Sis Cheryl Harrison Funeral - Sis Cheryl As A Centerpiece 5-27-2026

What a lady, Amen, Brother Dwane, you were married to

a jil You know that there's been something said today

about what a princess she was, and she was a princess.

Princesses Mary, princess. She was married to a prince. Brother

Dwane is the prince of a man. All of you

that know him. Brother Sage and I we were talking

about brother Dwayne a little while ago, and he is

a prince. I want to say thank you to Aken

Davis and a brother Sage and his assistant that's there.

I appreciate them everything they have done. It's been a

smooth process. Say thank you to Brother Allan his sister

Melissa for taking care of mama's arrangements. I want to

talk to us briefly before we go. We would like

to spend all day long here in her honor, but

we're not going to be able to do that, as

brother Platt evidently picked out a burial site years ago

that's and a stone's throw away from here, Amen, So

we'll try to beat the heat. I doubt that'll happen.

But I want to talk to you about sister Cheryl

as a centerpiece. Sister Cheryl as a centerpiece. If you

look up towards the platform this morning, you'll notice a

beautiful coffin that the aching Davis Funeral Home has helped

the Platte family and Harrison family secure. There's no doubt

this morning that Sister Cheryl would be well pleased with

the color of the coffin. I could see her grin

now in my mind's eye, that she would be very

pleased with the plants and the floor arrangements. The caskets

spray everything about the presentation, the display, the arrangements is

just comely for a princess. Truly, it's a magnificent centerpiece.

Today you're in a beautiful tabernacle. The Bethel Holness Church

family has worked hard to have a beautiful small chair

out in the country and they've done a great job

providing a nice place for us to have services regularly.

But it's because of individuals like Sister Sheryl Harrison that

makes the Bethel Hole in his church family special. And

an individual like Sister Wooton that you just saw walk

off the platform. Those are the people that I moved

to Lobel, Florida to be with because they were real

and genuine. They became centerpieces in Sister Howel and I's life.

Our world began to evolve and revolve around these personalities

and characters because of how special they were. The Plat

family has been very special to our family for many years.

This is the first time in probably fifty plus or

sixty years that a Plat family member has not been

part of the Bethel Hole and his church actively. Brother

Johnny Platt's one of the original founders and whenever the

church was falling apart many years ago, he stayed by

himself and had church up to six months. He would

read songs out of the read back him doing pray

to God and ask God for there to be a

church in Label, Florida. And I've been here nearly twenty years,

and it's been my privilege to be a pastor to

a Plat family member for nearly twenty years, and I

can tell you it's been a sweet experience. The Plat

family has been just a centerpiece in this beautiful work

that God wants to do in Label, Florida. Just the

shining personalities. They're people like me. They're people that are transparent.

You never have to guess what they're thinking. They'll never

be hateful. They'll speak the truth with love. But I

built my family around brother Johnny and Sister Barbara Platte,

and in time their daughter came in. I'll never forget

when God added another rose to this beautiful centerpiece. Sister

Cheryl was suffering in her body. She would tell this

testimony often during our service. This is at the Bethel

Hole in his church. She come in as what she

called a sinner lady, and she said she just had

sold out to God or to his purpose for her life.

And I remember old brother Platte, with that crooked index finger,

had raised his hand and said, Pastor, if you don't mind,

would you pray from my daughter Cheryl tonight? He said

she needs prayer. You had to wipe that lava off

his lip, said she needs prayer. I said, what's wrong, Papa?

He said, she's having some pretty serious issues. I said, well,

let's pray. So the church knelt down and in Unison

we prayed. And while we were praying, the Holy Goods

prompted us to pray for sister Cheryl, And so we prayed.

Said God, would you touch brother Platte's daughter, Lord, would

you heal her whatever this is? He hasn't given specifics

and details, nor have we requested it. But whatever it is,

you know, little did we know. Sister Cheryl walked through

them glass doors in that moment, heard her name being

called out in prayer and was gloriously healed. She said,

that was the first time the Lord put a hook

in her flesh and began to draw her. You know,

the Bible said the good Spirit of God will draw.

So God began to draw her into that beautiful, beautiful

floral arrangement. God began to build the beth Of Hole

in his church, peace by peace, and Sister Cheryl found

herself dead center right there by her mom and dad.

Such a special lady. And in time she sold out

to the Lord, gave her life and heart to Jesus

and just dumped, I mean everything that the world had

for her out, poured herself into the work of the Lord.

