard your commitment to the charge and duties of the minister evangelist preacher witnessed to by the father the son the holy spirit the elders deacons and members of the greenville avenue church on this day september the 12th 2021 the responsibility of this noble office has officially passed from me to you may god bless you [Applause] uh [Applause] i want to pray for you i'm not going to lay hands on you i've already done that for years the god of peace who brought again from the dead our lord jesus the great shepherd of the sheep by the blood of the eternal covenant make you men complete in everything that is good that you may do god's will working in you that which is pleasing in his sight through jesus christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen the ministers of the greenville avenue church [Applause] my final duty so i like that and i like that i was the next person to hold this microphone i just want to say that we as we look at our program as we look at our program we see that we are now moving to a wives welcome before the wives welcome i just wanted to say as i was listening to our new ministers in sync i thought about the some the symbolism of three that was so beautifully taught this morning complete harmonious and new life and when i heard them speaking in sync i was like this is it this is exactly what this is this is completeness this is harmony and while we have a life this is a breath of new life and we look forward to seeing what we're going to do as we continue to move forward and so as we prepare for the next item on the agenda we would like to call up sister jeanette gibbs and sister carolyn myers for a wives welcome we are here to welcome the three of you and to share some words with you so if we could get you to come and stand up here please [Applause] first of all we want to say welcome we love you and we are here for you now your husbands are now the minister of this amazing congregation this is a great church we have an outstanding leadership and some wonderful members and sister bradshaw and sister worried that you are familiar you know us and sister fernstein you'll get to know us get to know this wonderful congregation we're just well not all of us not all of us you'll get to share some of the love that we have shared for over 40 years we just want to encourage you to support your husband i have been a cheerleader a number one cheerleader for brother gibbs for 40 years proverbs 18 and 22 says he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtain favor from the lord now i just want you to know that brother gibbs has obtained favor the lord the lord has blessed him blessed his ministry his family and this church the bible also says that a virtuous woman is far more greater than jules and we just want you to exemplify that noble character support your husband stay committed to god and just see what the lord will do for you [Applause] well one thing i want to read a poem to you but before i do that i want you both all three of you to know that you're special to everyone and we look forward to your growth your journey for here for the next 40 years one of the things that's not to brag but being the wife of ben myers from the day i met him i knew i was like on a motorcycle it was going to be a fast ride but through that journey he grew two bachelor's degrees three master's degrees and a phd and i say all that to say this grow grow in god's word whether you never teach a day in your life grow grow from here on in to the end let god take you where he's going to take you and enjoy as much as you can i want to read a poem to you because you know i teach fourth grade we teach poetry right so it's a fourth grade poem okay okay to our minister's wives it takes a special person to be a minister's wife for it is not an easy task or a simple way of life the phone often rings at dinner time for sure vacations there are few with so many needs in our church there's always lots to do when people need a helping hand on you what they can depend for you always try to do your best to be a faithful friend so keep this in a special place so you will always know you're a special gift from god who is appreciated so and we wish you a wonderful journey [Applause] [Music] okay there you go that was beautiful and now you know why brother myers and brother gibbs got skills right because you can't come have stefan you saw those two sisters what okay i'mma keep going if i get in trouble all right so um next we have words of encouragement and special presentation about brother fred and linda green and i'm just going to ad-lib a little bit but if you were on our call and i love our elders and i love their wives and we were we had a call and brother greene did a great job with a message about gratitude but if you know our our deacons our uh ministers and our elders their wives got their back right and so brother uh green was talking about the young at heart ministry and he was like yes and then once you 62 you know you get you know that good parking space up there and other stuff and on the screen sister green was like 65 [Applause] he didn't see it but she was doing it so she had his back so i know she got his back on this so let's hear from brother fred and linda green [Applause] all right precious and i i mean linda have wrote down a few things that we want to say as we give these presentations and gifts and i believe they've got the gifts somewhere around here and they'll bring them out soon all right