Homegoing Celebration of Bruce Johnson

[Music] huh [Music] [Music] [Music] this is a good place to call on the name of the lord hallelujah hallelujah we do honor the second for this house bishop ralph dennis and to all of the clergy and to joyce and the johnson family how many of you know he answers prick hallelujah thank you god we're going to do what we know to do we're gonna do what we believe in and and to whom we call on my god yes lord come on just focus on kind father in the name of jesus god we thank you for this call and for this gracious invitation we thank you lord god almighty for your goodness and your mercy that's extended towards us we don't deserve it nothing we've done to earn it but your kindness have enrapt has wrapped around us in this time of need we thank you god because you are the god of creation you spoken the world came into being you spoken there was dry land and there was water god by the sound of your voice you spoke in the stars became in the sky lord god we bless you you are the true and living god you are elohim you are adonai and we reverence you lord god almighty we call on you for your word says that you are our refuge you are our strong tower you are our strength in the time of trouble and this morning there's just a little bit of trouble god we're trying to rectify the things that are going on in our soul god there's a conflict in our soul in our spirit we believe your word we believe what your word says god we believe that you're the god of all comforter but our soul is rubbing our soul is trembling our soul is upset but i still hear your words that bless the lord oh my soul so we stand on your word we stand on your promises and we declare this morning supernatural strength strength that cannot be guarded of our own mind of our own thoughts but lord god father of heaven and earth we trust you for supernatural strength your word says you are a refuge god we thank you now we we pull in this family we hold this family now in the secret of the tabernacle in that hiding space where no harm can come we hold their tears now as they weep in silence lord god we hold them not only for today but father we hold them in their tomorrows knowing that you will provide the courage to move forward you provide the wherewithal to get up and do you provide what is necessary in the moment lord god we trust you father and help us god just to be a healing presence help us to move with wisdom and with courage got to surround them when they needed the most when everyone's gone today and tomorrow looks a lot different lord god hallelujah you are our present help in the time of trouble so god be present with them in the trouble be present with them in their mourning be present with them on days where you will sprinkle their hearts with joy and they'll wonder where it came from thank you god we declare in this moment joy unspeakable that's the passive all understanding we declare lord god comfort when it seems like nothing else will do we thank you god we trust your word we trust you because you are god we lean all the way in thank you lord god we lean all the way in on you we let go of everything and we lean on you thank you for being jehovah rapha yeah you're the god that heals a man of sickness and disease you are jehovah rapha he'll now heal the broken heart heal the disappointment heal the discouragement god in the name of jesus you're jehovah rapha you're the one that make bitter experiences sweet you do like no one else can do and we bless your holy and your righteous name come on people of god if you believe it is so just say amen in your space [Music] thank you jesus first i'd like to thank the family for allowing me for inviting me to be part of this special occasion for this great man of god i thank you for that praise god old testament psalms 27 the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall i fear the lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid when the wicked even my enemies and my foes come upon me to eat up my flesh they stumble and fall though a host shall encamp against me my heart shall not fear the war shall rise up against me and this will i be confident one thing have i desired of the lord and that will i seek after that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple for in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion in the secret place of his tabernacle shall he hide me he shall set me up on a rock and now say and now and now shall my head be lifted up hallelujah thank you jesus above my enemies round about me therefore will i offer set uh will i offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy yeah i will sing praises unto the lord that was psalms 27 verses 1 through 6. this is the word of the lord amen to joyce my forever friend johnson family beau where family dennis family just want to let you know you're all in my prayers during this time and i love you all amen new testament scripture reading will be found in 1st thessalonians chapter 4 starting at verse number 7 14 for since we believe that jesus died and rose again even so through jesus god will bring with him those who have fallen asleep for this we declare to you by a word from the lord that we who are alive who are left until the coming of the lord will not perceive those who have fallen asleep for the lord himself will descend from heaven with the cry of command with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of god and the dead in christ will rise first then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together to meet the lord in the air and so we shall always be with the lord therefore comfort one another with these words sleep on the word of the lord is blessed [Music] [Music] [Laughter] [Music] oh [Music] so [Music] [Music] preparing me for [Music] [Music] so today i challenge heaven cause i feel in the spirit it's manifestation time so here i am jesus all i have is your word show yourself to be god i know you won't let me [Music] oh [Music] preparing me for my next move my faith [Music] you've got to come through [Music] just [Music] so here i am jesus all i have is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh you cannot tell me [Music] [Music] [Music] ah you are [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is he still had pain in his car to lift his voice [Music] [Music] here [Music] foreign how many believe the lord will provide let's give a tremendous applause to waves of glory that expression and dance praise the name of the lord we've got a few modest changes on our program that we will be trying to give you indications of as we go through we're going to have remarks we're asking kindly that you keep those remarks to a maximum of three minutes maximum means the most first coming would be the pastor of this church my son bishop greg dennis will be coming who's pastor and nephew followed by bishop joel anderson a close friend sister edna johnson horton a friend sister and sister francis skyes guys perhaps that's how you pronounce that as a client in that order and then after those four persons have remarks we're gonna have the farmer family to give us a selection thank you praise the lord everybody praise the lord everybody for the lord is good in everything we give thanks for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning us doesn't mean everything is easy or comfortable but we know how to bless the lord in all things today is a strange and peculiar day as uncle bruce i didn't call him a member of the church i've never to be honest with you called him a member of the church i've always called him uncle bruce and those of you who know of course his beautiful wife aunt joyce aunt joyce if you know her as aunt joyce you don't know her um but aunt joyce is also my godmother and as such uncle bruce became not just my uncle but my god father and um uncle bruce as listed in your program knew how to bring joy to any situation his humor was untraceable he had the ability for you to ponder after he left to wonder if you were supposed to laugh at that or not and i would often laugh in secret afraid that the image of my laughing at his last joke might be an embarrassment to all of us but we love uncle bruce with everything that's within us and he's definitely going to be missed he knew how to bring so much joy to situations and many of us went on vacation with him to know him intimately there was an occasion where he and bruce glover decided to usher us to a beach and while we were on our way to the beach they figured we could have more fun than we've ever had if we just didn't know where we were going that was the most fun i ever had on a beach in my life i'ma leave it there there's a old hebrew reading that i've read before and um i want to read this at this time knowing that my three minutes has already is closing fast but i am the pastor of the church take as much time as i want the passage says this it says when i die what is left of me away give it to children and to old men who are waiting to die if you need to cry cry for your brother walking in the