Became a vital, most important part of the Bethel Hole

in his church. And this is how often she wanted

to please the Lord, that there wasn't a service that

went by that she didn't do something significant and special

and just made herself a shining light it. Instead of

John the Baptist, he was a burning and a shining light.

And that's how sister Cheryl was here at the Bethel

Hole in his church. She was so special, just to

center piece, a master peace, a work of art. Sister Hannah,

my daughter, she had part in securing these floral arrangements,

and I believe the family bought the caskets pray, which

is just as beautiful. And she said, Dad, I need

to tell you something. I said what she said, these

floral arrangements. She said, all of these floral arrangements, they're

the prettiest I've ever seen in my life. And her

husband's a gravedigger. He is a gravedigger. He sees a

lot of floral arrangements. And he said, I wholeheartedly concur

I'm in total agreement. Absolutely, they're the most gorgeous and

beautiful for arrangement. I wonder if the person that was

a sembling these began to feel the spirit of God,

because the spirit of God knew she deserved only the best,

you know, just kind of like these poems that she wrote,

you could tell there was an element the spirit of God,

and things just were so fluent and just so cohesive

and just so precious. You could just tell this woman

was a center piece because she was connected. She was connected,

she was connected to Christ. In Mark Cha number fourteen

and verse number six, there is a biblical character that

we could bring before us here this morning, and I

would like to do a parallel between that biblical character,

namely Mary of Bethleny, and also sister Cheryl Harrison, the

wife brother Dwayne. In that narrative, you'll find that a

particular woman, she came into the presence of Jesus.

Now get the imagery.

Jesus is preparing to attend the feast of the Passover,

and while he's preparing for the feast of the Passover,

he's in somebody's house, and he's partaking of the things

that they had provided for him in the moment, because

he himself said, I don't have a roof to lie under,

not a roof of my own. I'm not worried about

the materialistic things of this life. I'm worried about eternal life.

And my kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom

is not an earthly kingdom. And so Christ he wasn't

so focused on the materialistic things of life. And so

why these people are busy trying to provide for the

Master Jehovah Jyrah himself, the provider of all humanity, the

creator of the universe, the creator of the cosmos. While

he is sitting there clothed in human flesh, God Incarnate,

why is sitting there mankind is waiting on him? But

in comes this special person, a very special person. There's

no doubt everybody in that building was special. I'm sure

everybody was a tentative. Everybody was listening to what Jesus

was saying. Under those people, everybody didn't want to miss

a word. But inn walks this woman, Mary of Bethany,

and she's holding in her hand an alabaster box. And

this alabaster box is full of ointment. The Bible said,

very costly ointment, in fact in value. It's estimated that

the value of that costly ointment was equivalent to a

man's annual wage, a soldier, a Roman soldier in the

Roman army, an annual wage. And this woman comes into

the presence of Jesus and wall people are just busy

being people and doing things people do. Perhaps somebody was

pouring a glass of lemonade, or perhaps somebody was about

to slice an orange. This woman walks in with this

alabaster box, and she breaks the box. And Sister Cheryl

was one that was a believer in breaking the box.

And when she broke the box, there is no doubt

the atmosphere changed. Anybody that knew this woman, whether you

were with her in her hospital room or leaning over

her hospital bed, or praying with her in the altar

as you prayed for somebody else, you could tell this

woman changed the atmosphere. It was because of her life,

her love, and her legacy. And that's what I want

to point out to you today is her life, her love,

and her legacy the centerpiece.

To Cheryl. She wasn't an attention seeker.

She wasn't one that was in pursuit of the affirmation,

approval or applause of others. But somehow, because of her

sincerity and humility and her ability to speak a word

that was fitly spoken, the Bible set It's like apples

of gold and pictures of silver. You think, how can

something so wonderful and so good and so timely come

out of a mere mortal She had that way a

lot of times when me as a pastor, when I

was in the heat of the battle. She knew exactly

what Sunday to bring a card. She knew those one

liners that would encourage the pastor. It didn't take a

thirty minute conversation with that woman. She could change the atmosphere,

she could change you emotionally, she could help you spiritually.

And so this woman she comes in and she ministers

to Jesus. Right, she breaks the box, and that costly

ointment is poured on his head.

And as he is being anointed.

