The whole church was working on Zach Matters, yes. Preaching that had been dry and boring was now rich and powerful. It stirred his soul and it made him weep for his sins. He was baptized by Brother E.C. Holder at age 13. In 13 more years, on April 9th of 1967, at the age of 26, Brother Zach was ordained to the gospel ministry of Whitehaven Church, and that includes Brother Bobby and Brother James Allen Rushing. Neither Bossie or Eunice lived to see him ordained. What was going on 50 years ago, guess, was 33 cents a gallon. The federal minimum wage was $1.40. Boy's hair had gotten longer, and girl's skirts had gotten shorter. But here's one thing that had not changed, and has not changed, and will not change, the word of God. After his ordination, he preached regularly for some time at Hornwall, Tennessee. Then in August of 1969, he was married to Judy Machiavelli. During that period, he pastored for a short time at Pine Hill in Faulkner, Mississippi. Six months later, he started pastoring at Whitehaven, and this continued for two years until he and Sister Judy moved to Clinton, Kentucky in December of 71 to start a church, and Hannah and Isaac were born there. He labored there until 1975 when they came back to Memphis. After their return to Memphis, Brother Bobby recommended that Grace Chapel call Brother Zach as pastor, which they did, and the rest is history. Brother Zach has pastored at Grace Chapel ever since. Now on a personal note, I'm getting to be an old man. I'm using a heating pad on my back this week, and I had a root canal on Tuesday. But I'm one of a myriad of young people who were influenced by Brother Zach and Sister Judy. And it takes more than a strong wind to move somebody out of Texas. But it's been a blessing to be here at Grace Chapel with him and the flock we have there. Right, Brother Ronnie? Melissa and I are thankful for your influence on our church and our sons, including our son, Andrew, who was ordained this year. And I have a feeling, continues to talk to you every day, just about he's gone and moved. He's pastoring his first church in Arkansas. We love being able to look at our back door, see if your light is on, if we need a scripture or a cup of sugar. So we love you and Sister Judy, and we look forward to what the Lord will do with you in the next few years. Brother Kevin, come ahead. It's a real blessing to be with you all this morning. And thinking about this, it's hard not to brag on somebody. We're not here to brag on people. We're to brag on God, as Brother Kiefer mentioned. And I thought about this. If I start bragging on my father, even though I'm very thankful for him and his life and his ministry, I can hear my mother Voice in the background, Kevin, that's nothing but P-R-I-D-E. I can hear her say it. Those of y'all that knew my mother, that's the way she would not want me to brag on my father. But I do want to say a few things about him. He was born in Duck Hill, Mississippi. If y'all don't know where Duck Hill is, you can blink and be past it, through it. In fact, when my uncle got out of the military, he was in Japan, he was coming home, he was riding the train home, he was gonna stop in Duck Hill, his dad was gonna pick him up. And the conductor said, I'm sorry, we don't stop in Duck Hill, Mississippi. You're gonna have to go to Memphis. He said, man, I gotta get off. And he said, well, I'll slow down enough and we'll throw your stuff out and you can jump out. So that's about the way Duck Hill is. Dad was born in 1929, which y'all know is in the middle of the Great Depression. But his family didn't have stock. They had a cow, milk cow, chickens. The only thing they really bought at the store was flour, sugar, salt, things like that. They raised cotton. And the money they raised from cotton usually was to buy clothes. They got one pair of shoes a year, and they usually carried them to church so they wouldn't wear them out. And so it was a very poor situation. But I don't think he felt poor. I don't think he did. Because everybody pretty much lived that same way. So the depression really didn't affect them in any way, really. Except maybe just hard to get clothes and gas, that kind of thing. But his education was good, what it was, but my grandfather, his daddy was a farmer, and so he had to pull the kids out of school when they planted. and pulled them out when they harvested. So my dad, consequently, really doesn't spell very well and doesn't, his grammar is not that great. It's not because he's dumb, it's because he had to get out and work. And his education was working pretty much. And I think that bothered him when he felt the call to preach that he really didn't have that considered education in that way, even though he was well-read. But I think that motivated him to get out, study, and get his books. He has a great library, and it motivated him to get out and study the word of God. I say that to brag on God, because God doesn't use the mighty, the educated. It's not wrong to have those things, but God delights to use the weak, the things are feeble, that he might get the glory. So you guys that may feel like your gift is not that great, not as good as somebody else's, don't worry about that. You just worry about serving God. Well, Dad almost didn't make it to adulthood. In the winter, when he was four years old, he had a sister that was one month old and got pneumonia and died. And Dad got pneumonia as well. I was asking him if it was the same time. It was within a month or so of each other. Of course, they didn't have hospitals to go to, and the doctor just came around periodically as needed. And so my grandfather built this tent thing with hot coals and made like a vaporizer. And then he found out the sheriff had confiscated some moonshine or alcohol, I guess. And so he went down to the sheriff and said, hey, I got a sick child, said I need some of that whiskey. And so they mixed it with something, and Dad said it was some kind of awful. And consequently, he doesn't, he's not a drinker at all. He hates that. But whatever it was, it cut that loose, and he survived. Aren't you glad he survived? Aren't you glad? God is good, isn't he? I think about that song. When in the slippery paths of youth, with heedless step I ran, thine arm unseen conveyed me safe and led me up to man. I thank God that he survived that. He met my mother at a meeting. Loved church. I was going to tell you about his conversion. He told me he was young. I don't know how old he was. Must have been about 13 or so. But he got convicted of his sin. And I remember him telling me him going out in the woods. In a simple, childlike way. Promising God. they would never sin again. Isn't that good? Your desire is to walk holy. Even though he's a sinner and has committed sin, his desire was to never sin again. And I think he always felt, he felt the call to preach before he was ordained to preach. But he was moved at a young age. And he met my mother at a meeting. And what a blessing it is. Isn't it wonderful to have a good woman behind you, Brother Zach, and all you preachers and men? My mother was a wonderful woman. She died this year. She was not high maintenance. She was easy to get along. She didn't require a whole lot, and it's a good thing, because Dad took her all over the country to churches and started all over, and she was just so easy to work with. And she loved people. They made a great team. I don't want to get too long with it, I want to thank God for my mother. And she, I think Dad would confess to this, that she is a lot of the reason that he was able to do what he was able to do. And he was ordained. He was 38 years old, or 37 years old when he was ordained. And I remember there was hundreds of people there at Whitehaven. It was a big church, not quite as big as this, but it was full. You remember that? Standing room only. I remember you telling Brother Cooper from Texas was coming over to the meeting. And he was preaching through Missouri, and one of the deacons or somebody called him over and said, hey, Cooper, I understand they're going to ordain three over there in Memphis. He said, I think they pulled them too green. What do you think about that? And Cooper said, well, I'm going up there to be in ordination. What do you think about