TCC Jubilee Celebration - The Past - The Full Experience

I'm so glad to see you guys here and some I haven't seen in so long, and, you're sure, welcome back here, and we've all had some good times and a lot of good things that have happened.

This is our 50 years is a big deal, isn't it?

Anything for 50 years is a big deal, right, definitely, and a local church for 50 years is amazing.

And so we got a lot of people here tonight from different seasons of Trinity's history, even some from the very beginning, when it first started.

But you know, none of us can take credit for 50 years.

Just, let's just get it right.

Okay, let's get it right from the beginning.

Tonight.

It's the grace and the power, the keeping power of Jesus Christ.

That's why we're still here.

Right, that is it.

That's it.

And you know what A key to all of this was the scripture that this church was founded upon, and how many here were a part of the Dedrick Avenue building a long time ago.

Okay, it was a sign.

Wow, that's amazing.

That's a lot of people.

You know there was a sign out in front of the Dedrick Avenue building.

It said Trinity Chapel and then at the bottom, do you remember the scripture?

Yeah, maybe you remember the scripture, john 1, verse 13 which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of god.

John 1:13

And that's the key, that's the reason we're still here.

This wasn't man's idea, this was god's idea, and that's beautiful.

So, um, I I'm kind of your emcee.

Tonight we're going to go over some history, but first of all we're going to do some Trinity trivia, okay, and so you saw the questions up on the overhead.

So we're going to find out the answers here, okay, and at the end we're going to figure out who of you got the most of them.

Right, if you've written them down, written your answers down, there are going to be some prizes.

I think Derek's in control of that, I think, because I'm not so I guess he is.

So, all right.

First question when was Trinity's very first meeting place?

A man's mortuary.

B under a tree.

C Big Ridge State Park.

D in homes.

Oh, I hear some.

Oh, what, what Very first meeting place?

The answer is D in homes.

That's, the first meeting place was in homes.

So I'll tell you a little bit more about that in a little while.

Okay, number two what was Trinity's first permanent meeting place?

A man's mortuary.

B Volunteers of America meeting room chapel, c 309 Dedrick Avenue or D 5838 Haines-Turkey Road, permanent, permanent, permanent when we weren't renting.

The answer is C 309 Dedrick Avenue.

Good, you got it All right.

Number three what's the longest continuing regional slash?

National Trinity ministry?

A homeless outreach, b food pantry, c Trinity radio broadcast or D prison ministry?

This is the one that has been going the longest continually?

Prison ministry Okay.

Am I hearing B or D?

I don't know.

D D Okay, and the answer is D.

Prison ministry Okay, am I hearing B or D?

I don't know.

D D Okay, and the answer is D.

Prison ministry, okay.

And I don't even know when it started.

You were part of it, sandy and Steve, and actually definitely Lonnie Gregg was part of it, sam was part of it back in the.

That was at least 1980 is when it started, before, even before you guys came, so maybe before that, yeah, and now Scott is.

Scott actually is leading it and Scott's here tonight and he's a volunteer chaplain there.

It's still going on 40 plus years.

It's great Praise God for that.

It's still going on 40 plus years.

It's great Praise God for that.

Number four what was Trinity's most highly visible citywide event organized to promote life and stand against abortion.

A Procession of healing.

B March for life, c Pro-Life Rally or D Love Life Rally.

And the answer is A.

It is A it is A Procession of Healing.

And if you don't know what that is, we had hundreds of cars lining up at Civic Auditorium parking lot and they went through the city with these black flags with crosses on them.

It was mourning the unborn that were lost through abortion, but it was also holding out hope and healing for those who have been injured through those abortions.

And so that was a big deal, made the paper.

It made the paper.

We had several events that made the paper.

I mean, I'm talking about pictures and stories and local news and everything.

So, okay, number five.

What is Jack Wright's favorite song?

Okay, wait.

A the love of God.

B victory in Jesus.

C less insurance.

D how great they are.

A the love of God.

B victory in Jesus.

C blessed assurance.

D how great they are.

Now I'll tell you this answer could have changed like from week to week through the years.

Probably, right, we have it from the man himself less than a week ago, and the answer he gave was C blessed assurance.

I know I would not have got that.

I thought, because I've heard him sing victory in Jesus for so long, so many times, I think there could be an E all of the above there and it would have been right.

Probably Number seven.

How many known countries have been directly influenced?

Oh, I'm sorry, number six.

Oh I'm sorry, thank you.

Yeah, number six.

We don't want to C C.

Number six is C.

Okay, let's just say it C, c.

Number six is C.

Okay, let's just say it.

Regional Worship Conference hosted by Trinity for many years and basically put on by Hosanna Fellowship.

We gave the building, jeff brought a team down and they administrated the whole stinking thing and it was great.

So we did it together for I don't know how many years.

Oh, you did, you did that's right.

Procession of Healing went to other cities.

Maybe you're not as good looking.

That is not true.

I know that's not true.

I know that's not true.

I know that's not true.

So I'm sorry.

What did he say?

Oh, he said they did a thank you, they did a procession of healing in Johnson City too.

They took the pattern that actually, norm Jones was part of the pattern, he was the pattern, he was the strategy.

So here's the way it worked.

Steve got ideas and, but he doesn't know how to make it happen.

Am I, is that fair?

But we would never have thought it up ever.

I mean, who thinks up something like that?

Well, he does, because Impact is his middle name, steve Impact Fado.

But how do you put it on?

Well, you call Norm and you get a team, and Norm had everything together.

He had it all in a box procession healing in a box, basically and other places could take it and just plug it in, right?

Yeah, that's what it meant.

He also said they didn't have TV coverage, and that's when I said maybe he's not as good looking.

I'm just telling them because they didn't hear no, it's not Okay.

Okay, worship in the Valley.

It was great, we did that for quite a few years.

Okay, number seven how many known countries have been directly influenced by the gospel ministry from Trinity partners?

Known countries, directly?

Trinity partners, not just like we sent money there or something, but directly.

Yeah, a more than 10.

B more than 30.

C more than 50.

D more than 70.

And the answer is D more than 70.

Probably, probably quite a bit more.

That's just all that we know about, you know, and of course a lot of that came from the ministry of Steve, because Trinity helped fund Steve's Crusades for so many years.

And that's that's a lot of countries right there.

Okay, number eight, this is this was okay, one of the elders wanted this one in here.

Okay, I'm just telling you that.

Okay, okay, they will remain nameless, but not shameless.

But just telling you, what instrument has Mark Medley not played at Trinity?

What is it?

I can't tell if you're saying B, c or D, I don't know.

A hammer and dulcimer, b banjo, c Brazilian rosewood whistle, d Polish bagpipes.

And the answer actually is B.

But someone reminded me that I sort of kind of played around with a banjo one time in a servant's heart banquet, so you would be forgiven if you got the wrong answer.

The other ones I did play.

It was banjo, but if you know my heart, you know it wouldn't be banjo.

Banjo is way too ordinary.

Do you know what the definition of perfect pitch is?

It's when you take a banjo and you toss it into a dumpster without hitting the sides of the dumpster.

That's a perfect pitch.

That's what that is.

I know I just made enemies.

Man, it's like whoo.

I know it's pretty bad, I'm just kidding.

I like them.

They're great, they're great.

Okay, number nine how many books have been written by TCC pastors?

A, 3, b, 5, c, 8, or D?

At least 12.

It is D, it's D, yeah, d.

What book written by TCC?

There have been other books written by people who weren't pastors, but which book was extra credit here?

Which book probably had the most impact?

Smoking and Joking.

It's the truth.

Yeah, it's probably right.

You've probably done more with that.

She was smoking, she was joking.

She's on the back of the album cover.

She dated the bass player.

She's got it the whole thing.

Everybody.

It's great Classic.

That is the real answer.

That is the real answer.

Yeah, okay, there's at least at least 12.

Okay, number 10.

What was the name of the regional outdoor parade spearheaded by Trinity members that brought over 10,000 believers from many denominations to the streets of Knoxville to worship and pray for our city?

You may think it's A March for Jesus, or you may think it's sing out loud.

B or C Celebrate Jesus Parade, or D Together for Jesus.

What do you think?

Oh, we've got some old people back there.

Okay, we were involved with March for Jesus, but pre-March for Jesus was Celebrate Jesus Parade and that's the one that made the paper.

Did you get that one?

You got it Good, yeah, yeah, because it was actually.

It was a big deal.

David Bush, where are you?

You did sound for that, didn't you?

Wow, I saw all those sound trucks, I was thinking about that.

I was like, wow, I saw all those sound trucks, I was thinking about that.

It's like wow, I'm thinking about how hard you work during that and I'm just starting to hyperventilate just sitting up here thinking about it.

Okay, what was the name of Trinity's television show airing in the eighties?

If you don't get this one, you're pretty pathetic, because it's sitting there, it's right there.

It's right there in parentheses, right there, okay, so if you didn't get it, this was an obvious error.

It's a gimme.

Okay, we tithed one of these to you.

Okay, we gave you one.