That costly ointment begins to flow down his Now, how

many of you know if you dump out just a

small bottle of perfume, it doesn't take very long for

all the occupants in that building to say, Hey, what's

that smell? Hey, what's that about? Something spilled out? That's

an accident. And there was probably some people in the

other room that said, hey, something spilled, somebody's broke something,

somebody's losing something costly. In fact, the Bible said that

when Judas the trader, Judas is scary at the betrayer,

the deceiver, the thief. The Bible gave him many different names. Said,

when Judas observed this action of this woman breaking this

box and pulling that pouring that costly ointment on the

body of Jesus. Judas stood back and with criticism, he said,

that's wasteful. That was not waste, that was worship. A

lot of people could look at the life of sister

Cheryl and say, you know what, she lived a wasted life.

She wasted a lot of money on them, children of them,

impoverished community. She wasted a lot of time on all

these outreach minished.

She was a giver.

Jesus said, it's more blessed to give than to receive.

This woman lived to give. When this church needed a

stainless steel stove in our kitchen in order to have

convention on her own, her and brother Tyler they pulled

out a took out a loan and bought the church

that big stainless guest stove that we've enjoyed so many

meals from it. This woman just always looked for an

opportunity to be a blessing. So this woman in the Bible, Marybethane,

she had saw an opportunity and it changed the atmosphere.

His sister Cheryl was here today, whether in her wheelchair

or not, Brother Dwayne, she would say, Amen, praise the Lord.

I mean, this woman didn't have an attention devil in

her at all, But somehow her being commanded our undivided attention.

She was the centerpiece.

I'm sure if you look at these floral arrangements, there's

something that that floral designer did to draw your attention

to the center. The same thing we've done here today.

We've said, look at the character of this Christian. She

has continually exemplified a Christian. She is a blessing to

so many. Even right now God is dealing with hearts.

But I want to.

Ask you the question, are you willing to pay the price?

You know, we just celebrated an honor defalling right. Some

gave all, some gave nothing, And so it goes in

the Christian community. Some give all, some give nothing. You

see one right here that gave all. She gave to

her husband in sickness or in health. She gave all.

She was faithful unto death. She was a real centerpiece

in that relationship. Brother Dwayne wasn't playing second fiddle. They

were a team, and this woman became a team member

of the Bethel Horness Church. She didn't come in and

try to take command. She didn't come in and try

to become the boss. But she did come in and

become an active part. And she never looked for status.

She wanted an opportunity to serve. You ever seen those

people that come in the church and immediately they want

to be the church boss. They want to be a pastor,

they want to be a deacon, they want to be

a teacher. Those are people looking for recognition or reputation.

The Bible said, when Jesus came, he came not looking

to make himself somebody. He did not seek reputation or recognition.

So Sister Cheryl, she came in. She set towards the back,

sometimes on the back pew. For as long as I

can remember her, she sat there in solitude. At times

it just just so sincere. But whenever it was time

to strike or time to encourage a young person, she

knew just exactly what to say. I've seen her succored,

the Bible said, suckered. I have seen her help people

just step in and slay giants that people were fighting

with just one or two sentences, or sometimes with a

This woman just had a way of inserting herself into

the arrangement of one's life. And whenever you step back,

you realize this woman was that just on the fringes.

This woman was in the center of my life. There's

people here today that drove a couple hours to be here.

Some of you endured traffic. Some of you told me

you were stuck in traffic for over an hour on

State Road twenty nine because of some tragedy. Unfortunately that

took place, and we pray for the families. Our hearts

go out for the family. But Sister Cheryl was that

kind of friend, you know she was. She was one

that would endure into the end, one that would be

faithful right against adversity and overcome the odds. That's the

kind of woman we're talking about here. So this woman

in our Golden text in Matthew fourteen and six, she

was closely associated with the work of the Lord and

the Kingdom, as Sister Cheryl was closely associated with the

Kingdom and this local assembly and Brother Nathaniel. Both of

these women possessed an amazing Christian character and they are

worthy of the highest honor that we can give them today.

So we went over the narrative that we might get

the context and the context which the Lord Jesus desires

each one of us to hear today. And I'll tell

you how amazing Grace is and how amazing than our

God is. It was about four and a half weeks ago.

Sister Howell was doing some prep for a baby shower

that would take place in our fellowship, Paul, And so

I was in my office, straightening up things and cleaning

a little bit and parting with some things. And while

I was straightening up and organized, and I ran across

a lot of crafts that Sister Platt had made me

and that Sister Harrison had made me. And I just

could not part with that stuff, and I had forgot

about it. And so then I'm going through my sermon

books where I wrote my notes, you know, and stacking

them up for the boys.

After I die.

They can go through there and get Dad's note books

with Dad's ugly chickens cratch on it. Just have a

keepsake or throw them into dumpster, as far as I'm concerned.

