Homegoing Service for Deacon Theodore Williams

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] praise the lord everybody [Music] it's [Music] about time for call to worship thank you for coming loving on the family greeting them sharing with them your prayers and your condolences i'm sure it will go a long ways with them and on behalf of the family the williams family i say thank you so very much for your kindness it's time to worship the lord in the beauty of holiness i think we can start off by giving the lord a tremendous praise offering for loving us the way he does there's no love like the love of god nobody loves you like jesus does hallelujah greater love have no man than this than a man laid down his life for his friends hallelujah this is the love of god and we bless his name today may god bless you real good as we have our presider overseer heartless for this is the day that the lord has made we will rejoice and be glad in it come on is there anybody that can just open your mouth and worship him right here come on all over this house do i have any worshipers that can just rest upon your feet with hands lifted come on let's just give him glory let's give him honor all in this house we bless the name of the lord you are my strength [Music] strength [Music] reaches to me come on help me say you are my strengths [Music] strength like no other [Music] [Music] straight like no [Music] said it reaches me [Applause] [Music] strain like no other [Music] come on we've come together [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you for lifting me [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] me [Music] come on anybody come together [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] joy [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] nobody great nobody great it's nobody greater than you ain't nobody great nobody grabs [Music] [Applause] [Music] nobody great [Music] oh your name is [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] your name is [Music] [Music] my [Music] [Music] we [Music] [Music] we is [Music] [Music] come on right here lift your voice and just give him glory come on i need some people that can declare the mighty of the works of his hand come on can i get some worshipers to open your mouth and just declare that the lord is good we declare that god is good even on a bad day god is a good god and so we come to give him glory we've come to give him honor we've come to extol him we've come to speak well of him we've come to lift up the name of jesus because he is truly holy he is holy he's holy he's holy he's holy he's holy he's perfect he's pure he's the king of kings and the lord of lords can we just open our house and declare that our god is a good god in this place [Music] you're worthy of all our praise [Music] so almighty are the works of your hand say mighty all the works [Music] [Music] the works of your [Music] [Music] the works of your hands i'll never know how much it costs to see my sins upon that cross i'll never know how much it costs to see my sins upon that cross [Music] so here i am to worship here i am to bow down here i am to say that you're my god you're all together lovely you're all together worthy all together wonderful to me so here i am here i am here i am here i am here i am [Music] [Music] all together [Music] [Music] to see myself [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] just to see myself [Music] now we're getting ready to move into the worship experience but before we do can someone just lift your hands and thank god i never know how much it costs but the reality of it is i thank god that we serve a god that thought we were to die for and so he thought we were to die for so we live for him we're getting ready to move but can you take 30 seconds and just worship him right here come on all over this place let's give god glory come on let's give him glory come on let's give him glory come on we're going to be like david today and i will bless the lord at all times and his praise shall continually be in my mouth oh magnify the lord with me let us exalt his name together i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord is there anybody that can say i'm just glad to be in the house of the lord one more time is there anybody that can open up your mouth and give them praise hallelujah hallelujah to god hallelujah amen we're getting ready to progress on the service hallelujah to god elder carolyn adams is coming at this time with the old testament reading of psalm 1. can you stand for the reading of god's word with the exception of the family [Music] thank you jesus i will be reading in your hearing psalms 1. blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the lord and in his law doeth he meditate day and night and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season his leaves also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper the ungodly are not so but are like the chafe which the wind driveth away therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor the sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the lord knoweth the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish may the lord add a blessing to the reading and to the hearing of his word praise the lord as elder terry hawkins makes her way to the pulpit for our prayer john 14 says let not your heart be troubled you believe in god believe also in me and my father's house are many mansions if it were not so i would have not i would have told you i go to prepare a place for you and if i go to and prepare a place for you i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there he may be also and whether i go ye know and the way ye know amen the word of the lord is already blessed grace is god there is none like you in all the earth you sit high and you look low you call us unto yourself that you may comfort us your love never fails god we ask that you would speak to each heart god according to their own need oh god speak in a way that each individual will hear you say that i love you that i am here to carry you and so father we ask that you would have your way in this service holy spirit move comfort give clarity and understanding under gird us oh god and remind us oh god that your thoughts towards us are thoughts of good and not of evil and so father we thank you we ask oh god that you would comfort the family and those who will miss our dear brother comfort as only you can comfort oh god in the days to come when the crowds have stopped and the phone calls have stopped oh god remind them that you are the friend that sticks closer than a brother remind us oh god that your holy spirit is with ever forever with us oh god and that you will comfort you will comfort you will sustain you will continue to love you will undergird you will oh god be our god in the midst and so father we bless your name we bless your name we worship you we honor you we magnify your name above every situation oh god hallelujah and as this seed oh god has fallen to the ground god we ask oh god that abundant harvest will come out of this testimony oh god that lies will be saved those will call on you oh god to know your precious salvation and so father we thank you we thank you o god for the harvest that is to come o god we will speak well of you o god and we trust god for the harvest that will come in the name of jesus thank you god for being the god of all comfort thank you god and we bless your name amen [Music] come on can we just take a moment and open our mouths and bless him right here come on can we just take a moment and bless him right here come on this is a celebration can we take a moment and give god glory come on all over this place i need some believers right now to send strength and praise to this family come on zion come on zion come on zion come on zion come on zion come on zion [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah we don't mourn as those who don't have hope but we mourn knowing that if we live right we'll see him again is there anybody all i need some blood wash believers to open your mouth and let's give them glory in this place let's go hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah the devil is a liar and god is exalted hallelujah we thank you we don't cry but we celebrate the fact that he made it in so to god be the glory [Music] be the glory i'm gonna show you about something hallelujah hallelujah we give him honor we give him praise we bless his name we bless his name i'm moving trust me but we got to get the embassy right we bless his name we bless his name [Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] you may be seated in the presence of the lord i apologize i do have home training i promise so i give honor to archbishop i give honor to the pastor of this house bishop dennis lady dennis but i have come to give god glory today i have in specific instructions deaconess joy said to me she said nephew i want this to be a worship experience she said i don't want to have a funeral but i want to have a worship experience so i believe that everything we do today must be intentional every scripture we read must be intentional i believe that the word from the bishop is going to be intentional i believe that the remarks will be intentional look at your name and say neighbor we've come to be intentional today this is not a hacking chance but we have come to be intentional so i've come to intentionally give god glory i've come to intentionally lift my hands i've come to intentionally bless the name of the lord let everything that ever praise the lord [Music] one thing about a bishop when i was in the world i didn't need a lot of people i just needed the right people i dare you to look at your neighbor and say neighbor i don't need a lot of people i just need the right people and when i showed up at the party and my friends didn't want to dance with me i learned how to dance all by myself i dare you to look at your neighbors and neighbors sometimes you got to learn to dance all by yourself why because you weren't there when god delivered my soul you weren't there when he made me whole you were not there sometimes it was just me riding in my car so i had to learn to give him glory all by myself so i've come to intentionally bless the lord we are moving but i need everyone under the sound of my voice to do something for me please as we've already established protocol and honor the set gifts of this house if you would please do me a favor and help me by honoring uh deacon williams's wife his daughter his children and his family his grandson can you this