Yeah, it wasn't Trinity Hour or experiencing God's best, or how are you going?

It was miracles, okay.

How many worship albums have been released by Trinity worship teams slash pastors?

Okay, that doesn't include all members, because there are probably some members who also released some.

But how many?

One or three or four or eight.

See, you're just guessing D all the time.

Why are you doing that?

E?

C.

Because the answer is D.

Eight, at least eight that we know of.

David's heart had one.

Pre-aaron Aaron has three.

Under the Mighty Blood, which you may or may not be hearing some songs from tonight.

Three, four, that's five.

Neil has two, six, seven.

Deb has one.

Deb F seven.

Deb has one.

Deb Fato had a worship album, just one right that she released, I think one.

Okay, am I forgetting any?

Yeah, I got Neil's.

Yeah, neil has two.

Okay, Number 13.

What was the most famous billboard campaign sponsored by Trinity?

A Trinity logo with with location service times.

That wasn't really very popular.

I'm just telling you.

If you guessed that one, that was not.

It B life matters.

C are you going?

D call 521-8000.

The answer is C are you going?

And if you don't remember, you weren't around.

We had billboards all over the place and it was a.

It was a pretty big campaign and it just said are you going?

And it was up for I don't know how long.

We left it up for weeks and then we put are you going?

We added on to heaven and call here and find out 5218000.

And the are you going to heaven and call here and find out 521-8000.

And the are you going to heaven was not just billboard campaign, it was also we were at the fair, like we had booths at the fair, you know saying are you going to heaven?

And it was just an evangelistic opportunity.

Number 14, this one was given away earlier by someone who will not be mentioned.

What was the name of Trinity's accredited Bible college hosted between 2001 and 2011?

You guys A the Master's Way.

B Trinity Bible College.

C Trinity College of Ministry.

D Trinity University.

The answer is C Trinity College of Ministry.

That's right.

Okay.

So what methods have been used to share the gospel at University of Tennessee?

Football games by Trinity members.

A personal evangelism.

B flyers with starting lineups and healing testimonies.

C airplane flyover Dayland Stadium with the words Jesus saves, trinity Chapel, or D all of the above?

And the answer is D all of the above.

We were just talking this week.

I don't know how much fruit we got from all that, but it wasn't for lack of trying, okay.

Last but not least, the most important question of all how many times has the average Trinity partner heard Neil Silverberg tell the Dead Sea joke?

Okay, okay, a.

Two times B.

Five times C, ten times D.

Enough already?

The answer is D.

Enough already.

I might need a reminder.

You're doing it tonight.

You're doing it tonight.

He's been under a ban, but we did lift the ban for tonight so he can do whatever he wants tonight.

This is great, but Joel told me earlier.

He said Joel said I'm so old.

When I was young, the Dead Sea joke was still not funny.

Yes, your son said that.

Are you proud of him or mad at him?

That's what I want to know, maybe a little bit of both, okay, okay.

So how many got 10?

Anybody, oh, 16.

How many got 16?

Anybody?

Any hands?

You got 16 of them, right?

No, no, okay, no, 16.

Okay, you missed the miracles one.

Is that what you missed?

Okay, 15.

How many got 15, right, okay?

How many 14s did we have?

Wow, this is good, right here.

14.

Okay, this is great.

How many 13s did we have?

13s, 13?

, 13?

, 13?

.

I feel like an auctioneer, but I'm going down instead of up in numbers and I'm pretty slow.

Okay, 12.

12.

All right, you got 12.

Come on, all right, I figured you'd win something.

This is great, wow, okay.

How about 11?

11.

Okay, come on, good job.

Come on, good job.

Michael's only been a partner here like a month and he got 11 of them.

You are connected, buddy in the back.

I see that hand.

All right, is that all of them?

Or should we go to 10?

Okay, 10.

How many got 10?

We ain't got enough of that.

Oh, there's some 10s right back there.

Yeah, we got 10s all over.

It wouldn't be fair.

Oh, okay, it wouldn't be fair, all right, well, brooke's going to hand out what she's got there, okay, Okay.

So, speaking of flyover Nalin Stadium, I'm going to do a flyover tonight of the history of Trinity Chapel, slash Trinity Community Church.

So for some of you, actually you've been here and you came here rather recent and so you don't know some of this, and so I'm just going to give you a little fill in the blanks here.

I'm going to fill in your blanks is what I'm saying, the blanks that are in your head about Trinity.

So in the late 1960s, early 1970s, on the heels of a move of God that was called the Jesus Movement, there was a growing hunger for more of the Holy Spirit.

Actually, all over the world, many denominations within many denominations all over the world, there were people who felt like there was something more concerning the work of the Holy Spirit in their own lives, personally and even in the churches, and so they began to cry out for a move of the Holy Spirit and to experience the Holy Spirit more.

And God heard those prayers and he sent a powerful outpouring throughout the world.

Actually, this wasn't just here, it was all over the place, and the Holy Spirit swept through Knoxville in early 1970s and a charismatic portion of the charismatic movement began to happen and grow here.

Many people who were involved in traditionally affiliated churches were introduced to a new and a powerful experience of the Holy Spirit and, as a result, there was a group of believers that came together hungry and they began to meet in homes and they moved out and began to fellowship in one of those homes.

We've got a picture of one of those homes early and some of those people you might know, actually Some of those people are here tonight, actually At least one or two.

So in 1974, they began coming together.

So in 1974, they began coming together, 50 years ago, to study the scriptures and to pray.

And you know, I don't think Jody Brashear is not here.

Did she make it?

I think she may be here Sunday night.

And one of the first homes that was met, and maybe the very first, was Hugh and Jody Brashear, and Hugh has passed away but Jody, I think, is going to be able to come tomorrow night, which is great.

So it was in her living room right there.

So by the end or by January they'd outgrown those little small spaces and they began to meet at Volunteers of America Chapel and then man Mortuary, which was I think we have an actual picture of that as well yeah, the original man mortuary, yes, a mortuary.

So we sort of began in a funeral home.

This is the way it is here.

Yeah, I know.

No, it's not.

We do what we can.

Okay, we're limited by what's on the internet.

Okay, that's all I can say.

Yeah, eventually they found an empty church building downtown, sort of near downtown Knoxville, on Dedrick Avenue.

And I actually believe, randy, was it your dad that found that building?

Is that right?

I think that's what April told me.

Yeah, bob Timko found this building.

It was for sale, it was a former Baptist church and it had closed down.

And they started meeting there in 1975, I believe, and they bought this building and the surrounding lots for $76,000.

Yeah, and they had it paid off in like what, five years.

Five years Paid off.

So in April of 75, trinity Chapel was officially chartered as a nonprofit organization and in the autumn of 1975, jack Wright, charlie Riggs, hubert Shearer and Harold Rutherford were ordained as the first elders of the church.

And I just want to take a minute to recognize a few people.

The first one, who it breaks all of our hearts mostly his heart that he couldn't be here tonight, is Jack, because Jack almost never misses any church service.

That's like one of the goals of his life was to be in church every literally he says that to be in church every time the doors are open, and he got a pneumonia in one of his lungs just this week and he couldn't come.

But he's going to be watching online, so could we just give Jack a thank you.

Wow, we love you, jack, and you and other people like you have prepared the way for us so much.

But also there at the beginning were Ed and Joan Fowler, who are sitting up right here.

Were Ed and Joan Fowler, who are sitting up right here, and also right from the very beginning in those meetings was Wanda as well Wanda Kopp.

So, ed, you want to come up.

Ed wants to say a couple of words on behalf of all the originals.

And so I see all these things that happened at Trinity and I said where was I when these things happened?

Well, mark hit the nail on the head when he said that Jack Wright was the one that should be here above anybody that I know.

Jack was the original anointed minister of music for the church and an elder for many years.

In fact he is the elder emeritus now.

Jack said emeritus means he doesn't have to attend meetings anymore.

No, joan and I have served in various capacities through the years, but the big thing now is that, having been invited to participate in the pastor's prayer team, which meets on Sundays here at church, we found that to be a real wonderful opportunity for us to grow spiritually and to help the church to grow spiritually and to help the church.

When I first began to join in the groups that became Trinity, I was a lukewarm Christian, but I went to a home group where we were having a prayer meeting and they laid their hands on me and prayed for me and I received a baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Now I'm ready with an explanation of the hope that's within me and I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God and the salvation to them that believe.

Thank you, lord, for giving us the opportunity to serve for 50 years in this church.

Thank you, lord, for giving us the opportunity to serve for 50 years in this church.

Thank you, lord, for keeping us here.

We just pray for Jack that you will heal him.

In the name of Jesus, we thank you for his solid participation.

Amen and amen.

What a privilege to serve Trinity for 50 years.

Amen.

Okay, well, okay, I still love you Okay, well, okay, the same time that all this was going on in Knoxville, there were two Jewish guys living in South Florida whose lives were totally transformed by the gospel and by the Holy Spirit, steve and Neil.