street beside you and when you need me put your arms around anyone and give them what you need to give me i want to leave something with you something better than words or sounds look for me in people i've known or loved and if you cannot give me away at least let me live in your eyes and not in your mind you can love me best by letting hands touch hands and by letting go of children that need to be free love doesn't die people do so when all that is left of me is love give me away grace and peace on this morning god bless you give an honor to give an honor to the clergy on this morning and uh the johnson family and joyce we just honored god for his presence that's already here amen amen we bless god if you look in your program you notice my name is there and beside it it says friend the wonderful thing about a friend is to experience it to the end um we have all kind of friends in our life and it seems like sometimes it's just for distance or for sprint or for a season but it's wonderful when you look at the word and you recognize the portion of this as e-n-d to the end and i'm grateful to know bruce on this morning all i can do here is continue to thread that our bishop greg dennis started i've only got three minutes i'm not the pastor so when i think of bruce bruce if you know bruce bruce and i believe everybody was touched and affected by him when i first met him the thing that shocked me and changed my life i was going to an event it was just an out fellowship you know and i was chilling head on my shorts and my uh sandals and he walks up to me and he says man who did your feed and i'm like i mean i did my own fee he said man that's not how you do your feet oh man you got to let me get a hold those toes of yours now men may get their feet done today but when i met bruce men wasn't wasn't going to the uh uh to a manicurist to have their feet done so he said look you need to come to my shop i can do something with them toes now you got to know i'm still stunned because i'm like wait a minute what is he saying to me he wants to touch my feet i say that because bruce had his own way of entering into your life and once he entered in you were shocked from that point forward you would never forget him because whenever you saw him again he had something different for you he was forever changing the atmosphere he was an angel that many of us were not aware of because he had a way even when things were sad or when the situation didn't always fix fit he always came up with something that would put you go ah and that is what i appreciated him as a man that loved the lord but at the same time knew how to just be a man i love you josh this morning you had a man man i remember when joseph said oh no no don't listen to him don't listen to him don't listen to him because i got something to say i got something to say no no no no she'd have you cracking up he just he was a man of much laughter and much fun in his latter days coming to the close of his chapter he and i talked so much and he talked about if this is what the lord wanted to do and he agreed he said you know he kept saying may i am the candidate for this if god is going to heal me i'm the candidate because if you knew think anything about bruce he had all the concoctions necessary he has something to tell you look here's what you need to keep your body strong so he said i'm that candidate and the lord knows what he's going to do so this morning i say to the family bruce may not have been a bishop in the lord's church but he was definitely an angel on the earth and he knew how to touch us and he knew how to share that love that god had given him so i say to the family we will continue to pray for you and joyce you know freda and i are there for you it's not even that you need to call us we will call you god bless you give an honor to the shepherd of this church i bring you greetings from abundant life missionary baptist church i'm dr minister chaplain edna johnson horton and i've been accomplished here by my sister eldridge yasmine sterlivin thank you for making this happen bruce and joyce and i met in 1991 and this relationship has been a relationship it's been a friendship but most of all it's i just thank god for the family allowing me to be a part of this family and god has blessed me as a chaplain i'm not ministering to the patients the patients are ministering to me and i had the honor to be with bruce face to face on facetime to the bitter end and whatever bruce had to say i will listen and i have to agree with the gentleman who just stepped down bruce was truly an angel he was a friend that you would never have he's a friend that you can call on but he also was a friend that would have you spending your money on everything bruce had me investing in this and that and then when i stepped away from the nail salon business i became a doctor of naturopath then i start having bruce invest in everything but in spite of what has transpired we will always love bruce there has been a leak broken but he has instilled enough in each and every one of us to keep his life legacy moving let the light shine before man when men may see thy good works and that good works come from the lord and i do know that anyone who has encountered bruce him you encountered the lord he may not have been among the walls but that was his life that he lived you can count on bruce and i'll tell you in april april 10 2010 i was married and bruce and joyce was in chicago and i thought i was getting ready to get a divorce on the day that i got married bruce pushed my husband out of the way and reached over the fest in my seatbelt my husband looked and said what is that about he said that's my girl and now you're taking her but i tell you joyce and to lamar and your family continue to look to the hills with coming your help your help come from the lord weep and may endure for a night but joy has got to come in the morning be blessed and on behalf of joyce she would like for me to read a poem that bruce wrote to her since today it's called since that day the world's greatest love porn since the day i realized i love you the joy and happiness in my life has been multiplied beyond measures there is nothing in this world nor of this world that can compare to the beauty and the completeness you have added to my life for you are my treasures when the sun rises in the morning and the break of light of day not even majestic appeared nor the awesomeness of it golden rays can hold a light to the beauty of your smile and when the moon is at its fullness and the fetus within giving birth to the most beautiful night any eyes have ever seen its natural beauty could never touch yours for you are my ruby for the rivers now only our creation who has joined us together in heart spirit mind could ever give a gift beautiful as you no one else in this world could ever be so kind i just want you to know joyce that you mean more to me than this world these words can ever say so inside of my secret closet deep within the chambers of my heart i've always give thanks to god for blessing me since that day from the one who loves you most bruce johnson [Music] so good morning my name is francis my condolences goes to the family and every all of his church family and i'm just sort of but i'll get through it um i knew bruce so long he uh he did my nails i know over 40 some years excuse me and um when he started doing my nails his son was a little boy and i was sitting there one day bruce is doing nails and his son is crawling around his shoulder daddy i love you bruce i love you too son and started doing nails well i experienced that when he got older he came in one day i was there and uh he walks right over to his father and gave him a kiss and said daddy i love you and bruce steady doing nails i love you too son he was a special person in my life we shared something together which was a birthday but different years his his was i think i read here at 54 and mike was 30 1931. so so we had quite a few years but he was such a special person in my life it was such a shock to me i think i felt sort of like a mother to him and but my nails haven't been the same since and they never will be i told him that a few weeks ago when i talked to him and when i got the call about him it was quite a shock to me but i don't know and never have known a person in my life that was as nice as bruce was i have a little something i'd like to read here because this was bruce it's called letting go to let go doesn't mean to stop caring it means i can't do it for anyone else to let go is not to cut myself off it's the realization that i can't control another to let go is not to enable but to allow learning from nature natural conscious consequences and what god allows to happen in the person's life to let go is to admit powerlessness which means the outcome is not in my hand but in god's hand to let go is not to try to change or blame another person but to remember that only god can change a heart to let go is not always to care for but to care about to let go is not to fix but to be supportive