congregation help me by honoring his life by celebrating his family my family come on come on hallelujah come on you can do better than that hallelujah and so today we've come as elder terry has already spoken to speak well of to declare the goodness in the good works i am humbled to be deaconess deacon williams uh nephew i'm humbled to stand in this place to serve you all today we're moving right along with the service and the celebration ensemble will come at this time with this election amen because the lord [Music] he lets me rest in a meadow's quest and he leaded me beside the quiet stream [Music] he restored [Music] that's why i'm safe that's why i'm safe [Music] he is on [Music] because the lord is my shepherd i have everything [Music] besides a quiet stream [Music] that's why i'm safe that's why i'm safe [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] of [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] you don't have to wonder where i am you don't have to wonder [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] people don't appreciate being safe until you've been felt unsafe but it's something about being in the presence of the lord that i'm safe hallelujah we will have the reading of our obituary and resolutions by minister andreas clark coming at this time amen amen [Music] hallelujah hello and good morning praise god for this morning for this day that he has made today we ch choose to rejoice and be glad in today as we celebrate the ongoing of the late theodore frank williams senior my brother my brother as many of us know deacon theodore frank williams would always his brothers in this way anyone who has known him remember theodore saying this my brother my brother a term of endearment and he said it twice once you know to for me it was like a point of agreement like or accountability once as a brother in the flesh and a brother in the lord that's how it was for me when i think about it it was personal anyway i'm gonna read i'm gonna do what i was called to do here to do today and as read the the obituary the living legacy that continues even here and now as deacon has gone on to be with the lord the biography theodore frank williams senior was born on november 14 1952 to the late william williams and nanette stancil in glen cove long island new york theodore was in the first grade when the family moved to the city of brotherly love philadelphia which he loved praise the lord where he continued his education in the philadelphia public schools he moved to baltimore in 1987 in 1997 he married his dear wife joy moore or joy williams as we know her today fresh fire together they raised their three children theodore junior theodore jr zakiyah and malik he commuted to pennsylvania to continue his formal education and completed his master's in human service from lincoln university shortly after he enrolled in the doctoral program at capella university social justice advocate speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves for the rights of all who are destitute speak up and judge fairly defend the rights of the poor and needy proverbs 31 8 through 9. social justice was not just a career focus it was a life mission for theodore he began service as a volunteer for constituent services in the office of the late honorable lucian blackwell philadelphia city account council and continued to support councilwoman janie blackwell's community events even after relocating to baltimore feeding the homeless and distributing food and clothing in philadelphia became a family event his love and compassion for the underserved and overlooked led him to work in various human service jobs his career path included work at volunteers of american of america maryland department of human resources first steps incorporated and partners in recovery he acquired certification and credentials that aided in his skills to advocate for those in need he was a certified housing standards inspector certified shelter operations manager addictions program specialist and juvenile judge drug court coordinator he was founder of a not not-for-profit organization that helped youth aging out of foster care to transition into the community praise god old school neighborhood and friend the r b sounds of philadelphia were never too far from his playlist of course unless it was his favorite group that hailed from los angeles the whispers anyone who really knew theodore knew he was old school that he was i'm going to remember him mostly for his fedora hats or any kind of hat that he wore his bow tie and he was always sharp right that's not in the program but let's move on he was old school and loved him and he loved the whispers he retained lifelong relation friendships with friends from his years growing up in philadelphia neighbors on the closed court where he lived knew him as mr theodore the neighbor that was particular about his grass excuse me the neighbor that was particular about his grass and as i remember theo i can imagine this but he's equally willing to cut neighbors grass when he had the lawnmower going he was that neighbor that made sure folks had access to the food boxes he delivered during the shutdown and information about opportunities that existed to help the folks in the block theodore was known to his old friends and family members nieces and nephews as frankie and uncle frankie he enjoyed boxing volleyball and politics campaigning discussing and following politics i remember that about theo oh he was fiery about them politics yes he was don't get on his bad side when it came to politics father and grandfather pop pop to zariel cara amir and scotland whether a potato chip snack that snacking fest or and boys night out with amir poolside visits with cara game time with scotland or or attending zariel's dance recital pop-pop enjoyed family time i remember that about theo as well true family man theodore and joy traveled on the road in support of theodore and basketball zakiyah and volleyball teams and locally with malik and soccer it seemed the family wrote relocated to lincoln university's campus when zakiyah enrolled there did you all up and move or what deacon in the lord's church for those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in christ jesus first timothy 3 13. theodore accepted jesus christ as his lord and savior in september 1997 while attending first apostolic church under the pastorate of apostle cornelius showwell he served in the family life ministry there before joining kingdom worship center our home under the leadership of archbishop ralph dennis it was there that he became a minister and ordained deacon it was here excuse me that he became a minister and or deacon ordained deacon he served as a deacon in various tasks in caretaking of the sanctuary and the church grounds he served in the men's ministry and was instrumental in starting a celebrate recovery group at the church praise be to god he enjoyed developed skits and took on the characters of mother and father johnson when given the opportunity to share in family ministry left to remember or left to continue theodore leaves to remember him wife joy williams children theodore junior zakiyah imani malik grandchildren zarielle cara scotland and namir siblings russell mosetta carolyn melinda patricia adams irene stancil and clarissa blount oliver he will be remembered by a host of family and friends he was pre-deceased by parents nanette and william and siblings stefan stephen layla and harriet praise god and now i will read a few of the acknowledgments [Music] with each new day may peace find a place in your heart oh lord our lord how majestic is thy name in all the earth psalm 8 1. dear joy and family with deepest sympathy let the beauty of each new day nourish your soul and bring you peace love you always your godmother jane jeannie janey praise the lord for help lord you created us for a better place we rejoice when our loved ones have made their way to you to wholeness and perfect peace while we mourn the loss of their departure from us thank you that one day we will experience a joyful reunion [Music] amen dear joy and family may your heart in the midst of the sorrow be comforted with the assurance that one day god will turn our mourning into joy with caring sympathy my sincere condem my sincere condolences i wish you peace and comfort as you grieve uncle theo was a very special person unique and full of life he will be sorely missed love you wendy brown remembering you in thoughts and prayers today hoping it will ease your heart to know that others care and with deepest sympathy remember you in prayer god bless the hawkins family amen our loving prayers are with you blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted matthew 5 4. thank thinking of you in this time of loss and asking god to tenderly care for your deepest needs with heartfelt sympathy we always have and always will love our williams family milton aiko and elder vera okay vivian okay praise the lord sorrow is not forever love is dear joy my prayers go out to our savior for you and your family in this time of loss i pray that you'll experience his presence in an especially comforting way revelation 21 4 in christ denise uh you've lost someone who held a special place in your heart and in your life although no one else can truly share the sadness you feel now may memories of your loved one bring you peace and reassure you that love endures forever and last but not least thinking of you joying family and asking god to surround you with his perfect peace and love the lord will comfort and sustain you you have my deepest sympathy prayers are with you love yvonne [Music] amen we thank god for that i thought y'all was slick yeah i heard that [Music] this order um deacon mitchum pastor shirley russell and ending with the senior pastor of this house bishop gregory dennis in that order amen amen i am not the pastor of this church neither am i the archbishop but i will pull your coattail if it goes beyond two minutes amen praise the lord amen amen you know the word the word of god said we give thanks give thanks to god for everything we do thanks god for the life that he gave bill there and i was good friends first before i get into what we did together let me read this my love for god is verified by how i love others the individual creator receive our love when we love his creation loving people is your service to god not just your word another thing is the greatest test of faith is when you don't get what you want but still you say thank you god i mean phil was friends um we did a lot of things together we went