And these men would play major parts in the next decades of Trinity and I'm going to let Neil and Steve tell you whatever they want to tell you about that, if they want to.

Whatever I'm going to fill in the big picture.

But it's beautiful because God was moving here, he was moving there and he's always moving and he always has a plan and he's moving people around to ensure that plan comes about.

But what happens is in 1984, the big picture Steve received a call to come to Knoxville and to serve as senior pastor of Trinity, along with Sandy and their two daughters, and so Deb and Leah were with him, of course, and he brought a powerful prophetic ministry and a powerful pulpit presence and evangelistic ministry and emphasis on Jesus and on encountering the Holy Spirit.

And there were so many things that happened through those years and those Sunday meetings were characterized.

Sunday evening meetings, especially, were characterized, actually all of them.

But Sunday night, you know, what would happen is people would sneak over from their church.

They would go this is the truth, I know because I'm one of them Go to their whatever church on Sunday morning and they would sneak over like in the back door.

I remember one time literally this happened I walked in the Dedrick Avenue building and I walked around the corner and there was somebody from my church and I did this and he went.

It's like you're the, yeah, yeah, we're both here, okay, okay, this is good, I won't tell anybody.

I won't tell anybody.

This is great, it's great, you got to sneak around.

When you're hungry for the Holy Spirit.

You'll sneak if you need to, right.

So there were a lot of people who came on those Sunday nights.

You know, we actually had a newspaper article too.

We have a picture of this and it's a picture of this is Jack during those years, that's Jack worshiping.

That is me behind him.

Yes, it is me behind him.

It's a younger slobber, me playing the bass guitar behind him.

But it was a joy to, really a privilege, to be behind Jack and man, it was nothing like watching him smile and lead worship.

It was amazing and those meetings were beautiful.

And, by the way, the earlier pastors of Trinity David Kithcart, don Estes were among those.

We're among those and I have to mention a few names here.

There's no way to remember everyone, but I think I've got a lot of them.

The early years, some of the leaders, pastors and elders, deacons they were part of Trinity.

You have Jack Wright, of course, russ Purcella, who's here tonight with Faye so glad you're here, russ.

And we have Leonard Sisson, who's here tonight as well Such a blessing.

Of course, hugh Brashear, as we said.

Harold Rutherford, david Kithcart, don Estes, boogan Scruggs, jerry Thomas, charlie Riggs I'm probably missing some, I don't know, but later on, steve and Neil and Sam Oaks and Jim Greer and Ed Rosen and me of course, and these are just only the elders there was a large number of other leaders that influenced the ministries of the church greatly and I think I would be remiss if I didn't mention Rob and Chris Ellis up here on the front, because I'm not sure exactly when you guys started.

I don't know when you started, but what was it 96 or 97.

And all of my kids grew up under your ministry and now their kids are growing up under your ministry.

And the people that helped you as well and there's no way to tell all the names, but of course, mike and Sue Brummerstedt, they were really great helpers.

Curtis Phillips was such a great deacon for so many years, so faithful, and our current deacons as well.

I mean actually Patty Clemons has been here for so long and she's been so faithful for so long.

I don't know where you are, patty, but this is, but this is, but you know, I don't know.

You were here since the eighties, right, and thank you.

She does so much pastoral work with, especially with the widows and the elderly, and we're so grateful for that, so grateful for that.

Beautiful.

So there's too many to continue naming them, but okay.

So there are also a lot of churches that came out of Trinity through the years, including New Covenant Fellowship, pastored by Russ and Faye, and then, of course, Harvest Church and Tim and Sheila, which I think it was maybe in mid-'90s when they were sent out, something like that, and Tim, by the way, sends his blessings Wasn't able to attend, but sends his blessings, he said.

And then there was also we helped to plant Hosanna Fellowship.

We didn't plant it, you guys did the work, but we helped a little bit.

Right In Johnson City, lynn Sisson's church.

Lynn started a church called Grace Connection as well.

That was one of the churches that we started and we also were.

We played a part in planting a church in Poland called Amazing Grace Church.

You may have seen Bartek and Daria's video earlier before.

And then a lot of ministries overseas and people who actually planted churches overseas as well and minister there as well, like Phil and Jenny, like Randy King and Yuri and Olga, who are here tonight, who are part of our sent ones.

We send them out and support their ministry in the nations, especially in Russia, but also many other nations.

So we continue to grow downtown at that location until we outgrew that facility.

We actually were kind of joking about that facility.

The decor of that church facility was called early poverty, right?

Isn't that what you called it, steve?

I think we we wore it out.

It was great, a lot of great things happening.

But in 2000 we bought some property.

It was located by jack wright, but it was negotiated by a jew and he got the.

He got the prize way down and we we later built this 40,000 square foot building on over 46 acres on Haines-Sturkey Road.

Building construction began in October of 2000.

We held our first service there December 9th of 2001.

That was Trinity Chapel and there were a lot of blessings in moving in that building.

A lot of blessings such as a lot of people reached with the gospel.

It was a great facility to have conferences.

We had prophetic conferences, master builders conferences, we had worship conferences.

We had a Mother's Day out that served the community.

We had a homeschool cooperative.

Trinity Christian Academy started there in that building.

It's still going today, serving hundreds of people today.

And then we had our Trinity College of Ministry, training generations there through that college.

And then, in 2011, there was a pastoral transition from Steve to Neal, who had moved back to Knoxville.

Neal came to Knoxville with Shelly in 1991, was here for many years, moved to Florida in 2005, I think Is that right 2006.

Okay, came back here in 2011,.

Began leading the church, and it was around that time Stephen Sandy and Adam and Sarah started Awakened City Church and then later Awakened Old City Church, churches that are still going strong and impacting lives for jesus here, and we're so grateful for that.

For for the ministry of steven sandy and ministry of neil and shelly here, um, it's a, it's a um, it's to me it's a joy tonight because you're going to get to hear a treat, you're going to hear from two of my fathers in the Lord tonight and I just want to thank God for them and what they've done into in our lives.

So so Neil came and he had this.

He had a few things that were his goals, thank you.

Few things that were his goals, and among those goals was to look for his replacement.

That was one of his goals.

He had five goals.

I won't tell you all of them, but he had two of them in particular.

One was get the church out of debt and one was to look for his replacement.

So smart guy, I guess.

So you know it was like almost impossible at that time.

It was like the heels of a financial crisis and all this stuff.

How do you sell a 40,000 square foot building that's built as a church on a huge bit of property?

There's just not a lot of clientele for that.

But it only takes one.

It only takes one.

It only takes one, and praise God.

God provided a buyer.

And so one of the great things I told you the blessings of moving into that building.

I want to tell you one of the blessings of moving out of that building Free at last.

Free at last.

No debt Money can be used for people and ministries in this city and all over the place.

So this is what's really beautiful, so that's great.

So we thank God for the time that we're in that building and we don't in.

We don't in any way, um, overlook that or in any way think that that was a bad thing.

That was a great thing.

It was a lot of great things, a lot of lives changed and touched in that building, um, but here we are and, uh, in 2016, neil found his replacement.

So it was another pastoral transition as Neil moved into a broader ministry across the nation and in the nations.

And so the church welcomed Tyler as a newly pastor, with his wife, amy and their family four children and they brought a wonderful balance of vision and care for the church and a real emphasis on families.

And it's fantastic.

To this day, tyler leads the elder team toward our goal of being grace-based, spirit-empowered and outward-focused.

That's our heart, that's what we want it to be.

So I'm going to end up and the band can come on up.

We're getting ready to do some worship, y'all.

I'm going to end up and the band can come on up.

We're getting ready to do some worship, y'all.

So our impact from Trinity is growing in the community and in the region and also in the nations.

We have our homeschool co-op that's still going and the umbrella school that serves many families.

There's over 300 people in this building on Fridays during the school year.

Almost every little square inch is used.

Every square inch of this building is used for our homeschool co-op, prison ministry, which still goes so thankful for Lonnie for many, many, many years of faithful ministry in that.

And now, passing this back on, talk about a beautiful, beautiful heart for those prisoners, and they still talk about you.

And so the prison ministry, our community groups that help build Christians up and reach the unsaved development of upcoming leaders through TMAP and our Timothy team, children's Ministry, outreach and partnership with Knoxville Inner City Kids Outreach and YWAM Knoxville going on.

So the impact of TCC locally in the nation and in the nations is still happening, and you're a part of us.

You're a part of us, whether your experience with Trinity is past or present.

You're a part of us.

You're a part of us, whether your experience with Trinity is past or present.

You're a part of us and you're family to us and we rejoice in what God's done and what he's going to be doing in the future, and we really do believe that the best is yet to come.

And though we have sort of a banquet setting tonight, we're going to worship, okay.

So I'm going to ask you to dig deep, because I know you've never been asked to eat a Karabas meal and then stand up in worship.

Okay, I know nobody's ever done that, but you know this is we're going to.

We're going to go for it, we're going to go for it, okay.

