A local pastor is entering into retirement after preaching his last sermon at an historic church in northwest Gainesville.
“I’m going to play some golf in my retirement,” said Pastor Michael Frazier Sr. after preaching his last sermon on June 14 at Greater Liberty Hill United Methodist Church, 7600 NW 23rd Ave.
Frazier preached from I Corinthians 3:6 during his final sermon. The subject: “The Debt that I Owe.”
He said people owe a “sociological debt” for the sacrifices of the people who came before them to make life better for future generations.
“Therefore, we are indebted to creation and culture,” Frazier said. “The things we enjoy today is an accumulation of contributions made by people who came before we were even a thought in our parents’ lives.”
He then emphasized that Blacks today owe a significant debt to the Africans who survived the Middle Passage and being enslaved in America while maintaining a strong commitment to God.
“You do know we didn’t come here on the Santa Maria?” Frazier the congregation, adding enslaved Africans didn’t arrive in America through Ellis Island underneath the Statue of Liberty in New York City,
“We came in through the back door,” Frazier said. “Our ancestor used to sing songs like ‘Before I be slave I will be buried in my grave and go home to my God and be free.’ “
He told the congregation that as the enslaved sang those kinds of songs, they were letting their enslavers know that “you can put chains on my body but not my mind.”
He said he owed a debt to pastors who mentored him and told him to go to school to get an education so he would be able to lead congregations. He pointed the retired United Methodist Church Pastor Clifford Patrick, who when Frazier was growing up in Reddick in Marion County “stopped by an old country church and preached Sunday after Sunday” at Mount Zion UMC.
He also said he owed a debt to parishioners who make sure that God’s kingdom work is being done on Earth as it is in heaven.
“Thank you for your sacrifices and labor of love,” Frazier told parishioners.
He then talked about “theological debt” that is owed to the Lord.
“I dare any of us to think that God owe us anything when the fact of the matter is that we owe God everything,” Frazier said. “Every time I see a sunrise – I owe him. Every time I see a sunset – I owe him,”
At the end of his sermon, Frazier and the congregation sang “I Know it was the Blood.”
A couple of people thanked Frazier for his service to the church the past nine years, including Ann Bowens, who served as worship leader during the service.
“This is not the end of his journey, and he is going to put a mighty word on us today that will let us know what the end of the journey is going to be,” Bowens said.
The church will be celebrating its 142nd anniversary in November, and is one of a few churches locally that have a cemetery on its premises. Also on the church grounds is the historic Liberty Hill Schoolhouse, which in 1869 was listed as a Black rural school by what was then known as the Alachua County Board of Public Instruction.
Frazier, 61, said he was a pastor for 36 years in various, communities, including serving at historic Mount Pleasant United Methodist Church at 630 NW Second St.
Liberty Hill UMC will be hosting a retirement celebration luncheon for Frazier at 11 a.m. June 27 at Trinity UMC, 4000 NW 53rd Ave. Individual tickets are $35 and a table seating eight cost $280. June 20 is the deadline to purchase tickets. For details, call 352-450-2343.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville pastor preaches last sermon. What was his final message?
Reporting by Cleveland Tinker, Gainesville Sun / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cleveland Tinker, Gainesville Sun | USA TODAY Network