to visit the the sick um he was a very aggressive guy you know i mean he you know he like we used to butt head but in the end of the day he still was my boy joyce said tell you obviously come up with his house he used to cut my hair um we were just friend no leak all over his day they know i should come to the house he used to come to my house but the thing about theo i trust him you know like in life we have to have somebody we can trust oh sure you can pray but he was trying to get me to go to ciara for for many years and finally i went i'm glad i did i'm glad i did that helped me because he kept saying look you got to get that stuff out of you and i did when you get the stuff out of you that's when the healing begin you the healing begin you know that hurt hang of habits is is is it was was hurting me and he said look you got to get it out of you so me him and andres we should do the the 12 steps the 12 steps is is is a christ center 12-step recovery based on the b b attitude that 12-step helped me and i dress and feel because we was opening up the things that i can't share with anybody i could share with that brother and theo me and throw had the same age because i was i was my his birthday was december mine was in december november mine was in december and i can tell you we it just was amazing how god will work when you let all those baggage out of you he works and i'm telling you it helped me so i'm here to say that you know i'm glad i believe that god put people in your life for reason i believe that so we put through in my life for a reason and i'm glad that we became friends and um i said to the family it's gonna be hard i ain't gonna see anything gonna be high because you know you lost when you lose a loved one is very hard but in the days that come if you the word says if you lean toward me i'll lean toward you that's what you have to do and we really celebrate uh theo today so thank you for letting me share that and another thing i want to say is that at the at the end of our meeting we used to say the serenity prayer and i can i say the surrounding prayer okay the surrender prayer read like this god grant me the serenity to accept the things that cannot change the courage to change the things i can and the wisdom to know the difference living one day at a time enjoying one moment at a time accepting a hardship as a password of peace take it as jesus did the sinful world as it is not as i would have it trusting that you'll make all things right if i surrender to your will so that i may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you in the next amen so we thank you for letting me share glory to god i tell you i praise the lord for this privilege this opportunity well i'm elder dr shirley k russell and i'm a long-term friend of this brother from my time at kingdom worship center this was my buddy he had a desire what made him so special many of us me i'm a step back i'm up here by myself praise god so i'm comforted praise god but i want to share with you this brother i was chief elder a pastor or ministries here i didn't leave because of anything of strife my children were elevated in ministry i just want to get it clear that my children were elevated in ministry so their mama went with them are you with me praise god so when i heard my brother had gone to be with the lord i said it's time to come talk with my brother talk yes because all we see before you is a shell what i know of is a spirit and there's a spirit that theo had that i loved and i fell in love with it how that it was the spirit of the lord jesus christ well i come to tell you he joined my tenured here as chief elder pastor ministries i was over praise god the various about 11 or 14 auxiliaries and as chief elder at that time he had a desire to take his passion for those in need you ready you heard it in the program to help those with drug needs and physical needs and edible needs whatever it was this man had a heart to give hallelujah and as chief elder at that time he wanted to begin a celebrate recovery and so i said lord i thank you for this man because the thing that blessed me i had a son minister of god ordained in the lord who took his life by suicide so when i saw a person in the body of christ who had a mind to speak to the body of christ about real issues now i took my mask off not just to show my face but i'm here talking and i'm taking a mask off that some of you need to take off hallelujah say i have a need will somebody help me here will somebody help me here doing this coping we've been depressed we've been stressed we've been traumatized we've been dramatized what god i think there's a place to give god a hand clap glory be to god i come to tell you i look to see my brother in glory i look to see him in glory praise god doesn't matter how he went down one thing i don't know about you when i look at programs there i skim through it you know this one was born by so-and-so and father so-and-so went to this school so and so in some way or another but i'm still skimming i'm looking for something all i'm looking for is that this so-and-so gave their heart to the lord another one they say they accepted jesus christ in the pardon of the sin another man may say they were washed in the blood of the lamb that's when charlie gets excited that's when charlotte rejoices well y'all don't act like y'all know what i'm talking about but i tell you right now i'm gonna take my seat but i come to tell you as a servant of the lord jesus christ regardless of how many works we've done how much good we've done how many organizations we started and i've started a few in my own life praise god how many degrees you've earned i've earned a few myself but i come to tell you when you skim through my obituary [Applause] hallelujah you will find she was washed in the blood of the lamb she was glorified her god and that's what jesus came for that we might give our hearts to the lord make sure you do that make sure you do that god bless you [Music] praise the lord everybody oh i'm sure you can do a lot better than that praise the lord everybody come on won't you right there put your hands together come on open in your mouth for a second oh give thanks unto the lord for he is good and his mercy i said that his mercy endureth with god almighty the lord is good i said the lord is good the lord is good the lord is good the lord is good the lord is good [Music] hallelujah y'all have to forgive me because um overseeing lois i've been on sabbatical so i've only been in church for homegoing services as far as being in the physical building and it's just good regardless of the reason when we come together there's something that happens where those who are strong can bear up for those who are weak hallelujah i wish those who are strong will make a noise y'all not help me let the strong y'all not help me those of you who can find some strength be strength for somebody else oh hallelujah we declare he is a good god he makes ways where there are none hallelujah faithful is our god he's a god that doesn't make mistakes i gotta say that one again he's a god that does not make mistakes hallelujah all right i gotta i gotta get archbishop is our eulogist today but i so i gotta slow down because i'm feeling sorry theo i'm feeling a godly happiness because theo was always late for service theo was always late for service and the other times that the enemy tried to take him out we found out that the arrival date was not the arrival that you thought it's not until god finishes his work y'all not help me that i will go from this measure of glory to the next good god nobody oh god all right let me slow down i wanted to uh i want to thank you overseer hawkins archbishop dennis he shouldn't have put me up after pastor shirley k russell she's a spark that's always looking for a little piece of gasoline listen i told y'all i ain't been in the building so please watch it thank you jesus all right [Music] i can't be the reason i i i won't be part of y'all taking this further and longer than it's supposed to be thank you jesus thank you jesus [Music] do [Music] do [Music] [Music] thank you jesus you can you can you can do this i'm about to get james cleveland on youtube [Music] y'all can lean over to your neighbor just real quick just nudge him and just say i just got it [Music] it was in second kings the fifth chapter second kings five and it was around verse 10 and 11 that this man who was a mighty soldier comes to israel with a letter from his king begging that someone because i've done so many great things but i've got an issue i've watched and i've helped victory to happen i'm known for being someone who's great and mighty and violent but i have an issue [Music] he comes to israel with his letter elder gwen giving it to the king of israel the king of israel looks at the letter and says what am i to do with this am i i'm not god i can't change your issue but there is a prophet in the land who has heard about what you're going through and the prophet goes and talking about elisha y'all y'all can read it i told you where it is the prophet says to him he says if you want to get rid of this he dispatches the word that's used there's dispatch he dispatches a word at the auction i told you i hadn't been in church in a long time y'all if y'all give me because i feel like that already is something to get happy about a god who dis he dispatches a word and he becomes upset because he thought that things were going to happen a different way y'all could i thought the prophet was going to come lay hands on me and call on his god and begin to speak and that the clouds were gonna open up but he told me to go bathe in a dirty body of water because we just don't know when dirty stuff's gonna clean us up sometimes you gotta go through some dirty stuff and it's in the midst of the filth that you find out that there's a cleansing that actually can happen i've been through some hard things and i need to let you know it was never the easy things that helped me get clean it was always the difficult the hurtful that y'all that helped me the dirty things that helped me get to a place of purity but the thing is that god did it [Music] my brother he called me once i got consecrated he didn't call me my brother my brother anymore he called me my brother bishop put brother on it bishop and he would say how's my sister pastor tonya or pastor t and i'm excited to know that those things don't always happen the way you want it to happen it doesn't stop god from making it happen and i'm here to let you know today that this man that what god intended for his life