So we have some songs we're going to do from a live CD that we recorded in 2000, over 20 years ago, and some of you remember that Some of you were there, some of you were in the choir, and so we thought this is Trinity, this is Trinity history.

We might as well do songs that came from here, so that's what we're doing.

So if you will stand with me and if you will push your chair back, and if you'll settle that meal just a little bit and get ready, this is one of the things that Trinity it was like an earmark of Trinity for many years was worship.

And so it's fitting tonight that we step into that and do it all right.

Does anybody love jesus in this place?

oh, we love you, Lord oh.

Jesus, oh, we're not ashamed to worship you tonight.

Oh, we love you, jesus, jesus, let's sing now.

Hey, I lift my hands higher and higher.

I lift my hands to you Lord.

Jesus set my heart on fire and I dance, spin around.

I once was lost, now I'm found.

Save my soul.

You broke my chains.

I am to your court Shouting your name, Jesus.

When I wear a garment of praise, the heaviness fades and I see your face.

I'm in a praise the heaviness fades and I see your face Through your blood I pour out my love, I join the angels above.

In giving you praise, I lift my hands higher and higher.

I lift my hands to you.

Lord Jesus set my heart on fire.

Lord Jesus set my heart on fire and I danced and I spinned around.

I once was lost.

Now I'm found.

You saved my soul, you broke my chains.

I am to your court, shouting your name, jesus, in your name, jesus, jesus.

I lift my hands higher and higher.

I lift my hands to you.

Lord Jesus, set my heart on fire and I've been around.

I once was lost.

Now I'm found.

You saved my soul.

You broke my chains.

I am to your court.

Shout in your name, jesus.

Somebody shout.

Under the mighty blood we are bought and sealed.

Now, under the mighty blood, we are saved and healed.

Now, under the mighty blood, we are saved and healed.

Now, under the mighty blood, we are saved from danger.

Under the mighty blood, we're no longer strangers.

The mighty blood Is deeper than the depths in which we fell.

The mighty blood is deeper than the depths in which we fell.

The mighty blood is greater far than all the powers that fell.

The mighty blood will usher you into the Father's love.

The love of our Lord is enough.

We're under the mighty blood.

Under the mighty blood, there is power for living.

Under the mighty blood, sins can be forgiven.

Under the mighty blood.

Chains of sin are broken Under the mighty blood.

Chains of sin are broken Under the mighty blood better words are spoken.

The mighty blood is stronger than the past, and all that's been the mighty blood is wider than the gulf of my sin.

The mighty blood will usher you through the Father's light.

The love of our Lord is enough.

We're under the mighty blood.

We're under the mighty blood.

All right, can you clap with us?

There is life in the blood.

There is life in the blood.

There is life in the blood of the Lamb.

There is life in the blood.

There is life in the blood.

There is life in the blood.

There is life in the blood of the Lamb.

There is hope in the blood.

There is hope in the blood there is hope in the blood of the Lamb.

There is power in the blood.

There is power in the blood.

There is power in the blood of the Lamb.

The mighty blood is deeper than the depths to which we fell.

The mighty blood is greater, far than all the powers of hell.

The mighty blood will usher you into the Father's love.

The blood of our Lord is the blood of our Lord.

The mighty blood is stronger than the past and all that's been.

The mighty blood is wider than the rock of my sin.

The mighty blood will usher you into the Father's love is.

We're under the mighty blood.

We're under the mighty blood.

We're under the mighty blood.

Hallelujah, hallelujah.

Thank you, father, thank you for your grace, jesus, lord, we thank you for that blood that we rest in, for the grace of Jesus Christ.

Lord, we thank you that we can approach your throne with boldness by the blood you shed through your broken body, and we thank you for that, god.

Thank you for the hope that we have.

We honor you, lord, and with all of the heavens, with all the angels of heaven, with all of the saints, with all of the elders, with all the angels of heaven, with all of the saints, with all of the elders, with all the creatures.

Lord, we worship you because you were the lamb who was slain.

Lord, for who you are and what you've done, we worship you.

All that the Father has designed, all that His holiness required Cleansing, complete, perfect in time.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

It's still the deadly power of sin.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

It brought me back Jesus.

The blood of Jesus.

It brought me back to God again.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

All that the Father has desired, all that His hope requires.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

Three stains of sin as white as snow.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

All that the Father has designed, all that His holiness requires Cleansing, complete, perfect in time.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

Those once far off Are now made right.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

We stand before Him, justified.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

All that the Father has desired, all that His holiness requires Cleansing, complete, perfect in time.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

All that the Father has desired, all that His holiness requires.

Be quiet when deep come.

Deep, perfect in time.

The blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Jesus.

Glory I am, jesus, glory I am.

Jesus, since we're looking back tonight.

So I guess it was 1997.

I wrote this song and first I was anyone just feel old.

Tonight it's feeling old, but it's a good old.

So I wrote the song and in the same season, while I was writing this song, maybe a little bit after that, I've shared this before.

But the story in the gospels where the woman comes, breaks the jar and alabaster and perfume all over Jesus.

And you know, a lot of people around Jesus were mad and they're like why is she doing this?

It's such a waste.

And, um, he says she does a beautiful thing and she does it to prepare for my burial.

And when I was reading that, this is back in a little rental house off of Clinton Highway and if you tripped through the front door you would roll down the back.

The house is on a slant.

But so I'm reading this and it says and Jesus says she does this to prepare for my burial.

And right in that moment I just really felt the Lord says tell me, ask me.

So what are you doing to prepare for my return?

And so we're going to do this song and why I'm sharing that is years later, about 20 years later, I added a little chorus at the end of this song Just kind of came one night in my brother's house praying and worshiping with him and Stephanie and Beth and Lewis and Kristen and others and stuff, and this little chorus just came out and then so I tacked it on to the end of this song, because it's just this idea of sitting at the feet of Jesus and your life just being wasted on him, just giving it all to Jesus in light of his return, because one day Jesus comes back and all the mess in this world gets fixed.

So yeah, so let's sing this.

I cannot come to you with a crown on my head.

I approach your throne through the blood you shed.

I cannot come to you through titles again.

Your name is above all names.

Yes, your name is above all names.

In view, in view.

And as I sit at your feet, call you worthy.

Sit at your feet, sing songs to you.

And as I sit at your feet, cry.

You are holy.

Sit at your feet and fall in love with you.

I cannot come to you With a crown on my head.

I approach your throne Through the blood you shed.

I cannot come to you the titles I've gained.

Your name is above all names.

Yes, your name is above all names.

And through all your mercy, my pride has no claim your mercy.

My pride is.

I call you worthy to sit at your feet.

I sing songs to you as I sit at your feet.

I cry.

You are holy to sit at your feet.

Oh, I sing songs to you as I sit at your feet and call you worthy.

Sit at your feet and sing songs to you as I sit at your feet and cry.

You are holy.

Sit at your feet, feet, I call you on holy.

Sit at your feet and fall in love with you.

Return to your first love tonight.

Oh, you're coming back again.

I'm looking for your kingdom coming.

I'm looking for your returning, can't wait to see your face.

Oh, maranatha, come.

Lord Jesus, I'm looking for your kingdom coming.

I'm looking for your return.

Can't wait to see your face.

Oh Maranatha, sing it again.

I'm looking for your kingdom coming.

I'm looking for your return.

I'm looking for your returning, can't wait to see your face.

Maranatha, come, lord Jesus.

I'm looking for your kingdom coming.

I'm looking for your returning, can't wait to see your face.

Maranatha, come, lord Jesus.

Oh Mary, not the kind of Jesus.

Oh yeah, somebody shout oh Jesus, jesus, I love to sing the name of Jesus.

I'm looking for your kingdom coming.

I'm looking for your return.

Can't wait to see your face, oh Mary.

Just the guys I'm looking for, your kingdom coming.

I'm looking for your returning, can't wait to see your face.

Oh, maranatha, just the ladies.

Just the ladies.

All together, now, all together.

I'm looking for your return.

Can't wait to see your face, maranatha, come, lord Jesus, I'm looking for your kingdom coming.

I'm looking for your return, can't wait to see your face, maranatha, come, lord Jesus, I'm looking for your kingdom coming.

I'm looking for your return Can't wait to see your face.

Maranatha come, lord Jesus, hallelujah, lord, hallelujah, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus.

I've been given the opportunity to sing a very special song from this album.

This song was sang by Melissa Medley and if we can just take a moment and just honor the reflection of Jesus Christ that was in Melissa Medley, can we just give the Lord a hand clap of praise and thank him for her?

Thank you, jesus.

So tonight I'm going to have some trouble singing this song, so I'm going to need your all's help to sing it with me and let's just praise the Lord.

Let's just praise the Lord like what she is doing right now and every moment hereafter.

Thank you Father, thank you Lord, thank you.

Lord, there is a place of rest For all who are weary and bound For Savior.

And our King Made one offering, once and for all men, and he sat down.

He sat down.

He sat down.

It is finished.

The price has been paid.

The sacrifice made, the foundation laid.

It is finished.

The blood has been spent, the prophets fulfilled, our salvation sealed.

