A Wise Master Builder
William Garfinkle 2/17/2026
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47:02
Summary
Drawing parallels between physical construction in South Florida and spiritual development, this sermon challenges believers to be wise master builders by laying deep foundations on the Rock of Jesus Christ. Using personal testimonies and engineering insights, it emphasizes that God uses our availability and 'want to' to build something eternal.
Key points
- •Scriptural Identity: 1 Corinthians 3:10 defines the believer's role as a 'wise master builder' who must follow the plan of the ultimate Architect, Jesus Christ.
- •Dual Construction: The church is currently engaged in two building projects: a physical sanctuary for worship and the spiritual building of the individual 'temple' of the Holy Ghost.
- •Foundations Matter: Just as Florida construction requires deep pilings or 'bathtubs' to reach solid rock, spiritual growth requires a deep foundation of prayer, fasting, and the Word to withstand life's storms.
- •The Process of Growth: Some foundations take longer and remain unseen for a time; we must not judge someone's slow visible progress, as God may be doing deep work to support a significant future structure.
- •Availability vs. Capability: God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the available. Personal testimonies of those with speech impediments or no religious background show that 'want to' is the primary requirement for God's service.
Scripture
Spiritual Growth
Church Growth
Faithfulness
Foundations
Legacy
Life application
Identify one area where you have said 'I can't' (like public speaking or outreach) and commit to making yourself 'available' to God this week, trusting Philippians 4:13 for the strength to try.
Reflection questions
- What kind of 'foundation work' is God currently doing in your life that might not be visible to others yet?
- Who is on your spiritual design team (pastors, mentors, teachers), and are you consulting them as you build your life?
- Looking at the examples of Brother Campella and Brother Feld, what kind of spiritual legacy do you want to leave behind when your 'earthly building' is finished?
- Are there areas where you are trying to 'build on sand' or shortcuts rather than the Rock of Christ's word?
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Full transcript
0:00somebody has stepped on it, preached
0:00part of it. So, here goes.
0:00A wise master builder. out and and a few
0:02days ago, pastor was talking about
0:04taking that word master out of the the
0:07dictionary, but it's in the Bible.
0:11And the slide I I made a made an error
0:15and I found it after I had already
0:17turned the the PowerPoint in. First
0:20Corinthians 3 and10. And we'll read that
0:23later. But in 1 Corinthians 3:10, Paul
0:29called himself a wise master builder. So
0:36every one of us
0:39is a builder.
0:42>> Every one of us
0:44has a building to build.
0:47>> We have So think of it this way. We've
0:50got two buildings.
0:52We've got we need a larger sanctuary
0:56>> which is a physical building for the
0:58church
1:00but we
1:03Bible said we are God's temple.
1:07>> So we've got to build this building.
1:11>> We've got two buildings to build. So
1:14we're going to talk about that.
1:17Next slide.
1:24I hope I added some.
1:28We're planning to build a new sanctuary
1:30to meet, to worship, to fellowship, and
1:33to make disciples. But we're God's
1:35temple. There's a process for both a
1:38building, physical building, and a
1:40spiritual building.
1:43>> A plan, a design, a team, coordination,
1:47and cooperation.
1:49must be plugged in to communicate.
1:52That's church service.
1:55There was a man in the early 1900s
1:59and some people in the church have a car
2:03named after him. His name is Nicola.
2:08I heard it. Tesla.
2:12And Nicola Tesla gave us a lot of
2:14things. He didn't give us the car,
2:16>> right? just the name for the car,
2:19>> but he gave us a lot of things and he
2:21had a lot of uh a lot of ideas.
2:27He dreamed of wireless power. We don't
2:30have wireless power. He he dreamed of
2:33and and I remember in school that we had
2:37something called a Tesla coil where they
2:39would generate power and you could stick
2:44your hand a couple of feet away from it
2:47and draw a spark. His idea was to build
2:50a giant coil
2:53and put an antenna on every house, every
2:55building and and your electricity would
2:58flow through the air. Well, that didn't
3:00work out so well,
3:04>> but part of it did,
3:11>> we got a sell
3:13cell phone. We've got the internet.
3:18I I find it funny when I hear people
3:20There's still people that say, "I don't
3:22believe in anything I can't see."
3:26Really?
3:27>> There are the internet is in here. There
3:31are cell phone signals going through
3:33here. You can't see them,
3:36>> but tell them to turn off their phone.