brother bradshaw and sister brad shaw would you please come up here all right all right i'm gonna talk to john and then linda's gonna talk to you all right john we have been blessed to see your growth and development as a minister here at greenville avenue thank you for the service you have given to the congregation over the years you have been a leader and an example to our young people and you presently are a great leader in the spiritual education of the saints here at greenville avenue i want to personally thank you for your courage in approaching the difficult discussions you know what i'm talking about you are a man of great integrity and a wonderful example of faith and commitment we as a congregation are truly blessed to have you as one of our ministers and we won't hold it against you that you're from california we believe it's god led that you are here at this time at this place for this purpose god bless you brother [Applause] chanel you are a phenomenal woman god has placed you here at this point in time to stand strong side by side with your husband john bradshaw as he ministers to the greenville avenue church family may god bless you and your family and give you strength courage wisdom and peace as you support him in this ministry god bless you [Applause] oh yeah take those gifts all right [Applause] shelton gives a fourth in this lovely way amen shelter i'm calling by the first names because i know who would have imagined that the young boy running around hamilton park church of christ who most of the time looked like he was lost in his own thoughts would one day be a spiritual leader among god's people you have made us as a congregation very proud you have set a wonderful example of faith and commitment to god's word as you navigate this life you have represented the church and your family well our hearts are overjoyed that you have come back home and we welcome you in your beautiful family god has blessed you to be in a position of influence positions of influence as a minister of this congregation we know that this influence will be used to draw men to christ and his church god bless you shelter [Applause] francine you too are a phenomenal woman and we welcome you to the family here at greenville avenue and i look forward to getting to work with you and to get to know you more god's placed you here at this point in this time to stand strong to stand side by side with your husband shelton gives the fourth as he ministers to the greenville avenue church family may god bless you and your family may he give you strength may he give you courage may he give you peace may he give you wisdom as you support your husband in this ministry may god bless you amen [Applause] oh god bless you partner in crime my brother from l.a [Laughter] [Music] to patrick my friend and co-laborer in the kingdom yes you almost got away and many have tried to get you away from us to serve as their full-time minister but god knew something that we didn't know and through his plan and his providence here we are and you are right where you are supposed to be who can deny what a faithful surgeon you have been through the years ministering to our youth and our singles teaching and preaching to the congregation all while maintaining stability and example of faith throughout your own personal challenges the church is blessed to have you brother thank you for being a part of the ministerial team here at gacc and from my children from all of the youth that have you ministered to and all the singles we love you brother worthy god bless [Music] [Laughter] you two are a phenomenal woman i come to know you love you over the years and she is my partner in crime we can't do visitors greeting we have to be together but then the leaders always tell us can you all tone it down [Laughter] the god has placed you here at this point in this for you to stand strong stand side by side with your husband patrick worthy jr as he ministers to the church may god bless you your family may he give you strength give you courage give you wisdom give you the peace as patrick serves in his ministry we love you god bless you and you owe me lunch you owe me life um so next up what we want to do is have our new pulpit ministers accept so we'll go in the order we'll go alphabetical order so we'll have brother bradshaw then brother gibbs and then brother worthy hmm to this wonderful congregation and this great body of people i graciously accept this great honor to serve as one of the ministers of this congregation it is a tremendous pleasure honor and a great work i have something i wrote and i didn't know if this would be the perfect time to say it but i just want to say i was born into a team and that team consisted of john bradshaw senior and carmen bradshaw and my older sister sharon 361 days later my sister karen came on the scene 14 years later nicholas marvel danielle and rochelle and all of this made up the bradshaw team my grandparents uncles aunties cousins and then i was born again into a team the south berkeley church of christ where i inherited brothers sisters grandparents and grandfathers if i can get through this because this day is not about me it's about the team and if you don't mind i want to call some names that probably would never be called but they won't my team i think of song leaders brother anderson but the news you don't know these people and some of them have already gone to sleep but i wanted to call their names because they made me what i am today