It is finished.

The crown has been worn, the stripes have been worn.

The stripes have been worn.

The veil has been torn.

It is finished.

The work is all done.

The victory's been won.

Believe in the Son, for he has already won the war and our freedom's what he died for.

It is finished.

There is a place of rest For all who are weary and bound For Savior and our King Made one offering, once and for all man, and he sat down.

He sat down.

It is finished.

The price has been paid.

The sacrifice made, the foundation laid.

It is finished.

The blood has been sealed, the prophets fulfilled and salvation sealed been the stripes.

The veil has been torn.

It is finished.

The work is all done.

The victory's been won.

Believe in the Son, for he has already won the war.

The body won the war and our freedom's finally done for it is finished.

The crown has been won.

The stripes have been born.

The veil has been torn.

It is finished.

The work is all done.

The victory's been won.

Believe in the Son, for he has already won the war and our freedom's, what he died for.

So receive Him and work no more.

No more is being led.

Amen, thanks, you can be seated.

Wow, praise God, jesus is good.

Okay, so I get the wonderful opportunity to introduce to you a dear friend, and to me and to probably most of you here as well.

And you served Jesus so well, you served this church so well, so just welcome, neil Silverberg.

Thank you, mark, I'm a little overwhelmed.

Give me a second.

Was that powerful?

Wow.

Every time that song was sung, I think of Melissa, it was her song.

I want to just take a second and acknowledge a special guest, but you have to promise me not to get up and hug his neck yet.

But Paul Queen is in the house.

Praise God, paul, so glad to have you here.

Brother, paul, so glad to have you here, brother.

Well, mark mentioned that the ban has been lifted on my jokes, so I'm struggling with whether I should take the opportunity or not.

For those of you who don't know, I've had a joke that is so old that the elders came to my house one day and posted on my refrigerator that I was under a ban.

That joke could not be repeated at any Trinity Chapel, trinity Community Church outing or meeting, but Tyler graciously lifted it and told me, even though I promised I did it.

In Israel, I took 34 people to Israel, patty remembers, and we I'm so old.

When I was young, the Dead Sea was just sick.

Okay, there it is.

Good night, praise God.

Shelly and I have had the privilege of being partners at Trinity Community Church for almost 30 years, with a five-year break to Florida and we love this church.

We love the community we've been part of.

We love the fact that our kids grew up here.

We love working with the elder team.

It's just been an incredible blessing and privilege.

Mark did a brilliant flyover of the last 50 years 50 years amazing that we've been a local church and I hope tonight if you are new, you're one of the newer people to Trinity that this history was helpful in providing you some context about Trinity and how it got started.

I've been brooding on this all week and it's blessed my soul.

You know the average church plant lasts four years or less.

So we're celebrating 50 years.

It's no small matter and you know.

Mark mentioned briefly our background.

Steve and I met each other in Miami.

Actually, I didn't know Steve.

My brother, perry, was friends with Steve and introduced me to Steve for the first time.

Steve says I was very unkind and unfriendly in that meeting.

I had long hair and I was probably on dope and didn't realize the man of God in my house.

I didn't realize it, but I grew up in Philadelphia and I got.

My brother was a drug addict and my parents kicked him out of the house in 1970.

And my father looked at me and said, neil, we don't want you turning out like your brother, we want you free from drugs.

We're moving to Miami.

That's exactly what he said Drug-free Miami.

But you know what was happening in the movie Jesus Revolution?

What was happening in California was happening in South Florida in the 60s and 70s as well.

It was a major outpouring of the spirit and the charismatic movement was powerful in those days.

God was touching many drug addicts and setting them free.

Sandy was a heroin addict who got set free by the gospel.

The night I got saved, november 9th 1971, at Bayfront Auditorium, sandy Simons was singing in the choir that night.

I didn't know her that night, but I got to know her in the future and it's wonderful to know her.

We're trying to get Sandy out of her shell a little bit.

But Mark mentioned how Steve's life and my life was touched by the gospel.

I met the Lord in November of 1971, and Steve had gotten saved, I think in 70 or 69, 70.

So that was a period of time when the Spirit of God was poured out powerfully throughout the nation and later Steve and Sandy left Florida and moved to Alabama and pastored in Alabama, in Florence, alabama, where they pastored Calvary Temple.

We had breakfast yesterday, mark and I and Steve, and we were reviewing, renewing some of our memories about that time.

It was amazing and you know it was really a tailor made for Steve and I being Jewish, because we were in pastoring in Florence, which was right down the road from Tuscumbia, alabama, which at the time was the headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan, so it was perfect setting for two Jewish guys from South Florida.

You know it really was, really was.

But in 1984, when Steve and Sandy got the call to come to Knoxville and serve as senior pastor, we stayed, shelly and I, in Florence for another seven years and then, in 1991, we moved here to join the staff of the pastoral staff and work with Steve and Sandy.

By the way, steve served as senior pastor for almost 30 years.

We wouldn't be here tonight if it wasn't for their faithfulness.

In 2006, shelly and I left Knoxville and went to Cape Coral, florida, to work with a church there.

And then, in 2010, steve called me and asked me to prayerfully consider returning to Knoxville and went to Cape Coral, florida, to work with a church there.

And then, in 2010, steve called me and asked me to prayerfully consider returning to Knoxville and taking the lead role, which we did in 2011.

We were accompanied by Tyler and Amy, who actually came down before we got here, and for Tyler it was like going home, because his father had planted a church in Cape Coral and Tyler actually graduated high school in Fort Myers, so it was like going home for him.

We were asked on this first night of our special Jubilee service to start to speak about what God did in establishing Trinity.

I want to take a few minutes and just give you a broad overview of what I believe he did when he established this church.

Tomorrow, we're going to focus in the morning on what God is presently doing and then tomorrow night we'll be praying for people prophetically and we will be talking about what God's going to do in the future.

We call this thanking God for a firm foundation.

I believe that Trinity has existed for 50 years because it's been planted for a firm foundation.

I believe that Trinity has existed for 50 years because it's been planted on a firm foundation.

Can you agree with that?

And we could describe that foundation in many different ways.

We could talk about the worship, the fact that this church has been characterized by dynamic worship, and we saw some of it tonight Aaron Jones, mark Medley, jack Wright, others who have been part by dynamic worship and we saw some of it tonight Aaron Jones, mark Medley, jack Wright, others who've been part of the worship team.

It's always been an important part of Trinity, but I believe that the best way to describe the foundation upon which Trinity was founded is that God called Trinity, from the beginning, to be both a word and power church a word and power church.

We may not have been that to the best of our ability.

We may not be that to the best of our ability right now, but from our inception we've striven to be balanced in both of those areas of word and spirit.

What do I mean by word and power?

Church and spirit.

What do I mean by word and power church?

If you go to the gospels Matthew, mark and Luke, they all tell the story of Jesus running with the Sadducees.

Remember, he had confronted the Pharisees and they couldn't confound him.

And now the Sadducees came.

It was their turn.

They were the political power in the day.

They were, you know, and they were mainly described by the fact that they denied any of the supernatural in the Old Testament.

They were sad.

You see, that was worth listening to the sermon up to now, just for that little bit right.

They were sad, you see, and they disbelieved in angels or spirits, and that included, they disbelieved in the core issue of the Old Testament the resurrection of the body.

On that basis, they come to Jesus with a fictitious story.

Remember that there was a man who died and his brother married his wife, and seven men married her.

And they had the question in the resurrection, whose wife will she be?

And Jesus, as he often does, knowing their deception, answers by going right to the heart of the issue.

He says you are in error because you are deficient in knowing the scriptures and the power of God.

You err because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God.

If they knew the scriptures, they would have had no problem believing the resurrection, because the Bible teaches it very clearly.

And if they knew the power of God, they would know that in the resurrection, men and women are transformed and brought into a realm similar to angels.

By the way, I encourage the pastors in the room to use this for pastoral counsel for marriage.

Just tell the couple if you can hang on to the resurrection, then you won't be married.

It's really helpful.

It's really helpful.

I've used it many times.

It works well.

But Jesus expected them to know both the Scriptures and the power of God.

Because they didn't, they erred.

And there's a warning in Jesus' words for us.

I believe if any church wants to ensure that it qualifies as an apostolic company, they need to know both of these the scriptures and the power of God.

And guess what?

We don't have to compromise and choose one above the other.

Both are our heritage.

Both are our heritage.

It's important to recognize that, as far as Jesus is concerned, both of these belong together.

If there is to be avoided, it should be immediately recognized, though, that for many people, for many churches, this is rarely the case.

We don't see a church, many churches, that are balanced with both of these word and power.

In fact, two distinct camps have emerged today, each stressing one of these to the other, each camp viewing the other with antagonism.

The two camps are evangelicalism, which has put its focus on knowing the scriptures so that we're pursuing a biblically-based religion, and the charismatic church, which has emphasized, rightly, our need of the power of the spirit and the gifts of the spirit in operation.