to let go is not to dare it but to allow another to be the person god is molding them to be to let go is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes but to allow others to see how god will direct that path to let go is not always to be protective but it is to permit another to face reality to let go is not to deny but to accept to let go is not to nag school or other but search out my own shortcomings and to correct them to let go is not to adjust everything to my desire but to take each day as it comes to let go is not to criticize or regulate anyone but to personally try to become what god wants me to be to to let go is not to regret the past but to grow and live for the future to let go is not to fear and not to fear left to let go is to fear less and love more that was bruce to me i thank you so much for allowing me to speak guys [Music] praise the lord praise the lord everybody once again here we are at papi's request um we did a rendition for my grandmother's uh funeral mother annie bower [Music] at my mother's request these are some songs that poppy actually loved and i heard him singing and he had other artists that he liked and the girls and i kaelin lauren and jesse would like to minister to you today amen and my husband i'm so sorry [Music] is [Music] my time [Music] have i let my life shine have i made [Music] is eternal game [Music] me [Music] is am i wasting my time [Music] oh [Music] no of course not [Music] [Music] is [Music] alone i love you jesus [Music] i love you jesus [Music] i love you jesus i worship and adore you i just want to tell you [Music] jesus [Music] jesus i don't feel now [Music] nobody told me [Music] [Music] from [Music] is [Music] is [Music] you and this is the song that the lord gave me is short and we'll just sing it for you one time through the storm [Music] will never ever [Music] me applause thank you sheryl lauren kayla sassy thank you so very much we appreciate you god bless you real good moving on our programming for this morning for this afternoon uh pastor tanya dennis first leader of this church will be coming to acknowledge some of the cards and immediately after she finishes the choir will return with a selection and then will be followed by remarks by larry woody and his team of buddies anthony yarborough and yarbrough and dennis wright then olivia richardson who's a customer also and then we have children led by lamar with katrina kevin and cheryl and then the grandchildren lived by andrea with jesse taylor dante sydney kaelin lauren mitchell bryce and bruce all right in that order please it is of the lord's mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not they are new every morning great is thy faithfulness the family would like to acknowledge with deep appreciation the many expressions of love concern and kindness shown to them during this hour of bereavement we are unable to read every card and letter given to the family but we would like to acknowledge those that have given and those that have sent expressions of love the lord is close to all who call on him psalm 145 verse 18. mother johnson as you walk through this time of loss may you know that the lord walks with you and he will comfort you love the vow ministry the voices of widows and widowers of kingdom worship center in every message of comfort in every word of concern in every expression of love may you feel the compassion and caring of a faithful heavenly father who knows your every need and will continue to sustain you through this time of deepest sorrow with sympathy and with caring love overseer allen and elder sharon wicks promises of god's comfort and hope jesus said i am the resurrection and the life those who believe in me even though they die will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die john 11 verses 25 and 26 may god's hope-filled promises bring comfort to your soul and peace to your heart with heartfelt sympathy our lester and family also expressions were sent from lucille and carl moody shelley and aaliyah johnson and our own mother maggie thompson and the kingdom worship center family god bless you right thank you jesus is jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] what's up [Music] [Music] my out [Music] [Music] wow [Music] right [Music] [Music] ah [Music] god [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Music] wow [Music] again oh [Music] [Music] oh oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] oh my god [Music] my god [Music] please uh [Music] bye oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] only come come on zion you notice to make it strong oh yeah somebody know somebody going through something right now [Music] [Music] am i not feeling right now but now then i know together [Music] foreign god is walking me down come on touch yourself say oh my god is [Music] as long as you're in control i know things will work out for me [Music] if you got a witness that's a good place to praise him right there if you got a witness in your belly that's a good place to praise him right there you've got a witness in your building that's a good place to praise him right now gonna work out god says it's gonna work out [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] you never saw bruce dance but he didn't mind watching you dance so if you want him to watch you now it's a good place for him to watch you right now hallelujah it's gonna work out for our good it always does for the good of them that love the lord and to those that are called according to his purpose amen gentlemen would you come those gentlemen that are to speak [Music] good morning church my name is george chestnut i've known bruce for over 45 years and this moment reminds me of this this poem by linda ellis and it's called the dash how and the poem starts off and talks about there's there's a man who is speaking at his friend's funeral where it talks about on the program it talks about the beginning dash the end the beginning is when you come to earth the end is where you leave earth but the most important thing in there is the dash the dash why is that important because that dash is our life and bruce's life the dash everyone here who can hear the sound of my voice and see my face you're here because you were part of bruce's dash and that is so important we only uh are born once and we do i die once but we live 47 years 67 years 68 years 90 years that's our dash and i just want to talk about my dash with my boy bruce for anybody who knows bruce bruce always said look look look look look look look look look right that that's what bruce did so here's what kind of happened in 1986 i moved out to california i'm there for maybe a year and i bring out bruce my friend tony yarborough and dennis white right so we go to this place where it's a restaurant that turns into a nightclub okay and and they have happy hour and at happy hour it's from five until eight you eat all the foods free and all the refreshments are half price so i'm thinking okay i'm going to bring my guys over they've never been to california we go to this restaurant and what does bruce do the the place is maybe almost the size of of this with tables everywhere bruce in his ultimate wisdom he went from table to table introducing himself and he hit tony with him and he says hi my name is bruce johnson i'm from baltimore maryland and this is my friend tony hi my name is bruce johnson i'm from baltimore maryland this is my friend tony and he did that to every single table all night okay and so here's what kind of happened which just drove me nuts halfway through our night of entertainment i'm on the opposite room of this club now and i'm dancing up with this girl and while we're dancing she stops me and said can we dance near bruce on the other side of the floor i'm like what so needless to say they were they were standing in line and bruce is talking to him these are perfect strangers that he never met until he got there okay and they're standing in line giving himself one minute to talk and talk talk and dance to bruce and it happened for a while so bruce bruce had that uh that personality that he dr he brought you in there was never a person wherever bruce went that he didn't meet you he didn't say something to you and i'm so glad and so happy and so proud that i was a part of bruce's dash okay a definite dash hello everyone um my name is larry woody but everybody calls me woody and i'm gonna be brief i've known bruce um bruce and i met when we were in third grade uh and uh all of these people here i know through bruce but i'm saying bruce and i were in the third grade down in harlem park everybody here in no holland park so third grade fourth grade fifth grade sixth grade seventh grade we're together every day after school weekends bruce when bruce was away from holland park he was meeting all these folks you know um but uh so he and i go deep i'm pretty sure glasgow's here linda pope uh out they are you know those are the harlem park folk um and what i want to say is that bruce i often say bruce was the people that you all know