3:47He's also
3:49the father of he's the one that came up
3:51with the idea of alternating current and
3:54alternating current motors.
3:56He had a fight with a guy named Thomas
3:58Edison that we think of as the father of
4:01electricity and he's the one that
4:03started General Electric and generating
4:05plants and everything like that. But
4:08Thomas Edison believed in direct
4:10current. And
4:13Tesla figured we needed alternating
4:15current, which means that electricity
4:17goes back and forth. In the United
4:20States at 60 times a second, we call
4:22that AC.
4:25In Europe, alternating current is
4:29slower, and some people say they can
4:30actually see the lights flicker. I
4:33didn't see that when I was in England,
4:36but they say they can. We have wireless
4:39we do have wireless power in that we
4:41have I got got a battery in here, but it
4:44can't transmit it from somewhere from
4:46one place to another.
4:49So,
4:51we have to have a dream.
4:55Pastor had a dream and vision for a
4:57building.
4:59Then you have to design it and then you
5:02build it. And and a few weeks ago,
5:05pastor had a a model that would that I
5:08believe Brother Campbell had made of
5:10what the building is to look like. And
5:13we've se we saw pictures that have been
5:15made of what the property is to look
5:18like, the parking lot, the landscaping,
5:21the the new lake, and and all of that.
5:25So someone has to first have a dream.
5:30And then you have to turn that into a
5:32design and then you can build it. Next
5:37slide.
5:39So you need a design team. Now here's
5:41all the people that are involved or will
5:44be involved in building a new building
5:46for us. First there's the owner, the
5:48developer. That's
5:52Cathedral of Pentecost.
5:54We have an architect. An architect takes
5:58that dream from the pastor and puts it
6:01into something that's visual what we can
6:04build on. Then you need a civil engineer
6:07and that's that's pillar. They design
6:11the roads, the driveways, the parking
6:13lots, all of that.
6:16There's a structural engineer.
6:19structural engineer has to prepare what
6:22the foundation is going to look like and
6:25how the building is going to be strong
6:27enough to withstand hurricane winds.
6:31You have an electrical engineer.
6:33They're going to design the power to the
6:37building and the lighting.
6:42Then you have a plumbing engineer,
6:45water and sewer and bathroom fixtures,
6:47kitchen fixtures, all of that. You have
6:50a mechanical engineer. They're
6:52responsible for designing the air
6:54conditioning. You have a landscape
6:56engineer. That's pretty
6:57self-explanatory.
6:59They've got to figure out what trees and
7:01and sod where that's going to go. You
7:05have a project manager. They're the one
7:07that's going to keep everything on
7:08track. They've got to they've got to
7:11talk to every one of those and say this
7:13is where this is what needs to be done.
7:15Uh you haven't done your job. Somebody's
7:18waiting on you.
7:20And then you have consultants. They're
7:23ex experts on various tasks. I'm I'm one
7:26of those. My job is to get power from
7:30Florida Power and Light to the church.
7:33That's already done. I've already done
7:35my job.
7:37Thank you very much.
7:40Next slide.
7:44Who's on your design team? You're the
7:46owner,
7:49the architect. We have an architect, the
7:52Lord Jesus Christ.
7:55>> We have a project manager.
7:57That's your pastor. We have consultants,
8:01teachers, altar workers, staff,
8:05musicians,
8:06praise singers, all of those. So, we
8:09have an we have a design team. We need
8:11to use them all.
8:14Next slide.
8:16Foundation is important. I'm going to go
8:18into a little detail, a little history
8:21here. The type of building determines
8:24the type of foundation needed.
8:27Matthew 7, Jesus addresses that.
8:33Therefore, whoever hears these sayings
8:36of mine and does them, okay? There's
8:39hearing first. So, you have to hear the
8:41word of God
8:43>> and then you have to do them.
8:44>> Amen.
8:45>> He said, "These who hear them and do
8:50them, I will liken him to a wise man who
8:53built his house on the rock.
8:56And the rain descended,
8:58and the floods came, and the winds blew,
9:01and beat on that house, and it did not
9:03fall, for it was founded on the rock.
9:06>> Amen.
9:07>> But everyone who hears these sayings of
9:09mine, and does not do them, you know,
9:12sometimes sometimes the the owner goes
9:16to the architect and says, "This is what
9:18I want." And the architect, that isn't
9:20practical, or you don't have the money
9:22for that or you can't do that. or the
9:24architect
9:26doesn't like you don't like the
9:28architect. You change the architect.