So just being pastor going about my busy life, you know,

doing what pastors do. And I walked to that south

corner of my office. I was about four feet from

the corner, and I was standing there, and I began

to reflect on the Lord and thinking about the goodness

of God the Land of the Living, and the Lord

reminded me that brother Duane and sister Cheryl were having

a house built. They have a house that's about fifty

percent finish. It's a house that was much needed. It's

a house that they prayed for. It's a house that

they desired. It's a house that they longed for. It

was much needed. It's necessary that they have this place.

And while the spirit of God is moving upon me,

he said, listen, sister Cheryl will not live in that

new house that they are building for her. I said,

say o, Lord, he said, Cheryl will not live in

that house that that contractor is building her. I said, okay,

he said, but I have prepared a house for her

and she will live in it. Three to four weeks

prior to her death, I came to the pulpit and

I said, Church, I want to tell you. While I

was in my office just doing my pastoral duties, the

Holy Ghost spoke to me and said he's going to

take sister Cheryl home now. She had battled in fault

for years. We saw her overcome adversity against the odds.

Coach Cheryl, She'll never die. Y'all heard my bride the

first lady. Sister House say, we really thought she was

going to bounce back, because she always bounced back. Then

you heard Sister Whoot, one of our elder sisters of

the church, say, you know what, it doesn't matter what

the doctor or the banker, anyone says about it. God

has the final say. God is the final authority, and

when he's ready for you to go, he will take you.

And you know what, Sister Melissa and Brother Allan and

platfam and Harrison family and the Betha Holness Church family

and all you friends. God decided that he needed a

new rose in the center piece of heaven. There's no

doubt about it. Because I was buying my own business,

not really even thinking about her in that moment when

God distracted me and said, think about Cheryl. Think about

that house that they're about to finish, the house that

she could live in in the next two or three months,

a brand new house. Brother Dwayne Harrison said, a mighty

fine house. But God, since she won't live in that house.

But Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. You

believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house,

there are many mentions, he told us, So we know so,

so sister Cheryl is in the presence of the Lord.

I'm sure, without a doubt already she's become a very

important part of the center piece around the throne of God.

You know, everything centers around the throne of the Lamb,

don't you All them angelic beings are witnessing Sister Harrison say, Holy, Holy,

Holy Lord, God Almighty. I'm sure by now she that servant,

that servant, that one that wasn't looking for status, that

servant has found herself at the feed of her savior

and saying thank you, Lord for saving me. One of

the things that she treasured most was once she sold out,

surrendered to the Lord, she had a peace. She said,

I'm not afraid to admit that I was a woman

of the world. She said, I've done a lot of

things that I would be ashamed for the young people

this church to know that I'd done. She said, But

tonight I got saved. He took the sinner out of me.

He took the desire out of me. That's what faith

will do. You want to do an assessment of your

salvation or your desire for salvation. Imagine that, right now

around this coffin appears the most beautiful, beautiful entry way

or gate to salvation, representing Jesus Christ. Imagine right now,

the most beautiful gate see the Ornamentation, see the beautiful gate,

the gate called beautiful, and on the other side there's victory,

and there's joy, and there's peace, and there's rest in

this life Jesus was to have left that appear right now,

materialize in your very presence. Would you run through it

like she did? I see my opportunity to escape some things,

some habits, some addictions, some troubles, some trial.

Would you be set free?

Or would you say, no, I need to have one more, Sangria, No,

I need to have one more, Martine, I need to

have one more.

Would you.

Would you run through that gate right now? Or would

there be something that would keep you sitting in that pew?

And that's what we deal with a lot of times.

I remember being that person myself thirty years ago. I

sit back and said, do I run through the gate

or do I not? But finally I got sick and

tired like this lady did. I got sick and tired,

And you know what, that's what that woman Marybeth and

he did. She said, you know, at this point, I

don't care what anybody else thinks about it, even if

one of the disciples of Jesus Christ Judas starts criticizing

me and accusing me of being wasteful, a wasted life.

I'm going to do what I need to do. And

one night, Sister Cheryl, I guess, decided she's gonna give

her heart to the Lord because we were studying. I've

never in my ministry told sister how what I'm gonna preach.

A lot of ministers do so that the songs their

wife sings aligned with the message. I've never done it.

I wanted to be the Holy Ghost. That morning, I

drove two hours for six years without any compensation one

offering received from this church, because I love brother Sister

Platte six years Diesel. Back when we first started coming

with five dollars a gallon, I split cheeseburgers in half

from my kids to have something to eat because our

extra went in gas to come preach to four people.