the bruce that you all know and the bruce that all these guys know i i remember when bruce wasn't that person i'm saying when he was you know saying when he was nine years old you know bruce was kind of clumsy uh you know he had trouble with the girls uh you know he you guys making me laugh i mean you know he wasn't in school i mean he didn't do well in school i tell you we used to be in the band together bruce plays saxophone i played trumpet in the fourth grade bruce would be back when we had concerts just moving his fingers he was he he never learned to play the thing but but you know but he would just but he'd be okay you know he's he's jamming but but the thing is the point is all these people i met through bruce bruce knew how to hook up with the right people you know i'm saying like he and he knew good people these are all excellent folk and i you know i'm glad to know them all but i wouldn't know any of them were it not for bruce i mean we're the boys and the girls you know right but um and i'm just going to tell one other story about bruce that for me encapsulates him is that uh you know i was telling bruce about once when we were going on a trip on the road and uh in east baltimore we yeah in herby right and everybody people know herbie that bug but uh we came on a fire there was a house that was on fire and bruce pulled over rushed into that burning house and i was right behind him i was behind him because there was smoke and heat coming from up there bruce rushed up those steps and i looked and he came down with this little lady you know but here's the thing bruce doesn't remember doing that can you that's who the dude was he doesn't even remember it i mean he you know he brought the lady down he left off he got right back in the car and drove off he didn't give his name or anything that's who bruce said but the thing is he doesn't remember doing it i can't believe that i mean i would be telling everybody about that you know but it was no big deal um excellent fellow he followed me wherever i went and i i left baltimore when i was like 13. but bruce came wherever i was he never he never let the thread break and and i'll tell all the people here that know me from back then you know like i'm gonna have to work hard to stay in touch with folk because bruce was my tie like like you know like george is saying um but he was an excellent guy that knew excellent people i'm proud to have known him i think that's enough uh good afternoon my name is ted i've also been a friend of bruce we've all been a friend of bruce if not all our lives it feels like all our lives and i was kind of shy to tell this story but bruce asked me to tell this story that that part chokes me up lamar was there when this story happened and the story is about a bottle of jack daniels some people some people have heard the story of the jack daniels so some people in this group bruce some other people some people in the audience uh we would go on canoe trips we would go for three days in a canoe down the shenandoah river this was for real folks uh we had god with us because it was dangerous but we was blessed the whole time we all made it through because we were being watched and we were loved but this one particular trip it was the father and son trip so it was four adult men and five male children and we're going down the river we had four canoes when the river was smooth when it was smooth sailing we would tie the boats together and kind of relax and put fish or take a nap or whatever so we're just coasting four canoes strapped together tony was in one of them george was not there on that one uh george sorry sorry george dennis was not there on that but anyway there's four guys we're going down the river i relax and open the cooler grab a full bottle jack daniels we're not going to discuss the merits of jack daniels we're just going to say that's what happened so i grabbed a full ball of jack daniels i opened it i took a sip just a little sip because we got children who are trying to be responsible i take a sip of jack daniels i put the top on george is in the canoe not next to me but the other canoe he says hey i do jack daniels i said no problem he's right there he's close as this speaker he's right there i say no problem i go whoop i throw the bottle of george george mrs the bottle it falls in the river right between his hands whoop made this sound it's gone we look at each other now remember this is three days on the river we can't go get another bottle there is no getting another bottle there's four men that was gonna share that bottle for three days it's gone bruce heard the commotion he was kind of relaxing bruce heard the commotion he sat up in his canoe looked at us saw our expression what happened george dropped to jack daniels in the river george looked around what did he do lamar he grabbed his gloves he would swim at the at the gym so he had these gloves these aquaman gloves he put on his aquaman gloves and he put on his goggles and he just rolled off the boat he just we're on the shenandoah river y'all come on he just he didn't think about it he didn't say how deep it is he didn't say how far did he just rolled off the boat in the water so i'm pointing the bottle's like way over there and i'm standing in the boat like this and i'm pointing that way bruce disappears under the water it's gone for a long time he was gone for a long time we started worrying about bruce don't worry about bruce though bruce is touched by god but we were worrying about him a little bit and so he's he comes up in the water and he goes and i go no no bruce back a little more he disappears under the water again now you got to remember he's going upstream he's going upstream okay so we're fighting to keep the boat still and the other people floating passes are going what the heck are y'all doing bruce is under the water looking for a bottle of jack daniels we drew a crowd okay so now bruce is still down there then he comes up way back there he goes he's too far we can't even talk to each other i'm like a little bit further bruce goes back down under the water again gone for a long time where the crowd is getting bigger people canoeing by what's going on our friend is under the water looking for a bottle of jack daniels y'all is crazy is what they said all of a sudden way back there this is what happens imagine this is a bottle of jack daniels and this is the river this is what happened [Applause] that's what happened like poseidon in his fork bruce came out of the river people were cheering people we didn't know people wouldn't know he made his way back to the boat he just slid right back in the boat opened the jack daniels we was passing that around to strangers do you or do you not remember that story is that the way that story went did i get anything wrong i didn't get anything wrong that was bruce that was part of like my brother george said that was part of the dash bruce loved us we love bruce amen my name is paul taylor i'm not going to be long some of my brothers are shy so i will just say um that we absolutely you you um you've never met somebody who collects people bruce collected people everywhere bruce went he met people uh joyce was relaying a story to me about they went to greece on a on a uh on a cruise and they're walking through the you know on the boat and all of a sudden somebody says bruce and somebody in greece knew bruce so he was an absolute collector of friends and he loved anyone that he met he loved you thoroughly i mean it wasn't any gap between who he was and the love that he had for people so i just want to say that what you're hearing here is not we're not making these stories we've experienced this guy okay we're part of his dash but now everybody here is a part of that dash so i just want to make sure that you all understand that so well thank you so much and i think sherry you had something to say thank you joyce bruce johnson we are so grateful to god that he graced this world with you thank you bruce for being you bruce bruce the one who taught me he said sherry with your gracious personality cause that's kind of like bruce i used to say hi to everybody he said a friend is somebody you want to have and when i went over to joyce and bruce's house when i my last visit with him i wore this dress because yellow is my most favorite color and i asked george wear my yellow dress and my sister and i said to him i said to bruce because i knew god was calling him home i said bruce phosphines are like autumn leaves they can be found everywhere but a true friend like you bruce is a diamond precious and rare he taught me that a stranger is a friend you haven't met yet how about that a stranger is a friend you haven't met yet because if i knew you and you knew me and each of us could clearly see that inner light divine the meaning of your heart and mind we probably clasp our hands in friendliness if i knew you and you knew me and i knew you bruce and all of us knew him and i just want to say thank you god and bruce remember the last thing i said to you boy i see you