Pastor Clyde Webb Celebration of Life Service

GREETING: Good afternoon everyone and on behalf of the Webb family I would like to welcome you and thank you all for coming here today to be a part of this glorious occasion; the celebration service for the life of Pastor Clyde Webb! (LEAD IN PRAYER)

Mention about the planters on the stage. That they were the last thing that Pastor Clyde worked on that day, the day that he went home to be with the Lord. And so, the members of his family, thought it only fitting that they should all, in their own way, express their love for him, by planting flowers in those planters and presenting them here today, in honor and in loving memory of the precious hands that made worked on them and prepared them!

Pastor Clyde Webb..............where do I even begin in starting this service about such an amazing man of God? Pastor Clyde was a man known by many different names and titles by many different people: Husband, Father, Grandfather, Pastor, Elder, Leader, Mentor, Best Friend, Spiritual Father, Comforter, Adviser, Carpenter, Shepherd and probably other names and titles by some of you, that I don’t know of!

I recently used a story in one of my sermons as an illustration, and it was the fable about the wise old and blind Indian men and their very first encounter with an elephant.

Each blind sage was led up to the elephant to feel of it and each one described it differently.

To the one who touched the elephant’s tail, he described the animal as being like a rope.

To another who reached out and touched its great trunk, he declared that it must be like a huge snake.

Another touched the side of the elephant and said that it was like a massive wall.

Yet another took hold of one of the animal’s legs and said that the elephant was likened to that of a large tree trunk.

And still another felt of the large ear of the elephant and said that this beast was like a massive fan.

And finally, the sixth blind man touched the elephant’s tusk and said that it seemed to him, to be like that of a large spear!

The point being, that each person was touching the same object and depending upon which part they beheld, determined how and why they viewed the animal as they did.

That is very much how it was with Pastor Clyde and all of us; depending upon how you felt him in your life and how you were touched by him in your life, very much determined how you saw and described him and what name or title you ascribed to this amazing man of God!

He was in fact, many things to many people. He wore differing hats and carried the burdens of and for many people, for many years of his life!

And regardless of what name and/or title you called him by throughout your time of knowing him, there is one description of Pastor Clyde, that we would ALL agree upon today and that is LOVE!

He truly loved each and every one of us and showed that love in so many different ways!

A Christian is to be known by the love of Christ, as Jesus, Himself so declared in John 13:34-35, where He stated, “ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Pastor Webb displayed this characteristic beautifully throughout his life and in doing so, lead many, countless many to the Father above!

And so today, I have the amazing honor, as well as the impossible task, of as standing before you and trying to capture, even but a glimpse of who and what Pastor Clyde Webb was to each and every one of us, as well as countless thousands of others!

What do I say? How do I begin to describe Pastor Clyde’s amazing life?

And right there, as I wrote that last set of words that I just asked you about, “What do I say? How do I begin to describe Pastor Clyde’s amazing life”, I leaned back in my chair and looked up on my computer screen, to the top of word processor that I use. It keeps a count of how many words I am writing when doing my messages and also, approximately how long, time wise, of a message, I have written thus far. At that exact moment, it said that I had written 555 words and about 5 minutes of talking time! 5555!

The number 5, Biblically, refers to GRACE! That amazing gift of God, that He bestows upon His children!

The reason that this was so impacting to me, was that this past Monday, I spent some time at the Webb home and with the family and with Momma Nancy!

She shared with me about the last “Message From The Mountain” that Pastor Clyde wrote and about it screaming out at her, GRACE and also that it was on May 5 that he went home to be with the Lord.

Elaborate about his message having GRACE all in its meaning and the month of May (5) and the day of the month (5th) and then all of the words that I had just written and the time of oration!

Everything about the life and the ministry of this amazing man of God, was centered around the GRACE of God upon his life!

And so, in trying to give a short, but adequate speech about the life of Pastor Clyde Webb and honoring him and his life, I kind of feel like the disciple, John the Beloved, who closed out his gospel by saying this of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

John wrote, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

In other words, there were so many things about the life and the ministry of the Christ, that you couldn’t write them all down!

I kind of feel that way, in a sense, about Pastor Clyde. I cannot really begin to adequately write or do justice to his life in this brief time period.

That being said, I would like to just share with you briefly who and what he was to me, personally.

If you notice, I keep calling him, “Pastor Clyde Webb” and not just, “Clyde Webb”.

There is a reason for this. I have never known a man so passionate and in love with and so respectful of that title and of that calling of God, which is that of a “Pastor”, as Pastor Clyde Webb was!

When I was called to begin preaching and pastoring this church, 6 years ago, Pastor Clyde said to me one day, “I am tired of hearing people in the church just call you ‘Chris’, and not ‘Pastor Chris’!”

And I said to him, “Well, Pastor Clyde, I have been at this church for years and most of these people have always just known me as Chris, so I don’t really mind and I don’t need that title attached to my name.”

To that, he said, “You were called by God and given the name and title of a preacher by Him, because he chose you to lead this church as a “pastor” and as the shepherd. And if God chose you to be a “pastor” then that calling and that title should respected by not only YOU, but by everyone whom you shepherd! It is not just another title, it is an appointed position by God, Himself!”

And from that day on, I began to look at that calling and that title, through different eyes. I began to see that title through the eyes of a man of God, who had served for years under that anointing and that title and its calling, and with great conviction and love and respect for both the calling, as well as the title that went with it!

And in saying that let me say that I was as green as you could get, as wet behind the ears as you could be, when it comes to being the senior pastor of a church. My background was in physical therapy and management, not ministry. I had no training, no college background, and I didn’t have 30+ years of experience to pull from!

That is where Pastor Clyde became such a HUUUUUUUGE blessing in my life! He took me under his wing and began to give me council and advice and he would pray with me and over me, time and time again!

He was there for me, 24/7, 365 and always with his amazing love and concern for me and for the church family!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 NLT

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.

The Bible clearly tells us that there is a time and a season for every thing under heaven.

And Pastor Clyde lived his life following that premise, that as long as God had him in this time and season of being able to share the gospel message with others, then that is exactly what he was going to do.

Pastor Clyde would say to all who were listening the words from Isaiah 55,

Isaiah 55 ESV

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”