brother stevenson brother fields brother mcconauco jeff carney my sunday school teachers matty stevenson linda martin gwendolyn wade barbara anderson cynthia williams brenda williams pat moore catherine brick marzella jordan anderson melrose glasper deborah wheels jesse cruz ruth glass melissa williams and ron williams lucille casuga charlene lewis myrtle williams these were matriarchs in our congregation minnie russell mary marshall mariette jameson marcela mccree patriarchs harold marshall jesse stevenson james russell wilbur jordan and charles jameson that was the team i was born again into and then i enrolled in a team and i went to southwestern christian college and so many made contributions to my life i went to acu i enrolled in that team then i married into a team and i got the gibbs family and i got chanel for 24 years we've been on the same team and we created a team john roland bradshaw iii with his great creativity jenae chantel bradshaw with her great work ethic james shelton bradshaw with his great leadership and creativity and i was influenced by a team of ministers j l lyman alan jackson john r davis willie brown courtney carruthers james austin john t hamilton j c thomas jr j.s winston senior patrick worthy jr ben myers and s t w gibbs iii and now i'm being installed into a team with patrick compassionate worthy shelton tenacious hard-working tonysh wesley gibbs iv thank you for letting me get out what i wanted to get out thank you my brother i know this probably wasn't what i was supposed to do but this is what i did september the 11th 2001 changed the united states and the world forever september the 12th 2021 has changed my life forever and i'm hoping and praying [Music] that this church will be changed for the good and glory of god for as long as god gives us opportunity to serve and preach his glorious gospel thank god i've been on a team thank god for this team [Applause] let the church say amen i i didn't think that i would be as full as i am but i'm full because number one to have heard you say you preached your last sermon and to have watched and i'm speaking of my father shelton tony wesley gibbs iii to have watched you my entire life traveling it with you from city to city state to state mimicking you as i said in the audience as you preach because i had heard the sermon a thousand times i knew your sermons as well as you did and so i want to pay homage to [Music] you first and i want to pay homage to [Music] my mother who has stood by your side and i want to pay homage to brother myers and to sister myers because the church is where it is today because of god first but he worked through you and then i want to pay homage to all of the leadership current leadership but also past leadership i i i have tremendous respect brother maxwell brother ray christopher brother johnny rogers senior when we were coming up when we saw these men we pulled our pants up amen we we walked a little straighter we made sure that that that we carried ourselves in such a way that that they couldn't call us to the carpet on things i want to pay homage to [Music] the founding members i was a young boy but i remember osea lewis i remember sister sumlin amen you can hear right over there amen sister sumlin brother simmons all of you who have worked to make this church what it is all of the talent that is in the pews i pay homage to you you made me who i am as a man and then to lawrence and marty street church of christ i know that there are some members here from lawrence and martyr raise your hand if you're from lawrence and martyr amen amen [Applause] lawrence and marty is my family those are mamas and aintees and they told me friday night they said if they don't treat you right you can come back but they made me who i am as a preacher they watched me patiently as i fall off fell on my face and it wasn't the preaching it was the relationship that still binds us together i'm not real big on fanfare this to be honest is not something that i need and i mean in terms of the fanfare i order nations and those types of things they are fine but that's not what this is about we will be judged by the work that we do or we don't do and that's what it boils down to me i don't need an ordination give me an email address a phone number some business cards some folks that are ready to get to work that's that's that's my comfort zone and that's what i'm looking forward to i'm looking forward to the work i want to say a word about the sermon this morning the three chord strands not being easily broken listening to you to what you said john it just warms my heart because i know it's from your heart and i'm just honored every time i have an opportunity to spend time with you i mean really and truly uh and your words really touch me is what i'm saying i'm not i'm not being you know but your words really touch me and i know that that's from your heart from the time that we worked at cakes cakes of elegance together from the time that i met you through my sister and had an opportunity to get to know you you have always been the same person and and you are my brother and i love you and i'm not gonna ever let anybody mess with you amen ain't nobody gonna mess with you man you don't have to worry about that and i feel the same way about you brother worthy basketball youth group youth conferences you have been the same since day one and everybody in this auditorium can testify of your compassion of your consistency of your professionalism of the man that you are and i'm honored i'm honored outside of preaching i'm honored to be able to stand with you and i know that the church is going to be blessed he's going to be blessed not from what is just what is heard in this pulpit but what is seen of unity because that's what god intends for all of us and as i take my seed i want to say this the unity that i've experienced with these three men i mean it was almost as though we were getting married we spent three hours taking those pictures at one point i was holding john's hand at another point i didn't spend that much time taking my wedding photos so it's going to take all of us now i'm speaking to everybody it's going to take all of us not just the ministerial team is going to take everybody's commitment to lock arms and mines and wheels and as much talent as this church has there's another gear there's another level and that's the way that we have to think so i'm waiting and i'm looking forward to how great we can be together god bless you [Applause] i should have gone first i remember uh we had our outdoor worship service a few months ago and uh brother gibbs got full and he couldn't finish his sermon he turned around and handed the mic to me and i thought i'm just like you this has been such a wonderful occasion today you all have done a masterful job in hosting this i want to thank brother brother henry and sister michelle they're just two wonderful examples of christians and servants in the kingdom here i did not prepare a formal statement but of course it is a very extreme honor to accept the position on this ministry team and i'm thankful for my association with brother john we've worked together on several things over the years and i've come to love him like a close brother and of course shelton during my time in working with him and the youth we just had a wonderful relationship and as we have come together in formulating plans and thoughts for this ministry team i think one person should be put on notice and that person is satan satan's not going to come between this group there is a love there is a respect there's a true genuine care that we have for one another and i know that based on those things that exist with us right now this team is going to be secure don't try to break up this team don't try to come to one of us in this team about the other in the team we're going to support each other and we're going to do the work of the lord and we're going to be true ministers and true servants so i just want to get that out there right now there's so many others that i want to thank i want to thank my wife lashonda lashonda came to this congregation under a set of circumstances of which no minister's wife had come here before and i want to thank you for your grace and your beauty and your support and the way that you've carried yourself and i know that as we go forward you'll be someone that i can lean on heavily for your support your encouragement and your prayers and i thank you for that i'm thankful to have my mother here with me lavon worthy raise your hand mom [Applause] years ago as i was growing up and as brother greene said l.a many a night my mom would make a way into my bedroom with her bible and she would begin to exegete a scripture to the best of her ability and there will be some times that i'd be busy doing some other things but it made no difference she said i'm going to teach this to him and she instilled within me and in fact all of her children a great love and devotion for the word of god and that love and devotion for me transferred into a desire to be a minister for my earliest days so now mom as you sit there and you look up here this is the result of you coming into my room with your bible on a constant basis and i say to our mothers and fathers today we need more parents to go into their room with your bible even if they don't want to hear it even for the children it's in season and out of season and we need to help them i wish my father were here but i thank him for his contribution as well i'm thankful to my son p3 for the trajectory that he is on and just praying that god will continue to bless him in asking your continued blessings for other son chad as he will come to the realization and come back to the fold of christ i'm thankful for my brother craig okay he's outside somewhere but i'm thankful for him and his wife kendra and their children and i'm thankful to my sister darlene i tell you she is a sister unlike any sister you could ever imagine you need to get to know my sister she's a wonderful sister and our cousin mildred is sitting there mildred elaine who's a member of this congregation i'm thankful for her and so many other friends and relatives that have come to be a part of this and i don't have time to mention all your names but you know we love you but i just want to say thank you for all your support and i want to say to the church much like as my co-laborers have already said we're going to have to lock arms no brother gibbs and brother myers if you look at it in the terms of a relay race there's a term in a relay called running a good leg where you run and you hand over the baton and the competitors are behind you because you run a good leg brother gibbs has run a good leg brother myers has run a good leg [Applause] and want you to keep your legs keep your legs loose because you might have to do some more running but these men have run a good leg and they've left this congregation in a wonderful place and as as was