Unfortunately, these two camps in the past have remained antagonistic, but we're coming into good news, that we're coming into a day when something is going on causing both camps to recognize their need of the other.

Praise God.

Evangelicals can continue to insist on the importance of biblical knowledge and scholarship.

In the past they've rejected the charismatic emphasis on the power of the Spirit.

The danger for them is things can become only cerebral.

They can embrace the idea that God wrote a book and disappeared off the scene.

You know, they easily become like many evangelicals which you know, jesus, many of the Pharisees.

Jesus said to them you diligently study the scriptures because you think that in them you possess eternal life.

These are the scriptures that testify about me, and yet you do not come to me to have life.

Charismatic saw this tendency and reacted against it.

But in their reaction they forgot that God's power is not a substitute for a knowledge of truth.

Are you with me?

Even the spirit is called the spirit of truth.

One of the problems in this entire scenario is that we have accepted the notion that it has to be either or or both.

And there's a man who did some brilliant work.

His name was Jim Collins.

He spent six years researching great companies, trying to find out what makes companies great and better than others.

He grouped them into bronze and gold and metal companies, gold being those who performed well over time, and he found that these companies were those who eliminated the notion of either or and discovered the power of both, and he cites as an example a pharmaceutical company that found out how to make both a profit and serve the needs of humanity.

I believe the church should be the ultimate example of the both and paradigm, and I believe God has called Trinity from its inception to exemplify that we don't have to choose between a word-based church and power-based.

We can and must have both.

If we want to recapture the genius of the apostolic church, we have to embrace both these camps.

First, we must ensure that we're building biblically-based churches, churches that take the scripture seriously.

We will not shun serious biblical study.

We will see the importance of theology in our ministry.

But secondly, we must recognize that the New Testament church is a supernatural church and we must be comfortable in the supernatural even when we embrace scripture.

The man who wrote Romans raised the dead and we have an example of this in the Old Testament Two men who worked together in the Hebrew Bible, their one book, the book of Ezra and Nehemiah.

You know what Nehemiah's name is in Hebrew, it's comforter.

And you know what Ezra was, the scribe who studied the law to teach it in Israel.

And both of those work together, exemplifying the word and power paradigm.

I myself owe a great debt from both camps.

I've gained so much.

So if we want to ensure that our people are growing in knowledge of both the scriptures and the power of God, we must make sure that our ministry, as leaders, exhibits both.

Are you breathing?

We must model what knowledge of both means for our people.

The following should be demonstrated in our lives and ministries as part of our evangelical heritage we must first and foremost be students of scripture, can't just give lip service to it.

We have to make sure that what we preach and what we pursue is biblical, and that can't be faked.

It must be the result of living constantly in the book and grappling with its message.

You know, in the past few years the church has been inundated with new techniques and emphasis that are not biblical.

People don't notice because there hasn't been a waning of authority of the scriptures.

We still quote the Bible occasionally, but we really look elsewhere for answers.

We need to desperately return to the authority of Scripture.

If we don't, we will make experiences authoritative.

It's like Luke 16.

You remember the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?

Many believe it's not a parable because Lazarus is named by name.

But you remember Lazarus?

The rich man rather said send me back to my brothers.

If someone rises from the dead they'll believe.

And they said.

And Father Abraham said, if they have Moses and the prophets, if they don't believe them they won't believe if someone rises from the dead.

Our public ministry must expound scripture.

Leaders need to return to preaching the Word of God.

Not only do we study the Bible when we preach it from our messages, we must expound it.

We've got to be delivered from what I call state your text and depart you from it.

You know, listening to many preachers today, you get the idea that the Bible is just a springboard for their own thoughts, because the message isn't drawn from Scripture.

The Scripture is used to bolster their own thoughts.

But besides the Scriptures, the following should be demonstrated clearly in our lives and ministry as part of our charismatic heritage we need our churches and ministries to live in and minister from the presence of God.

You know, we have settled for a Christianity which is a little more than a commitment to propositions.

It's obvious from Acts that the success of the apostles was that their ministries were committed to both word and power.

The power of the Holy Spirit in the presence of God was evident, and we needed it, especially in an hour like ours.

Acts 5,.

With great power, the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

Nothing, nothing, nothing can substitute for the power of the Holy Spirit in our ministries.

Without it, we're like the man in the story of Elisha Remember the man with the axe head who lost his axe head?

We're like him beating the tree with no axe head.

Spurgeon said it best.

He said to us as ministers the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.

Without him, our office is a mere name.

We claim no priesthood over and above that which belongs to every child of God, but we are the successors of those who, in olden times, were moved of God to declare his word, to testify against transgression and to lead his cause.

Unless we have the spirit of the prophets resting upon us, the mantle which we wear is nothing but a rough garment to deceive.

We ought to be driven forth with abhorrence from the society of honest men for daring to speak in the name of the Lord.

If the spirit of God rests upon us, we continue his witness upon earth, but upon him, and his testimony for daring to speak in the name of the Lord.

If the Spirit of God rests upon us, we continue his witness upon earth, but upon him and his testimony the Spirit always rested, and if it does not rest upon us, we are evidently not sent forth into the world as he was.

Wow.

In this regard, we should desire earnestly the spiritual gifts in our ministries and our churches.

You know, we may not be doctrinal secessionists, but we can end up being functional secessionists.

Doctrinally we believe in the gifts, but functionally, you know it's forbid not but seek not is the motto.

We need to return to the simplicity of what charismatic means.

It means pertaining to the gifts.

They have been abused but we still desperately need them today.

So I believe God has established Trinity on the foundation of being a word and power church, and may we become more and more.

May that characterize us more and more in the days ahead.

Mark's going to introduce Steve, thanks, thanks.

All right.

So before you heard Derek give his little testimony about how he came to Trinity, we're going to be doing that this weekend.

We're going to be talking about how each of the elders are going to be talking about how God brought us to Trinity and what we see happening in the future.

I just want to tell you one story about my coming to Trinity.

Okay, as I'm introducing Steve, because the first night I ever came to Trinity I was invited by some friends.

I had some friends who went here.

It was at Dedrick Avenue.

I don't know if you know the story or not, steve.

So Steve used to prophesy over people during services.

Dedrick Avenue building was a long building, right, and so we had.

There was no wireless microphones.

Steve had a little lapel mic and he had like seven microphone cables.

It's the truth and all the so it would reach all the way to the back of the building and he would go back and he would pull people out and prophesy over people.

Okay, first time I ever came to Trinity I've never.

I was hungry for the Lord and for the spirit, but I'd never been prophesied over.

So he's like doing that and I'm going oh, what's going on around here?

You know, you've probably done the same things, maybe, if I don't make eye contact, whatever you do.

So Steve pulled me out.

I was out in the aisle and my first prophecy I ever got and he said God is joining you with those who are around you and God is going to use you with them and God is going to send you out and you will go out and come back, and go out and come back.

Okay, I don't know exact words, but that's what it was.

Okay, I had no idea that meant join me with Trinity.

You know, I didn't know that's what it meant.

I couldn't imagine that because I was pretty young.

But that's exactly what's happened.

And now part of what I do, I'm here, part of the pastoral staff, six months out of the year, but the other six months of the year I'm going out, I'm in other nations and I'm coming back and other nations coming back, and it's the word of the Lord.

I mean the word of the Lord is strong and powerful and we need that right.

So very interesting.

So anyway, I just want you to welcome Steve.

He's such a wonderful father in the Lord.

Thanks, mark, great to be here.

Hey, great food.

Thank you so much.

Great fellowship, wow.

I'm not going to share long, but I do have a little five-minute capsule of something that Holy Spirit has prophetically given.

I've shared it with Clem so he released me to give it.

But you know, when I came here, it was 1984.

When I came, I first preached here.

I think it was 1982 or 1983.

And the first time I preached here was a Sunday night and that morning whoever the pastor was I don't know, he had only been here for about five or six months he had resigned that morning and I was the guest speaker that Sunday night.

And I was trying not to connect the dots, honestly, because Neil and I were working together in Florence and we had just, I felt had, taken the church to another level, where we were finally something was happening and I certainly didn't want to go anywhere.

I was feeling very comfortable.

So I came back to Alabama and told Neil.

I said, neil, one of us have to go there, and I think it's you.

And I told him I said, please pray about you know, they don't have a pastor there.

Of course, him and I being best friends.

I didn't want him to go, but at the same time I felt this like needed to go.

So anyway, he said he'd pray about it.

And he was praying about it and the elders here were praying about it, and while everybody's praying, the Lord spoke to me and to my wife, sandy and doesn't Sandy look so beautiful here?

Hallelujah, yeah, she's doing great.

And we felt that we were supposed to go.

And then we said, well, gee, we're supposed to go.

How are we going to break the news to Neil Because he, you know, it, looks like he's wanting to go.

At the same time, the Lord downloaded to him that I was supposed to go and he was supposed to stay in Alabama.

So that's how it worked out by me coming in 1984.

I'm just going to share a few things.

You know we got so many things that happened during my little tenure here.