in the right hand corner of heaven i love you blessings to all of you good afternoon everyone i'm going to talk about the dash that a lot of you all may not know but i met bruce many many years ago over 30 some years ago he came to do my nails for the first time at bwi airport because we had a delayed flight now that was when you were able to come into the airport area and watch the people leave bruce came in and did my nails and i was impressed and been he's been doing my nails ever since but right now they need some prayer right now bruce is the type of guy as you all know that would do anything for anyone at any time no matter where bruce and i had a radio show on spirit 1400 and wolb called the fat-free zone and for those who remember that radio show we had a lot of people to call in constantly asking us about weight loss because bruce and i was doing just about everything if it was something to be done as far as health bruce and i was on it he would call me about something i would call him about something and that was the type of person that bruce was he always was there and so when he caught when people call into the radio station and bruce said well i can't see you but i know that you're not a fat person so we're gonna give you some information so you can make sure you have friends that can use it and so he never had a bad thing to say about anyone whether he knew him or not and so that was the type of person that bruce was and we're going to always remember that and ted tony dennis we also been on a canoe trip georgia was a lord different than the one you explained but it was it was fun and uh it was 13 canoes remember 13 canoes right and bruce was like okay we're gonna have some fun and they was teasing me because it was my first time going on a canoe trip and i didn't know what to pack so i started packing clothes like i was going on a cruise and the boys was like where do you think you're going this is a canoe are we going to be out there in the woods you can't be wearing all these fancy clothes i had matching yellow matching green matching outfits and bruce was saying no no no that's not going to work so i said okay so i had to go back and get clothes that i figured i wasn't going to use well but we end up wearing the same thing just about for three days but we had fun it's a lot of things that we're going to take with us to the grave but in the meantime yeah but no i'm going to go there right but i just want to say that that dash in between bruce living and the time he's not with us he's going to always be with us and we're going to always remember the good times because he was a good time person he was the only man that my husband would allow in the house when he wasn't there and ladies as you know bruce always gave us some advice on what we could do to keep our men happy and so that's the type of person that he was that he's always given advice wanted and unwanted but bruce you will be missed we love you and bruce and bryce y'all you know that was your that was hey you his heart so i know you all gonna miss him daily so joyce we love you too we're not gonna be strangers to you we're gonna always be there okay so lamar you got a big family up here okay and we gonna look out for you just like your father did all right so don't feel like you're alone okay we got your back just want to end this with bruce's favorite quote he would say he would always say um to love is to care and to care is to share by bruce johnson so was miss olivia richardson in that group she's not here okay and uh yeah i think that's it how about uh all that's later on okay children the children katrina kevin um i just want to just say how much poppy meant to me um and how he accepted me and and my brother and my sister as one of his kids and he treated me like his daughter you know when i was going through a lot of things when i had the cancer diagnosis how he was there for me and he would constantly call and just be encouraging he emphasized how important it was for health one of the things i could say about poppy is that he always made salads and you guys know poppy salads and whenever you make he made a salad you know it didn't take long but i will miss him he was really special really special to us i'll be brief um thank you for this opportunity and to speak um as one of his children actually um poppy i don't like to say stepfather but he was my poppy but he was my father longer than my actual biological father and he meant so much to me the coolest thing he did when i got married he said cedric is a solid dude he said but i'm gonna tell you this he pulls cedric to the side he said look you say you're gonna take care of and you're gonna make sure she good right and he said yeah don't bring her back here that's what the brother said and he didn't and we're still together so praise god god is good god is good but um what i love i'm gonna miss the little things about poppy um how he was never there and i you know also i would like to say i've had some wonderful male figures in my life and so uncle ralph you have been amazing in my life as well and so i was very blessed to have those male figures in my life but to trina to kevin lamarr my mom all the grandchildren i'm just so grateful that he was a solid dude authentic in everything that he did and he was the only man that i know can go into a room i brought him to an event for my um i was in life insurance for a long time and he came and he was in the back and when he left they did the same thing bruce i'mma call you i was like wait a minute i work here so you know people didn't talk to me right so but he had that infectious personality and he just any i don't care what race he were i don't care what happened but i do want to say this he was a man of health and faith he said to me i went to spend some time with him he said sure and i'm doing this for accountability because i need your prayers and support he said i need you to lose 100 pounds he said i need you to do that because it's important you have a husband and children and grandson that depend on you and so poppy i'm committed to it i don't know what i'm doing but i'm going for it thank you uh this may be hard for me um i don't know what to say um what can i say ah i love my dad he loves me all i can say is thank you thank you dad miss joyce i always called him miss joyce i don't know why but it was always miss joyce miss george i thank you you walk with dad from the start till he got his wings you knew when dad needed to take a vacation he worked so hard day and night even though he may not have wanted to go on vacation he would be kicking and screaming but you knew and i thank you to my siblings i love you guys you always accepted my dad as your dad he was nothing less than biological and i appreciate each one of you thank you to the bower family the dennis family the lily family thank you he was your brother you guys accepted him from the day that you met him no less than a biological no less than blood i thank you for being there for him thank you to my dad's friends who were just up here i believe my uncle woody um belinda poe was she here um i have a couple of names here but you all saw them here i think you guys you guys became not just friends but you guys all became brothers and sisters i thank you for sowing the seed in my dad laughing with him talking with him which in turn he did with me i thank you the last thing i want to thank is my dad no other dad i would ever want from the days that we uh from the first day i was born he was eating grapes and pretzels in the operating room offering the doctor if he wanted some from the adventures of us going down the road to duquesne university to having to go to georgetown university every week when i had uh my kidney transplant he was always there never missed a beat never missed a date y'all y'all may not have known this but when i was less than one uh there was a swim class for toddlers on that day as the swim class started this is a story i was told okay as the film class started the swim teacher and their toddler or infant um they were told to [Music] um ease your child into the pool my dad didn't ease me in the pool i was tossed in the pool the word is that my mother gave him this devilish look um and told him to get my baby out of the water um but that was dead he was a swimmer he knew that i was going to survive but that wasn't what my mother thought i want to thank him for loving my boys bruce and bryce that's his legacy he loved them beyond measure i thank him for the blueprint that he gave me to be a father i couldn't ask for a better one on this day all i can say as i started is i don't know what to say all i can say is thank you thank you to bruce l [Music] johnson [Music] [Music] so [Music] hello can you hear me okay so going back and forth of what to really say um because i don't want to make it all about me but on the behalf of all the grandchildren poppy for us was someone who taught us a lot i know from the my very first memory of a child of remembering him like my first memory was i called