stated we cannot be satisfied with the congregation being as it is we've got to go higher we've got to go further and we cannot we cannot rest on our laurels we cannot think that everything that needs to be done has been done because as we look around us the church is gonna be in for some great challenges and we're gonna have to be up for the challenge and i know that as we as has already been said lock our arms together and truly love one another and truly stay with the word of god truly stay with the doctrine and the teaching of the cross then we will be able to accomplish we may not be popular but we will be able to accomplish what god has told us to do so i'm ready i'm ready i'm ready to join hands with these great men and we're ready to go forward with this pulpit a pulpit that's going to be dedicated to truth and those things that god would have us to do and be and i hope everybody in this congregation is ready as well as we go forward in the way that god would have us to go thank you so much god bless you and let us continue to be the children of god that god has called us to be thank you i get to pick up all the hot mics um that's my gift today my gift is i get to pick up all the hot mics and so we are so thankful for everything that has been done up to this point i personally want to say to the ministers who [Music] are here at greenville avenue those who have run their leg and those who are about to pick up the baton that i have been blessed by all of the ministers in my time here at greenville avenue not only the ministers but the leadership greenville avenue church of christ is a blessed congregation and we are blessed because we have men and we have their wives who support and continue to commit to the word of god clearly the powers in the word and every time every time we see the leadership make any strides in this congregation it's because they make those strides with the bible the word of god as their lead they lead like paul said watch me follow me as i follow christ and so i just am so thankful that we get to follow these men as they follow christ now based on that following i think we have an appropriate poem that will absolutely speak to this occasion this poem was pinned by our own sister jarlin fox and it will be read by a multi-general group of individuals from greenville avenue church of christ and i'm excited to be able to get ready to announce them and i'm very excited to get ready to hear not easily broken and when i think about that cord how appropriate because you won't be easily broken and we won't allow it shelton said he won't let anything happen to you we won't let anything happen to any of you so as we get ready for not easily broken we call up brother octavius hobbes sister dolores meyers brother thurman stevens sister kamira fox and brother johnny nutson not easily broken in the bond of peace demonstrating brotherly love a fellowship that will never cease provided for by jehovah jahweh walking hand in hand leaning on the everlasting arms doing good and no harm building on a foundation that is stable and true greenville's ministerial team shall not be moved like a tree planted by the water the team is here to stay deeply rooted in the word of god walking in a heavenly way the storms of life may blow but the winds of doubters may beat about but men grounded in the truth will have the final shout they will tell it from the mountaintops they will forever lift each other submitted in the great i am linked together hand in hand building on the diverse talents that each have been bringing the lord's kingdom will be richly blessed as they his praises seen like david said in psalms they will look to the heels from which cometh their help the lord cometh excuse me their help cometh from the lord which will keep them in one accord he will not allow their foot to slip nor will the son harm them by day he neither slumbers or sleeps so he will be there to forever keep we thank him for doing what only he can do bringing together three godly men to see greenville avenue through and if one prevails against him two shall withstand a threefold court is not easily broken like solomon shared with all men they are tightly joined together the leadership visions is their guiding light the father is in the midst of them all a divine union simply out of sight [Applause] so next up we'll have the leadership blessing from our elder brother david phillips and then right after him we'll have our elder brother raymond hart do our prayer of thanksgiving first of all i want to uh thank everyone for coming and concerning my wife um she had a deaf enough family her youngest brother passed away this morning and so she wasn't able to be here but uh we uh want to thank john shelton and patrick and the world need more men like the three of you uh may our father forever bless you and for the fortitude to do his will as you begin this new chapter in your life we are proud of you and cannot wait to witness how god will work in you and through each of you for his glory keep your hands in his hand and you continue to allow him to order your steps and we love you we love you much on the behalf of the leadership of greenville avenue church of christ we want to extend our gratitude and blessings we know the father has a great thing in store and we are thankful to be elders of this great congregation for such a time as this thank you may god bless each and every one of you [Applause] [Applause] good evening a prayer of thanksgiving