god made it happen to the family y'all know i love you you know i love you tanya and i opened our family album and just saw the malik the years like could just kick you around the years there's a key on playing volleyball the years that we've spent together and theo even with a little bit more hair than in just the years as we went through our family photo album that we've been together and we're still here with you we love you and anything you need you know if we got it you've got it we're here for you we love you so much god bless you [Music] you thought i was worth saving so you came and changed my life you thought i was worth keeping so you cleaned me up inside you thought i was to die for so you sacrifice your life that i could be free that i could be home and i will tell everyone [Music] so you cleaned me [Music] that i could be free [Music] come on can i get to worship [Music] me [Music] i could be [Music] [Music] free glory hallelujah [Music] i will praise you glory [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] love everyone [Music] [Music] i'll give you glory [Music] you claim you thought i was a worth foreign [Music] so you came and changed my [Music] me [Music] that i could be free [Music] that i can be free that i can be free i can be free [Music] that i can be free say now i am free so you came and changed my life you thought i was worth keeping the reality of it is i worship god because he thought i was worth keeping when other people threw me away and counted me out he said no no i die i'm dying for you i died for you look at your neighbor saying he did it just for you i can be free i can be hope and i will tell everyone i know you thought i was world saving now if you believe that you thought that you know that he thought you were worth saving can someone worship him right now hallelujah [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] and my joy is [Music] [Music] i need some people that can worship him just to be insane today is there anybody that can thank god for salvation i thank god for salvation i thank god for salvation i thank god for jesus i thank him for salvation you praise him for houses and cards but i praise him for salvation [Music] we hallelujah to keep moving but i just thank god for salvation just look at somebody up and down euro and say he did it for you he did it for you he did it just for you hallelujah listen in this order amen you have three close friends that want to give remarks have to be strict for two minutes amen because there is a word from the lord do you believe that today there is truly a word from the lord man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded about the mouth i do believe that the archbishop has the word of the lord today we want to get to that amen praise god amen um brother lloyd mike carpenter's coming zach leach deacon isaac jones followed by the honorable jenny blackwell after those four um the family will come and give their remarks and uh we will have a somali selection to get to the word amen hallelujah to god because somebody just shout hallelujah amen the church say amen [Music] [Music] says [Music] easy [Music] i consider a privilege to speak concerning i met theodora in 1971 i was a gang worker in the city of philadelphia he was a gang man and as they say he was very aggressive and so we kind of bumped his for a while but what i found out about theodore was he had to give me heart all that other stuff was a facade deep down inside theodore loved people and i remember one time when we was when i was out doing my job as they called me which wasn't really a job was that's what i do that's what i love and i ran across it didn't look well i couldn't understand what was going on so about about a month later we about his life i was telling him things about my life and i found out two things that we had in common issues you know and that kind of bonded us right there what i found out later on is that there was the kind of guy boy he was my friend and i don't use that word loosely i don't have many friends i have associates people i know i don't call him friend though theodore was my friend he would ride and die with me i would ride and die with him you know and that bond became so i don't know how to phrase it tight you know we were out in the political process out there in philadelphia philadelphia and we just we just rolled together we just rolled i mean whatever it took to get the job done me and theodore was gonna get the job done we were blessed to have lucian blackwell who was the state rep at the time and became councilman and congressman and we had councilwoman janie blackwell there as our support they supported us through it all good bad or indifferent they were there for us and we knew that but above all that i want them pks okay so i had a little running i had to do first to get where i'm at today i remember i couldn't stand up and talk like this openly and honestly you know and being a pk kid one baptist and one pentecostal we always raise methodists i was a little confused at one point but i figured it out it's like this is like a choir something in soprano something in alto and some sing and baritone but they're all singing the same song so it don't matter what denomination you are the bottom line is have you accepted christ as your personal savior that is the bottom line and i i've seen him good bad and i've seen how god just just moved him along just moved him along you know then we had conversations recently i say within a year or two we talked about the word i see you i know what that means i'm talking too long but i'm a pk what can i say and we will talk about the lord theodore was my counselor when i was going through i said let me call theater once i got off that phone i had a different perspective as to the issues i was dealing with and we pray after we had our conversation like i said he was my mentor he helped me in situations that no one knows but me and him and he and he was there for me he was just there for me you know and this is one brother i could say i love like a brother you know and i ask that you pray for me that i continue to do what i do and do with thus have said the lord let me first give honor to god who is first in my life let me thank him for the privilege of being here to speak for my god son i have i'll try to cut some parts out the city council city of philadelphia citation from the president and members of council honoring my god and let me say that i go to funerals every week but this is one of the most difficult ones that uh i've ever attended uh we brought a group of us here you heard my carpenter john fenton 2d edwards phyllis gibson williams we're all here clarence is uh is here with his wife sitting back there we all got together we had to be here and i'll tell you it's going to be hard for me not to have late night calls when everyone was asleep in his home and theodore and i would talk or sit together and have him look at you the way he did where he looked from his heart out all the way into you all of you who have really talked with him know that or have the family come down joy and malik and zacchaeus and everybody grandchildren when we fed thousands of people they helped in any way and always whether it was wrapping gifts and giving them out helping to serve homeless people whether it was christmas or our birthday celebration in the summer for everybody's birthday or oh over the years all of the things that we've done because his mission and my mission are the same you read in this program that it's about social service it is my mission as well and i assumed that from the late great congressman lucian blackwell and uh theodore uh shared that mission as well so i uh it's difficult and uh but i'm grateful because theodore loved me unconditionally and all he loved he loved unconditionally and we left him right back the same way and i knew i met theodore when he was 16 years old and uh we worked together in the community lucian blackwell started us and as he grew up and uh as we moved on and i became his godmother it was just uh it was just wonderful it was a loving experience then all who knew him knew i was always right theater and was never against what i thought he knew all my kids growing up and they were all in the same age group and same experiences and in many ways but theater was always on my side uh i'll miss theo i'll miss our talks i i love his family they're all part of my family and uh this is a special one i will love theo as long as i live and i look forward to seeing him one day on the other side i know he's talking to wallace and his mom and all of them so uh but let me say this is a city council city of philadelphia citation honoring the memory and celebrating the life of theodore frank williams senior the council of the city of philadelphia hereby joins with family and friends to honor the memory and celebrate the life of theater frank williams senior whereas for i am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand i fought a good fight i finished my course i've kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give me on that day god in his infinite wisdom saw fit to bend down and whisper to theodore well done my good and faithful servant it is now time to come home and whereas theater frank williams was married for 23 years to joy his friend of 30 years and had three wonderful children theodore juna junior zakia and and four amazing grandchildren i won't mention i will try to skip some things to save time and wherefore he served as a constituent services rep for lucian black will end myself and would help anyone and everyone he was a humanitarian who would reach out and he was famous for just calling people just to check on you to find out how you were doing he loved serving the community especially side by side with his family theodore had a huge heart he was one of nine children and servants and never stopped reminding his siblings that he was the youngest brother of the family he would be sorely missed by so many people who had the pleasure of knowing him whereas may you find comfort in knowing that man's extremity is god's opportunity he will never leave or forsake you nor is there any sorrow including that noun which we all feel that god will not help us to handle to deal with in these difficult days ahead therefore by virtue of this citation the council of the city of philadelphia hereby extends heart felt sympathy to the family and friends and all who are here on the transitioning of theodore williams one who we love so much we hope that you will take comfort in knowing that he has