that? Well, dad confessed he was pretty green. But as I said, he studied. I mean, I've been with him. He sold, he had to sell plumbing fixtures. He wasn't able to go full time. But when he was on the road, we had those Alexander Scorby tapes. You remember those? Through the Bible. Listened to those on the road. He had this little cassette recorder on the hotel room studying, wasn't watching TV, studying. Remember those big reel-to-reels? Those things weighed about 50 pounds. We'd carry those things and take them to the meetings and set them up front. He had reel-to-reel tapes of preaching. He loved to preach and loved preaching. I'm getting too long with this thing, but he did go to Brush Creek, Pine Hill, same place you did. I think Avery Land fixed you all up over there. That was a blessing growing up as a preacher's son. I got to see old Baptists from all over the country. I got to see a lot of different things. We got to go to churches that were so backward and different, but it was all good. I just enjoyed every minute of it. He started taking part in the services at Whitehaven, and of course Brother Wallace recognized that and ordained, wanted to be ordained. He had a real burden for the Lord's people. I think he wanted to see things better for God's people. And so he saw a need for a get-together and fellowship, see young people get together. And so he wanted to start a camp with God's people getting together and fellowshipping. That's really what it was about. And so I think you were with him one time. He didn't want to just get up there and play games and stuff like that, but he ran around the tents one night and he heard young people praying in the tents. He said, you know, this is right. We're doing something right here. And now, 50 years later, we're still meeting. Now we got 300 young people out there. A lot of y'all met at camp. Marriages have come about. Have a vision. Have a vision for making God's kingdom better. Don't you want to have a vision for God's kingdom? Well, he had a vision to do that. And so even though he's not involved in it anymore, have a vision to get something started and get it going. Also had a vision to start a church in East Memphis. There was no church in East Memphis. There was a church in Collierville. Morris Memorial is still going over there on Cooper-Young area. Broad was over here at Parkway and Broad. And when they took the interstate through, they tore down all those churches, tore down a building that's not there anymore. But he wanted a church in this part of the city. And so Brother Tony McEvoy and him got together, and basically our families and a few old folks, Brother Wayne Hollingsworth, The Moors, Adelaide Moors, Sister Reeves. Start with just a handful. You want to have about 12, 13 people. And we wanted to have people with us so bad. We never had many people, but we wanted it. We would go to church on Wednesday night, so we'd go to Whitehaven. Then we had our service on Friday night. Then we had Sunday morning, Sunday night. We were meeting four times a week as a kid. I didn't have time to watch Wild Wild West on Friday. I always wanted to watch that. I couldn't watch my TV show. I was in church. But that's all right. And then, this is getting too long, I know. I'm going to wrap it up pretty quick. But we love to have God's people together. So we had a meeting right after camp. You all remember that? A week's meeting right after camp. My mother, Sister Patty, all of them, wash clothes, get over there. A week's meeting. We don't have week's meetings anymore. We wanted God's people to be with us. And old brother Griffin was with us in those days. We just had a handful. He said, I've got a vision for our church. I can see young people all over this hill over there where we are in Stratford and this come to pass. The Lord is blessed. He had a vision for a church in East Memphis. Have a vision for God's people. I'm going to skip over some of this for time's sake. He finally went to several churches, but he ended up in Collierville. And I'm so glad that he ended up in Collierville. He felt discouraged in a lot of places where he went. Didn't really feel like he had done much good. But you know, God was preparing him for Collierville. You don't know that what you're going through right now is getting you ready for the next thing. All things work together for the good of them to love God. And so they were working together for his good, getting him and my mother prepared for that last work. He's been there at Collierville. He brought up Brother Justin there for a while. Now Brother Timothy's there. They're working together. And that church has been such a blessing. And they love him and he loves them. As my mother was getting sicker, getting more weak, Dad had prayed. You know, the effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much. He wanted to always be able to take care of her. She'd been with him and took care of him all those years. I never remember dad cooking a meal unless she was sick. But you know at the end, he cooked all their meals. All their meals. Did all the shopping. Got her in a wheelchair and took her to church. And they did that until about a month before she died. He prayed that he would always be able to take care of her. Aren't you glad God answers prayer? He took care of her to the very end. And even when they're in the hospital, they were both had pneumonia in the hospital together. I was staying with him and Vicky was with mom. And he asked me, would you wheel me down there? I want to go down and see her. I hadn't seen her in a day or so. And it was so sweet. You got a picture of them holding hands. He that findeth wife, findeth a good thing, and obtain favor from the Lord. Well, she did. She passed away. He continues to attend church. He loves to be there. He's going to be there unless he's sick. He still drives himself around. He preached a sermon one time at Grace Chapel years ago about heaven. And he talked about our body like an old house, like my granddaddy's old house. He said the roof eventually gets to where it leaks. The walls rot, and they fall in. And finally, it's just not fit for human habitation anymore, and you have to move out. And he is getting to that point. He's not there yet. I'm thankful for him that he's able to go to church, get around, do the things he loves to do. But before too long, he won't be with us. And I hate to even think about that day. But you know, he's taught me that there's a lot better waiting for us. He knows His Redeemer liveth. And at the latter day, He's going to stand on the earth. And though after the skin worms destroy His body, yet in His flesh, He's going to see God. And I think about that a lot, too. Dad always thought that he would be alive when Jesus came back. Well, you may be, but you may not. But either way, it's going to be all right. David said that after he had served his generation, he fell on sleep. I can truly say my dad has served his generation. And I know that he can say, like the Apostle Paul, that he fought a good fight. He's run a good race. He's finished his course. And it's still not through yet. But he's ready. He's ready to depart. I hope I can say that when I get down to the end of my life. And you young preachers, I hope you can say that when you get down to the end of your life. That you fought a good fight. You served your generation. And the world is a better place because you were here. And the church is a better place because you were here. Our gracious God, we do thank you for this opportunity to share things together. We thank you for your abundant mercy, that you've raised up men to preach the gospel. We thank you that they're not educated in the world's way of education, that they don't have to go to a seminary to be qualified to preach, that you do qualify your men. And we thank you for raising up godly men that preach the word, that are in season, out of season. They're faithful men. And we pray that you continue to raise up others that will serve their generation, that will build up the churches. We see you working in our churches. And pray we see a revival of true religion. We pray that you be with the remainder of this service, that all that's done will be done to your glory and honor, and that Christ might be