9:31When it comes to our soul, we only have
9:33one architect. There's only one that's
9:35qualified.
9:38>> So, but Jesus went on. He said he those
9:41who hear these sayings and does not do
9:43them will be like a foolish man who
9:46built his house on the sand and the rain
9:49descended. The floods came and the winds
9:52blew and beat on that house and it fell
9:56and great was its fault.
9:59So, I want to follow what works.
10:04And I've got some scriptures here. Uh
10:08Hayden will put them on ro first on
10:09one's Romans 12:2.
10:15And it says, "And be not conformed to
10:18this world, but be ye transformed by the
10:21renewing of your mind that you may prove
10:23what is that good and acceptable and
10:25perfect will of God."
10:28And then if you would, Jeremiah 29:11,
10:36>> and I had them written out and I didn't
10:38bring it with me. For I know the
10:40thoughts that I think toward you, says
10:42the Lord, thoughts of peace and not
10:45evil, to give you a future and a hope.
10:49So, we already know that God has got a
10:52future for us and hope and peace.
10:56But he said, "We've got to follow the
10:59plan."
11:00>> That's right.
11:03>> Now, next, I'm going to come back to
11:06Jeremiah.
11:08Won't you turn to the next slide,
11:10please?
11:13Some foundations take longer to build
11:14and aren't seen for a time. And I've got
11:16three foundations here. The first one on
11:19the left is foundation and a floor all
11:23in one.
11:25This is a this is typical for a house.
11:28And if you're building a house,
11:30typically you have they may build a
11:33build it in two stages. The foundation
11:35first, they dig down, put steel
11:41in the ground and pour concrete and
11:43that's a foundation and then they pour
11:45floor on it. Or as many of them do
11:47nowadays, they build the foundation and
11:50the the floor at the same time as one
11:53slab.
11:54But larger buildings
11:57need a larger foundation.
11:59In the middle here is is a uh
12:03a pile cap. And on the right side is and
12:07I'm not sure if you can even see that,
12:09but what they're doing is they're
12:11driving piles into the ground and then
12:14tying them together with a slab. And
12:17it's called a pile cap. You got pilings
12:21and then a cap to distribute all of the
12:24load of that building.
12:26Now
12:28we're in Florida. South Florida has the
12:31highest building codes.
12:34We have a lot of tall buildings. We have
12:37a lot of people moving to Florida.
12:41And some people say, "Well, I don't like
12:43all these people. I I sure don't like
12:45the the traffic conditions." And if you
12:49drive
12:51drive to Miami, it's terrible,
12:57but they're coming.
13:01Next slide.
13:02I want to give you some examples.
13:06This picture is the Miami River
13:10winding through. It's an aerial view
13:13from Google Earth. Winding view of the
13:16Miami River. starts up at the upper left
13:19and goes and then it comes out into
13:22Biscane Bay.
13:26Everybody here probably has seen the
13:29Miami River,
13:31>> crossed over it.
13:33That's only a part of the river. The
13:37majority of the river is under those
13:40buildings.
13:42Think of that.
13:45>> I want you to show you the next slide.
13:46I'm not going to tell you which. The
13:48next slide is a closer up. One of those
13:51buildings when it was built in the early
13:541970s,
13:56they were putting the pilings in for the
13:59foundation. Now, the one thing I want
14:02keep going about the foundation.
14:04Sometimes
14:07we see a build a a piece of property
14:09that's been cleared and they start
14:11digging in it and you don't see there's
14:14no building coming up. What's taking so
14:16long?
14:18The foundation, it may be a large
14:21building. The ground may not be stable.
14:25And so there's a long preparation time
14:28of building a foundation that you don't
14:31see.
14:32Sometimes we look at we may look at
14:35somebody who is coming into the church
14:36and say
14:39so and so is not growing.
14:41Now, pastor was talking Sunday about
14:45being judged. We're called to be
14:47witnesses. We're not called to be
14:49judging each other. But sometimes we're
14:51looking at somebody and say, you know,
14:53they keep falling, they keep falling,
14:54they keep falling and and and and they
14:57don't seem to be learning. Maybe,
15:01just maybe,
15:04God has a work for them that requires a
15:07lot of foundation work. Amen.
15:10>> I have told this I have told the story
15:13of a uh after I got out of the army, we
15:16had a a man came and preached
15:20at our church, not this congregation,
15:22but uh this is about
15:2630ome years ago. This man was a captain
15:30in the Green Beret.