Never expected compensation, never asked the Lord. After a long time,

Brother Platte came to me crying. He said, I need

to start receiving a pastor's offering for you, I said,

it's your choice. But if you don't, I'm here because

I love people, and I'm here to serve people. Has

nothing to do with the money, has everything to do

with the burden and the Platte family. Brother Platt started

receiving a monthly offering the very next Sunday. After he died,

brother Platt passed, Sister Cheryl started receiving the offering, and

every month she would come up here. She'd make us laugh.

Sometimes she'd have a clown's nose, sometimes a red curly

what do you call that wig? And she'd make us laugh,

and she'd receive the pastor's offering. But for me, it's

never been about money. I'd just stayed where I was

at one year, two hundred and twenty five thousand, the

next year two hundred and fifty thousand, Got six kids,

got a wife, eight of us, mouse to feed, got

to make something in this world, right, got a hustle

in order to feed a family that big. But God said,

go down there. Why see, life is about sacrifice. Somebody says, well,

what have you ever done? Well, what have you done

to help this lady? Spiritually? I'm a sweetheart. But if

she had passed and went to hell, the Bible said

that rich man opened his eyes, it was all about him.

And the Bible said when he opened his eyes, he

realized he was in hell, and he said, I'm tormented

in this flame. Well, had there not been a brother,

Johnny Platte, that wanted to plant a church in LaBelle,

And had there not been a man that said, you

know what, passed a baton to me?

Papa.

I ain't blood ken, but I can see what you're

trying to do, Papa. I'll be more family spiritually, Papa.

What's going to.

Matter is what we do in this life that will

determine what happens to us in the afterlife. And that's

the reality of it all. I'm not angry, I'm not mad,

I'm not upset, but I want to ask you, what

have you done for her?

Spiritually? This woman right here did what she could do.

When the critics came, they said, tell her to stop this.

How could this woman be so wasteful? And Jesus, being

who he was, he said, leave her alone. And they said,

why should we leave her alone? He said, against the

day of my burial, has she done this so we're

considering the life and the love and the legacy. Right

So this woman right here before you this day, she realized, Hey,

we're all drawn away of her own lust. We all

have enjoyed the pleasures of sin for a season. But

the truth of the matter is, if I live to

be one hundred years old, that is a drop in

a fifty five gallon barrel, conpared to a lifetime and eternity.

Because I did what I wanted to do in this life.

She decided, I don't want to please myself. I want

to please the Lord. I've heard her say so many times.

I just want to please the Lord. That's all that matters.

And you know what, Jesus, he lived thirty three and

a half years, cut down in his prime in my opinion,

cut down in his prime, in my opinion, by people

that did not like someone that demonstrated and displayed servitude.

Judas wanted him to come with status. He wanted him

to take up the throne of David. He wanted him

to use that power that he had to make six

hundred men fall to their face and the sense. Judas

wanted him to sit on the throne of David and

establish a Kingdom and dominate the Gentiles and the Roman Empire.

And Jesus took a beating instead, and he died. Jesus

died at thirty three. And I want to bring this

to your attention. So Jesus died at thirty three, and

in three and a half years of time he made

such a powerful positive impact on so many lives that

the world to this day, two thousand years later, the

world to this day is being impacted by the life

of Jesus Christ. Thirty three times two is what sixty six.

If I'm not mistaken, this woman has lived twice as

long as Jesus lived sixty six. Somebody said, well she

was cut down young, that is right. She didn't get

to live to be one hundred years old. She didn't

get to reach the age that her mother and father did.

But she's lived a lot longer than some. But what

she did do in the last sixteen years that I've

known her, that she's served the Lord, she has well

surpassed a lot of professing Christians. She definitely demonstrated and

displayed the life of a servant of Jesus Christ. This

woman apparently waited till she was fifty years old to

get right with Jesus Christ. Do you know I can't

make all these numbers line up today, but he can.

Do you know who's fifty this week? Jeremy Howell. She

got saved at my age. And you heard us talk

about a woman, you would assume that this girl had

served the Lord all the days of her life. And

unfortunately a lot of us just didn't come to our

senses and decided we would serve the Lord all the

days of our life. I remember day and hour when

I pretended to be serving the Lord. I remember day

and ever when I made excuse from my sin. I

remember day and aver when I didn't accept Jesus Christ

as the sacrificial atonement, substitutionary sacrifice for my sin.

But I remember that day.

I remember that day the Holy Ghost said, preach to

your congregation down there in that little storefront, will the

circle be unbroken? Little did I know that Sister Cheryl

Harrison and her husband, brother Dee with Harrison would come

walking into that little storefront with twenty something people present.

She said in the back pew, Sister House stood up crying,

and she said, I don't know why, but this morning

when I woke up. I just felt like we got

to sing this song. Will the Circle be unbroken?

Church?

I never even preached my message. After Sister Cheryl walked

down that aisle during that song and prayed. I held

up the notes and I said, look at that. Only

the Holy Ghost can do that. And I'm telling you,

the Holy Ghost spoke to me in that office and

told me that this day would come. It came just

like the Holy Ghost said. This woman did pass, she

did go on to be glory and is wonderfully praise

the Lord. She is living in the presence of the Lord.

She's living in her heavenly home. And you know what

the Bible said, I have not seen nor ear heard,

neither has it entered into the heart of man the

things that God hath prepared for those that love him.

But this woman did what she could do while she

could do it. That's her text. She has done what

she could, Jesus said, she has done what she could.

She couldn't preach, but she did what she could.

Are y'all with me.

I'm trying not to go old school Pentecostal preaching style,

that's how Bethel likes it. I'm trying to be dignified

and get us through this. But I'm trying to do

her justice to it. At the same time, you say, well,

I ain't very much. Do what you can while you can,

because there's gonna come a day whenever you're gonna have

regret that you didn't do what you could do. But

I never, never, never walked up to this woman's death bed,

and never did she say I wish I had a

done Never did she say I wish I could do

it over again. The only thing she told me was

with tears flowing down her face, she said, if I

could have got saved and sold out to the Lord sooner,

I wouldn't have waited till I was fifty. Well, time

is taking. The clock is about to strike, midnight, time

is about out. Amen, we all feel the need to

do something come Sunday morning. I'll be honest with you.

We all act like it takes an act of God

to get the mattress off our back. I'm glad Jesus

didn't rely on an act of God to keep his

back attached to the cross. Well, I ain't found a

good church yet. Well, when you find one, letting me know.

But I found a good savior I found a friend

who sits closer than any brother. And that's what Mary

Beth and he knew. She said, I'm gonna walk into

this situation. I'm gonna take this cost the on it.

I'm gonna break it over his head. I'm gonna do

what I want to do. I gotta do it. I

don't care what anybody says about it. I gotta do

what I gotta do. You know, it'd be great a

somebody knelt down in front of this casket right here

this morning and sold out to Jesus and said, you

know what, I'm gonna follow her example, or somebody knelt

down out there in that old saying of that Venus

cemetery and said, you know what, I'm gonna give my

heart to the Lord. I'm gonna do better for the

Lord's savior, Jesus Christ, this coach, Cheryl, this centerpiece, that

this woman right here has been an example to me,

and I know I need to do better. The Bible

said he that knoweth to do good and do with

it not to him, And it said, how many times

have we overlooked the opportunity to do good? You know,

the spirit of God's telling you right now to make

Jesus your savior. You know her testimony is begging and

pleading with you to make Jesus your savior. Well, I

have a problem with a pastor. I have a problem.

Well I got a problem with you will sin. And

I got a problem with you not having a burden

for what your daddy stood for. This should have never

had to be a Jeremy Howell, sacrifice a quarter of

a million dollars salary to keep this work going. You

gonna let it die. The life, the love, and the legacy,

the life, the love and the legacy, The life, the love,

and the legacy. Mary of Bethany came in there, broke

that box, break that pride, break that worldly spirit, break

that temptation, break that lust, break that manipulation, break that deception,

break the change that binds you, and say, in the

name of Jesus, I'm going to live victoriously.

Amen.

I've got people that were drug addicts sitting in these

pews right now.

They got gloriously delivered.

You gotta love the feet of Jesus more than you

love the lips of the serpent. And this woman found

herself at the feet of the Savior. This woman realized

the connection that we must have is through sincerity and

humility and through sacrifice. And yes, it's gonna cost you something.

It's gonna cost you no longer being friends of the

spirit of this world. Now, Baba said, love not the world,

neither of the things that are in the world for

any minute.

Love the world. The love of the Father is not

in him.

Now listen, I'm talking bluntly on purpose. And frankly, it's

not that we're at liberty to do what ever we're doing.

Are y'all with me? Some of you, this will be

the last time you ever hear me preach. But your

daddy made me take a vow, and your grandpa made

me take a vow. When he told me, I'm a

happy man. I'm about to go to heaven. He looked

at me and with a holy, righteous anger, and with

quivering lips and slava going down the crevices of the

sides of his mouth, he said, don't you lie to

my family, don't you lie to Bethel, don't you lie

to anybody? Said you tell them the truth, And I'm

telling you the truth. If you want to live your life,

I should have lived mine in Moulberry. Should have never

become like a grandson to your grandpa. If it's all

about us, I should have stayed in my place. If

it's all about us, I should have built my legacy

with my grandpa. It's about sacrifice. I will sacrifice my pride.

Papa said, we don't understand why you're going down there.

I said, I know you're my papa, You're my flesh

and blood. He said, I'll pay and send you to

medical school. I said, no, I've met an old guy

down there named Johnny Platt. You know what Papa did.

About a year later, he come down here and met

Johnny Platt and he said, you know what, son, you

found a good thing in that old man. Papa loves him,

and I give you my endorsement. And that's what this woman.

She came into the room and she broke that box.

That's what sister Cheryl done repeatedly for us. She broke

the box. She broke the box. What does that box

represent to us today? I'll tell you what it represented

to me, financial security. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in

the house of my good I'd rather passed her a

little holiness church and four people, and then I don't

understand why some of us have the legacy that we

have and the heritage. She realized that fifty years of age,

I've got to change the definition of insanity is doing

the same thing over and over again, expecting to do

for a result. But this woman crucified her selfish desires,

and that woman came in and she broke the box.

I wonder if anybody this morning, Cheryl, you ain't going

without me, Honey, Cheryl, You're not going without me, honey

if we all get puffed up like toad frogs. But

I was here for her, and you've been there for her.

But my question is some of you have been there

for her incessantly physically, some of us have been here

for spiritually incessantly. But my question us this day is

will we be there for her for eternity?

Amen? Amen? Amen.

Sister Cheryl poured out her life into the Lord, and

Sister Cheryl held nothing back. The woman of bath, and

he poured out ointment that would have been worthy years wage.

But love was her motive, and it was her love

and her life that made her beautiful. There will be howls,

let me get personal with you. There will be howels

that come to this funeral of this preacher. They will

have never known the reason for why he came to Lebel, Florida,

until they see me like this and see you all

sitting around here crying. Those people loved me. But I've

moved down here and moved my family into the LaBelle Motel,

and we celebrated Christmas in a dilapidated storefront building. And

my wife asked, same question as you like to ask,

are you sure this is God's will? Are you sure

we've heard from God? This sure is a far cry

from the comforts and the joys that we once known.

And I said, I'm sure because of one old man

that sit right there, and his bride that sit right

over there, and then another old man that sit there,

and another old lady that sit there. Now, we all

got things we gotta do. Right, We're gonna cancel our

PM service tonight because we all got things we gotta do.

This guy right here has been vomiting on the hour,

and he's crying up here because brother Plap meant something

to us. But Papa always said, you show me you

love me by your actions. And I was here for

this lady with my ninety one year old grandmother who

text me about as often as she did pretty often,

and said, Jeremy, I fallen and broke in my hip

because I had to redig out an occupation. I had

to become a rebellion. I had to become a friend

of the town, share, a friend of the funeral home director's,

a friend to the community. This had to be come

my home and my grandmother. She said, I'm not doing good.

You know who I went to see her. So what

happens then, mister and missus questions? We all have questions.

We can't be defeated by our mind. We can all

play mental mind games, get struck, get caught up in

mind battles. But the reality is the proof is into putting.

At the end of the day, this woman come in

here in a wheelchair, and I watched her drag herself

up here to the altar and get a hold of

my cancer stricken son and say, don't quit fighting. That's

why I joined affinity with the Platte family. That's why

when brother Platt said, you're a camp meeting speaker, we

will never hold.

You in LaBelle. It was their love.

It was Lavinia's showing up here at the right time

and her husband, Timmy saying, here's a handful of purpose.

It's love. Are y'all with me in this place?

Now? This church runs about eighty eighty five every service.

You know how this church was built to the glory

of God by love. Brother Platte told me, he said,

I had a vision of campers on this I had

a vision of this church. He didn't live to see

it packed like he had division. But you know what,

whether it prospered or not, whether it became successful or not,

he has a legacy here. That family has a legacy.

This woman left a legacy, and this is what I

want to leave you with. This woman believed that I

could be the best friend she ever had.

She was right.