certainly found peace and that he is there looking down and pleased about this legacy of goodness he is left behind so thank you we've tried to cut it so that uh other folks have a chance and let me say again family we love you and we are happy to be here and we look forward to seeing my godson again on the other side thank you we think god is good i was not on the program but i had to speak theodore i know him as pick that was his nickname i was from his gang we was from the same gang i've been knowing him all my life i was his young boy and like like mike said pick was no joke he was a very aggressive brother i called pic regular and he called me regular i don't want to confuse nobody because i i knew him as pick y'all know he messed there though okay so that's what i call it a few days before pick passed away he called me i said what's up what's going on he said you've been on my heart heavy i said i've been on your heart heavy he said yeah he says you all right i said i'm good pink was a good friend he loved everybody he loved me unconditionally he scared me when he asked told me i was on his heart heavy a few days later he passed i had to come to this town to say goodbye to my brother when i got here it wasn't many people here i was kind of disappointed a little angry i say for the guy he was this joint should be packed i looked around for my philadelphia people because he had many friends in philly i was a little upset but now when i look around i see you have many friends here in this town a lot of people couldn't make it so it's my intentions when i get back home to plan a memorial service in philly pig was a great man he's a good friend he's gonna be missed he was a good friend broke my heart i just had to get up here that's all thank you i mean we're nearing down to the end of the program we wanted to give the opportunity if you can congregation celebrate me as his family comes to give their remarks um his children and his lovely wife come on they're coming together they were speaking their own time amen come on let's celebrate them as they come hello everybody i'm eric alexander i'm one of them gang members that was with pic we've been knowing pick over 50 years you guys had him legs his wife and family had him in between but we had him first and you know what i'm so glad that it's a god because if he didn't change us lord bless y'all cause pic i call him piccadilly from south west oge coming to you live from the 215. okay now that was a man that showed me a lot of things growing up in gangs we used to stand on the corner thunderbird harmony i got the whispers from okay and it wasn't no joke but we love them and i'm born again christian now i know it's just a body in there but his spirit's in heaven and i'm here to say so long not goodbye because i'll see him up there too um good afternoon everybody excuse my voice and get hurt and get a horse you know i'm not a good real good talker but um i'm one of them guys from philly too brother and i remember pick since i was 16. i'm 67 years old see i've been knowing this blackwell been knowing that it's practically all my life mr blackwell pick is that we knew him you know my name it took me a long time to call him phil feel it all he's running guys to call me up on the phone atc what you doing man what's up you all right and i get on the phone and be like i'd be going to be going through some stuff but i would that would i wouldn't get honest you know but he helped me he took me one day and got me clean for 18 years he said tc said you can do it he said one day at a time bro you could do it pick when i met tech here from lex street philadelphia he started hanging up our way we started calling him like eric says south piccadilly from southwest philly still hanging on 50 hd our gang was called a mango nation so we hooked up the next street wrestling 50 hd we all got together with nxt mr blackwell thank you thank you for helping us met my brother what is that what is that hello hi everybody doing um i'm marvin i'm malik best friend uh my miss mister i was my guy i know him as mr williams though he ain't play that he did not play that i don't know about pick so you know he he was like a second father to me always gave me license every time i sang first thing i sent how you girls doing yeah they doing good take care of your girls you know i'm gonna do that but i just wanna say i love you though and you know trying not to cry but you know it's a hard one it's hard it hit home you know i've known him for a long time so i just thank you for all the times you know you spent with me locked up you know he was dead yeah great man good morning everybody god be the glory um everybody says so everything that was perfect for my brother pick theodore i have so many stories i can't even begin to tell you like this is really hard for me like i think i was one of the last people that he called at night because we stayed up to five six o'clock in the morning and i had to be to work but uh just i mean i'm gonna miss my brother you know we come up we come up a long way we come apart and like i s like everybody said his name was pic theodore he was from lex street he wound up for nation i ran michael nation that's my gang over there so um that was a long time ago though i'm not that guy anymore but uh i just this is my family right here and um pick theodore he started a lot of stuff and we got to finish it up for him so our work is never done and i'm here for my family love you charles charles i think i met fiddle when he first came to baltimore in i belong to a fellowship where we learn to love the unlovable it's a 12-step fellowship i came from the streets to drugs the jails i never belong to a gang but i'm grateful that i'm here now um in this fellowship they've taught me to kind of trust the love of god and learn to love myself and my fellow man all of that kind of stuff was foreign to me when i first came to this fellowship i met theater there and it's always a struggle to let go of fear and embrace the love of god and it's it's together that we can i don't know much else to say but i just had to say that i loved it all his family thank you for giving me this honor first and foremost i want to appreciate everybody um archbishop bishop greg thank you for having us um thank you everybody that came out for my father um even though i don't know all of you by name i appreciate y'all i didn't write any words against the advice of my mother because i wanted to be uh you know as genuine as possible about my father he's definitely taking his toll on each and every one of us i want to commend my mother being so strong and diligent about making sure we come to this day in one piece thank you to my sister for being so supportive and my wonderful daughter scotland my brother marvin i appreciate y'all amir my nephew my soldier all right amir's father appreciate you coming down definitely like a son to my father and uh my entire she really uh i'll tell you put that obituary together how you doing uncle bernie there's so many uh on units i appreciate y'all being here um yeah man my father like they said he was he was you know depending on your perspective aggressive to some assertive to others but he definitely embodied everything that a man is supposed to embody man i just wish i would have realized it a lot sooner you know uh i went through two incarcerations myself i've been home for about a year now on the 28th and uh yeah you know my father he got to see me do some things differently and uh i'm grateful for that you know my mother always tell me pull out my gratitude list and uh you know be grateful for everything that we do have and you know very optimistic about life and then you know it's a lot to say but i i definitely want to shorten it my father he started a non-profit as it says in the obituary that someday i plan to uh get back up and running called directing it's called dialectic directing adolescence in transition with you know taking the the so-called worst of our youth and guiding them into young men and because we we solely need that and in particular in our communities um we surely need that that you know there's a lot of aggression but you know the part that i want to acknowledge about my father is you know what he asserted he was the embodiment of masculinity and there's a you know there's a heavy attack on masculinity these days and we realize that but it's so few of us that do something to actually combat that because it's needed you know so many of our counterparts don't realize what their role is because we're not in our role in the capacity that we need to be i need to step up the men need to step up that needs to be the first priority of our community that was my father's first priority my father he started a business when the pandemic started was when the pandemic started when he right he was doing lyft he was driving for lyft and you know he was retired he still was to it 60 something years old he probably was about 67 at the time 68 and as uh you know by that time a lot of us feel like our work is done not my father when work is to be when workers did behind the workers the businesses behind businesses to be handled that's it that's all that's all we need to know and uh he was a prime example of that and then started his business based off an opportunity he took an opportunity he took the time to read all that all those papers and he left us with something he left us with a lot spiritually mentally and you know like my mother been saying since he's been gone you know he left us a lot of work to do as far as uh you know as far as that business my mother she has dreams that she's aspires to she retired on my birthday after 25 27 young long years to the state of maryland honest for that yeah man um i'm gonna go ahead and relinquish the mic i'ma go on and on i appreciate y'all for being here i'm gonna try to hold it together as long as possible all i can hear is my dad's saying baby girl you better get up there talk about your father um one thing that my dad was real big on is being grateful and um i'm so grateful that we all gave him his flowers while he was alive and he was big on that he was big on you know give me my props i need my so i'm up here i'm up here today okay um i just want to talk about how grateful i am that he was our first coach cheerleader teacher he was a part of the pta meetings with my mom and we know how important it is in the black community going to any kind of school we had the honor of being able to say my parents are coming parent-teacher conferences of all the challenges that my dad may have struggled