15:34Okay, he'd been to Vietnam. His job was
15:38kill people and blow things up. Except
15:41he his job was to lead others to do
15:44that. He got the Holy Ghost.
15:48He said
15:50God took away his swearing.
15:55God took away his every every weekend he
15:59and his wife were out partying and
16:03they like their alcohol.
16:05>> They like to get drunk.
16:07God took it all away.
16:13>> He had He was addicted to nicotine,
16:15though. He couldn't stop smoking.
16:18Said, "God, I know I'm supposed to stop.
16:21You took these other things away from
16:23me.
16:25You delivered me when I got the Holy
16:27Ghost.
16:29>> Why didn't you take away this addiction
16:31to to to nicotine?"
16:34He said it took him six months.
16:38>> He had the Holy Ghost for six months
16:40before he was able to stop smoking and
16:44not crave it. He said, "You know what?
16:47God was teaching me to pray."
16:51>> And he went from a captain in the Green
16:56Beret to a preacher of the gospel. So
16:59that that foundation that we couldn't
17:02see was taken a while. Now, one of these
17:05buildings in this picture when they were
17:07putting the pilings down for the
17:11for the foundation, they were digging,
17:13putting pilings down. This was back in
17:15the early 70s. And one day they were
17:19driving and you see these machines that
17:21pound these concrete slabs down in the
17:25ground. And it was going down. It went
17:27down 30 ft and then
17:30it disappeared.
17:34It went down in the river. It just
17:36disappeared. They had to stop. Said,
17:40"Uh, we weren't planning on this." They
17:43had to stop and redesign the foundation
17:45because they decided they couldn't
17:48continue just
17:51going in that one place. So, they had to
17:54stop and redo their foundation.
17:57Now, that building, and I'm not going to
17:59identify which one, but it's one of
18:00those buildings in that picture, that
18:03building is still here. It's been there
18:05for I was in that building right after
18:08when I started when when they started
18:10training me in in engineering at Florida
18:13Power Light. They took me in that
18:14building and building's still there and
18:17it's it's solid.
18:21Next slide.
18:25Sunny Isles Bathtub Foundation. How's
18:28that for a name? Found Bathtub
18:31Foundation. Now, this is something that
18:34has been they've been doing for
18:38uh last 15 years that I know of. Maybe
18:41brother Marty may know longer, but this
18:44is where
18:46in areas close to the ocean or close to
18:49the inner coastal
18:52because of the how far they have to go
18:55to get to the rock. They instead of just
18:59putting pillars in,
19:01they take the sand and they mix it with
19:04cement.
19:06And they mix all of the sand and all of
19:09the cement
19:10In one of these buildings
19:13they did that they did it 30 feet down
19:17and they call it a bathtub. They said we
19:20make a a solid
19:25almost like a bathtub
19:28and we build the building on top of
19:29that.
19:32Now in fact there's two buildings there.
19:34One of them uh the big big building on
19:37the left.
19:45This building right here is a two-story
19:47Publix
19:49and I worked uh I was consultant for
19:51both of them. That Publix they also did
19:54that as far as I know. That's okay. the
19:57other building
20:0030ome stories condo
20:04when they got ready for Florida Power
20:06and Light to go in and I was the again I
20:09was a consultant so I was working for
20:11the owners and
20:13to get power to the building when they
20:16got ready to build the FPL facilities
20:20which was in a room
20:23half the size of this auditori
20:25This is a large area just for Florida.
20:30The building was not finished. The roof
20:32was on 30 some stories. The building had
20:36sunk one foot.
20:39I'm not going to tell you which
20:40building. I'm just going to tell you I'm
20:42not going into any condos on Sunny Isles
20:45Beach.
20:48So again, what did Jesus say? build on
20:51the rock
20:53>> or build on the sand.
20:56>> So, there are people that that are
20:59trying new things. Some are building on
21:01the rock. They're putting the foundation
21:03down until it gets to the rock and they
21:06build on top of that. And some are
21:09building on the sand and adding cement
21:12and hoping that it'll work.
21:17Next slide.
21:19Pillars for revival.
21:23We've been
21:25we're in a a new phase in the month of
21:28January. We had consecration, month of
21:30consecration, fasting and praying and
21:35Bible reading.
21:38That's building a foundation.
