Memorial Service for Dr. Melvin Maxwell

[Music] [Music] you you [Music] you [Music] you [Music] you [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] you [Music] you [Music] [Music] thing once a week to experience those attributes of what it means to be a follower of Jesus but the Apostle Peter transferred the meaning of sanctuary from a building to people when he wrote in his letter to the exiles that were scattered throughout Asia Minor in the book of first Peter chapter 2 that Jesus is our living stone rejected by cutemon chosen by God precious to him but you also like living stones are being built into a spiritual house a sanctuary to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God you know as we've been through this time of pandemic and we're still in the middle of it there have been people who've lamented to me that we haven't been able to be in our sanctuary but I say oh no the sanctuary is where you are and the Lord's presence is there for you to bring to others well today we're honoring a man who was a living stone under the living stone and dr. Melvin Maxwell here in this church and in this area if you don't mind me saying it is a legend I moved here about a year ago and I walked into our office building I see that it's dedicated to him and his late wife and I begin to ask Melvin Maxwell who was he and then the stories came of the park ministry and the times when he filled the pulpit and the times when people would I'm gonna make sure to be there that Sunday because I want to hear dr. Maxwell and the more I heard about him the more I was so impressed with how he had lived his life before God as a living stone well I got a chance to meet him he and his wife and Patricia came and Betty was here and others sometime last year and as I shook his hand and spoke to him a little a little bit I walked away and I thought I've been in the present of a great man of God and as I've read the stories of his ministry throughout the years especially up at Circleville Bible College now Ohio Christian University what a great man of God and may I follow in his footsteps as he followed Jesus she Oh Paul said that whatever you've seen or heard in me do and dr. Maxwell lived his life that way so that you could watch him and know how the Lord wanted us to live well on behalf of the global Church of the Nazarene of which I am apart I do have a letter from dr. David music who is the general superintendent in our global church whose rights to the family and friends of Melvin Maxwell Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of the board of General superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene I extend my deepest sympathy and prayers in the death of dr. Melvin Maxwell we are so sorry for your loss and yet we join you in that celebration of a life well-lived dr. Maxwell was truly a godly leader as a husband father pastor church planner district superintendent educator mentor prayer warrior the list goes on his life example was one of christ-like love passionate service and strength of character and as we grieve we are reminded of the Lord's promise that he is the resurrection and the life God's Word assures us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord dr. Maxwell has fully now realized that hope John Patricia Larry Betty extended family and friends we rejoice with you in the legacy of faith hope and love that dr. Maxwell leaves behind I pray the Lord's comfort and sustaining grace will be yours and to all of the family as you remember the promise of the Resurrection and the reality that you will someday join him again in the new creation and my favorite verse I claimed - during these times you'll find in your bulletins death is swallowed up in victory of death where is thy sting o grave where is thy victory know the sting of death is sin and the strength of Simmons is the law but now the one who has in capsulated the law and the prophets the one who fully lived according to God's desires Jesus Christ thanks be to God who give us us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ amen well father we we cling to you during a time like this the memories flood in our minds of the impact of someone so dear to many in this congregation and Lord we trust you with comfort and with peace and with strength during this time but to Lord Jesus to you we offer praise because you have given us victory over the grave and your sacrificial death and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit empowers us to walk in your steps as dr. Maxwell did Lord may you continue to comfort the family to make the memory sweet and the hope that they have in you secure in the coming days it is in your name we pray amen many experiences that we have in life challenged us to pray our way through good times as well as bad times but in moments like these at people created by God we do ourselves a favor when we attempt to sing our way through some experiences and rehearse the faithfulness of God and so I'm going to invite you to join me as we sing together two songs today great is thy faithfulness I know you know that one and Amazing Grace will sing them together let your voices be heard before the Lord the words will be on the screen let's sing radius like faithfulness oh god my father there is no shadow [Music] it is my gratefulness I see [Music] great [Music] to summer and winter and springtime and harbors Sun Moon and stars in their courses [Music] for miss mercy and my faithful morning [Music] great to me pardon for slide