with our entire life or his entire life as you heard from his previous life um he was dead present present and to add on to what my brother said um it's so imperative in our community fathers are just as important as mothers are so y'all need to be present y'all need to be present my dad was my first love he did not play about me and i didn't play about him either all the way until i was in college i did not care daddy i need xyz all right you can't do that just all right i'm on my way i'm coming he would come bring me and my roommate feminine products he did not care my phone broke he was mad he could not talk to me i'm on my way what kind of phone you want you ain't gonna be up there with no phone linking birth no uh-uh you need to be studying i need to be able to call you every day you had a party so i'm so grateful that he like malik said um was alive and well to be able to see me get my bachelor's my masters malik get himself together and become the man and become a mom because i saw another side of him as a grandfather y'all know him and i made was joined at the hip at the hip like since birth that was his chomp that's my choker y'all bringing my grandson up here where's my grandson and scotland as well the princess y'all saw on the slideshow that's a really small snippet of how my day was we did family vacations they was at suspension meetings with us thank god it was short-lived um volleyball games tournaments every single weekend okay my dad drove all the way down to north carolina when i was in college to watch us lose he knew he was going to lose he did not care he drove all the way down there and you know how you get older you start seeing the bros reverse a little bit so i was old enough to see the road start to reverse a little bit so i would be calling him a little bit more often like day how you doing and he i'm alright baby girl what you got going on just we would fuss and argue back and forth because i have some of that aggression or assertiveness he passed that i don't know where you get that from you and he'll laugh i think it's funny um and i'm just so grateful that he stepped up to my friends who didn't have fathers over and over and over again from the time i was in middle school like mama said i had friends who had fathers who relationships may have been astray he would show up with flowers for them too and just teach them how a man is supposed to love you loving you he told me that men are not supposed to play with you they supposed to open the doors for you they supposed to pay for the bill but you still make your own money but they supposed to pay the bill a man works you know and they make it happen they put gas in your car you don't have no food in your car and he don't get out i don't care what degrees it is that was my fault pump that gas um so i'm just so grateful that he instilled so much that he did with all of us um and even the seven years of ramirez's life just really installed that in him so thank y'all for listening [Music] hallelujah hallelujah can we just stand up give god praise hallelujah [Music] he is the king of kings and the lord of lords and we worship him today hallelujah [Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] are we ready for the word are we ready to hear from god's mouth through the man of god hallelujah jesus jesus jesus hallelujah hallelujah his name is jesus his name it's jesus hallelujah he is the king of kings and the lord of lords and we honor him today hallelujah my husband assignment is over he has run his race it's not even as important to me we haven't gotten a toxicology report of how he died i am concerned about the life he lives hallelujah jesus jesus jesus hallelujah when i look out and see all of these beautiful faces i've often said to zakiyah i wonder if daddy knew how many people loved him see i didn't know pink i didn't meet pink i met theodore and he used to always try to tell me about this past life i said all right all right when i first started talking to him he said are you familiar with the 12 steps program i was like i did a paper on cocaine in college i have a clue what i was getting myself into being so grown and fast and he loved to tell my children oh mommy was sweating me oh yeah mom used to call back to the job oh mommy was sweating i was like okay babe you got to keep telling them that but i thank god for the time we had him i am so so so grateful and it is not in my strength that i stand here i feel the prayers of the righteous hallelujah we all are gonna have to leave here and the way this world is looking we might be leaving a little sooner than we anticipate amen but be sure that you know where you're going so if archbishop or overseer should ask if you have not accepted jesus christ as your lord and savior do not miss this opportunity because tomorrow is not promised amen and one last thing that i can do here for my husband you all can take your seat because i need some people to stand up i don't know where the cameras are and for those of you all who are watching by youtube is there anybody in here who stops speaking to their parents please stand up ever ever stop speaking to your parents ever see because a lot of times people we parents we are not perfect look around i hope this camera is catching these people that have once stopped speaking to their parents because we have another son and he's not here that's theo senior he is here he's here hey theo hallelujah come on listen i want you to know that we're not the only one who've endured this pray for us pray for us my husband love love loved his firstborn pray for us hallelujah love love loved his family hallelujah so we're going to celebrate the king of kings in the lord of lords on today continue to pray for us not perfect parents continue to pray for us amen so we're going to hear the word and we're going to continue this celebration in jesus name amen god bless you and thank you all [Music] okay one last thing before we leave the stage can we please stand up and give my mom a round of applause because let me tell you let me tell you it's not until we were older that we realized how much my mom played a part in keeping my dad alive this long we got at this church at nine when i was nine years old and my dad lasted another 20 years he could have been gone then but this woman right here is the true definition of a rib which god created a wife to be to a man and i appreciate her i really do we appreciate her and we love her thank you amen as we're preparing for the word every hand lifted all over this house come on lift your hands held the guinness making her way to the stage at this time every hand lifted why don't you just take 30 seconds open your mouth and fill this place with worship come on all over this house come on i need some worshipers to help this hallelujah immediately following the simonics election by elder gwen i ask that you stand in respect to his office as the archbishop rob dennis will come and do the eulogy immediately following this amen [Music] provided great is your faithfulness [Music] in the key of [Music] love you get older stuff starts changing [Music] joy [Music] i will make the darkness [Music] i'll make it right before you all thy battles i will fight [Music] before oh the you place god said i'll bring it down when the walk is [Music] [Music] i'll [Music] thee [Laughter] [Music] every mountain in your life god set the high place [Music] will help you [Music] know [Music] can we is stand up and give god [Music] foreign [Music] my strengths [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] my strength [Music] can you lift your hands [Music] in can we just say amen [Music] [Music] well that's a good place to praise him in here it is so that's what all that means it is so so being even as the lord has said it so be it oh man amen oh man our father our god we thank you for the blessed privilege of knowing you we confess today that there's nobody like you in all of the earth it's in you that we live we move and we have our beings and we say thank you today thank you for the life of one theodore frank williams thank you for being his lord and his savior thank you for the nights of tussling wrestling struggling even as you did with jacob until you changed his name your name changer we go from pit to piccadilly from west philly to deacon theodore frank will you you a name changer you change my name oh the most shabby hallelujah if you change your name put it in that brother he changed my name the lord changed my name changed my attitude changed my ways changed my character changed my behavior change my outlook change my perspective change my expectation change my longing that's the kind of god we serve he'll change you if you let it [Music] hallelujah and we bless you for blessing us to be here today now lord secure us in your love in the absence of the beloved husband father grandfather brother in christ my brother my brother secure your family and help us lord to also be ready for we know not in the days on the album we shall call us but we want to be ready to answer the call so bless us even as you blessed others speak to me now through the word of god for the next few moments our time has elapsed but speak to us as you choose in jesus name we pray amen and amen for the williams family would you put your hands together give the lord a tremendous praise offering we love your joy we love you we love you zakir we love you malik we love you i don't know if thea was left not they those are kids in this house those are kids who are raised up here in this house i was their pastor and i love those kids i know them quite well you may be seated in the presence of the lord time is far spent uh and we're supposed to be at the cemetery at 1 45 and from here to kings memorial park it's going to take you a good 45 50 minutes in traffic so i have about five minutes to preach if you do the equating of that that's about all i have i can't even say amen in five minutes i it was given a resolution from kingdom worship center resolution of respect and loving memory of deacon theodore w f williams senior through your days among us who are too brief in our grief at your loss is never ending we draw comfort from knowing from the knowledge that you have found safe refuge in the lord and in our hearts where no darkness or pain can touch you now we bless you with love light and gratitude whereas theodore deacon theodore f williams senior of kingdom worship center pass from this life on july 27 2021 and whereas the death of deacon theodore f williams senior does not diminish the profound benediction of life