REALITY OF GOD

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 745, 19 August 1929, Page 14

REALITY OF GOD

MENACE OF MATERIALISTIC CONCEPTION OF LIFE KEEPING SUNDAY HOLY The real enemy of Christianity today was not science, or philosophy or rationalism, but the materialistic conception of life, declared the Rev. W. Walker, preaching on “The Reality of God” in the Pitt Street Methodist Church last evening. Materialism as a creed was dead, but materialism in life was very prevalent. People were forgetting God. They did not deny His existence, hut in many things they left Him out of consideration. “By many He is conceived as an abstract impersonal force; a blind energy in the universe, the uncaused cause, a stream of tendency, anything but what He actually is, the loving, personal Almighty God who is touching life at every point. One teacher has said that, ‘God sleeps in the stone, dreams in the animal, but awakes in man,’ said tbe preacher. “Nor is He lost in things great and magnificent, but reveals Himself in things infinitely small. Instead of science having banished God it has found Him at Work everywhere. He is not removed from His creation, but is within and pervades every particle. He perfects a universe in the atom. The grave danger besetting people today is that of becoming so absorbed in material things that they fail to realise that the material is but the expression of the Spiritual. When a person or a nation forgets God the moral and spiritual life deteriorates, life then loses its sanctity and true meaning. No person can truly observe the trend of this age without realising the danger of Sunday losing something of the unique place it has had in the past. Inroads are being made which tend to destroy the sacredness of the day. “The need for one day in seven for rest and worship is set deep in the

constitution of mankind. It Is essen- ; tial not only for the health of the body but also for the welfare of the soul. I tis admirably adapted to meet man’s deepest needs. Wbei rigbtly observed it invigorates the soul, widens the vision concerning the true purpose of life, and brings God with all His grace into the midst of human affairs. “The highest stage for any person to reach is that of God consciousness; to know by experience that sin has been forgiven and through Christ he has been brought into harmony with the great heart of the universe." A solo was given by Mrs. Crocker, of Sydney. The whole service was broadcast by IYA.

KATIKATI PRESBYTERIANS NEW MINISTER INDUCTED The Katikati Presbyterian Church has been elevated to a church extension charge by the Waikato Presbytery at its last sitting, the Rev. E. Bishop, late of Howick, Taumarunui and Taihape, as its minister. Mr. Bishop was inducted on Friday. After the service of induction, Mr. Bishop was the guest at a gathering of welcome. The Rev. G. Palmer, vicar of Katikati, heartily welcomed the new minister. The congregation expressed its appreciation of the services of the Rev. J. D. Macfarlane as interim moderator by the gift of a fine rug. the presentation being made by Mrs. N. Johnstone, sen.