into mine on your presence nude and to drink for today and ride home when it seems all [Music] is my friend warning my morning new mercies I see [Music] rate is my to me you I you [Music] we want to thank each one of you today for coming to the service daughter of my father and we're just grateful for your love and your friendship and your many kind words to us and this is a celebration of a man who incredibly impacted our lives but a man who just greatly loved God so thank you for your kind words to us the memories that you shared with us the prayers that you have given to us at this time I was just thrilled this week to receive words of the Frost team in Israel that they would be planting by the Sea of Galilee 18 trees in honor of dad 18 in Hebrew is chai which means life and so there'll be a beautiful thing to have the trees there and and and the land that of course he loves so much representing of course his life I also want to thank many of you in the flowers you've given donations to the Maxwell transformational fund and that that money is going directly to purchase Bibles because in our sharing of faith around the world especially in the Muslim community we want to give them a Bible and it's been my privilege many times to hand a Bible to a person who not only has never held a Bible has never heard of the Bible and so those funds are going to go directly for that cause and we're very grateful and I also want to just say thank you Betty you beautiful precious wonderful godly lady you are a great gift to our Father a great gift he was very lonely and you just filled that loneliness of his heart and you have been so beautiful and wonderful to him and you are very close to our hearts because of the place that you had in our father's heart Thank You Kathy for taking such good care of dad you've been very faithful to him and I appreciate it so much my sister Tricia's too just incredible daughters Jennifer and Rachel are going to start this part of our time together honoring dad by sharing what that what he meant to them so if they'll come on up now please and after that I will represent some other members of the family and read to you what they have shared and we will spend some times now just honoring the greatest man right now I really can't express to you what an honor it is to be here today talking about one of the greatest men I have ever known I want to use a verse and in the Bible that describes the memory of my pawpaw first Corinthians 16 13 through 14 be watchful stand firm in the faith act like men be strong let all that you do be done in love I really want to address the youth and the 17 great-grandchildren that Paul Paul left behind when I was about your age Benjamin I had a friend over to hang out Paul Paul was sitting in the chair and as we were getting up to go out of the door and do our thing poeple stood up as quick as he could race to the door looked at my friend Jason and said do you know Jesus Jason just smiled Paul Paul would not let it go until Jason finally said I'm getting to know him be watchful stay alert and be ready to share the gospel Paul Paul spent his entire life here on earth with the sole purpose to win souls over to Jesus Christ and that is our purpose here on this earth it's the only reason that we're here not only did he take every moment to lead someone to Jesus he also made it his mission to bring his family into the ministry I can't say that there's one grandchild here or listening today that wasn't actively recruited into Maxwell ministry you know we all can remember Paul Paul got a little confused with names to this day my husband Craig is Gregory but the one name that he never got confused with was Tom my brother-in-law because pawpaw saw him as his best hope to carry on the mean the ministry through the grandchildren pawpaw held this book so proudly I loved getting to look through his things yesterday and see his Bibles he wrote down every single time that he finished the the Bible we counted probably over a hundred times at this man read scripture front to back he was disciplined and consistent unlike any other person that I have ever known stand firm live as our Savior lived spend time in the Word of God every single day he explained to us it's the Living Word of God because every one hundred times that he read it through it was different and it spoke to him in a new and different way and it will to you too I must not have been older than 9 or 10 somewhere in between my Max and Andrews age and mom and dad were gone Papa and Mama were in church mama was knitting in the family room and I got pop all 0 this was my golden opportunity to make some money he clapped his hands together and said how are we gonna do it I said let's have a garage sale he walked me through all the questions fines fostering a little entrepreneur we set up signs I sold every single Laura Ashley dress that I've ever owned I don't know how happy mom was about it but I came out a hundred and fifty dollars ahead so Papa and I were thrilled from this I remember to act like men grow up prepare for your future now and start your legacy today not only did he have the clap that we'll never forget but oh the handshake we were all sitting around relaxing went up he stood he said Jennifer give me your hand I stuck out my hand and like a little limp Biskit I shook his he said no no no no no look me in the eye so I looked him in the eye he said a firm grip shake up and down one time so I learned the handshake into this day every time