lived in such godly service nor our admiration of an affection for him as an example of a husband father grandfather brother or uncle and whereas deacon theodore f williams senior faithfully attended god's most urgent ammunition to follow in the footsteps of the righteous seek justice in all circumstances and care for the least among us and as if they were the dearest and whereas deacon theodore f williams senior was an active member of kingdom worship center and the church community for years and freely gave of time and energy as a leader and a faithful member of the congregation and where's deacon theodore f williams senior in service as a member of deacon's ministry men's ministry evangelism ministry celebration i'm a celebrate recovery group shared a bright steady spirit and a cheerful heart whereas our beloved embraced the all-forgiving presence of god from earliest days and strove to exhibit these same qualities of compassion throughout his life and whereas the dear family of deacon joy theo jr sequia malik and the acquaintances of deacon theodore f williams senior are deeply saddened in his departure as our where as are all who were touched by his generous spirit and kindness and whereas the confederate williams seniors legacy of faith and service will continue to inspire loved ones and every member of the congregation now therefore be a resolve that we wish all who are now in mourning to take comfort from the words according to the psalm of david 147 and 3. the lord is healed the lord heals the broken heart and binds their wounds given this 14th day of august in the year of our lord 2021 loved and remembered always bishop gregory a and pastor tanya jake dennis senior pastors and the entire king the worship center family amen amen amen there went four or more minutes i i i won't be long i i don't preach short because god has a lot to say to us but i won't preach today i'm just going to talk to you a little bit and i hope you can honor my talking my conversation that's really what i feel like having as a conversation with you today i'm too old to play games i've been in ministry too long to be hypocritical about truth i i'm in this season of my life where we need to tell the honest truth about where we are and what we need in order to succumb the perils of life that many of us are faced with today i i sense an inspiration to teach not to preach and we're we're not uh we will not bury our heads in the sand today like a sanctified ostrich we must admit the reality of the believer's struggle with their shadow selves with their darkness the dark things that sometimes they don't want you to know about doesn't make them not a believer does not make them unsaved does not make them not loving god but they're contending they're fighting they're worrying and sometimes they don't want you to know what kind of warfare they have i'm going to tell the truth today i i'm 73 years old i ain't scared of you i'ma tell the truth i have nothing to lose by telling you the truth amen we are all at risk we're all at risk i don't care how long you've been saved sanctified fear of the holy ghost you have an achilles heel that god gives you grace over day by day i feel god in here already hallelujah hallelujah so this message today is not to so much to the unsaved as it is to the saved i got a message to the unsaved too but it's a simple lesson this jesus died to save you give him your heart he'll give you eternal life but to the saved who sometimes do your best to model christ but find yourself failing and faltering struggling hello struggling hallelujah i want to talk to you today i have i have a long message i don't i can't preach it i won't i preach it another time and i was going to deal and many of you touched it today i was going to deal with still 12-step spirituality that was all going to preach about i'm going to i'm going to preach 12 steps spirituality uh and i'm going to talk to you from the aspect of the god of my issues the god of my issues because we have them we have them born again absolutely love jesus absolutely come on talk to me hallelujah want to go to heaven without a doubt without a doubt doing what you can yes but with a struggle but with a struggle there is a text if i don't do much more than read the text today you'll hear the word of the lord the texts come from ephesians 5 15-18 and then romans 7 15 that's probably almost gonna have time to do before we turn over to uh wallace's funeral home and get a smoothing because time is of essence i mean you don't get to the cemetery on time they start to surcharge you and i i've been doing this a long time so i know how it works i know how it works um ephesians 5 15-18 the amplified bible therefore see that you walk carefully walk out carefully living life with honor purpose and courage shunning those who tolerate and enable evil not as the unwise but as wise sensible intelligent discerning people making the very most of your time on earth recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence because the days are filled with evil therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless but understand and firmly grasp that we will that what the will of the lord is do not get drunk with wine for that is wickedness corruption stupidity but be filled with the holy spirit and constantly guided by him that's that's ephesians 5 15-18 amplified translation this text you're familiar with romans 7 15-18 i wish you could read the whole chapter but i can't for i do not understand my own actions i'm baffled and bewildered by them i do not practice what i want to do but i am doing the very thing i hate and yielding to my human nature my worldliness my sinful capacity now if i habitually do what i do not want to do that means i agree with the law confessing that it is good morally excellent so if that is the case then it is no longer i who do it the disobedient thing which i despise but the sin nature which lives in me for i know that nothing good lives in me that is in my flesh my human nature my worldliness my sinful capacity for the willingness to do good is present in me but the doing of good is not just stay with me for a moment just stay with a moment i i wish i could talk about the soul today for a little bit because the essence of all of this is talking about the soul of man that is often in conflict with his spirit because when christ comes into our lives he comes and he saves the spirit man spirit the spirit holy spirit abides in the spirit of men men have a spirit soul in a body and his spirit is forever redeemed forever redeemed forever saved there's a lot of theological debate with whether or not you can be in christ and ever out of christ i believe with once the lord saved that there's not a devil in hell can unsave you when god does his work he does it well he does it completely now not everybody might believe that but i believe that so since i've got the mic i'm gonna tell you what i believe uh when the lord savior you're saved eternally but that does not mean you don't have conflict in this in your status of salvation does not mean there's not warfare as a matter of fact if you have no warfare perhaps it's because the enemy of your soul has you already he has nothing to contend for but when you're in warfare that's a good sign that the enemy does not have you and he wants you everything everything everybody whoever's ever gotten away from the enemy the enemy does his best to get them back come on talk to me in here hallelujah he tried jesus and if you try jesus he'll try you come on talk to me after the holy spirit announces christ he's driven into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil hallelujah hallelujah and if he tempted the lord our christ he's going to try and tempt you as well let me get through here there was a man i'm going to tell a story because this this helps just set the essence and i and i'll bring it in and about another uh give me and give me about another four and a half minutes i'll bring this thing in i'll never get this complete this there was a man at a at a podium and he said four short words i i love this because it takes me where i'm going man standing at a podium and he gives us gave only four short words and here's what he said don't be like me that was his message he stood before masses like i'm standing now and his message to the gang today and i and theo told me about the gang when he first got saved we had many hours of conversation many hours join those that we we talked a lot when he first got saved well shortly after he got saved because when he came he was already saved but after he joined and i enjoy those conversations he says don't be like me this man's name was mickey mattel when he graduated from high school in oklahoma he signed up with the new york yankees you don't have to hate him for that my daughter-in-law is a is a new yorker so we have to hit her every time we can this began a rapid ascent to superstardom you all know mickey mantle you all know hips name mata was on seven world series winning teams three times in uh three times mvp 500 home runs enshrined in cooper's town at the hall of fame and mickey mantle was an alcoholic he was an alcoholic y'all stopped looking at me like that at 60 years of age he was dying of liver cancer his health eroded from years of alcohol abuse so he stood at the podium and he said to all the followers and the sons who had looked on him for so long and honored him for his sportsmanship don't be like me y'all wonder where i'm going with this don't you i do too because i got so much i could say but i'mma bring it in i don't think that any addict wants the people they love the most to become like them don't be afraid of the language of addiction come on tell me it's not it's not to uh be shied away from no we have shot away from it long enough now we must embrace it as the reality of what many of us endure come on talk to me and and it's not just alcoholism and drug there's many other kinds of things you go through in life as well uh y'all do y'all believe that today we'll we'll go we can talk about addiction and overdose quite simply excuse me and it can involve many aspects of our lives no matter what you look at you can have an addiction to it even to buying clothes eating food come on talk to me uh and the list can go on and on i'm trying to find a way to cut this short and get through this as quickly as i possibly can but the essence of the matter is in this season if the church is going to be successful in how she leads her membership her constituency into a greater place of victory we can no longer bury our