him grandpa and he was like no call me poppy and i was like poppy poppy my second memory which i'll cherish forever was when he was doing my grandmother's nails and her nails were red and i was mesmerized by my grandmother's nails and i said poppy i want red nails he said no you're too young you get pink nails poppy never gave us red nails because when we were younger because that was for grown folks we weren't grown yet poppy taught us how to start the fire in the house when he would get the wood he would start it up he'll say come on over here i've saw him do it to plenty of time to my cousins and my sisters how to start the fire how to put the wooden air he taught me how to drive in snow he taught me how to drive a stick he taught me how to swim underwater one thing i would really miss about poppy was our long conversations at 11 o'clock at night about whatever and everything family friends boy stuff i will miss it then grandma will come downstairs and be like what are y'all doing y'all still up y'all still talking i will miss his popcorn i will miss his salads i won't miss that green stuff that he put in shot glasses and then we go straight to the bathroom won't miss that but papi always gave great advice to us and it was just something about his presence his aura his his love for us that just all the the negative things it would just go away he was a person that was never on somebody's side he saw everybody's side and he never talked down to you or like made you feels any type of way he would tell you that other person's point of view and you'd be like oh even no matter how mad you are how confused you are and he will always meet you where you are talking to you and he understood you and that was such a gift that he had and i i loved it i loved the fact that all of our birthdays as far as meeting my grandmother and his we're so close together but a lot of our birthdays up here are in september and i will always say we need to come together because it's our birthdays and yeah we gotta have a birthday dinner i'm gonna miss that um the one last thing that i appreciate that he has done was i felt as though that and i talked to grandma about this that he brought the family together it was it was difficult because sometimes the families you know like you don't talk or you don't see each other as often because of whatever situations but in those last moments with poppy it's like we all came back together um and i i love that about him um i the one last advice that he gave to me was when he was in the bed and he said to me you know life you know you get things in life like life brings you stuff tough stuff and it's sometimes it's very hard to deal with and he was like life brought me cancer and it's it's hard it's tough it's really kicking my butt but you know like you got to get through it and it's how you get through it which will define who you are and during this whole entire time i'm thinking like what would poppy say to me because i need poppy right now because there's a lot of stuff going on and he would be the person that i would talk to and all i keep remembering is his face of when he talked about it and when he talked about it he had a smile on his face even when he said it was tough and it's sad it's heartbreaking i lost my best friend that was that was my homie for real and um but i love the love that he gave me and my family i didn't even know he wasn't my real grandfather like for but yeah anybody gonna talk okay okay [Applause] do you want to say something you sure you want to say something say something okay [Applause] the lord gives us grace for our assignments doesn't he thank god for that we're so grateful just to break it up a little bit i think it's brett uh brother reggie mc clerk in here yes yes brother mcclure king i hear you you're the brother of donny praise the lord bless you come on sir he's going to give us a selection how about uh to take hinton george chestnut have you already made presentation you have there are already great fantastic fantastic let's give brother mcclure in a hand as he comes to minister to us god bless you the lord everybody i'm not going to belabor the time but i'm just so glad to be in a house where everybody's telling the truth it's so refreshing and when i walked in the door and i saw brother lester on the drums i knew i was in a good place so i'm in the presence of greatness archbishop dennis you've been a part of my family's life for many years bishop g lady pastor tanya i'm just glad to be here and i'm just going to add one thing about bruce bruce always said he said mclaren said you go on stage he said well i learned to never leave no money on the table bruce was not gonna give up if there was any way to make a dollar bruce was gonna do it and i just want to do this little song sister joyce i thank god for you thank you for sharing this walk this life journey with bruce i honor you i bless you and i want you to know you don't have to worry because you know where he is so to all the kids lamar kevin cheryl and karina right i want to do this a little trivia [Music] as a songwriter you come up with these little songs and i'll never forget bruce was a man i've known for over 50 years and i've never seen him not having a smile on his face so i want to do this little song and you notice when the team was up here we all getting old now so i guess [Music] why do we cry the tears ever dry how do we hold on and the road ahead seems long although we've got to let you go you're in a better home well i can't wait to talk to you again my friend there's so many questions that we don't know where to begin why when it rains when the sun [Music] place where joy will never end but i can't hardly wait talk to you again bruce my friend there's so many questions [Music] be okay now as you're resting in your resting place but we can hardly wait to talk to you again my friend [Music] all our greater pain precious memories still remain so let me try to understand how this is [Music] we'll never forget you we'll never forget the wonderful times until we meet again dear husband farewell father too we say farewell until we meet again so why do we ask why when unlocked ones may die how do we hold on when we feel so all alone with our faith and trust in god he will [Music] there's so many questions we know just where you are and we'll keep pressing on until we see you when the dawn will be okay that you're resting in your resting place but bruce we can't hardly wait to talk to you again my friend [Music] we must let you [Music] we'll never forget you we'll always forget never forget the wonderful times we share together to us your life will always be or to living legacy we say farewell dear brother farewell poppy too we say farewell until we meet again [Music] would me always have a smile on your face that could not be erased [Music] we must let you go in our hearts we know we never forget you [Music] farewell precious friend we say farewell until we meet again until we meet again [Music] until we meet again [Music] the obituary bruce lee roy johnson aka dr johnson was born september 21 1954 in philadelphia pennsylvania he departed this life on july 2nd 2021 his parents james and sarah johnson and his older brother lawrence johnson preceded him in death bruce was a person of strong character and loved serving people he always said that he was put on this earth to bring love harmony joy and peace known in his family as the doctor he had a remedy for every ailment there was no problem that he did not have a solution for he was a health consultant nail technician provider and a great lover of people bruce moved with his family from philadelphia to maryland because of his father's job relocation upon their move bruce immediately became familiar with their neighbors and began building a strong and binding friendship that has remained forever strong even until today educated in baltimore city at merventhire high school he later attended baltimore city community college he worked and modeled for travis winke for several years during his employment with travis bruce had to maintain his nails and the nails of other models this experience actually complicated capital catapulted catapulted i'm sorry him into owning a nail salon known as whisk tips whenever asked why he became a manicurist he said he put the man in the word manicure bruce was a multi-dimensional businessman in addition to owning his own nail salon he also had a transportation service working under the umbrella of two major companies as a highly sought after driver roof provided exceptional and professional service he was a cut above the rest and would gladly gladly share the secrets of his success building an enormous clientele of travelers in maryland the district of columbia pennsylvania and virginia he was recognized and received numerous awards for outstanding service his personality was infectious he was joy to be around as a member of kingdom worship center bruce also played a vital role in providing security services at kingdom fellowship covenant conferences and