I go to shake one to someone's hand I practically break it I don't want to miss my opportunity as poeple taught me to show my confidence and set the best first impression that I could be strong papa was strong he used Jesus as his strength I used Jesus as my strength and I pray that he will be yours too and going through his funeral and sermon notes I found this and I thought I have to read it today this is what Jonathan was saying about his best friend David in the Bible Jonathan said to David thou shalt be missed because I see will seat will be empty others who were accustomed to sit at the Kings table could be away and not be missed with David it was different there was a glow and warmth about his presence David whose voice could sing in worship cheer and sorrow or command in battle whose hand was soothing when stretched forth to comfort or strong when lifted in defence certainly he could not be absent and not be missed David was too big too strong too good not to be missed Papa is too big too strong too good not to be missed now that his seat is empty in his strength Papa acted in love I can still hear his voice as he gritted his teeth and looked at my mom on set I love you sweetie he then went on to love our sweet Betty for seven and a half years when I was a young girl probably about six I lost a hamster and I he turned the fake tears on like you've never seen it and I believed it he was crying over my hamster what was he doing he was acting in love he had a memorial service like I've never seen in my life gathering all the animals all the children together to celebrate the life of my hamster and kids youth I want this to be a memorial to be remembered he did not pass on to heaven with a dream he passed with memories realities and accomplishments use his example to make your dreams of reality start your legacy right now be watchful stand firm grow up be strong and do all that you do in love good morning truly is a privilege to be here this morning I do want to take just a moment to think uncle Larry Uncle John and my mom for being such a wonderful example of what it looks like to honor our Father and our mother you three have honored Mama and Papa in a way that I've never seen or heard of children honoring their parents and I just want to thank you for that example may we as your children honor you in the same way that you've honored your parents I wrestled and prayed a lot about what I wanted to say today and I just could not get away from the gospel because the gospel was Papa's life Romans chapter 1 verse 16 says for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for the salvation of all who believe papa was not ashamed of the gospel he asked every single person that he met do you know Jesus every time we went out to dinner he made us all stand up in a circle and hold hands and he prayed louder than anyone I've ever heard pray I wanted to hide under the table then when the waitress came to ask us for our order the first thing he asked her was do you know Jesus and I thought Papa can we not just have one meal without sharing the gospel but that's not who he was he lived and breathed the gospel and his example to me was not to be shamed of the gospel it is the power of God to the salvation of everyone who believes in the world that we live in today the gospel is foolishness to many and that's okay because to others it's the power of God for salvation and that is something not to be ashamed of so for those of us who follow Jesus I encourage us today to be rooted and grounded in the Word of God let the word of God dwell in us richly as Jen said earlier as far as we know Papa read through the Bible about a hundred times the reason that we know that is because he documented every time he completed the Bible front to back may we follow his example and let the Word of God dwell in us in our hearts richly for those who may not know Jesus I plead with you today do not let your heart be hardened if you hear the voice of Jesus speaking to you today respond turn to Christ that is what Papa would want you to hear today that is what Papa would want you to do today is to turn to Jesus because that was his mission in life when I looked through his planners every day I see how many people he witnessed to that day because that was his goal how many people can I tell about Jesus today so let not this opportunity go waste it to know Jesus to love Jesus and to follow him more passionately Rachel and Jennifer that was beautiful just beautiful fact after they've finished I kind of think the service is over I think the greatness of a person flows down through his children and through his grandchildren and to his great-grandchildren it's greater than words it's it's more than having a reputation it's having the family carry that DNA the next generation and a side look at the grandchildren and the great grandchildren here today I have great confidence that you will carry on that legacy that flame that was in our father's heart it's in yours in fact I have some words that I want to read to you from great grandchildren now our son Joel's children Hannah John Porter and James Wesley Maxwell and this is what they wrote today we remember our beloved and godly patriarch Melvin Maxwell also known as grandpa Maxwell or Poppa in many ways grandpa Maxwell's passing marks the end of an era for the Maxwell family because of the grace and the kindness of God the three of us have experienced family gatherings and holidays with four generations of Maxwell's