Well hello, God bless you. Bishop Patrick L. Wooden Sr. here and as always I pray that you are having a fantastic day. Because if you are having a fantastic day, that makes... two of us because I'm telling you this has been a beautiful dreary rainy cool wet Thursday where the glory of God is just being manifested you know they said that we've been in a slight drought and we need some rain and God is so good he sent the rain and I'm just thankful to the Lord for being so good and so kind. I'm back in my office.
I'm in my seat. I'm in one of the most precious and wonderful places in the world for me to be. And I'm talking to you, the Lord's people, my favorite audience.
God bless every one of you today. I pray that you're doing well. Now, listen, now, listen, before I talk about service tonight. I want to speak to you for a minute. Now, some of you saw the video that we did, the clip that we released right after the elections on the 12th of this month, this past Tuesday.
And as you know, yours truly was running for the General Board of the Church of God in Christ, the Board of Directors. from which the presiding bishop is selected. And these honorable men are men who are, they're part of the executive branch of our church and they assist the presiding bishop in the operations of our great church.
And I threw my hat in the ring and listen, me, God gave me a team that was amazing. We worked hard. We, to use a football metaphor, we left it all on the field.
We did everything we knew to do, and we left no stones unturned. And you know what? We came up a little short. I am now the 13th man.
You know, it takes 12 for the general board, and I made it to number 13, and I'm thankful to God for that. I didn't have to get... past. I didn't have to even get there at all.
It's quite an extensive lot of work you have to do to get there and we worked hard and we did everything that God would have that I knew to do to win to be a part but it didn't roll that way this time. Now I want to speak to you because I'm hearing from some of you and I want I want to help you with something. Now listen, listen.
I have talked to you often, multiple times, about believing God and trusting God. Now, we believe that the God of the Bible is able to do all things. In fact, the Bible asks, is there anything too hard for the Lord?
The answer is no, there's nothing too hard. for God. But so we know that he is able to do what we ask. We seek him and we pray.
And but after praying and seeking God, then we were taught. taught by our Lord to always add, thy will be done. So we pray in the name of Jesus.
If it is your will, like Jesus said to the Father, Father, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me. Well, Father, if it is your will, allow me to be a part of the general board. So you ask the question, you put the work in. And you wait for God's response. And I waited for the response of the Lord.
And this time God said to me, no, or not now, or Never or maybe at another time But certainly not at this time and I want you to listen. I want you to listen I'm all right with that as a matter of fact. I'm elated because here's what I'm I know.
Here's what I know. I know the Lord loves me. I know that God's timing is perfect.
I know that he knows what he's doing. I know that his will cannot be stopped. None can stay his hand, the Bible says, and none can say to him, what doest thou?
My God is a mighty God. He's the true God and the everlasting King. And for whatever reason, he saw fit at this time to not put yours truly on the general board. Now that's the way I take it. That's the way I see it.
It does not make those who voted. It doesn't make them wrong. It doesn't make the church wrong.
It doesn't make the presiding bishop wrong. And I congratulate those who made it. God bless Bishop White. He ascended to the general board.
And we thank God for Bishop Dillard in his ascension. And for all of those board members who were already there. And I don't think I missed anyone.
And if I did, thank God for you, too. And this time, it was not my turn, but I have joy for those who was. And I have an understanding in the things of God. Now, learn from Brother Wood here. One of the things that I've said for years, for decades, for maybe, I don't know, maybe 25 years since I've been pastoring here, that life is...
I've been here 37, but for 25 of those 37, maybe for 28 of the 37, I don't know. But life is this. Life is 10%. Life is, when you go through, it is 10% what happens to you, but it's 90% how you respond. You got to know how.
to respond to God's no's the same way you respond to God's yes's. I've said in a sermon, I don't want to be that athlete that when they win the game, he's making all kinds of symbols to the Lord, but when they lose the game, he drops his head, he's cussing and swearing and acting like he don't know the Lord. Now, so you mean to tell me the Lord is only God when he's giving you what you want, but he's not God when he doesn't give you what you want.
I hold that he's the Lord when the sun is shining and he's the Lord when it's raining outside. I hold that he's the Lord God. And I said to you before I went home.
Holiness will put me on the board or it will protect me from it. I said that. I said to you, when I left here, I will leave a saved, sanctified, and Holy Ghost-filled preacher.
And I will return a saved, sanctified, Holy Ghost-filled preacher, whether I'm on the general board or not. So I want to say to you that I'm fine and it even reached me that someone said that, well, do you think that Brother Wooden is going to try and split the church off? or leave the church or be a part of some kind of rebellion like that. People who think that clearly don't know me.
And they clearly hadn't been paying attention to my preaching. I love the church of God in Christ. God raised up a church of God in Christ preacher to preach me out of my sins.
The late, great James Henry Turner. I know you can finish the story, but I like telling it. It was the church of God in Christ that God. put in my life.
The Church of God of Christ has been a surrogate dad for me. I learned the ways of this church. I learned how to earn, how to save, how to have through this church. Yes, I'm blessed of the Lord and highly favored.
My wife is blessed. My children are blessed. My grandchildren are blessed. Oh my, my family, my son-in-law, the church that I pastor is blessed.
The blessings that God has sent me. my way, the Lord chose to do it through this great church. The Lord has elevated me to be a bishop in the Lord's church, a jurisdictional prelate. The Lord has blessed me to be co-directed.
with the men's ministry in this great church. I preach multiple times on national platforms in this church. I've received invitations and traveled all over the country as a result of this church. This is my church. I love the Church of God in Christ.