let us together pray our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom has come thy will is being done on earth as it is in heaven we are thankful dear god for the gift of your son jesus we're so thankful dear god for a historical day in the life of our congregation greenville avenue church of christ we're so thankful for our physical families heavenly father we're so thankful for our church families dear god we ask for your protection for your blessings all the many wonderful blessings and we're so thankful that for those that god has richly stored upon our congregation we're so thankful for our new ministers and all of their families for minister john bradshaw for minister patrick worthy jr for minister shelton gibbs iv we're thankful dear god for our glorious past our challenging presence and our unknown future dear god we ask that you will continue to be with us and lastly dear god we're so thankful for your guidance grace love and mercy in the mighty name of jesus we do pray amen [Music] god said he wouldn't move [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] snapped it down [Music] do you believe it we're right here [Music] oh [Music] you got to let my [Music] is [Music] nations [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] nation one that shall be [Music] [Applause] yeah they telling us something okay another selection [Music] you said you [Music] according [Music] and i shall received [Music] is [Music] who's lost [Music] their way [Music] so they can be free like me free like me we need your love lord we need your heels [Music] [Applause] [Applause] these days [Music] [Applause] again let's give a hand to the company [Applause] now i read selection and she read selection so that's why we got up we was not trying to cut off the company and we didn't know what those signals were we thought they were talking about give glory to god they were like that was pointing up and was like yeah he did this he did this and that was another selection so sorry the company they do weddings all kind of programs see them in the back okay so before brother eidelberg comes up our instructions we're going to ask all the pulpit ministers and their wives to join us on stage and then we're going to have all leadership and their wives come to the front of the stage and yes so i think it's kind of how uh sister a had a setup at the beginning so brother eidelberg's going to come up here to do the prayer of dedication but we want all the leadership so leadership in their wives in front of the stage pull pit ministers and their wives up here yeah coming this way up this yes so leadership and wives in front of the stage pulpit and minis pulpit ministers and wives on the stage and then brother our shepherd brother edelberg is going to do the prayer of dedication okay and once we're all up here we're instructed everyone give each other a air high five so an air high five covet air i didn't write this yeah air high five there we go okay and then leadership okay hold on so we have our leadership here and we have our pulpit ministers and we just want to see a sign of unity so if you all will turn toward the pulpit ministers at this time leadership team and your wives beautiful beautiful and as you all are looking at each other i'm glad that sheldon talked about this kind of being a marriage ceremony because we are now going to so to speak light the unity candle and so how you this is going to be the closest i get so let me i'm glad i'm in the middle of it you know so let me have you to give one another a high air five we are now going to be all unified as a leadership team the candle has been lit brother eidelberg will now dedicate this ceremony i want to thank our host tonight for the excellent job that they've done excellent job let us go to our heavenly father in prayer the father is to you the father that we bow our heads and we thank you so much for this day we thank you for sharing this day with us as we the lord dedicate these three men who are dedicating their lives and service to you and the lives of service to the ministry of your word father we thank you so much for this milestone at greenville avenue the father we thank you so much for your your word the father that helps them to be strengthened their father and to be filled to internalize it personally and to distribute it to their families and then the lord to administer it to this body and we're so grateful for you so thankful for your son and for his life who is now reigning with you so thankful for your spirited father could not have been able to achieve what we have today without the influence of your spirit father i'm so thankful for the great men that have brought greenville avenue to this place and all of the hard work that they put in the lord and all of the diligence that they have poured into this body we thank you we're so thankful for each individual minister john bradshaw jr for the patrick worthy jr and brother shelton gibbs the fourth they have dedicated and they have taken the charge their father that they will preach the word and so father we pray that you'll accept this dedication from them the father in your presence to preach we pray that they will minister to this body and do it in the spirit and the love and the grace that only the godhead can bestow the father we're asking as as a leadership elders ministers and deacons their father that we will deliberate their father and and determine what is best for this congregation we dedicate our