representative Papa's presence will be deeply missed we will always cherish the memories of Grandpa Hart Maxwell's mealtime prayers they often turned into lengthy sermons but was through his words and that our faith was strengthened and our prayer life has been shaped with his joyful and encouraging spirit grandpa modeled to us that age really is just a number when you're young at heart he taught us that regardless of our search stances we can still have a positive attitude and praise the Lord daily we are inspired by his faith that brought thousands to Jesus and his leadership that led generations of our family with the gentle giant strength but perhaps the most important lesson each of us learned from grandpa Maxwell was that our greatest purpose in life is to make Jesus name our greatest purpose in life is to make Jesus name no one - the way we unconditionally love and value people it was John Wesley who said do all the good you can by all the means you can in all the ways you can at all the times you can - all the people you can as long as you can from all the stories that we have heard and the memories that we hold dearest in our hearts Grandpa Max will fully embraced these words every day of his life each of us are grateful to have seen Papa smile heard his deep laugh and listen to his loud steady voice preach the gospel we feel profoundly blessed to have known grandpa Maxwell to have witnessed his christ-like example the three of us are humbled to be carrying on the Maxwell legacy did the strong foundation of faith that grandpa instilled in our Papa John father Joel Porter Maxwell and has great grandsons John Porter and James Wesley are especially proud to be among those Maxwell men even in his passing we recognize the favorable hand of God upon his life and the extraordinary impact that he left in the lives of others it seems so fitting that God would call grandpa Maxwell home on the 4th of July the day America celebrates her founding patriarchs and freedom all three of us are looking forward to a future fourth of July when we can tell our kids about the Maxwell family's founding father and the eternal freedom we have in Jesus grandpa were celebrating you for the following for following the Lord all the days of your life and finishing your life faithfully well we love you we miss you very much all our love Hannah John Porter and James Wesley Maxwell I would like to talk to you today about words dad wanted to hear if you've been with me for a dinner you know that I like to ask questions at dinner I love good food and good conversation and so sometimes one of the questions I ask is to those that around the table what are the words that you would like to hear someone say to you and it's always been an invigorating conversation recently I asked that question and a lady that it was our table that had cancer said the words I would like to hear is you're cancer-free one other person one time joke and he said I'd like to hear the words you won the lottery I can still remember a young lady one times sitting beside a young man that she was very fond of said I'd like to hear the words will you marry me I suppose today in this crowd we don't like to hear the words that we had found a vaccine for covin 19 words words that we would like to hear were there are some words that my father our father our grandpa our Papa there are some words that dad wanted to hear when he went to heaven he wanted to hear the words of his mother you see he lost mom at the age of six and as I grew up in our home it was very obvious to Larry and Tricia me that that left an indelible hole in his heart and often he would talk about his mom and often he would express how when we would be doing something with our mom how he wished that he would have had the privilege as a child to be able to do things with his mother he wanted to hear words from mom and today he's hearing those words he also would express to me that when he get when he went to heaven that he wanted he hear words from people that he had led to Christ he wanted to hear them talk about the fact that it was he who helped share the gospel he wanted to hear the words from people who found Christ because of his influence and his sharing of his faith I'm sure that he wanted to hear the words of our mother who in eleven years ago passed on to the other side I'm sure he wanted to hear mom say welcome home Melvin welcome but above those words above those words higher more desired than those words I know what dad wanted to hear he wanted to hear well done good and faithful servant they've been faithful over a few things enter into the joy of the Lord and I will make you ruler over many things dad lived every day to hear those words well done good and faithful servant so in the last few days I've been thinking about dad's faithfulness to God and there are many things I could share but I've just chosen a few because he was so faithful so faithful so solid that was faithful in his stewardship I can promise you that my brother Larry my sister Trish in my self have heard our Father if we've heard him once say to us we've heard him say a thousand times to us the passage in Luke whomsoever much is given much shall be required he wore that stewardship first in his life dad was not the most talented person that I know but my father did more with the talents he had than any person I know and the verse well done faithful good and faithful servant comes out of the story of the talents it's so fitting my father didn't get five talents