exalted in all that we do today. It's in Christ's name we pray. I was going to say one more thing. He doesn't want me saying this, but in his will, he's left some money aside to support a young minister that's coming up. So even though you may not see it, some things you do will continue on after you're dead and gone. And anyway... Timothy and I are going to alternate speaking for a few minutes this morning. And we have four main points that we want to make in relation to the service this morning. But before I begin, I want to just sort of back up and just repeat the comments that Brother Kiefer made on the outset of this service. This is a worship service. although it's in a different format than normal. Brother John Horner read a passage last night from first Peter chapter four. It said, as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. God's grace is big. It's abundant. It's more than we could ever asked for. But the word manifold means varied or different. That means that God gives his grace in different ways to different people that everyone has, whether a minister, whether a preacher of the gospel or not, everyone who has been arrested by the grace of God has been provided gifts, gifts with which we are to minister according to our gifts. So we are to labor according to our gifts. We are to serve according to our gifts. And the idea that we could, that God could look down and say, you have been a good steward of the grace that I've given you should be that which encourages, exhorts, convicts us every day that we live. Now, as it relates to this particular service, here's what Paul said about a service like this in Philippians chapter two. As Paul was speaking to his beloved church in Philippi, he brings to their mind a man named Epaphroditus. Epaphroditus, who had labored to bring the gift that the Philippians had collected for Paul And he brought it at the hazard of his own life. Apparently, he became very ill and was nigh unto death. In fact, it says he was sick, nigh unto death. But God had mercy on him and allowed Epaphroditus to continue his journey, his mission, his ministry. And he continued on even though he was sick unto death. And Paul says he didn't even regard his own life. In other words, his own life, his own well-being, his own health was not most important to him. What was most important to him was to fulfill the calling that God had given him to do. It wasn't a real notable calling. It was just carrying this gift to Paul. And he was so intent to do this for the cause of Christ that he continued on even though his life was in jeopardy. And Paul says to the Philippian church, when you find somebody like that, You receive him with all gladness. You receive him with great joy and hold such in reputation. That phrase, hold such in reputation, means you honor those who live those kinds of life. You honor those whose lives are dedicated to the glory of Jesus Christ and to the furtherance of his kingdom. You take note of those kinds of people. And today, as we're honoring the 50th anniversary of Brother Zach, Daddy, and Brother Bobby, it's not that we're only honoring them or we're putting the spotlight on them, but we are saying that when God has given us such gifts who have advanced His kingdom, have ministered to our own souls, have helped us along in understanding and loving the Lord, we want to honor them because we are honoring God for providing this blessing to us. But it's not just honoring that we want to do. Paul would go on in Philippians 3 and he would say this. He would say, brethren, be followers together of me, and then he says this, and mark them which walk. Watch. Observe, take note of those who walk, take note of those who are living their lives. Not just those who are living their lives well, but those who are living their lives poorly. The next verse he would say, for many walk, whom I tell you often and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose God is their belly. They're living for this life right here. And that's all they're living for. They're living for their own satisfaction, to meet their own needs, to fill their own cup. And I weep over those kind of people because they mind earthly things. But he says, you also watch those who walk well. and you follow them even as ye have us. For an example, as brother Kiefer said, daddy and brother Bobby are not interested in a bunch of accolades today, but what they are interested in this, they would say regarding themselves that I am what I am by the grace of God and his grace, which was in me is not, was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all yet. Not I. Don't, don't talk about me yet. Not I, but the grace of God, which was in, which was in me. So then I interested in, in having their own chest puffed out today or their own feats, um, heralded. But what they are interested in and here's how I know this because I've watched them over these last 43, 43 years, they are interested in every one of you. And they are interested not just in your physical health and your material well-being. They care about that a little bit, but they care a whole lot more about your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. And they, unlike Hezekiah, who only cared about his generation, they are very concerned and have great affection for the next generation. And they would long to see you walk in the same example, the way that you can get to the end of your life and say, I am what I am by the grace of God, yet I have labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me. So young people, there are many young people here today, and you are deciding today how you are going to live your life. You're deciding what you're going to pursue and who you're going to pursue and how you will live your life. And so today, as we talk about these lives that these men have lived in their ministries, there are four things that Timothy and I wanted to bring out that mark their lives, how they looked at life, mark their ministries, how they looked at ministry. And my prayer, and I promise you their prayer, is that Jesus Christ be glorified today and that you be moved. To follow in the same pathway. Walking not in their steps, but walking in the steps of Jesus. And as you walk in the steps of Jesus, you're going to find that you're walking in very similar steps to the ones that they have lived. Matthew chapter 4. The first thing that I want to talk about is character. character, what will characterize the life of those who dedicate their lives to the Jesus Christ. In Matthew four, we get one of the most beautiful portraits of who Jesus Christ was at his very core. As we see this little scene in which he was tempted by Satan, And I want to read the first four verses of Matthew chapter four. It says, Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward hungry. When the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. This is not the only time in scripture that you see Jesus off alone somewhere in a wilderness or in a desert. One of the songs that we sing says, fasting alone in the desert, writhing in anguish and pain. Jesus, in this occasion, was led up by the Holy Spirit into the desert, knowing that he would undergo the assault of Satan while he was in the desert. The question is, why would Jesus go into the desert? Why would the Spirit lead Jesus into the desert to fast for 40 days? The answer is because it was the meat and drink of Jesus Christ to do the will of God. Jesus, above all things, sought fellowship with his father. Jesus sought, as a man, he sought after God. Now, I know that sort of blows our comprehension because Jesus was God. But the reality is, in his humanity, Jesus desired the fellowship of God. Jesus desired to be with God. Jesus desired to hear from God. Jesus desired to communicate with God. In this occasion, he was tempted. He was weak. He was hungry. Can you imagine going 40 days and 40 nights without food? The Bible says that Jesus was tempted. I don't know that any of us have ever endured a temptation like that, where you're that weak. So you think you're all alone. I'm tempted above all other people. My trials are above all other people. Just look at this story. No, you're not. He's weak. He's hungry. And here's the beauty, though. He was tempted