21:40Now, we're in a month of equipping
21:44and that's training and learning. I know
21:48Sunday school teachers are having uh
21:51classes and things like that. Then we're
21:53going into harvesting. Harvesting is
21:59souls, visible results, and then
22:03celebration. So these are pillars for
22:06revival.
22:07But for us to grow as individuals, we've
22:12got to put we can't just say, "Hey, I've
22:15got I've got an architect. That's the
22:17Lord. I've got
22:20a project manager. That's my pastor. But
22:23if I don't put the work into it,
22:28they can do pastor can preach. We have
22:31the word of God. If we don't take
22:33partake of it, it's we're not going to
22:36grow.
22:37There was a man in 1972.
22:43The UPC had their general conference in
22:48Miami on Miami Beach
22:51at the uh Miami Beach Convention Center.
22:55First one I'd ever been to. First time
22:58they'd ever been in Florida.
23:02The last night of the conference general
23:05convention,
23:07they they had already closed down the
23:09convention center. Some people had gone
23:12home, so they had the last service in
23:15the main hotel.
23:17It was the Doville Hotel on Miami Beach.
23:20The preacher walked up.
23:25Excuse me. He staggered up.
23:28Is this man drunk? I mean,
23:32We weren't having We had a good worship
23:35service, but is this man drunk?
23:38No. He starts talking and
23:45what in the world are they doing? This
23:46man is This man has cereal pausy.
23:51He can hardly walk. He can hardly talk.
23:56He preached one of the most
23:59inspiring messages I've ever heard.
24:03He's he preached it several times across
24:07the nation
24:09in the 19 late 70s or early 80s. Dr.
24:13James Dobson had him on his show, Focus
24:16on the Family.
24:18They put the message I was going to
24:21check. I may it may be on YouTube. Uh,
24:24I'm not sure, but they wrote a book,
24:28the the entire message, and it's called
24:30You Got to Have the Want to.
24:33This man was he talked about his growing
24:36up, you can't do this, you can't do
24:38that, he'll never graduate from school.
24:44He'll never be able to do anything. He's
24:46going to be probably in a nursing home.
24:49He always talked about himself in the
24:51third person. He said he'd talk about
24:53the boy. The boy fell off his bike. Me,
24:56I fell off my bike. No, the boy fell off
24:59his bike. But he had the want to. He
25:03graduated from high school and he said,
25:05"I want to go to college." Where do you
25:07want to go? I want to go to Bible
25:08school.
25:11He did.
25:12And Allan Ogs was just a fantastic
25:17minister. And
25:20you got to have the want to So again,
25:23you can we're building a building. We're
25:26building two. One for us, one is us, and
25:31one a building to meet in. But we've got
25:35to have the want to.
25:37Next one.
25:39>> 1 Corinthians 3
25:419-11.
25:43For we are God's fellow workers.
25:46You are God's field.
25:49You are God's building.
25:51>> Paul talking. There it is. We are God's
25:54building according to the grace of God
25:57which was given to me as a wise master
26:00builder. Now you can be a builder.
26:03You can be a master at it which means
26:07you're
26:08a step ahead or step above
26:12or you can be as Paul a wise master
26:16builder. That means it's at top of his
26:19game.
26:21As a wise master builder, I have laid
26:24the foundation. Ah, back to that
26:26foundation.
26:28>> And another builds on it. But let each
26:31one take heed how he builds on it.
26:33>> Amen.
26:34>> For no other foundation can anyone lay
26:37than that which is laid, which is Jesus
26:39Christ. Amen.
26:41>> Again, that foundation, if you don't
26:43have a good foundation, you're not going
26:45to have a good building.
26:48>> Next.
26:51Next slide. Ephesians 2:1 19-21.
26:56Now therefore, you are no longer
26:58strangers and foreigners, but fellow
27:00citizens with the saints and members of
27:01the house of old of God, having been
27:04built on the foundation of the apostles
27:06and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
27:09the chief cornerstone
27:11>> in whom the whole building being fitted
27:14together. Uh, now we're taking all of
27:17those engineers and taking the electric,
27:20the plumbing, the structural, the
27:23landscaping,
27:26the interior. Oh, we forgot the interior
27:28decorator, didn't we?
27:30>> Sister Elvis would have I I'd be in real
27:33trouble.
27:36>> All of that, all of those disciplines
27:39have to be fitly framed together. And
27:41that's what Paul said. In whom the whole
27:44building being fitly being fitted
27:46together grows into a holy temple in the
27:49Lord. In whom you also are being built
27:52together for a dwelling place of God in
27:56the spirit.