I know five talent people he didn't get five I mean he wasn't at the bottom he didn't get one either he was in the middle truly in the middle but no one know I worked harder and reproduced their talent more than dad no one 100% every hour every day faithful my father was a 100 percenter at 100 percenter in fact he didn't understand a 99% her honestly he would just kind of look at them and give us that Maxwell look like what's wrong with him he had that look when he couldn't figure it out that we all have seen hundreds of times and if you were a 99% or he'd give you that kind of week smiled and then that puzzling look like I'm so sorry could I help you with your problem he just understood to give every gift to God Larry who is the businessman in the family and a good one was going through dad's papers a couple days ago and just kind of selling them setting up all making sure everything was good and dad was pretty pretty particular businessman himself although he wasn't a businessman he could have been a good one and so he was Larry was looking at dad and dad had shared with us as families about the new ities and and he loved pudding he loved having the money and his money in the Lord's work just loved having it did and he had a he had a certain level of living that he wanted to live on and he had a certain cushion of money that that he wanted to be sure that he had for a rainy day he was very good with money and didn't want to have to rely on anyone else so he had his little savings and and he had a standard of living and then everything went right into God's work and so when Larry was sharing with me to him and I great surprise both of us the large amount of money that he had in annuities and when he shared with me that um this was probably the most beautiful part even better than the large dollar amount he said I'm watching dad's records Johnny he said every time he got a gift because he already had his standard of living taken care of and he had a savings of it he said if he got a gift in the first of the week he said by a week later he was already sending that gift onto something in the Lord's work he was a river not a reservoir he knew that as he shared with us as children God will only give to you what he knows will flow through you so my father was faithful in stewardship our Father was faithful in his example you just didn't have to guess where dad stood on something you never had to kind of wonder if he was in or if he was out or if he was up or if he was down he just lived his talk he talked to talk but he walked the talk so the other day last week when I was with him and I was I just went in the room and closed the door he was not able to respond at all to me he I think he could hear me but I had no response from him at all so I just sat beside him and would kind of lay my hand on him on his shoulders or put my hand on his face for a while and I began to write down all the lessons that my dad not only taught me but would teach my brother my sister I just began to write them down and I'm not going to comment on them I did and on social media for the next four Mondays at noon I did four lessons on tribute to my father of I will teach each one of these lessons I'm very excited about it because it gives me an opportunity to share faith with tens of thousands of people who don't have a personal faith I could hardly wait hardly wait to UM be able to do that so on July 1st I wrote down in my iPhone thanks dad I learned from you to pray without ceasing add value to people be consistent share my faith stay focused people read God's Word it just got stuck here from mind I almost didn't put that in honest to god when I realized how many times he read the Bible I can hardly get through Leviticus I just I almost didn't say that because after you know he how much he read the word it's kind of like unworthy just unworthy you taught me to be intentional you taught me to see the best in others you taught me to maximize my gifts you taught me to travel the high road you taught me to encourage others you taught me to put God first you taught me to work hard you taught me to think positive you taught me to trust and obey God you taught me sighs my life you taught me to follow God 100% you taught me not to give up or give in you taught me to do my best always you taught me to pay now play later you taught me to express gratitude to God and to others you taught me to steward my gifts it taught me to walk slowly see the crowd you talked to me to live a generous life you taught me to give God the credit you taught me to grow and better myself you taught me to remember names you taught me to be enthusiastic and honestly I could stop in trishul 10 he lived every one of those things now I do have to just pause for a moment because we're making dad look really good and he wasn't quite the saint were making him look because I'm going to tell you he's taught me also and my brother and my sister how to drive fast we all speed in fact I say with great pride I'm the best driver in the family and if you've been with me you know that is not a good statement yeah he taught us to drive fast in fact every other year he'd go buy a car it was just a ritual paid cash for his car he he kept his finances in order we'd go to buy that car and we'd get in the backseat we wouldn't miss him buying the car didn't take him long he could make decisions very quickly he didn't have to go look at 17 different car dealers he just buy the car and we get it and we knew we were going to go out to route 22 and we were going to head west on that straight road and he'd look at each one of us would beat the backseat and he'd say okay children let's see how she does hit push it down and when we hit a hundred hits I'd slow down say I think it'll work okay let's take it home isn't that just beautiful he's not a saint close but notice they also taught me how to eat ice cream be impatient you notice that none of us ever talking about his patience you won't hear a child grandchild no one who ever talked about he had no patience her daughter Trish took him to get a lube job with this car three or four years ago and they'd been there for about 30 minutes and he looked at her and said was the car ready and she said well I get it's getting close dad and about 10 minutes later he said the car should be ready she said well let me go check and she came back and said well and she said it's not quite ready but they're getting close and he couldn't take it he just stood up he said well let's go she's what do you mean let's go we said let's go let's go buy a car I can buy a car faster and I get a lube job let's let's just let's just go buy a car let's go there's some other things he taught me that were just wonderfully terrible but that's none of your business my father was very faithful in evangelism you can catch that already I mean what do I have to say I mean you heard his grandchildren his great-grandchildren already talked about it I mean it's indelible he placed in their heart to share their faith you've heard me talk about salt and light from Jesus and his message in Matthew that we're to be salt salt makes things better light makes things brighter people say oh that's just a wonderful statement John I got it from dad and 19 Minh he was 92 he preached a sermon out of second Corinthians therefore if any man be in Christ he's a new creation old things are passed away behold all things become new and in that message dad said let me tell you something God makes things better God makes things brighter and dad loved shared his faith he lived to share his faith Elizabeth our daughter wrote some beautiful words that I'm going to now read to you here's what Elizabeth said my papa was an amazing man of God he loved to run into complete strangers and asked them if they knew Jesus he stopped at nothing to bring everyone in anyone to Christ I have fond memories of him sitting in his house diving into the word and Mamaw would have her cup of coffee and chocolate chip cookies that was famous by the way and we would all be reading and I after a while I remember him always taking long walks through the neighborhood I'm sure it was looking for someone to save a spatial memory was the day that he married Betty at my uncle Larry's house he loved her the fact that she played the piano and the two of them would just fit together so well she had one funny memory that I have I remember this very well Eli one funny memory she said I have was at my wedding when he prayed over Steve and me the problem was he called me Patti who is my aunt and Steve and I almost lost it during the prayer on stage by the way I was there I watched you you lost it I kind of lost it with you he was a character always made me laugh and smile his heart was pure gold we will miss his long prayers at family gatherings his passion and his fire for the Lord was something he wore like clothing Papa you will be missed but your legacy will live forever love you to the moon and back I'm setting up this next pros for something that my father longed for as I'm talking to you about words he wanted to hear I've had conversations with that where he would talk about when he went to heaven how he longed to see people that he had led to Christ so I'm taking some prose from Henry Van Dyck he really wrote it entitled she is gone and I'm going to just turn it into he has gone since it's a about my dad I am standing on the seashore and a ship appears and spreads its white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean it's an object of beauty and I stand watching him till the last he fades on the horizon and someone at my side quietly says he is God gone where gone from my vision that is all he is just as large as when I saw him last the diminished size and the total loss of sight it's in me not in him and just as the moment when someone at my side says he is gone there are others who are watching him coming and their voices began to join excitedly together and they say with a joyful shout here he comes here he comes that's what happened to dad we said he is gone and on the shores of heaven they were excitedly saying here he comes and who was excitingly hearing him say that those that he led to Christ when you enter the beautiful city and the saved all around you appear what joy joy what joy when someone will say to you it was you who invited me here that is continually hearing that from hundreds of people right now so many have it so kind and your condolences and you've talked about the fact that um you know you said we're sorry that you've lost your dad and I just got I got I got good news for you we we didn't lose him I just got good news for Matt you can't lose someone when you know where they are and we know where he yes to be absent from the body is to be present with this service is online being watched by thousands of people can I talk to you for a moment thank you for taking time out of your schedule to be with us I would like to share with you that you can have the hope of heaven