A little it was almost 30 years, 29 years.

In one of our services we actually had the glory cloud Shekinah, glory of God actually came into the building and we had a balcony.

And it's kind of a funny story because Tim Ashley, who started another church and he wasn't able to be here, started Harvest Church.

He happened to come for the first time as a visitor to Trinity Chapel and he was sitting next to Bobby Ewing how many remember Bobby Ewing, anybody remember?

And Bobby was sitting there and all of a sudden this cloud comes in.

Okay, and Tim is sitting next to Bobby.

He doesn't even know Bobby, he just happens to come in as a guest and turns around to Bobby.

He goes what is that?

And Bobby like nonchalantly goes oh, that's the glory cloud, as if it comes every Sunday or something.

I mean he did it like every day.

Oh, that's the glory cloud.

Tim goes.

Glory cloud Because Tim was going to a Baptist church.

He was going.

We don't have that in our church.

So Tim left his church and came to Trinity and later was sent out to some things that are kind of in my memory.

I remember having this dream and in this dream all the cars in the Trinity parking lot were all driving around without anybody in the car.

There was nobody in the car, just cars driving around the parking lot car.

There was nobody in the car, just cars driving around the parking lot.

So I woke up and I said, lord, what is that?

And he said I'm about to do something in which you have no control over.

You know, to a pastor that's like the most fearful thing you could hear, because pastoring it's like we have to have a little bit of something.

You know, like you're I'm about to do something you have absolutely no control over.

So we had a whole crew that went to Toronto and I know Sandy Patty and a bunch of others, they all went to Toronto, all got blasted.

I know Russ went to Toronto, really got blasted.

So church really got blasted Anyway.

So they came back and one of them was Dee Durfee, and I don't think she's here tonight but she's not here.

But anyway it's a Sunday night and Sunday night Dee Durfee gets to the microphone and this is what she says.

She says would you like to see a move of God?

That's what she, you know in a very low voice, because d had a very soft voice.

Would you like to see a move of god?

And I still remember, jim greer, what she said.

Arms were folded like, yeah, you're going to do something like you.

A move of God.

That's all she said, and I'm not kidding.

The heavens opened and we had this outpouring of the spirit.

Nobody left the building till one o'clock in the morning.

Everybody was out in the spirit and laughing hysterically.

I'm not exaggerating.

I never got it.

Honestly.

I never got the laughing.

Everybody was asking me to help them to stop laughing.

Neil was there.

I mean, we could not stop it and we could not start it.

And I remember all the teenagers were piled up in a pile like a haystack.

I couldn't figure out how they did that.

And we didn't get out till, you know, one o'clock in the morning and this went on and we had to go every night and this happened.

This is the truth.

We would have months where no one could preach on Sunday night.

Every time you were ready to preach, you couldn't speak.

Is Ed Rosen here?

Great, now I can tell what happened.

So, ed Rosen, he was one of our elders and he had a teaching and he didn't care.

Man, I'm going to give forth this teaching and you're going to hear it.

I've got something I believe you're supposed to hear and I remember.

So he gets up to the pulpit.

Like I told you, every week no one could speak.

On Sunday night, the power of God was so strong, the glory, the presence.

You could not.

All we could do was worship.

That's all we could do was worship.

So, anyway, ed gets up to the pulpit.

God bless him.

He's standing there and we're waiting for him to speak.

He's just standing there and this weird look comes over his face.

And we're all waiting over his face and we're all waiting.

He's just standing there.

Then he finally goes.

I'm absolutely drunk in the Holy Spirit and I think he falls over and the whole church just exploded.

That's what we had meetings like that.

They were insane.

They really were.

I mean, there was no way to and the worship was incredible and Aaron would play the most famous song on Sunday night.

Here he comes, here he comes We'd be jumping and dancing.

I mean it was no way to stop it, it was unstoppable.

So we had a lot of that.

You know that took place.

But you know even before that we always had worship was kind of always something big and I think it was already mentioned.

You know people would sneak in.

Sunday night was our biggest meeting and on Dederick Avenue we just had something special, I hate to say it, beloved.

I appreciate Mark was so kind of how he shared about when we moved to Haines, turkey, sharing about all the good things, but I hate to say it, the cloud seemed like it never left Dederick, going over.

God bless that place.

But all I can tell you there was something special at Dederick.

I don't know if because it was in the ghetto.

In other words, if you went there you really took a chance in the ghetto.

In other words, if you went there you really took a chance.

I mean, we would have new cars would be stolen from the parking lot, people would come up to me crying my car's gone.

You know, I still remember Gene Wright was in the vestibule of the and I think it might've been with Joan too, and I remember they were crying.

I go.

What's the matter?

There was a gunfight going, bullets flying all over the place.

Maybe that's what made it special, I don't know.

We had bullet holes in our stained glass windows on Dead or Again, we had bullet holes in our stained glass windows.

And you know, I learned a lot since then, believe me, I used to have a saying, and one of my sayings was if you didn't like what I said, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

I used to say it all the time.

I used to say you don't like what I'm preaching on, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

And I remember Linda Wheeler that was her name, precious sister.

She came up to me one day and said Steve, I'm so sick of you saying If I don't like what you're saying, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Would you please not say it anymore?

So I repented and never said it again.

But I remember one of our worship services.

At one time we had four trumpets.

We had four trumpets and then one Sunday night I think we had five.

And I remember asking somebody does anybody know who that person is?

We didn't even know who he was.

It was like somebody can just get up on the stage and play.

I mean it was like, and then we used to have a tradition, it was called special song, special music, before the preaching, and every sunday morning somebody would sing, and sometimes who absolutely could not sing.

And we had one dear sister who used to have a great, a great operatic voice.

Neil would call it the seventh seal.

She would get up and all she had left was falsetto.

All she had left was just falsetto, and we would let all the teenagers are under the that's when we had pews.

They were under the pews and I'm pinching myself because I'm about to burst out laughing and we didn't have the heart to say to her you can't sing, to say to her you can't sing.

Anyway, that was some of the stuff that went on before Mark led worship and then Aaron, you know, jack Wright.

I think literally people would come to church just to see Jack smile.

I mean he had the biggest smile on his face when he led worship.

I mean he made everybody feel like $1,000 just coming in through the door, unbelievable.

I met Neil back down in Miami.

Like I said he just mentioned, he did have long hair and he was very.

He was not nice to me, let's put it that way, because he wasn't saved yet and his brother was.

I want you to meet a friend of mine.

Neil looked at me and go, hey, hey, you know.

So Neil and I came into that background.

We were part of the Jesus movement and one thing about the Jesus movement is we were totally abandoned to the Lord.

So it was kind of hard for us to actually fit in to organize church because of our background, of what we used to do.

I mean, we were every day.

We were just the passion that we had, not just for the loss but, you know, for Jesus.

Let me just share real quick just a very simple prophetic word that I feel like the Lord's given to me for Trinity.

We already mentioned the pioneers, which was Jack and Charlie, and you, brashear and Len, you were thrown kind of in that too, in that kind of mix, also even Russ, coming back later.

But I almost look at them.

They were like the Abraham realm.

That was like the Abraham realm.

You know it cost a lot Most of those guys.

I remember one time somebody asked a survey how many came out of the Baptist church.

I couldn't believe almost the entire congregation had come out of the Baptist church.

Wow, had come out of the Baptist church.

Wow, that was a big deal to all of a sudden believe that in a Holy Spirit, in the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

By the way, most of them were disfellowshipped.

It wasn't like they were sent out with laying on of hands.

I mean, there was just so many people that were in the churches.

So I look at Jack and Charlie, they were the Abraham you could call that particular section of Trinity.

Praise God for that pioneering spirit, praise God for the.

And, by the way, a little more background that perhaps you didn't know is that a lot of this started way back when, when many of them went to Frank Meredith's church yeah, I think I hit a note there and then he got into legalism of the shepherding movement and all that stuff, and so Trinity was kind of established to be a church that would again like Neil mentioned, that would really believe in the word of God and wouldn't be submitting just to man but would be submitting to God.

So they really made a stand and in a sense this was the real major charismatic church in the whole city.

It was like the start of the first charismatic church in the entire city.

So therefore people came.

They would sneak in in the balcony because we had a balcony.

They would sneak in, nobody knew who they were, to hear what we were doing and hopefully they would get baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Anyway, those guys were the pioneers.

That's the Abraham.

Now, when I came in 1984, and then later Neil would come I look upon myself in my little tenure with my wife and I.

I look at myself as simply being Isaac.

I was more of the Isaac.

This is something that's interesting about Isaac that most of us would know.

First of all, isaac, his name means laughter.

Come on, you know, having Neil and his one-liners.

How many know we're going to have a lot of laughter.

By the way, we had even a spirit of laughter that actually came into the place.

Interesting that Isaac actually moved into a city and I actually wrote it down somewhere and it was called Gerar G-E-R-A-R and it actually the word means excitement and we had a lot of excitement.

I mean it was good excitement.

We had some crazy things that happened.