for our sakes. Yet in his temptation, he was without sin. He was holy. And the tempter's temptation was, I can feed you. I can provide what your flesh so desperately seeks after. I can give you what you want so much. I can put that morsel, I can turn that stone to bread, and I can put that sweet wafer in your mouth, and you will know satisfaction. You will be filled with strength again. And what does Jesus say? Jesus says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Jesus is saying, there is something that I desire far more than just natural food. There's something that is far, far more important and far more precious to me than even having my life continued and my strength returned. And that is that, and that is to walk in the footsteps of my, of my, of my Lord, of my father, that is to obey my father, to do my father's will, to seek my father's fellowship. What a savior we have in Jesus. Jesus would say it is worth sacrificing to have the fellowship of God. If there is one thing that I would just summarize the character of Brother Bobby and Daddy, I would characterize it in that way. They have been men in their personal lives who sought to have God's fellowship and God's favor, even if it meant they would have to sacrifice some of or many of these earthly things. including reputation at times, including personal position, including some of the comforts of life that we deem absolutely necessary. Timothy will probably talk about this a little bit, but just in thinking about their lives and thinking about my own life, my own family, home, house, I don't know the exact number of years, but it was astounding to me to think of the many different places that brother Bobby and sister Ann moved. They moved to three different places in Texas, living in temporary housing. He spent over a month in the Philippines. They labored in Arkansas for a while. In my ministry, as he was bringing me up, me and brother Justin up, he would take us, we would go to Grenada, Mississippi every week. We would then go to Greenwood, Mississippi. Why? Because man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, I want to do the will of God. I want to follow God. I want the fellowship of God. To listen to, and again, I'm not here to brag, but to listen to Brother Bobby pray is to know a man whose heart's soul of desire is to seek after God. There is something more important, more precious, more valuable than anything else that I could seek after in life. Young people, can I tell you, that's not just a conclusion of an old man or two old men. That's what Jesus said. That's how Jesus lived. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. But there's more to it than just that. Because they believed that, these men, both in their personal lives and in their ministry, they treasured and they championed the Word of God. Brother Bobby is still memorizing Scripture. I don't have to tell you too much about Zach the Laminator. His efforts to memorize go with them into the bank, into the bathroom, into the shower. Why? Because man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. But not only in their personal life, well, but in their ministries. Let me just share two things about this. Number one, their belief that every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, the word of God is his revelation. It is the way that we hear him, that we see him, that we know him. Because of that, that calls these men to be seekers after truth. Because they believe the word of God contains truth. It is the highest truth, it is absolute truth, it is where we go to find out if we are on the right path, if we are preaching the right things, if we are walking the right way or not. Now we know that in our heads, but in our hearts a lot of times truth is relative, right? Truth is important as long as I don't get ostracized, or I don't get pushed off to the side, or I don't make enemies, or I can keep all my friends. But because every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God is true, these men have led us, led their churches, to seek and walk in truth. And we are so much better off for that. But one last thing about their ministry is in the Word of God. One of the men that we all thank God for, from way back before we lived as a man named William Tyndale. We thank God for him because of his desire to free the Word of God up and place the Word of God into the hands of the common man to where we could read the Word of God and search the Word of God and understand the Word of God and seek the Word of God for ourselves. He believed that in doing that, that there would be freedom from captivity, freedom from bondage, freedom from error, and at hazarding his own life and finally even giving up his own life. Praise God, we have the Word of God in our common language. And we can read it for ourselves and we're responsible ourselves to God and not to somebody between us and God for teaching us what truth is, but we can go to God's Word. We can be instructed by God's Word, comforted by God's Word, led by God's Word, rebuked by God's word. We have God's word. Praise God for that. Well, in a very real way, very real and similar way, these brothers and not just them, but a whole group of brothers, but these brothers in particular, at least in my life, have, have, have made the word of God accessible to the common man. And here's what I mean by that. Sometimes we can hold the Word of God superstitiously and see it as a big, dark, black book that has deep mysteries. And it does. It has a mystery of godliness. It is sacred, but it's also sort of removed from us. And only a few people really understand it and can preach it. And so many times, Christian people sort of live their lives all along in this sort of foggy Christianity. I know who God is, and I love God, but I don't really understand Scripture. Brothers and sisters, these men had a desire to take the Word of God and make it grabbable, accessible, understandable for people like you and me. That's why there is the undeniable doctrinal truths that printed Baptists believe. Taking the doctrines of grace, the mysteries of salvation, and breaking them down into understandable, little, comprehensible sections where you and I can know what the doctrines of grace are. Brother Bobby wrote, Honey from the Rock, and Growing in Grace. Daddy wrote, Daily Bible Devotionals. He wrote, The Little Children's Catechism. What are all these things? Let me tell you a story from my childhood. He was one of those big, tough, macho preachers who came there one time, and I was listening to him talk. And, you know, Grace Heppel had The Abundant Life, which was a periodical they sent out with writings and stories and different things. And he was talking, and he said, yeah, he goes, I won't name the other publication. I won't name his name. He said, yeah, he goes, this publication over here, these writings over here, this is for the man. But The Abundant Life. And he said, that's meat for the men. But the abundant life, well, that's the milk for the women and children. Well, let me tell you, as a young teenager, I was ready to fight. I was throwing my dukes up and rolling my sleeves back. But you know what? Years later, I've never forgotten that statement. And years later, you know what I've thought over and over and over again? Thank God. Thank God that somebody would take this book and place it into my hands and say, I can explain this to you, and you can understand it for yourself. And it starts with some fundamentals, but you've got to start by reading your Bible and praying every day, and then you will grow. And memorizing Scripture and breaking it down, you can understand God's Word. Brothers and sisters, praise the Lord for that. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord that these men would love the Word of God and champion the Word of God and then place the Word of God in our hands to where we could grab it and understand it and believe it and profit thereby. I promise you, your life is much, much, much, much more rich because of these men's efforts. Amen to everything that's gone before and it's an honor to be able to share together with you all this morning. I want to read also from the Gospel of Matthew in chapter 6, a very familiar passage of scripture that I believe highlights some of the virtues of these godly men. Jesus Christ, when he was speaking, about those whose soul worries and concern and heart is for just the material things of the world. He contrasted that to his disciples in Matthew 633. He said, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. But seek ye first the kingdom of God. That's a pretty big statement, you know. To seek first the kingdom of God is a priority statement. It is to say that the things of Jesus Christ, following Him, doing His will, serving His people, is more important and has priority over everything else. It is to say that the things of Christ and the kingdom of God are far more valuable than the treasures of the earth, than material prosperity or any other pursuit. Now I ask you, that's a bold statement. Who has the right to say that? Who has the right to tell me and to tell you that the most important thing you need to live for and the thing that has more value in your life than anything else is the kingdom of God? Who has the authority to say that? Jesus Christ. The one who we've heard this weekend says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. I'm the one who was dead and now I'm alive. The one who's the Lord of glory has the authority to tell us that. And if there's anything I think that describes the lives of these faithful men and their wives is that they have strived to seek first the kingdom of God. They've not been perfect, they would be the first ones to tell you that, but they have been captured by that. When it's easy in life, and many people just kind of float through life and live for the next big thing or have no real overarching purpose, God, with his grace, blessed these brothers to have a passion in their heart to live for that which is eternally valuable, to live for that which is of far greater importance than anything else. You know, there's been a lot of kingdoms in history. You know that? A lot of impressive kingdoms. There's been a lot of kingdoms that have risen that have been impressive to men, that have been intimidating and powerful and wealthy and impressive. And guess what's happened to every one of those kingdoms? What happened? It all ended. It all ended. And that's going to happen with every earthly kingdom. But the gospel declares to us the gospel of the kingdom of God, of a kingdom that Jesus Christ established by His power and by His grace and by His salvation. And the Bible says, of this kingdom there will be no end. And so there's many things in life that will fade away. But the one thing that will not fade away is the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. And God has blessed these brothers to have a strong desire, to have a strong passion to put first the kingdom of God because they have They've discovered, as Paul said in Romans 14, the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but it's righteousness, it's peace, it's joy in the Holy Ghost. These men have made a lot of sacrifices for the kingdom. They've invested a lot in the kingdom. What have they found? They found peace and a lot of joy in the Holy Ghost, because that's the return that God gives. There's many things we can invest our lives in, but there's no greater thing to invest in the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some things have already been said about some of the practical ways these men did it. Now, I want to say this, as we talk about some of the sacrifices that they've made for the kingdom, this may not be what God requires of you, but this is what God had for them. So think for a minute about your retirement dreams, okay? What are your dreams for retirement? Well, Brother Bobby, It's hard for a pastor, and many of our pastors have to be bivocational. They have to work a full-time job and then try to study the Word of God, feed their own souls, prepare messages for the flock of God, be godly husbands, be godly fathers, pray, counsel, deal with problems. That's a lot to carry. And Brother Bobby had to carry that load for many, many years. But he felt so compelled, he said, I've got to give more time to the ministry. And so at age 55, he could have worked much longer, had a better retirement, had more to live off of. But Brother Bobby determined to retire at age 55. He and Sister Ann, they sold their home. I think they were in New Albany, Mississippi at that time. And they moved to Houston, Texas to labor at a small church that needed help. Now think about your retirement home. Theirs was a one-bedroom apartment in Houston, Texas. I asked Brother Bobby, I said, how does Sister Ann handle that? He kind of chuckled and he said, you know, it's remarkable how God blessed her to just float right along in all the moves that we made. There were no big banners, I'm pretty sure, when they crossed into the city limits of Houston saying, welcome Bobby and Ann Poe to Houston, Texas. Not a lot of fanfare, not a lot of glitz and glamour, but a compelling passion for the kingdom of God. Brother Bobby went on to serve at Crosbyton, Texas, at Long, Texas, spent time in Arkansas. One time he thought there was a work in Nebraska that he was, they went up there and they only lasted for a couple of weeks there, thought that was not the will of God for them. They were willing to go and to do what God called them to do. Brother Bobby went, he always had a desire for the spread of the gospel. And, um, In his own words, he wanted to preach the gospel where it was not being proclaimed. I want you to know that when we talk about evangelism, there's this caricature that's flashy, glamorous, and brings you fame. That's not the reality, folks. It's hard work. A lot of times, very little return. But when it's done correctly, it's done from a passion for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Brother Bobby went down to St. Lucia in the Caribbean for a little while. Nothing panned out that he can see from that work, but he had a desire to go and to do where God would have him to go. He was able to travel to the Philippines and minister there on two different occasions and minister the Word of God among the churches there. God used him in a mighty way. Less than 10 years ago, Brother Bobby went on a trip to Cambodia to be able to preach the gospel. There's a picture of him sitting on the floor in their service preaching in his 80s because of a passion for the kingdom of God. It's already been mentioned how God has so greatly blessed his ministry at Collierville Church. He came there in 1999, and Brother Bobby's longest stop anywhere has been at Collierville. And God has, I wasn't there when he first came, but I've talked to the people who were there, and I see tears in people's eyes, and I see moving expressions of joy and gratitude at talking about how, what a great blessing Brother Bobby and Sister Ann were to that church. And I just freely confess, I stand on his shoulders today. Brother Bobby had always labored to promote and to help young ministers, even when it meant less preaching time for him. even when it meant less positions of visible leadership. Why? Because he had a passion for the kingdom of God. I have fond memories of, turning into Zach Gess here, crying all the time, okay. I have good footsteps to follow, amen. I have fond memories in my college years of, I had all day classes on Tuesday, I would get off my class and rush to the Taco Bell at Park and Estate, go through the drive-thru, park in the parking lot, eat a quick lunch, and then drive down the road to Brother Bobby's house. And there we would study the Word of God, the London Confession of Faith. I still remember Brother Bobby teaching me what it meant that Christ was the surety of the covenant. that Christ is the guarantee that it all hinges upon Him. Seek first the Kingdom of God, even when it's not flashy, even when it's not glamorous, even when it's not loud, because it will last. It will last. Pouring our lives into others. Not too long before Zach Guest and Judy Machiavelli got married, they were engaged, and they were reading together the Sermon on the Mount several times. And they came across this verse, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. And that gripped them. And if there's anything that I remember, any verse I remember being quoted