and the realization that your sins have all been forgiven that you can have the clarity and the reality that once you die you're assured into the presence of God and I know I know that many of you watching right now within your heart are hungry for a reality in times of uncertainty and a direction when many people question what happened and so my friend in honor of my dad because there was nothing more that he loved and to see people develop and find a relationship with God if you will go to Maxwell faith calm after this service just hit Maxwell faith calm and you will see me share the four pictures of God you see the main reason probably your reason to be honest with you the main reason we don't have a relationship with God is because we have a wrong picture of him and when we have a wrong picture of someone we never want a relationship with him if you watch this six minute video I will share with you how you can have a right picture with God of which when you see it you'll want to know him so if you watch the video our team will follow up very quickly we have some free resources for you when you receive Christ in your life that will just help you get started in this journey and by the way nothing will make my dad happier than for you to discover the greatest relationship you could ever know because of his death he'll be watching it'll make him happy my father was faithful lastly in his encouragement it was impossible in possible impossible to not be encouraged but my day even if you didn't want it in fact even if you resisted my dad didn't even know when you were resisting him honest to god he didn't know he just did it and if you were backing away he doesn't bother he'd just step right on in if you turned around he'd just kind of go on the other side just keep smiling he I fact I asked him one day I said dad how do you know how do you know that people need to be encouraged he said no son that's very easy if they're breathing if they're breathing now he said if they're not breathing don't encourage him don't encourage don't know encourage so I picked this up this is a dad gave this to me several years ago when he was leading the the did a little campus they all the camps here throughout Central Florida he's entitled it celebrating the senior years and here's what he said stay alive and don't quit dreaming find new ideas and set new goals now get the picture the old person is talking to old people don't miss it number two don't give up don't give over to defeat and discouragement things are not as bad as they sometimes look number three never think you're too old Moses was 80 when he led three and a half million people out of captivity number four never think that you have lost your youth usefulness your years have given you both experience and wisdom to share number five have never think that you're not needed or important everyone you meet needs a smile and some loving words number six never stop trying persistence always wins your candle may be burned down but not out don't complain because you are gray or bald a lot of people haven't lived that long number seven keep the spirit of praise can constantly and think about the goodness of God your attitude rather than your aptitude determines your spiritual altitude number eight love God more each day he's with you he has no losers you are nearer the winning line hang on and number nine tried to leave a memorial that will live on and on love kind words thoughtfulness faith vision a charitable gift my father was faithful and encouragement so I'm gonna read the words of our son Joel who gave these to me and I read them to you now for as long as I can remember grandpa prayed for other people he was the greatest prayer warrior I have ever known when I was younger I vividly remember him telling me that he believed his greatest ministry was to pray for people and encourage them I'll never forget when he would come out to visit us for holidays while we were living in California and he would be praying so loudly in the morning that he would wake up the whole house no one ever wondered where grandpa was I always joked grandpa had two volumes loud and louder he never met a stranger and when he was talking to others he was quick to ask how he could pray for them and when he moved into the assisted-living he joked that the only problem with the facility was that everyone else there was old he had an unexpected sense of humor and I loved that about him I remember visiting him for his birthday and hearing that he had appointed himself as the chaplain and that he had a congregation they named it the first church of the last James it was his favorite joke to tell he said I also remember the Thanksgiving that he spent with my family in South Florida I had just been diagnosed with liver and kidney failure I was feeling very tired and very discouraged grandpa made a point to specifically pray for my healing and even anointed me with oil it was a powerful moment in my life I truly believe that my health turned a corner that day I was so grateful for the extra time God gave us with Grandpa when we gathered our whole family together at the ranch four years ago we thought that this might be our last time with him he proved that a positive attitude and faithfully praying for others is the greatest way to finish well and to leave a lasting legacy enough talk about dad because you can't do him justice when you talk about him you have to see him in action so I'll close this service with a video this happened 11 