heads in the sand as i said early like a sanctified ostrich and pretend that everybody who gathers on sunday morning is free to worship free to praise come on free to lift their hands because the truth of the matter says last sunday they have been worrying many times they won't tell you in what or how come on or how difficult it's been but there's been a warfare hallelujah and is not just in the membership it's in the pulpit as a matter of fact i would like to apologize today because we started a lot of this by pretending to you that we were something that we were not pretending to you come on talk to me that we were perfect and were not had no sin and yet we struggled hello hello so i if i don't say anything else today i want to make sure you leave your understanding the church has now become and must remain a safe place come on somebody say a safe place a safe place where you can deal with what you're going through unapologetically hallelujah without condemnation without fear of ostracism hallelujah where you can be open and honest with the things you're going through no you don't have to tell everybody but part of your deliverance is your confession part of your deliverance is to admit it i feel god in here hallelujah my my my mind and even though god has given you a measure of freedom the warfare will always continue i'm going to say it again even though the lord has given you a measure of freedom hallelujah to not be dismayed because the warfare still continues as i conclude i have not begun and i must conclude because i understand what we got to do hallelujah i want to talk about just for my closing the sufficiency of god's grace yes shabbat y'all excuse me because i'm about to get happy hallelujah somebody just remind your neighbor say god's grace is sufficient god's grace is sufficient hallelujah the grace of god the grace of god every last one of us have available to us the grace of god hallelujah the grace of god which gives you gives you his divine favor his unmerited favor that's what we call the grace of god god's unmerited favor which means i don't deserve it but he gives it to me he grants it to me in great abundance much grace somebody prophesy much grace hallelujah but but then every now and then he gives me the flip side of that grace where i am not just experiencing his unmerited favor to the extent that when i do wrong he gives me grace to come back it gives me grace to be able to get forgiven and all of us thank you for that every last one of us thank you for that but then there's another measure of god's grace that he gives us as we come to learn of him and that is his enabling ability grace is god's enabling ability lord have mercy when i did not have the strength when i did not have the wherewithal i feel god in here i'm closing it when i when i did not have the ability to make it on my own god enabled me god strengthened me god help me to say no god help me to turn away god help me to turn my back on that hallelujah god gave me a way around it god gave me strength to deny it god gave me the ability to say no to it it was the grace of god and had it not been for the grace had it not been for the grace of god we wouldn't be here today none of us would be here hallelujah and that's one thing i know that phil thank god for the grace of god hallelujah which never leaves you by yourself always right there with you helping you through your tough times helping you through your dark days somebody said thank god thank you for his grace i thank you for your grace i thank you for your mercy i thank you for your favor thank you thank you i'm finished i'm finished i got i got 10 pages i i got enough to preach for the next month but i i gotta hit him here hallelujah had not even for the grace of god somebody looked at your name and said oh neighbor i thank you for his grace grace woke me up this morning grace starting me on my way grace gave me the ability to get over things grace help me to forgive fathers and myself [Music] thank you for grace i i just said something that i hope you picked up on there's a measure of grace we have to forgive others but it takes a different measure of grace to forgive yourself i feel god in here have you ever forgiven somebody else but then and then struggled and forgiving yourself come on someone can i talk to real with somebody come on and nobody knows the agony that is when i have an off against myself i got a problem with me i feel god in here i'm okay with you but i got a problem with me he shut up but god gives me grace for me [Music] touch your neighbors and don't ever god give me grace for me he got me over me he got me to get over me he got me to get beyond me he get this sweet from me [Music] yes [Music] y'all excuse me we gotta go we gotta go get wally's funeral home up in here because we gotta go i think they're already up here they're ready they're ready to go but how many of you are happy that god gave you grace for you helped you to get over you i've been there when i didn't feel good about myself everybody else celebrating me everybody else could give you a cause everybody i'm talking about how wonderful you are but give me your own soul you need grace for you i feel confident and god gave me grace for me he gave it for me i feel god in here he gave him [Music] hallelujah may the lord bless you real good may heaven smile upon you kiss my prayer while we thank you for being patient with us today we're going to now we're going to commit the body at the gravesite we're going to do that there before we leave miss the wildest funeral home understand my need to do this if you do don't have not found grace for you can i pray for you today can i offer you jesus can i recommend jesus to you today no matter what you're going through he already knows that's the good thing about coming to the lord you can't tell him a secret [Music] he already knows them so you can be honest with him when he already knows i don't have to reinvent my story i can tell him just like it is lord i'm weak lord i'm messed up [Music] i'm tore from the flow up yo i'm i'm a mess lord but help me and he'll give you grace that's always sufficient and strength has made perfect in weakness and i want to offer you jesus today if you're here and you don't know jesus you don't know the god that theo came to know who became the god of all of his issues he was a good brother good good brother good good brother good good brother he was a good brother but he had some issues just like you and me maybe different maybe a different kind come on talk to me different kind of warfare but nonetheless there were issues just like you and i had them but the same god i feel god in here oh shall i say it boy i feel like talking to you today the same god that helped him from day to day is a god that also gives you strength from day to day i've been saved since i was 15 years old that's 58 years ago and yet i rely on god's grace from day to day are y'all hearing me i rely on god's girl every day i've come this far by faith leaning on the lord trusting in his holy [Music] zakir malik your children joy you build your hopes on things eternal that's what he did even though he was often standing on sinking sand his hope was built on things eternal i feel god i've been here [Music] hallelujah he was so much like us [Music] hallelujah spirit led the spirit fed spirit filled but human walking in the flesh having to command your soul to command your flesh how to tell your soul to make your flesh behave cause your soul come on to give up this desire for things that are not right things that are not healthy come on are you happy hallelujah that can be chicken wings and french fries nobody gonna help me preach hallelujah but if it harms you that can be something working against who you are because now your blood pressure is high now you're 100 pounds overweight and it's because i did not regard the fact that christ lives in me this temple is the temple of the holy spirit can i pray for you father if there's anybody here today who does not know you speak to their hearts now and have them to surrender themselves to you if you're here today and you want me to pray this prayer for you with you just raise your hand wherever you are just raise your hand raise it high so i know i see one hand thank you see your hand back there thank you jesus see two two see two heads okay father i pray now in jesus name that the hands that are raised you will recognize those hands you made them you know their fingerprints you're familiar with them forgive them of their sin and as i'm praying i want you to pray with me father forgive me of my sin i was born into sin shaped into iniquity but today i pray for forgiveness of my sin cleanse me of my sinful nature and receive me as your son lord help me to change my way of living i give you my heart i give you my life and as i give you my life i do it in faith believing that you are jesus the son of the living god the savior of the world so i commit myself to you today in jesus name amen amen if that's you find find yourself a good bible believing church go there learn the ways of the lord and follow him but you've got grace for your assignments whatever the lord has given you to do to be you've got grace for it prophesy with me i have grace for every assignment say it again i have grace for every assignment my mantra i don't think a day goes by i don't recite that joy i have grace for every assignment it's an amazing grace may god bless you if you're going with us to king's memorial park i know the mortician is going to want you to get in your cars as soon as you possibly can there'll be somebody there to help line you up don't get too close to the hearse because i need to come behind that hearse so don't get too close i need to get in there and uh pallbearers meet us at the cemetery or matter of fact meet us at the outside narthex right now so we can put the body in you know who the flower girls are please come and take these flowers for us those of you who have been chosen to be flower bearers today come get the flowers hallelujah that's it that's good thank you for coming barbara's you can meet us palberus can meet us in the in the northx just inside the exit doors paul bears you can meet us in the northx just inside exit doors we will get the benediction and internment at gravesite at gravesite [Music] need three more ladies please for flowers we need three more ladies for flowers

Channel: Kingdom Worship Center Media

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Length: 162min 31sec (9751 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 14 2021