throughout my childhood years, it was Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33. My dad was a pretty smart guy. He doesn't come across as an intellectual, but he's a pretty smart fella. He graduated with, he was the highest grade point average at Memphis State when he graduated. And there's a funny story there that somebody else came to him, a wife of somebody else said, well, my husband would have done it, but you're a history major and he was a math major, so it was harder for him. Whatever, the Lord blessed him with a great gift. Daddy went on to pursue his PhD in history from the University of Memphis. There's nothing wrong with getting a PhD, okay? Not the point. But the point is he had such a passion, such a passion for the ministry of the gospel that he went over to whoever his advisor was and said, Dr. So-and-so, what can I do to get out of here with my master's degree? Because I'm done with this. I want to go preach the gospel. I stand on the shoulders of such sacrifice. My dad could have gotten a PhD, had a little ministry on the side, taught a lot, made more money than we had growing up. He could have done that, probably eased his conscience. But he had a compelling passion for the kingdom of God. Praise God for that. He's been blessed to minister to so many people. driving to meetings and boot camps in Texas and teen retreats and just traveling across the world. You know, I thought if my dad had a dollar for every mile he traveled the ministry, all of us kids would have a big inheritance to look forward to, right? But we've got a better one. We have a better legacy that's been left. My dad has manifested, for the kingdom of God's sake, a willingness to be uncomfortable. Daddy is a kind of a guy that he likes meat and potatoes, and he likes his routine. He really does. And he's got some pretty interesting routines. But back in 2002, I believe it was, Brother Guna said, I want you to come to India to help us. Daddy didn't want to go and could quote him, and I quote, he said, oh, shoot, I'm going to have to go to India. That was his response. I remember daddy, I remember him one time, I think going to the post office, and he saw these ladies from India dressed in the Indian garb. And he went up to them and said, is it hot in India? They said, yeah, it is. Because nobody had ever gone from our group, right, ever seen this. He said his great, his fear was to sleep in a hut somewhere and step on a cobra snake at night. That was his greatest fear. That was for real. He said, I was afraid if I didn't go, and I quote, God would cut my hot water off. I've been blessed to go on a number of evangelistic trips, and I enjoy studying language, Spanish. Daddy's not a language guy. That's not his comfort zone, but he was willing to get uncomfortable for the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God in India was advanced because of that through his and many other people's faithfulness. So God may not call you to go to Houston, Texas or to India. God may have you serving him with a PhD. God may have, he does have manifold grace and manifold callings. It's not so much the facts of what they did, it's what we need to take from it, but it's the passion and the heart behind it. Because they were moved by a savior who poured himself out for our redemption and our salvation. And so therefore they had a strong passion and do have a strong passion to pour themselves out for the kingdom of God. So brothers and sisters, today may we determine to seek first to put priority on the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And again, I'll honor the wives behind these men, because they couldn't have made all of those sacrifices unless they had married women who had the same passion for the same Savior, for the same kingdom. So may we seek first the only kingdom that will ever last. Amen. Amen. I'm going to make this really, really brief. The young people, if you're taking notes, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God's mouth. Seek first the kingdom. And then the next one that really remarks these men, more than just seeking the kingdom, being willing to sacrifice is a deep affection and love for people. Paul says in Colossians, put on therefore the elective God, holy and beloved bowels of mercies. That phrase, bowels of mercy, goes a whole lot deeper than just, how are you doing, and I hope you're doing well, and I look forward to seeing you the next time we see each other, and then goodbye. But these men and their wives, and many times their wives prodding them. Daddy's got a big personality. Mama, very shy. Brother Bobby doesn't have a big personality. Sister Ann probably had a bigger one. Well, she definitely had a bigger one. but they opened their homes countless times. They took many, many, many young people to singing schools and camps and meetings. And it was because they didn't just have a care for people, they had a deep care for people. I remember as a young man, a young boy, Daddy telling us about some of the early days in the South and in Memphis before we were born and about how that he and his brother would, riding on the school bus when those who were of a different color had to ride in the back, that they would get in the back and ride with them because they didn't want them to feel alone. And that mindset, has been the mindset of my dad for all the years that I've observed him. Brother Zach is a friend to everybody. There are many, many people who most of the world would not brush their feet on, but they can say that they have a true friend in Brother Zach. I need more than two hands to tell you story after story after story of daddy reaching out to those in the world doesn't deem worthy. You know that he cares when you bring a problem to him. You can't even start telling it, he goes, oh, uh, uh, uh, uh. And sometimes that kind of gets on my nerves. I said, daddy, let me tell you the story first. But it's not because he's just amazed by the details. It's because there's a human being who's hurting and doesn't need to know the details. He already cares because it's a person that is made in the image of God and that he loves. So young people, you're about to start living your lives. You are living your lives. Every word that proceeds from God's mouth, seek first the kingdom and have bowels of mercies, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, forbearance. I could be silly here and I won't, but sometimes it gets on Timothy and mine. Well, we show our evil sides and how forgiving daddy can be. Have you, have you forgotten what that guy's really like? Well, there's probably some pluses and minuses on both sides there. But the reality is it's genuine. It's genuine. And I praise God for it. And I see by the nods of your heads that you as well have benefited. Love the brethren. This is the last one. The prophet Zechariah said, God's words to Zerubbabel who had a great mission before him that seemed overwhelming. The Lord said what his vision meant to Zerubbabel and it was this, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts. So one thing that we appreciate from these brothers is that they have been men who are dependent upon the Lord. They have gifts, they have knowledge, But God has blessed them to recognize what Paul said, who is sufficient for these things? Our sufficiency is of God. Great men and women of God do not become less dependent on God as they grow. They become more dependent on God because they recognize, God, I don't have it. I don't have what it takes. I may have a lot of knowledge. I may have a lot of experience. I may have gifts that you've given me, but I have got to have you. So one thing that these brothers have highlighted in their ministries, both in public and private, is a ministry of prayer, which we've already heard so much about this weekend, of a great dependence and a great crying out to God for his blessings and for his mercies. Many of you know they've met for years on Tuesday mornings to have a special time of prayer together. I've been able to join them for a good while now. It's a great blessing to hear them pray. One thing I appreciate about Daddy is you'll be talking about a problem. He'll just drop everything. Let's pray right now. One thing I've heard Brother Bobby say