I love my Presiding Bishop, Presiding Bishop J. Drew Shedd. I love the General Board. I love praise the Lord. the chairman of our General Assembly, Bishop Thuster. God bless our saintly supervisor, Mother Barbara McCool Lewis.
And I can just go down the line of people that I'm just, look, I love the church. And there is no way I would all of a sudden give the church a thumbs down or cause a problem simply because an election did not go my way. You have to, something has to be wrong with you if you would try to do something like that.
I remember one of my spiritual mentors and my great, one of our great, great leaders. probably the greatest preacher America's ever produced, the late, great G.E. Patterson.
I'll never forget, G.E. Patterson was running against then-presiding Bishop Owens. What a tremendous man Bishop Owens was.
And Bishop Patterson, Bishop Patterson lost the vote to Bishop Owens by one vote by one. I was there to see it. Bishop C.D. Owens prevailed.
Chandler David Owens, a tremendous leader by one vote. Bishop G.E. Patterson did not demand a recount. Bishop G.E. Patterson did not split the church.
Bishop G.E. Patterson accepted the results and said, I am going to go on a crusade and preach throughout America. And he did just that. And I'm going to tell you something that you may not know. In that crusade across America that Bishop Patterson undertook after that election, do you not know that his last stop in that crusade was Raleigh?
North Carolina and that yours truly and the upper room got a chance to be a part of that service. We secured the location, we brought in the equipment. As a matter of fact, Bishop Patterson told me that it was his easiest stop, that all he had to do and his workers, his singers and musicians, that all they had to do was just get off the bus and walk into the auditorium and do what they do.
They didn't have to set up equipment. They didn't have to do any of that because at the upper room we did it and had it set up for them. And I was there.
There were so many people there that night that when I pulled up on the ground with Bishop Patterson in the car, the only way we got in, I had to convince the, uh, the only way we got in was that I had to convince the parking attendant that GE Patterson was riding with me. Can you believe it? And what a night that was. God blessed in a mighty way. So listen, I'm here.
I'm not getting ready to go on a tour across America, but I tell you what, I'm going right back to work right here at the Upper Room. I'm going to work in North Carolina Third Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction. I am going to work with my presiding bishop and serve in the church.
I have no doubt. axe to grind. I'm excited and we're going to work to keep our great church together.
So those who are waiting on a coup or a fight or something like that, you don't... Let's let that go. That's not the will of the Lord. And that is certainly not how you contend with something that didn't go your way. You got to know how to be gracious in defeat and you got to know how to be humble in victory.
And when you learn these things, the Lord will bless you real good. Now, I've gone on a little long about that. And and and I'm thinking I'm thinking I'm thinking that I made my self.
Clear! Praise God! And for those of you who have been writing and texting and concerned about me, listen, Brother Wooden is good. I'm good. I'm all right.
I'm all right. I'm happy. I'm fired up. I've already, my word is prepared to preach tonight and to teach the word of the Lord.
And I'm excited about doing the things that God has given me to do. I thank God for a great wife who I knew, I know that once the verdict was given and the announcement was made, I just wanted her to see me and I wanted to look at her and I knew that once she looked in my eyes and I looked in her eyes and she saw that I'm alright, she would be fine as well and she is. My heart did go out.
to my team and I'll tell you more about them the next time I want to I want to read their names out if I start calling out names now I may forget someone but uh God gave me A powerful team, excuse me, that we put together, the Wooden Solid team, to launch the campaign. These people worked hard. I mean, now look, we did it. We didn't leave a stone unturned. We left it all on the field.
And then we looked to the Lord and looked to the voters of our great church. But you're talking about some wonderful people to work with and to do business with. battle with, it would be my honor to stand 10 toes down back to back with this group of people in any battle because they are some battle tested people and you can just count on them.
And I thank God for that. I thank God for my congregation, the Upper Room Church of God in Christ. One of the ladies was walking with me.
I'm going to bring this to a close, but you know, I start talking, you know, I can get going, but, uh, uh, that's just. Sister Vicki, we was walking, my wife and I, we were making our connector, and Vicki was on the same flight. And she said to me, she said, Bishop, I want you to know, and she kind of hesitated, she said, but I want you to know that the Upper Room members are glad to have their pastor back and to have their pastor back to themselves.
And I appreciated that. I just thought it was a wonderful thing to say because I love them. And And I love the church, the work that we're doing here.
And we will continue to do the important things that God has given us to do here, along with working with the important things that God has given our national church to do. So if you're waiting for... Something other than unity and let's go forward in the Lord and I'm alright. I'm sorry. I don't have anything else to give you.
And lastly, my joy comes in knowing that I have the greatest manager there is. And that manager, he's also my Lord and my Savior. He's my King. He's my healer. He's the lifter of my head.
He strengthens my feeble knees. Praise God, when my back is hurting, he... strengthens me. When I'm down, he lifts me.
Oh my, I feel him right now. You may have heard of him. His name is Jesus, and he's Jesus the Christ, the soon coming king.
He has managed my ministerial career and as a matter of fact I only shipwrecked I wrecked when I don't listen to him so he has determined because none can stay his hand that now is not the time and you know what I say to him, lead on. Where you lead, I will follow. Look, join me tonight right here at the Upper Room Church of God in Christ for Bible study. That's right, Bible study.
I want you to come. We're going to study the Word of the Lord together. God bless you and thank you for your time and attention.
We'll see you tonight right here at the Upper Room.