years ago I was at Christ Fellowship Church I had just finished preaching and asked joy dad to come and join me on stage I don't need to talk anymore you don't need to hear me anymore you need to experience Melvin Maxwell and when you're when he's finished with the video I'm finished I learned a long time ago when dad speaks don't follow it it up so when you hear him enjoy him just let that spirit fall over him and then when you're done join me and let's give dad a standing ovation watch the video and I thought as my dad was down for the weekend and and yesterday I said dad I said I like you to help me close the message and so dad if you'll grab a microphone and you come on up here for a second would you get my dad a hand he's special come up here papa [Applause] dad will be 88 in November and he's special nine years ago he started a ministry in in in Park senior citizens parks in the central part of Florida and that was nine years ago how many parks is your ministry in now dad in Central Florida 40 and 50 okay between 40 and 50 parks that dad's in with lay people doing ministry wit and how many people you think I would represent how many thousands people do you have any clue many thousand because I have parks these are 55 and above with 1100 homes and I think of that how many people that would involve and dad dad it huh that started this wonderful pay it forward ministry at 79 okay at 79 in fact we had lunch with not long ago and he told me that he needed to kind of begin to pass off the baton to someone else he said he found out he said to Johnny I found a young guy he's 65 and I think I'm going to now now dad is the living example I told you earlier he said I at the older I get the more I love people which is this this is so true he's a living example of everyday rising up to serve people in fact yesterday dad in our conversation around the kitchen table you said to me the reason that I live today is to serve God and to serve people and I would like for you to take just a minute and just share with us what that means to serve people and just kind of get challenged us to do the same thank you John I was recovering from a heart attack I had traveled over the country and spoke was - 66 years in the ministry and I said oh God lying on my back would you give me one more ministry before go to heaven and he said starting Park ministries and I started with Tellem the glorious message of Jesus Christ and him being saved interdenominational just like your church you can incorporate so many people the main issue is Jesus Christ the bottom-line fine I'd find a layman or retired minister we have over our coordinators or pastors over half of Mar laymen just like you because you have something that no one else has and God wants to ignite you with these divine power that you can go forth and do it oh my what God can do through you it's just beyond your imagination beyond your comprehension God is looking for yielded hearts who wants to touch the life of someone else my love goes out to everyone today I love everybody I can truthfully say it I don't see him as an individual but I see him as God's creation I see him as eternal Souls and I must get the message to them before they slip over the brink in my own park in the last six or eight weeks I think they've been 10 or 12 slipped on to another world they're all around us dear one so let's do our best let's say by the grace of God I can do it and you can do it take the challenge god bless your heart as William this service I just hope that God will spark your heart what can I do my neighbor my friend ones I'm working with anyway to do it fill my with your love and help me to speak out keep it chopping away something's gonna happen and listen the greatest thing in your life when you make it inside of the eastern gates someone will shake your hand and say I'm here because of what you have done won't that be wonderful and can be possible let's believe God that's right stand and say I'll take that challenge I'll take that challenge I'm gonna do it I'm gonna do it I won't give up I know he's gonna help me Annie will you want me to pray just yeah dad dad looked at me and he said you want me to pray dad three minutes ago you took control of the service but nothing would be better than for you to reach your hand out to these people yes and ask God to fill them with his love and just give them opportunity to change lives and make a difference and as he as he prays over you I mean this man has the blessing he has he has he has the anointing on him just reach your hand up to him would you because I want you to receive I want you to receive this anointing today so that you can be effective in your ministry of passing it forward Oh God you are here walk down the aisle and every pew into every seat right now and touch that person with the spark and the power of the Holy Spirit for their precious and they can ignite someone else by telling the story this is a time that is your speaking we believe you and in the name of Jesus Christ God the Father the Holy Spirit right now we invoke thy blessing upon every heart here with a touch may they sense it may they feel it Oh God we ask it in Jesus name Amen amen amen god bless you [Applause] you [Music] you [Music] you [Music] [Music] you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: John C. Maxwell

Views: 5,294

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Id: OIs5umUdYm8

Length: 86min 15sec (5175 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 09 2020