over and over again as we've talked about the church and needs and problems and difficulties, he said, Brother Timothy, our confidence is in the Lord. Our confidence is in the Lord. So God has blessed these brothers to live lives of dependence. God honors that kind of humility. God honors the self-abasement that says, Lord, I can't do this. You've called me to this, but I must have your strength. I must have your grace. I must have your help. That goes to all of us, whether it's in pastoral ministry, or raising our children, or just seeking to be a faithful Christian, or anything that we're doing. May we be a people of dependence. And wow, wouldn't it be glorious if we, God would bless us all to grow in these areas, to be people of the word. to be people who long for the Word of God, hungry for the Word of God, who have a passion to value the Kingdom of God above all else, to love others, and to be a people who pour themselves out in prayer. So we give God the glory. We give Him the praise. God has been good to us to give us these gifts. As they'll tell you in a moment, they don't want accolades, but let's thank God for His goodness to us and what we've gleaned from the ministries of these men. I'd like to ask now Brother Jim Harrell, a deacon at Carnival Church to come and lead us in a prayer of Thanksgiving. And then we'll have Brother Bobby and then Brother Zach to come and share whatever they want to share with us. Go ahead. Let's pray. Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, Lord, we just thank you so much for this occasion. We have a prayer of thanksgiving today in our hearts for what you've heard proclaimed, what you already know about these men. We believe, Lord, that you call in for this work and that you bless their ministries and continue to do so. And we pray, Lord, that you would Help us realize and know that we should support them and follow them as they follow you. They have been called, as we deemed, the highest office that a mortal man can have. And they fill that office well and continue to. We just pray, Lord, you give them strength and zeal to continue on to whatever number of days they have left. that they might feel strong, they might be courageous, and Lord, just help us all. We remember again those things that have been said about their wives and their helpmate, and we thank you for them as well. Now, as we continue on, we pray that you would lead us, guide us in your will, and continue to bless these men that we feel have been honored today in a proper way. We hold them in high regard, and we love them dearly. We thank you so much for this occasion. Ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Make any comments you want to make? Yes, sir. Okay, alright. I ain't told me I had five minutes, but I'm going to take six. What I want to do first of all, I want to give some Thanksgiving, okay? First of all, I thank God for calling me into the ministry. To me, I'm less than the least of all saints. There's grace given. I should preach among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ. And I thank God for that. Next, I want to thank Hassell Wallace, my faithful father in the ministry. I would not be anywhere effective if it hadn't been for Hassell Wallace. I'm going to read you just a little bit about my charge. And I'm glad I transcribed this, because I've lost the tape. And I won't read the whole charge. If anybody wants to copy this, I'll be glad to give it to you. It's worth reading. But let me just show you how he charged us. This is taken from the chart he gave to Jim, James Allen and brother Bobby, myself deliver the whole council of God. Not what everybody wants to hear. Remember that God said what's in the Bible. Find out what God has said and do not be afraid to pass it all. The minister is the only one who has to answer to God for what he preaches. Therefore he had better keep a clean conscience. God wants to demand an account of your stewardship. You're not going to have to answer to the people. You better not let them sway you on what you preach. You must carry the message the way God said it. Search the scriptures, dig in there and get it for yourself. Deliver according to the mind God has given you. Do not be a secondhand preacher. Do not be ashamed to tell it like it is in the Bible. pattern your life after the lives of the good preachers in the Bible. There's a lot more that gives a flavor of the charge I got. I'll thank God for it. I've got his picture up on my study with some other godly men. And I still look up there and say, yes sir, yes sir, brother Wallace, because it's a pretty stern looking picture. And he meant that. He lived the life before me. I also want to thank God for my wife. You know, even before we got married, well, before we got engaged, no, I guess we were engaged. I had my first baptized in Pine Hill. The Brownie girl joined Helen and let's say Frances and Phyllis and her mama. Helen, I baptized all three of them. I never had baptized anybody before. And so Judy, I had to call her and she had even, we wasn't, we was engaged. She climbed through the window of my house, got me some baptizing clothes and brought them down there. She's been with me ever since. So she started having me. Uh, Proverbs 18, 22, whoso findeth a wife, findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord. So I know God favored me. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers, a prudent wife is from the Lord. Who can find a virtuous woman for a price that is far above rubies? The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoils. She will do him good, not evil, all the day of her life. Her husband is not on the gate when he sitteth among the elders of the land, so I thank God for my wife. I thank God for faithful children. One that ruled well his own house, and I had a lot of help with Judy on that, made a lot of mistakes. One that ruled well his own house, hating his children, and also objection for if a man don't know how to rule his own house, how should he take care of the church of God? I thank God for my children. For helpful and supportive Dickens. Acts chapter six, wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom. And we may appoint over this business. We will give ourselves continually to prayer of the ministry of the word. And I've been able to do that because I think it'll take the load off of me. For faithful church members, I thank my God upon every remembrance of you. Always at every prayer of mine for you all, making a request of joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first down till now. Teamwork, got to be teamwork. for faithful ministerial friends. I've got a bunch of them here now. And there's one qualification I know I'll meet in the ministry. I'm a lover of good men. I know that. And I entreat thee also, true yet fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, but claim it also of those of our fellow laborers, whose names are in the book of life. And finally, blessings are all mine, and 10,000 beside. Now I'm going to give you a charge. Ready? I'm going to give you a charge that you time me out All right, look, this shocked me. I used to just love this. I taught the old folks verse. And I got shocked one time, said, hey, this is me. I was really shocked. But it's what I want to do the rest of my life. Now that I'm all old and gray-headed, oh, God, forsake me not, till I show thy strength to this generation, thy power to everyone that's to come. That's what I want to do. I want to show God's strength to this generation, his power to everyone that's to come. Now, I'll give you a quote. This is a charge now from Churchill, and this is talking about, he's talking about natural battle, I'm talking about spiritual battle. He gave this at Harrow, his old school, in October 1941. They just had a fight in the Battle of Britain. Churchill and Britain had to stand by themselves against the whole cotton-picking world, or we'd have lost World War II. He was the man of the hour. He came to his classmates, and you listen to this, this is a spiritual struggle, I mean it. Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, Never, never in nothing, red or small, large or petty, never giving except to convictions of honor and good sense, never yield to force, never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. I say that in a spiritual battle. Apostle Paul said it even better, didn't he? Because of the resurrection, therefore, my beloved brethren, be you steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, so that you know your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And don't get tired doing it. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. The only way you can do that is being in the word of God. I mean that. Continue. I'm going to read to you a little bit from Psalm 1. Now listen to this. This is what you've got to do, or you're not going to make it. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor standeth in the state of the scornful. His delight is the law of the Lord, his law that he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whichever he doeth shall prosper." Read, study, memorize, and meditate God's Word. I'll say it again. Read, study, memorize, and meditate. Be consistent. Always be doing something in God's Word. It will add up. After 50 years in the ministry, I profoundly thank God for all the time I've spent in His Word, wish it had been much more. I'd be up a creek now if I'm just now starting, wouldn't I? I've got a bunch of scripture memorized. I thank God for everything. I can't even remember where I memorized some things. I got a bad memory. I'm not like David Powell. He cheats. He's got a photographic memory. But I'm not like an old David. I got to dig it out of there. I'll say a verse sometimes 15 times, 20 times. You do the same thing. And McCain, if you don't know Romans 8, the next week I'm going to expose you. All right, the Word of God. Get in there. Build on it right now. Start memorizing something. What are you waiting for? Build it up. Be consistent. The Church of Jesus Christ. Listen, kids, I mean this. Old people do it, and they all know better anyway, but you kids better get a hold of this. I mean this. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that which I seek after, that I may dwell all the length of my life in the house of the Lord, to behold the beauty of the Lord, to inquire in His temple. It's a good time to be a primitive Baptist. It's a great time to be a primitive Baptist. Brother Billy Lawrence said something, I agree with him. The bad among the primitive Baptist may be getting worse, the good is getting better, and I'm going with the better. Listen, in 1999, the doors opened up, 94 to the Philippines, 2,000 to India, Siberia, Herb just got back, Cambodia, places in Africa, young ministers studying the Bible like they all get out. I don't have time, but I can tell you that a lot of good things are going on. And my friend, there's one thing that I like about the Trinity Baptist. They don't preach salvation by grace, comma. They preach salvation by grace, period. And I'm ready to die on that. It's a good time to be a PB. May God bless each of you. I love you very much. It's all teamwork, and God gives all the glory. I wouldn't be at Great Chapel if it weren't for Bobby Poe. Most self-effacing man I've ever met. My dear friend, I couldn't say enough about him. Quiet. He's done a lot of good. I went to Clinton, Kentucky. I came back to Memphis to start a church, my full intention. He shocked me. He resigned Great Chapel, asked him to call me. And I thought, God want me to, I did do that. But a lot of young ministers and a lot of old ministers like me, we owe a lot. The way God used our dear friend, Bobby Poe. What a colleague, what a blessing, served God with him and other good men. May God bless you. Brother Bobby, you're able to come up. Say a few things. Where would you like to stand? Would you like to go up to the podium? I need something to lean on. That's good. I know it's lunch time, but I'm not going to keep you too long. I want to thank the church for recognizing Brother Zach and my ministry over 50 years. I want to thank you for that. I also want to thank you that, as far as I know, no one has made a list of my blunders and my errors and my sins that I've made throughout the course of my ministry. But I'm aware of Him. I read an article recently written by a man that wrote about the life of Moses and his ministry. And I relate that to my own ministry. He broke Moses' life down in three 40-year periods. Moses spent the first 40 years of his life in the palace of Pharaoh. And the Book of Acts says that Moses was learning all the wisdom of the Egyptians. Josephus, who was a Jewish historian, said that at one time they had defeated the army of Israel or the army of Egypt. And Moses took that army that had been defeated and whipped them into shape and gave the Ethiopians again in battle and drove them out of the land of Egypt. Moses was a great man in his own right. The Book of Acts says he was learning all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He had attended the best schools in Egypt. Moses was a great leader of men. So when Moses was 40 years old, he had felt the call to lead Israel out of Egypt. And he killed that Egyptian. And he thought surely his brethren would understand that God had called him to lead them out of Egypt when he was 40 years old. Now some of you in this audience today that might feel impressed that that's something God would have you to do. And you might be chomping at the bits to go get it done. When Moses was 40 years old, he had received a call from God to lead Israel out of Egypt. And Moses felt qualified. He was intelligent. He was a great leader of men. But that was something that he didn't yet obtain in his life. He didn't know how to lead sheep. So for 40 years, God sent him. After he killed that Egyptian, Moses realized that he would come down, so he fled Egypt. He went down to Jethro's and he'd become a shepherd of sheep. And for 40 years Moses led that flock of sheep. And when the 40 years was up at the burning bush, God told Moses, it's time for you to go and lead my people out of Egypt. Moses said, I can't do it. I'm not qualified. Well, anyway, he went and led them out of Egypt. And for the next 40 years, Moses led Israel in the wilderness to the very border of Canaan's land before he died. So I say to you in the audience today, I don't know what God may have called you to do, and you may be ready to go. But God says, you're not prepared yet for the work I've got for you to do. There's some preparation that's got to be made first. So I share this with my own ministry. I've thought a great deal about my ministry in the last few years, wondering why my travels in the ministry. And I came to the conclusion that my travels in the ministry And where I've been and what I've done was only preparation for the last 10 or 15 years of my ministry. Preparation. Yes, I learned many lessons in my travels that prepared me for the last 15 years or so of my ministry. And I'm thankful for it today. So I encourage you that a burden to get started in the work that God's called you to do. Don't rush into it before you're prepared for the work. Learn the lesson God would have you to learn before you engage in the work. Let me close in prayer. Father, thank you for the occasion. Thank you for the ministry you've given us, for the lives that you have touched. And pray that we might be blessed to finish out our ministry until the very end in your fellowship and in the fellowship of the saints of God. In Jesus' name, Brother Bobby Few and Brother Zach and Brother John Horner would come down front. The song leader picked some songs for us. We're going to offer these men a right-handed fellowship and we'll have a short opportunity for announcements before we go back to Grace Chapel for lunch. Brother Seth, would you be able to help me? Here's what we're going to do for the right-handed fellowship. You folks on the first row here are going to come forward, and the ones behind you will follow. Those of you on the sides, if you'll follow your row over to the center as they come in, we'll do this side first. And then that last row, you're going to start up behind these folks and work this way. And Brother Seth, if you'll help me execute that, that'll be helpful. Song leader. Let's stand. Brother John, it's been wonderful having you here. We wish you and your sister Kathy Godspeed on your way home today. 175.