COMBINED SERVICE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 4, 7 September 1943, Page 5

COMBINED SERVICE

WAR DECLARATION ANNIVERSARY

GATHERING IN GRAND THEATRE

"Since the fateful day September 3rd, 1939, we liave seen the tide of apparent defeat and failure stemmed and turned, till 1 to-day our gallant soldiers, sailors and' airmen are marching forward to victory." In this manner, Rev. G. V. Thbmas introduced his brief address at the commemoration service held in the Grand Theatre last Friday to mark the fourth anniversary of the war. The gathering tliis year did noL attract the same attendance as iVi the past, and the theatre Mas only half, filled. Nevertheless the service lost none of its meaning or depth and served once again to mark a spiritual pause in the ordinary round of business routine for the consideration of the loftier and more vital aspect of life. The Mayor presided and associated with him on the platform were Revs. H. Hogg (Presbyterian). J. C. J. Wilson (Anglican) and G. V. Thomas (Methodist). The Rev. Thomas; went on to say that the nation-wide invitation of King George VI to prayer, was in fulfilment of the Divine laws of the universe for behind the whole progress of the world lav the Avill of God which was steadfast and unalterable. Though individuals and nations might rock the soci'al structure and, destroy the peace of the world, it dM not alter the fact that the universe moved steadily on in accordance Avitlv the divine plan 1 rained, by God himself. He instanced the ruthless efforts of the Romans to> crush out Christianity at its birth and explained that front apparent disaster in those days a world-wide victory had eventuated, resulting in the news of the gospel be ill g taken to the ends' of the earth. The elTects of the early Roman oppression were still to be seen in the missionary work which was still penetrating into every corner of the globe. Thus in spite of man the world moved impercc.ptably towards the goal which had been planned from the beginning. It was for us,, he said, to seek God's will and, having found it — to seek to carry it out. It was not to be overlooked however that God had no favourites. His grace, was for all men, and the only ones avlio were acceptable were those who sought to do His will. The Rev. Thomas mentioned the prophets of the bible who when Cyrus the. Persian came up against the Holy land had. described the peoples suffering as a scourge for the world's sinfulness,.' They had lived in times parallel to our own, and we might well wonder if the rise of the. Axis Powers constituted a modern scourge for the world's sinfulness. If that were so then there was only one thing to do and that was to give to God, as individuals unci as nations that service which was due Him as the Divine creator. A Modern Paradox The Rev. J. C. J. Wilson took as the theme of his remarks an extract from the Literary Digest—"The generation which declared that peace was the end of its Foreign Policy got not peace,: but a devastating war." England, he said had a very strong and natural desire for peace, after the last war, culminating finally in the policy of disarma-, mcnt and later the demoralising policy of appeasement,, which made her people like the ostrich burying its head in the sand so as not to see the growing power of the aggressor nations. So we had the paradox—a nation hoping and, working for peace, yet reaping a devastating war. Peace at any price could not stave off war for if we made peace our supreme end, or the respect of men our supreme end., it, became as ashes in our mouths, for we would, never attain it. It was> „ ? onlv by first seeking God's- righteousness—by doing God's will that true peace would come. When we would say 'they will be. done' we would get peace. If we sought peace with our neighbours we had. first to seek to love them as ourselves. The same rule applied to nations. It was again a case of doing God's will not a case of working for a tangible end for the benefit of mankind. Peace was a natural dcsl're; it was as bread to the peoples of the earth, but the (Continued in next column)

same prayer •which asked 'give us this day our daily bread 1 had first of all asked that "Thy -will lie done in earth.' 11' to-day we merely prayed for peaec as a freedom from war, our prayers were a mockery, but if we prayed for God's will upon earth and tke -establishment of a Chris- j tion order amongst men,, then we were praying automatically for. God's peace and that meant a start for most of us in an individual sense, in the ordering of our lives. He concluded by as'kfng those present to read carefully the manifesto issued by the combined churches for the Campaign of Christian Order. The Rev. Hogg read the Psalm 107 and offered, up a suitable prayer. Hymns sung were. "O God of Bethel," "Jesu Lover of My Soul," i "Holy Father in Thy Mercy" and 1 "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind."