"The Future of the Church"

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 123, 9 April 1891, Page 3

"The Future of the Church"

- .;l, ' This waa the theme chosen by Mr G>. - Grant for his discourse given in the Wesleyan Church on Sunday morning last. His text was Psalm 87, 3, "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O x city of God." The preacher said that the city of God in this Psalm; and in every 'Psalm, means the Church of God. .The great task of this day is to constitute a society in which the individual will not be lost ; that is the task of all statecraft injhe nature of socialism. We want perfect unity side by side with perfect individuality. It has been said it is' an impossibility in "external things; but certainly is "not impossible in higher and- spiritual' things. If we take the book of Psalms we will find that' every Psalm may be used in the plural or in the singular. * The only other parallel in this respect is the Lord's prayer, which is a perfect expression of individual life. It is the duty of every Christian to study the pa'at history of the Church. We teach in our pnblic schools, and rightly too, the history of bur national institutions ; but why should we neglect the study of sacred institutions Z, All civilisation, at this mom< n , is under the banner of Christ ; everything else is tottering to ruin. The missionaries of the Crosa are penet.at ng to the darkest centres of the earch. One object of the Church is to enable believers to build themselves up by tbeir attendance on religious' oidinances. Notice the intensity of 'feeling shown by David in his expressions given in this and other psalms. If David could have that intensity of feeling, why should -we -not much more have it 9 Mr, Grant continued, ifanyoi you have stood on the great battle fields of the earth and heard the noble deeds there performed, recounted by some old soldiers, you ' will learn how their blood warms' at the memories' thus'recalled ; but, Mr Grant said,' the grandest battle-field on earth is' nothing compared with a battle-field. !where a; man has decided foi God. Another, purpose of the. Church if that there shall 1 be proyisibVmade'foV the godly nurture of^t.ie, children, , the true pillars of the Church'^will be supplied froir their ranks/^ere^ being-several^ o/me men in " ihe"''Congregati6h,' the ''preaehei alluded^ thetitn>^hen they "would' star! ..out in life r onthfci io v responsibility, anc Mfcf the xtta^pindui'-Siuents^that jvoutdbi .witiitto draw, them jntoth^wprld He^prged>^them,t6 oast in tbeir lot wit! ~ the Church.'pf God.for, in so doing, the.i would be jn3hft,BogjUty,of those whpvwer* i^st^edj^Viun^gloriously.^Soctalisa wasiCOtpifiared /to-ay^; engine lackinj

„,.,„ j. ... „ \. „ J ___^L-— never be attained apart from Christianity. We believe tuat the Grand Commune wDI come, but only by toe power of Christianity. There waß a large congregation, al-' though the inclement weather prevented ma y people from attending the servii c, (Fur continuation of Reading Matter see fourth page ) ... . ,