28:02>> And then Peter, next slide. Peter said,
28:07"You are a chosen generation."
28:111 Peter 2:9, "A royal priesthood, a holy
28:14nation, his own special people, that you
28:17may proclaim the praises of him who
28:20called you out of darkness into his
28:22marvelous light, who once were not a
28:25people, but are now the people of God,
28:27who had not obtained mercy, but now have
28:29obtained mercy." And remember, Jesus
28:32came first to the Jews.
28:35But he said when he he said this is for
28:39everyone. He said and and Peter is
28:42saying here hey to you that are
28:47not a people but now you are a people.
28:49You weren't part of the household of God
28:52but now by accepting and obeying the
28:56word of God now
28:58you are the people of God.
29:01You who had not obtained mercy now have
29:05obtained mercy.
29:11>> Next,
29:13winding it up.
29:15I've used this before, but available
29:18versus capable.
29:21Philippians 4:13, I can do all things
29:23through Christ who strengthens me.
29:26>> And I've I think I've I've told this
29:28story before.
29:31When I was 15,
29:37we had I went to North Miami High
29:39School. There were uh a thousand each in
29:43each class and the the size of the of
29:46the school was such that they had we had
29:48staggered times.
29:52Sophomore started at let's see sophomore
29:55started at 9:30. Junior started at 8:30.
29:59Seniors started at 7:30 which meant when
30:01you were a senior you got out earlier
30:05but then also because of the size we had
30:10TV classes
30:12and so I had an English class of 500
30:15students
30:18and I sat on in the second or third row
30:22I don't remember which second or third
30:23row
30:25and I was an A student and they said
30:30We're going to have everybody in here is
30:32going to give a speech.
30:38You're going to stand up here in front
30:39of 500 of your classmates and give a
30:43speech. Doesn't have to be long, but
30:45you're going to give a speech.
30:47And when it came to my turn, I said,
30:49"Nope."
30:52They said, "You're going to take an F?"
30:54Yep.
30:56No way. I'm getting up. No way.
31:02Public speaking. Me? No. Uh-uh.
31:06Later.
31:09A few months later, I turned 16. I spent
31:12the summer working. We're building a new
31:15church, new building. We didn't have all
31:18the fancy equipment. We dug ditches by
31:21hand. I worked with the
31:24sister Sister Leonard's uncle. I worked
31:28with him. I worked with him six days a
31:31week. He's a master carpenter. I learned
31:34carpentry. I learned I learned cabinet
31:37making. I learned how to do for mica. I
31:41I worked with the air conditioning
31:43mechanic. We had almost all of the
31:45trades actually in the church. We didn't
31:48have a plumber. We had three
31:50electricians. One was a firefighter and
31:52and two were uh Callaway brothers that
31:56uh I believe one or both of them have
31:58passed on now. But uh I worked with the
32:02electricians. I worked with the air
32:03conditioning guy. I worked with the
32:07I I helped a little bit in the plumbing.
32:09I dug a lot of ditches. I car I didn't
32:12do any block laying, but I carried a lot
32:14of blocks and a lot of bags of cement.
32:17And
32:20When the summer was over, we had they
32:22wanted all the young people to come up
32:24and and give a they called them
32:26sermonetses then. I think they call it
32:28what do they call it? Something by fire.
32:34>> I did it five minutes. I couldn't see a
32:38thing. I wore regular glasses back then
32:42and I the only thing I could do was read
32:44a scripture
32:46and then my glasses were fogged up.
32:53That's what it was.
32:56And that's about the way it was. I went
32:59when I went to college, I had to take
33:01public speaking.
33:03>> The the professor got up and said, and
33:06and this was a nighttime class. The
33:07professor said one night,
33:11when it comes to the testing, the
33:14written part, she said,
33:18this is embarrassing. She said, Bill
33:20gets an A on She told the whole class,
33:23Bill gets an A on it. She said, when he
33:25gets up, everybody just laughed.
33:32So, it wasn't
33:34we make oursel available. I made myself
33:37available as as as I said, I I did all
33:40of these different things
33:44six days a week during the summer when
33:46we were building the church. From that,
33:48I've I've worked on 10 churches around
33:51the United States,
33:53done either maintenance or helped helped
33:56build them. And God has blessed me. Not
33:59because I was capable when I started.
34:04I mean, my pastor had to show me how to
34:06use a shovel.