other events he loved to serve in 1986 he met and fell in love with joyce turner they married in 1996 and together they seemed to have traveled the world bruce adored joyce and the large family that they shared together bruce loved social events bowling family outings and traveling he was such a great husband father grandfather and friend if ever anyone called on him regardless of the time and place he would make it happen joyce called him her social bug it is amazing how whenever traveling regardless of what country they were in somebody recognized bruce while on a cruise in greece on their way to lunch someone screamed hey bruce joyce looked at him and said are you kidding me we're in the middle of the mediterranean sea and someone sees and knows you he had the kind of personality that was unusual unforgettable and unique he leaves to cherish his memory his loving wife of 25 years joyce johnson his children bruce lamar johnson kendra katrina dorman keith kevin rubin kia cheryl farmer cedric ten grandchildren andrea trenay ruben jocelyn lauren farmer tara alicia rubin dante vines sydney nicole rooman reuben kailyn renee farmer lauren elizabeth farmer mitchell farmer bruce lamar johnson ii bryce lavonne johnson one great-grandson aiden farmer god parents willie and ayetta boone and a host of family and friends to my dearest and forever love johnson if anyone is reading this note for me it means that you are in your new home out of pain and worry resting in the beautiful gardens of heaven i know that you will enjoy it there because you were such an adventurous person who loves swimming camping bicycling and all outdoor sports i am so glad that i met and married you you made my life so full of love and happiness you made every effort to please me and to always make our lives pleasurable you never argued and made our house a home of you you never argued and made our house a home of love and safety you suffered so hard during your last days and were in constant pain which you despised and yet you kept apologizing to me for going through this with you it was my pleasure to serve and love you through this period in our life i only wish i could have taken the pain away but now god has called you to rest this hurts so bad because you were my closest friend and i loved you so much i will really miss that smile and unique laugh the selfish me was wondering who will do my nails who's going on vacation with me i said this to you and you said me i'm not going anywhere i am really really going to miss you so much but there are so many great memories that i will cherish the rest of my life rest my darling take your rest i will see you one day enjoy your new home i will be okay you made sure each day i miss you more as i picture you at the kitchen table or coming through the front door i miss our talks in the special way that you would understand i miss the closeness that we shared and how you would hold my hand my love is always with you even though you went away but i have been a real trooper trying to get by the best i can just know that even from heaven you'll always be my man part of our culture is that we always have a word from the lord when we say goodbye to our family and loved ones and it has now come that time there's always pressure on the preacher because everything else has been heard and laughter has been going on etcetera and now the prejudice to come so keep her in your prayers as she comes today and do what she has been allotted to do elder adrian denise carter is a sister mother grandmother ministry leader playwright workshop leader and overall servant in the kingdom of god she's a graduate of temple university in the field of social work and palmer seminary with a master's degree in massive divinity degree she's a member of beulah tabernacle church in jerusalem pennsylvania where she fulfills several ministry opportunities as an elder in the church adrian is currently employed in the field of social work assisting with reunified children with their families prayer has been a sustaining force in our life cultivated from attending all night prayer meetings and participating in prayer vigils and weekly prayer meetings where she attends church her favorite scripture is isaiah 51 3 for the lord will comfort zion he will comfort all her ways to places and will make her wilderness like eaten and are desert like the garden of the lord joy and happiness would be found therein thanksgiving and the voice of melody she's also the first cousin of bruce and she's been speaking to us today as a woman of god but also a member of the family after the choir has sought i'm going to ask you that in deference to who she is in the lord's church that your stan remains standing and she mounts this podium and bring us a word from the lord at this time the choir or those who remain i think some of them god bring us your best amen while they're coming would you just decree and declare that there is a word from the lord come on decree and clear so there is a word from the lord and we open our hearts to receive what the lord has to say to us in jesus name amen okay [Music] so [Music] so [Music] so [Music] he's [Music] me [Music] oh [Music] ah [Music] trust me [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] [Music] me [Music] me [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] it's [Music] [Music] yes [Music] trust me trust me trust me say trust me you trust me me [Music] come on and put your hands together and honor the lord oh you can do better than that you can do much better than that and you can do much better than that [Music] given honor to the lord afternoon truly i honor the archbishop ralph dennis truly such a gentleman so kind so gracious thank god for the hospitality that has been displayed to us since we walked through the door i also want to give honor to bishop gregory dennis and to pastor tanya dennis as well amen great leadership here in this house i can tell i can tell i've been many places and i can tell you have good food here thank you i want to thank you joyce for how you cared for our cousin we are here from philadelphia other areas of pennsylvania from delaware and other and even some of the family here in maryland thank you thank you for your commitment your dedication and for allowing us to come and to visit with him it was not easy i know but his grace is sufficient amen please know that we are here for you and to lamar and to rock we are here for you as well amen amen father we honor you today we thank you lord for what our ears were here what our hearts will receive and we thank you father god for a will to obey in jesus name amen you may be seated the title of the message this afternoon is love personified coming from john the 12th chapter verses 24 to 25 says verily verily i say unto you except a coin of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit he that loveth his life shall lose it and he that hated his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal there are experiences in life that we have faced are facing and will face where mere words are not able to capture or fully clarify the depth the height the width or length of the impingement of those experiences it is an impact that is felt and the words that we do know just don't give it justice or reflect the intensity of what one is feeling every fiber of our emotions can sometimes be stretched to places we did not even know existed leaving us with a greater void that cannot be explained or described it is just felt this is one such occasion but god we are saddened by the loss of a dear husband loving father awesome cousin and dear friend family member to many co-worker business owner neighbor and brother in christ yet in the midst of the weight of the loss those who were impacted by the life of bruce leroy johnson recognized that his light yet burns and it has left an indelible print on our lives and the lives of many we don't even know this kind of imprint on the lives of so many speaks to the character of a man who was not perfect but reflected a soul that was forgiven i like to think of this imprint as a divine connection one not conjured by or forged by the workings of any human manipulations or electronical or cyber contraptions but one that was created from coming into agreement by one word yes he said yes to the grace that was given to him as a gift from god something that he could not give himself and therefore could not boast or take the credit for the transforming power that came about from those three letters y e s this connection went beyond his charismatic personality his humor nuggets of wisdom on a plethora of topics his gift to gab his political and philosophical platforms his gifted entrepreneurship his hospitality and service ethic and his awesome and engaging smile it was a connection that he experienced as a result of his rebirth and the continual cultivation he embraced because of his relationship with his savior jesus christ love personified am i talking perfection no way for none of us are perfect i am talking about being forgiven i am