lives and our families the father to your word and we dedicate our lives to the direction of this body and father i pray that you'll accept the dedication of this membership that they will continue to be faithful and trusting in us as a leadership to lead them on into the future and i pray that father that they will faithfully follow us as we follow you your father we dedicate this day as a milestone that we might etch it into our memory the day that greenville avenue retired such a great minister and brother gibbs such a great minister brother myers the father elders that have come before us but one still serving today in his nineties still have a possession of his spirit in his and his mind the father and his rigor for doing your will we've been truly blessed we dedicate our lives to you the father and i pray that you will bless us in every way and i pray that we'll be able to save as many as we can while we can it is in your son jesus name that we pray who we believe in and know that he'll take us on into the future amen i will lift my eyes [Music] is [Music] peace [Music] [Music] make sure that you follow the instructions [Music] make sure to follow the instruction of the ushers for everyone in the audience you can hang out if you want to wait around [Music] the strength of my life [Music] [Music] [Music] lord i love my heart [Music] to you [Music] oh [Music] man [Music] um [Music] is [Music] and [Music] me [Music] [Music] my fears [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] this day belongs to jesus from here [Music] came and i know [Music] [Music] his name [Music] belongs to jesus from [Applause] and i know that he [Music] when i stand [Music] my [Music] his name [Music] oh i've got to be ready [Applause] [Music] god [Music] i've got to be ready [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you know i gotta stay ready [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] when it [Music] when he comes oh jesus [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] once i met a man when i was oppressed by saying [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] you've been good to me [Music] [Music] let me tell you about this [Music] [Music] just like he said he said he would and when i grow awake [Music] forever [Music] you [Music] [Applause] be good to me [Music] you know [Music] will you know was not an earthly thing because it wasn't [Music] when he dies [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] yes you me [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] don't you know [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] you know that a reason [Music] don't you know that you shall go [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] don't you know that my jesus is [Music] don't you know that are you [Music] [Music] shall we [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hold on [Music] yes it will be all right it will be [Music] it will be [Applause] [Music] [Music] when i make it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] i was [Music] when [Music] [Music] it will be all right yeah all right all right all right [Music] all right all right [Applause] [Music] i'm gonna make it [Applause] [Music] all right [Music] [Music] all right [Music] all right [Music] all right [Music] um take me to the king i don't have much to free [Music] my heart is torn in peace it's my offering take me to the keys [Music] where are you [Music] [Music] what's left to do truth is [Music] to cry even if i tried but still my soul [Music] refuses to die [Music] one touch will save my life take me to the king i don't have much to bring my heart is lay me at the throne leave me there alone to gaze upon your glory sing to you this song please take me to the king truth is it's time [Music] we're chasing after you my lord who won't lose my religion i made my decision to [Music] don't have much to bring [Music] me [Music] take me [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] hey [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] my heart is torn to peace the key oh thank you [Music] i pondered [Music] somewhere [Music] my soul [Music] my hearts will be free fleshings will be [Music] [Laughter] [Music] i can discourage my faith [Music] to have no peace [Music] lonely days but still i seek blessings [Music] they tell me that the streams [Music] children [Music] will [Music] someone told me of the land where there's love on every hand they say i'll see in that glorious angels [Music] blessings will [Music] tell me [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] streets are [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] me [Music] thanks for checking out yeah okay um nobody oh [Music] is yes [Music] oh oh oh oh oh [Music] i can't give up now oh [Applause] [Music] me

Channel: Greenville Avenue Church of Christ

Views: 1,804

Rating: 4.8947368 out of 5

Keywords: live stream, streaming, covid19, coc, Church of Christ, Christian, Religion, Jesus, God, Christ, Service, church, bible, sunday school, gacc, gacoc, commentary, swcc, southwestern christian college, greenville avenue, greenville ave, dallas, richardson, texas, plano, garland, mckinney, carrollton, stop six, lawrence & marder, billy washington, wf washington, John Bradshaw, Patrick Worthey, Ben Myers, isaac davis, stw gibbs, shelton gibbs, compassion, Elevating Our Service, did you know?

Id: VOPoR5ypXq0

Length: 155min 52sec (9352 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021