34:09What's so hard about using a shovel? He
34:11showed me how to throw dirt without
34:13spilling it.
34:18I learned a lot from that because I made
34:21myself available.
34:24>> You know, I I went into the I went into
34:27the army.
34:29I was
34:31when I and and I had talked about the
34:33the time when um between basic training
34:37and my medical training, I went to this
34:40leadership class and after the
34:42leadership class, I was second in
34:44command of a
34:47a group of soldiers.
34:49The guy who was in command had a very
34:52high voice
34:54>> and he sounded like this.
34:57And we were marching from one place to
34:59another.
35:01Somebody had to count cadence.
35:04Garfingle,
35:06you do it. So I had a I got a loud
35:09voice. So I was counting cadence and and
35:13marching us up and down and up and down.
35:16I went from
35:19being afraid to be in front of 500
35:21people to now I'm leading a group of
35:24soldiers from place to place on on the
35:27fort
35:29Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
35:32>> I can do all things through Christ who
35:35strengthen me.
35:37>> Don't say you can't. Don't say you
35:39can't. Say, "God, I'm available to do
35:43whatever you want."
35:45Let God decide what you're going to do.
35:49>> Matthew 19:26. But Jesus looked in them
35:53and said to them, "With man,
35:56this is impossible,
35:58>> but with God all things are possible."
36:00>> Hallelujah.
36:01>> Hallelujah.
36:02>> And I want to include
36:04telling you
36:09about two men.
36:12One was a teenager, an Italian teenager
36:15in Miami,
36:18cath raised Catholic, I believe.
36:22I'm not sure how he came
36:25to church, what who brought him or what
36:29he got the Holy Ghost who's the only one
36:31in this family.
36:33He would
36:37when he went to worship
36:41there was nobody nobody else. He there
36:44was nobody around him as far as he was
36:46concerned.
36:48>> When he would get up to pray
36:51it was
36:55near.
36:59>> He would holler.
37:01He would groan at the top of his voice.
37:07I can remember our youth leader one day,
37:09one night, coming down and this man,
37:13young man came and was praying. He had
37:15the Holy Ghost, but he was just like
37:18this at the altar and groaning. And the
37:22and and our youth leader came and said
37:26and he told us later he said
37:30I had a problem with that because of his
37:32being so loud and and rude to people
37:37not on purpose but he didn't watch to
37:41and he got right back. So when he was he
37:45was hitting and he stayed there and
37:48prayed with him.
37:50That man
37:52was drafted into the army about 19
37:5765.
37:58He went to Fort Sam Houston for basic
38:02training and medical training just like
38:04I did.
38:07He went to brotherh Lawrence King's
38:12church, UPC church
38:15and he got there were a lot of that was
38:18a place where they actually trained
38:21people who were considered conscientious
38:23objectives. They said we believe it's
38:25not right to kill
38:27according to ten commandments and so we
38:30won't carry weapons. So we had modified
38:33training. We didn't have training with
38:34with rifles or handguns or hand
38:38grenades.
38:40So we had so everybody who was a
38:43conscientious objector there were some
38:45most of them were were religious. There
38:47were some that were out andout
38:49communists that came and they didn't
38:53want to fight against the communists in
38:55Vietnam. So, uh, they were in there
38:58training with us. And so, he got a
39:03chapel service started. They had three
39:05chapels. So, chapel number three at Fort
39:08Sam Houston. He got a chapel service
39:10started. And every Wednesday night, they
39:13had they had church. He went to Vietnam.
39:20He turned that over
39:22to the pastor.
39:25And after that, every Wednesday night,
39:28the youth leader, Brother King's church,
39:32would have service for all who wanted it
39:35at chapel number three, Fort Sam
39:37Houston.
39:40That was throughout the rest of the 60s.
39:46He came back. He got married. married a
39:49girl in the church.
39:51He became a a preacher, became a pastor.
40:02Last Friday, Gerald Campella
40:06finished his building and he went to get
40:09his permanent mansion.
40:15Gerald Campella
40:17started that chapel service.
40:21And in 1969
40:23when I went to Fort Sam Houston, the
40:26first night that I got to go to the
40:28chapel service, oh, and the youth leader
40:32every Sunday morning would bring a van
40:35to the base to pick up the Pentecostals
40:37that wanted to go to church. So I could
40:39go to church on Sunday morning. Couldn't
40:42go in the night time. couldn't go on
40:45Wednesday night. The last Wednesday of
40:48basic training, four of us decided we're
40:51going to go to church. We walked. We
40:55were awol. Absent without leave. We were
40:58awol. We walked. We had to walk off the
41:01base and then on the base to get there.