I remember one Sunday morning, all of a sudden it was silence and all of a sudden I heard om, some far eastern guy was oming or something and of course me, in my nice, polite, gentle way, from the pulpit, I said shut up.

That's what I said.

I said shut up.

I remember my daughter later would say why weren't you kinder to that person?

I said because that was a spirit and we had to deal with it that way.

Perhaps I would deal with it in a different way now.

So we had a lot of excitement and we did.

We had a lot of excitement and, by the way, if we think of Isaac, what do we think of?

We think of him upon the altar right and all of a sudden a substitution comes.

There's a ram caught in the thicket and that represents all of us.

You know Jesus taking our place.

You know we all should be dead, but Jesus took our place.

Praise God for that.

And so we saw a lot of that at Trinity.

We saw a lot of people saved and this is the truth.

We had a time that we would have 50 visitors every weekend, every Sunday, 50 visitors, but they never stayed.

We never could figure out why they didn't want to stay.

We were always scratching our head.

I'd be signing 50 pages.

We used to send up something in the mail.

If you came to our church.

My hands would get tired from signing, but they never would stay, maybe a few, you know it was like they would check us out.

I don't know.

I don't know where they went, but I was the Isaac part, I believe.

Now you're at the Jacob part and let me just share a little bit about the Jacob part.

You know, jacob experienced a lot of sorrow and a lot of pain and a lot of grief.

You've gone through a lot of sorrow and a lot of pain and a lot of grief.

But in the Jacob part, which I believe Trinity is in, he had 12 sons.

You see, isaac only had two and one was worthless.

I mean Esau, jacob.

I loved Esau, I hated Jacob.

I loved Esau, I hated.

But Jacob had 12.

So I look at our Isaac tenure and Neil was with me during that time.

It was basically just Neil and myself doing most of the ministering, neil and myself going out.

But now at Trinity, you're not just going to have one or two going out, jacob had 12 sons.

You're going to have many and many and many going out.

A matter of fact, more than all that we did, as Isaac and even Abraham had.

You will have now from this Jacob tenure.

And on that, by the way, I actually believe what I'm preaching.

So if you're thinking I just came so everybody would like me, that's I'm telling you.

The Holy Spirit downloaded this word for you at Trinity.

You went through your sorrow, you've gone through your pain, you've gone through your grief.

That's I'm telling you.

The Holy Spirit downloaded this word for you at Trinity.

You went through your sorrow, you've gone through your pain, you've gone through your grief.

But not just two sons will you have.

Twelve ministries will come forth, more than that that will affect the whole earth.

So what I want to do and then I'm going to give it back to Mark, and then I'm going to give it back to Mark is I want to show you the prayer, the prayer that Isaac prayed for Jacob, because I believe it's prophetic also for us here, and it's found in Genesis, chapter 27.

Genesis 27 · chapter mention

It's actually two little prayers.

By the way, I brought my Bible with me.

You know, somebody introduced me.

I was preaching to some pastors just a couple of weeks ago and they introduced me by saying he still carries a Bible, carries a Bible.

I couldn't help that.

I'm a rebel.

I'm never going to go through that phone.

I'm always going to use a Bible.

A phone is a phone, a Bible is a Bible.

I don't care.

I'm just saying that doesn't matter to me.

I'm one way or the other.

Genesis 27, verse 29.

Genesis 27:29

This is part of a prayer and a blessing that Isaac gave Jacob.

So I am representing Isaac here, and so is Neil.

I think in some ways he's kind of overlapped.

We all overlap.

But listen to this Let people serve you and nations bow down to you.

Bow down to you.

You're going to impact many nations In this tenure of the Jacob tenure.

You are going to affect many nations.

Be master over your brethren.

Let your mother's sons bow down to you.

Listen to this.

Cursed be everyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you.

Gee, I think you need to receive that.

Come on, that sounds pretty good.

And then this last one is in Genesis 28, 3 and 4, but I'm just going to read verse 3, because that's the one that really May God Almighty I guess I'm saying this to you as like a prayer May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you.

That you may be in assemblies of people.

Father, in the name of Jesus, let it be done.

Hallelujah, hallelujah.

Wow, praise God, that's good news, right?

Okay, could you stand with me, because we've got to do one more song.

I think we have to do one more.

Do we have to do one more song?

I think?

All right, come on up, man, we're going to do one more.

Yeah, while we're getting ready.

I just want to thank everybody so much for coming out Again, a lot of you from Trinity present, but so many of you from Trinity past, and we're so grateful you came.

We're so grateful to have been a part of your life and for you to be part of us.

We're so grateful to still be connected to you.

We love every one of you and we just want to celebrate right into heaven.

We want to serve Jesus all the way into heaven with you.

We want to walk with you maybe separate churches, whatever it is but we're in this kingdom.

We're in this great big kingdom with this great big king.

Walk with you, maybe separate churches, whatever it is.

We're in this kingdom.

We're in this great big kingdom with this great big king and we're serving him together and we love you and we thank you for your part here and what you've done.

Thanks for coming tonight.

Alright, all right, all right.

You guys want to sing White Horse?

Okay, you get a bonus.

Tonight I wrote a new verse, so we'll sing that one at the end.

And they don't even know it.

None of nobody knows except me.

Isn't that great?

It's like you, it's like a cheat code or something.

All right, but in all seriousness, a little quick, I know we're all going gonna get out of here.

So, uh, it was a Sunday night and I was at the piano on deadrick and, uh, the band had left, like, and it was just me.

And you know, it was probably like one of those nine, 30 ministry times.

It's not 30 night, people just all over the place, people get in prayer.

And then this little ministry times, it's 9.30 at night, people just all over the place, people get in prayer.

And then this little chorus just came to me and the whole idea was just Jesus, as I'm watching people get in prayer and minister to.

It's like Jesus, you're just the hero and you come into our lives and you just do this, you know.

And so a couple weeks later we're at a winter retreat.

My brother, ross, was youth pastor and we were at a big winter retreat.

Those winter retreats are huge, like two, three hundred people and all of a sudden we were having ministry time and it's all good, and I was like you know, I think I've seen that little chorus.

I sang a couple weeks ago and the band just picked up on it.

I sang a couple weeks ago and the band just picked up on it, and it was just, I mean, it was just like a bomb had gone off in the room.

And so a ton of kids said I got to say this.

Toby Wise, who's sitting here tonight, he helped write this song.

So I got to, because we would sing the chorus and then we would make up words.

We would just make up stuff on the spot.

One day I said, toby, we've got to make verses.

I'm tired of trying to make up stuff.

All right, so here we go.

Here he comes, riding a white horse, with passion in his eyes.

He'll set you free.

People will come into this place.

Oh, they will come into this place and be set free.

Oh, trinity's best days Are ahead of them.

Oh.

And here he comes.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, you free.

Here he comes, riding a white horse, passion in his eyes, he'll set you free Jesus Christ, the living God, poured out his blood to save the lost and freedom wakes.

Jesus hears your plea and here he comes.

He's setting you free.

Here he comes, riding a white horse, passionate in his eyes, he'll set you free.

Here he comes, riding a white horse, passionate in his eyes, he'll set you free.

He wants to set you free.

Power of the cross, power of the cross, power of the cross Stretches through time To reach you today.

Break the chains that bind.

There's nothing too great, there's nothing too small, and Jesus died To free us all.

Here he comes, riding a white horse, crashing in his eyes he'll set you free.

Here he comes, riding a white horse, crashing in his eyes he'll set you free.

The power of darkness Compelled your life.

You can't recall when you last saw light, but this is your day and this is your hour To feel His love and to know His power.

Here he comes, riding a white horse, Passing in His eyes He'll set you free.

Here he comesiding a white horse, Touching his eyes He'll set you free.

Alright, here we go.

All right, here we go.

The past approaching, the day is near.

The white horse rider will soon appear.

The throne of David will have its king.

With hope in our hearts, let us sing is He'll set you free.

Here he comes, running a white horse, passion in His eyes.

He'll set you free, here he comes.

Running a white horse, passion in His eyes.

He'll set you free.

Oh, that's so great.

Oh man, this has been such a wonderful night.

It doesn't have to end Tomorrow morning 11 am.

I want you to be with us, if you can.

It's going to continue.

We're going to have a wonderful time together tomorrow night at 5.

But tomorrow is an all-day thing.

It starts at 11 am.

We've got a big cookout after We've got things for the kids and then we'll start back in worship and prophetic prayer on tomorrow night.

We're going to release you here in just a moment.

If you're a partner here and you don't mind staying about 15 minutes and help us stack these chairs and get these tables out, that would be great for tomorrow morning.

But, lord, we just thank you so much for each and every person here.

We thank you, lord, god.

At some point in time they were here and they touched this church and God.

Through them, your work has been done.

We thank you, god, for each and every person that's here tonight to celebrate what you have done through them, and we just pray that you would bless them tonight In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thank you, guys, so much and we just pray that you would bless them tonight.

In Jesus name, amen.

Thank you guys so much.

I'll see you in the morning.

Bless you.