Nicodemus wanted to come see Jesus by night. Nicodemus wanted

to come see Jesus privately. Nicodemus wanted to do something,

but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Are

y'all with pastor Nicodemus wanted to This woman did what

she could do ahead of time, while she had life

to do it. She said, Jesus said, it's for my burial.

She has done this. You know when Nicodemus came to

Jesus to do the right thing after Jesus died. Accord

of the Bible, Joseph A. Aimathie and Nicodemus came after

he died. It's going to be too late to do

the right thing after we die. You know what, Timmy said?

Are you here, Timmy? Let me use you, Timmy, you

won't fall up with me. Where are you at, Timmy?

We buried brother Johnny. I have never forgot it, and

now use it in a many a sermon illustration. And

I am a sweetheart, and you all know it. I'm

just doing what Johnny Platt and Cheryl Harrison told me

to do, to get serious with you and get to

the nitty gritty about Jesus. I beg you, Jeremy, tell

them the truth because they're my kids. I looked at

Johnny in the face and I said, yeah, but plats

are my family.

Now.

We buried brother Johnny. Timmy come to me. He said,

you filled this heat. You remember this, Timmy? Yeah, he remember, says,

I don't lie. It's been years now, he's been gone.

I said, yeah, Timmy, what you're gonna tell me? He said,

that's Papa telling us, don't you go to hell. You

remember telling me that, Timmy, that's Papa telling us Plat

kids don't go to hell. We're gonna walk in the

same heat here in just a minute. And I want

to tell the Howell kids because now there's as many

houses as there is Platts down here. It ain't just

the Plats. I'm gonna tell the Howel kids. Brother, my

brother Leland, right, I'm gonna tell my kids or my grandkids,

don't you go to Hell. And I want to say

to all the precious friends and family members that are

here today, thank you for being a friend of this lady.

She was well deserving of it. And I pray that

we can all be reunited with her one day and

that the circle will not be broken. I want the

singers to come around at this time, if you would please.

You know, somebody has to say some things that need

to be said, right, and some people are just crazy

enough to say what needs.

To be said.

This lady was one of them, and she asked me

to be crazy enough today to say what needs to

be said. And if there's anybody lost today without Jesus Christ,

I implore you and beg of you to give your

heart to the Lord.

Could you do that.

There's no better way, no better way than to walk

in the Lord's way and walk in his path. Say, man,

let's stand. I want to say again thank you to

Acon Davis and the staff and faculty there. Thank you

so much for everything you've done. There's many of you

have taken off work, many of the Beth of Holness

Church members. You've got to go back to work. You

may be dismissed. Love was her motive. It was her

love that made things beautiful. And I wonder, is there's

somebody here today? She asked me to give an altar call.

Is there somebody here today that say I will continue

her legacy?

Today?

I will commit to continue her legacy. Somebody needs to

give their life to Jesus. She requested that we have

an alder call. Would anybody like to come kneel at

the front here and we'd pray with you before we

dismiss anybody. Why don't we bow our heads and pray

and ask the Lord to help us here in this

place as we close out. What a beautiful, beautiful person.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We thank

you for your blessings. We thank you for your grace

and your goodness and your mercy. Lord, what a privilege

and an honor it was to be connected to this couple. Lord,

I know that our loss is great. I know that

Brother Duane's loss is greater. I know that folks lost

to sister some lost spiritual Sister. Lord, the loss has

been great. I know Heaven's gain has been greater than

our loss. I pray Lord that you would save those

that need to be saved, sanctify those that need to

be sanctified, Lord, and help us to be rededicated and

committed to our purpose. Lord, to do his sister Cheryl did,

to really focus on the things that really matter most,

and that is the things that we do in this

life for you and for the Kingdom. Lord. We pray

that those that are lost are enjoying the pleasures of sin,

that they'll get sick and tired of the pleasures of

sin and enjoy Lord, the pleasures that you bring into

one's life, the peace and the joy. We pray God

that you would honor the prayers of Brother Johnny and

Sister Bobby Platt, honor the prayers of Sister Cheryl this day,

and help each one to make you their priority. We

pray for traveling mercies for those that are going home.

We pray Lord that you would keep your hand on

us that are going to the cemetery.

Help us. We pray.

God, we give you praise and honor and glory in

Jesus' name. Thank you for coming today. Sage, come on brother.

If you're here, Sage, come on, he man. If anybody

like to take a last look, just come by. Sage

will be closing the casket lid soon. We love each one.

Thank you for coming today. God bless you.