41:03It's two miles one way from our barracks
41:06to the chapel. We got to the chapel. And
41:09I've told this story before. That
41:11particular night.
41:13The young lady piano player was sick. So
41:17they had a substitute piano player and
41:20the four of us decided, hey, let's form
41:24a quartet. And look at that girl played
41:28piano for us. We never did sing, but I
41:31married the piano player.
41:41>> One more I want to tell you.
41:43This man was a
41:46He was a Samaritan,
41:49half Italian, half Jew, a hippie.
41:541960s, a hippie from Long Island, New
41:57York.
41:59In fact, in August of 1969,
42:03he and his girlfriend were at Woodstock.
42:06And if you don't you've ever heard of
42:07Woodstock, they expected 50,000 people
42:11to go to this farm in upstate New York
42:15for three days of singing and and
42:18partying.
42:20There were four over between four and
42:22500,000 there. It rained.
42:26They were some were in tents and some
42:28were sleeping out in the rain. This man
42:31and his girlfriend were there.
42:36a that was in August. Then he had a
42:40scholarship to come and I can't believe
42:43a scholarship for he got a scholarship
42:45to come play baseball at Miami Dade
42:49Junior College. Today it's just Miami
42:51Dade College. Miami Day Junior College.
42:54He came down here. His girlfriend came
42:57with him.
43:00He went to school for a while.
43:03girlfriend got pregnant,
43:06decided to get married.
43:08They got married. He needed to quit and
43:11get a job. He went, I don't know how or
43:16why he decided that he went into
43:18construction and knew nothing about
43:21construction. He was a New York City
43:23boy. He went to work for a guy named Guy
43:26Dphano.
43:28And Guy Dphano brought him to church.
43:33He got the Holy Ghost.
43:36He was a very arrogant guy.
43:40Our pastor sometime would tell him, made
43:43him study a lot. Told him get up and
43:47preach five minutes. He went five
43:50minutes and two seconds, sit down.
43:54That wouldn't go too well too well
43:55today. I have never seen that pastor do
43:58that to anybody else. He did to that one
44:00man over and over again.
44:04That man built when in 1975 we built a
44:08church in Belgrade, Florida
44:12and he became pastor.
44:15He raised three kids.
44:18One of them is married to Sister Sophia
44:22Uran Elm's uncle.
44:25He's a pastor. The other two sons are
44:29pastors.
44:32And
44:38Friday, Gerald Campello went to be the
44:40Lord.
44:42Saturday,
44:44JP Feld finished his
44:48tour of duty and he went to be with the
44:50Lord. Both of those were first
44:53generation Pentecostals.
44:56So it's not you got to be to be a
44:59builder or to be anything great for the
45:01Lord that you have to be raised in the
45:04church. No, they weren't raised in the
45:05church.
45:06>> Their families weren't in the church.
45:08>> I don't know if any of their family I
45:11believe Brother Feld had a cousin that
45:13he went to the Lord, but uh other than
45:15that, none of his family came to the
45:18Lord. So we look at are you available
45:23for God to use you?
45:26God takes the available and makes you
45:29you capable.
45:33And so those uh that last one, that last
45:38slide,
45:41Italian teen from Miami on February
45:4413th, Bishop Gerald Cabatella
45:48and that half-Jewish hippie from Long
45:51Island, senior pastor JP Feld on
45:54February 14th, finished their earthly
45:57building and left for their mansion.
46:00And
46:02Paul wrote to Timothy, 2 Timothy 4:8, he
46:05said, "I have finished
46:09my race." And he said, "There is a crown
46:12laid up for me." And we're all striving
46:15for that crown
46:18>> to build. We're building a building.
46:21>> And we can't forget we're building a
46:23building.
46:25>> You may not think of yourself as a
46:27builder. You may not be a carpenter, an
46:29electrician, an air conditioning
46:31mechanic. You may not, but you can you
46:35can pick up the trash off the floor.
46:39>> You can pray.
46:41You can be an altar worker. You can be a
46:43Sunday school teacher.
46:46>> All of us have a calling to do. Yes.
46:49Amen.
46:50>> And I'm thankful that that God was able
46:53to take somebody who wouldn't get up in
46:56front of a crowd and speak and he made
46:59me able to do that today.