talking about being in a relationship where he no longer carried the weight of the sins of his past or present alone but because of the divine connection he had an advocate that continued to make intercession for him day and night an advocate he could tell everything to and know that when he shared privately would not become a public conversation an advocate who would bring healing to his soul forgiveness to his heart one that would bring correction rebuke and love all at the same time one that would open his eyes to see people not as the world sees them but as god sees of them so many say well that was just bruce that's just the way he was you felt accepted by him he came from a pretty amazing family i must say look around there are many personalities in this room today people from all walks of life who have come from far and near yet it is christ who made the difference in the life of this one vessel this one seed that brought us here today yes we are here to speak on on bryce's attributes share testimonies of our relationship with him laugh together cry together and remember together but we cannot overlook the core or originator in this equation jesus christ who is love personified the scripture says in the gospel of john verily verily i say unto you except the corner of we'd fall to the ground and die you're bringing forth much fruit he that loveth his life shall lose it and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal jesus had a way of sharing nuggets of truth through short statements using earthly examples that give light to kingdom principles jesus used this image of a seed to show that without suffering glory cannot be experienced there can be no fruitful life without death no victory without surrender he was speaking about himself letting the people know and all of the inquiring minds know that everything he did was not for him to be glorified but that the glory of god would be seen his living was not about himself it was about others that would come to believe as a result of him fulfilling his purpose it's not enough to look at the outcome of a person's life and their journey for all of us here today were a part of bruce's journey and guess what each of us are a part of each other's journey because of him but we must also look at the core look at the force within the person the heart of the person jesus was letting the people know that by itself alone the seed can do nothing it cannot produce anything but when it is planted it dies and becomes fruitful it fulfills its purpose but the only way it can fulfill its purpose it must first be planted as it was with jesus so it is with each of us if you are a seed abiding alone what kind of fruit are you bearing oh i know you may feel as though because you are successful that you have money wealth houses cars and land you have degrees fame and no people that you are fruitful well you may be what is the worth or value of your fruit will it add integrity to your life will it add forgiveness of self and others to your life will it add character unconditional love and eternal life this is not to say that you have not accomplished things and that you are to hide your success under a bushel but you must ask yourself what good is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul how many times have you heard people say i thank god for all that he has done in my life and usually that's when they've just won something or they've just received accolades or made some great accomplishment but do you hear them say that when they are suffering or in pain or experiencing something tragic do you hear that same testimony when they are ill from sickness or disease whether right wrong weak strong if there is not been any dying to self there is no glory to god there has not been a heart change no surrender no dying to self and the eye concept there is no glory to god well i'm a good person i give to the poor i help people i'm nice i'm kind yet have you died to self what kind of fruit are you producing fruit that looks like you acts like you talks like you and thinks like you and how is that working for you seems like you need a new narrative for the believers in the house who have said yes continue to die to self continue to die to the i i me me me i think this syndrome allow your seed to bring forth fruit that glorifies the king hit the refresh button and take heed to what god is showing you about yourselves the areas where you need to surrender in order for your lies to glorify the father in heaven love personified says come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for i am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light god takes us just as we are right where we are straight up with no chaser with all of our flaws our hurts our pains our wounds our anger and our frustration with all of our jealousies and bitterness and unforgiveness and even our apprehensions and questions he keeps wooing us one day god took bruce just as he was right where he was with all of his positive qualities his wholesome qualities his friendly qualities and loving qualities he took all of his pains his hurts his loneliness his wounds his uncertainties and fears because he said yes he stopped avoiding running making excuses and convincing himself that he did not need jesus christ and that he could do it all on his own he said yes and allowed himself to be planted so that he could experience love personified was there some pain and discomfort yes was there some tears were there questions yes did he did he dot every eye and cross every t no he was just forgiven and there was a joy unspeakable and full of glory of peace that he experienced that he was not able to explain and a love that covered his past and thrust him into a new life a life eternal where he is now present with the lord everyone here today is the harvest the fruit of bruce's yes no matter where you met in his life's journey and guess what each time you think on him or remember something he said or even a thought of him brings a smile on your face remember that is fruit still being produced from that one seed love personified when you remember the seed you remember jesus and the transforming life force that he is yesterday today and tomorrow this is not a time to wander or ponder or rationalize or allow denial or pride to block your seed opportunity i'm not talking about religion i am talking about a relationship for everyone that says they love bruce you need to know that you encountered the love of the one who loves him receive your gift today and receive ye him receive love personified bow your heads those of you who have heard the word today with your heart and not with your mind receive the lord now by opening your mouth and repeat after me i am a sinner forgive me jesus i believe you died on the cross for me and i receive you in my heart and i thank you for your love amen god bless you let's give the lord another praise offering for that word what a wonderful word what a wonderful word what a wonderful word thank you so very much elder carter we're going to ask the morticians to come for the final viewing of the immediate family [Music] at this time as the music ministry blesses us with some music if you did not get a chance to view the body i'm sorry that time is gone this font of viewing is just for the immediate family unless the family chooses to make an exception to that role [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] if the family like to have a final viewing just let us know family if you want to stand if you want a font of viewing you may do so you may do so he's offering it to all those of you who came to bless the family today don't leave without your bag we know it's been a while but we got some refreshments a little handbag out in the narthex for you don't leave without getting your little [Music] handbag [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] wow [Music] uh [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] uh [Music] the internment will be on this coming monday at the maryland national memorial park monday july the 19th at 11 o'clock at 11 o'clock that's 13 300. uh or grandchildren or whoever to carry a few of our flowers if you're about flowers if you are gonna be a flower carrick that's good come on come right on cindy yeah come on girls that's good just got a handful here [Music] thank you i think we got one more and the pallbearers palm bearers if you would meet us in the north x you meet us in the northex pallbearers glasgow pope larry woody dennis wright if you read us in the narthex near the door that'll be prayed [Music] we're going to ask all the family and friends to stay seated or where you are until the family has exited and after the family has exited you are welcome to follow it behind them [Music] is [Music] [Music] so [Music] do [Music] do

Channel: Kingdom Worship Center Media

Views: 889

Rating: 4.8095236 out of 5

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Id: -UWe87dAjBs

Length: 172min 14sec (10334 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 17 2021