MHITELEY MEMORIAL CHURCH

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 81905, 18 December 1906, Page 2

MHITELEY MEMORIAL CHURCH

ANNIVERSARY SERVICE. The Whiteley Church anniversary passed oil' on Sunday with considerable success. There was a large eongregatigjtat both services, that in the evening being especially so. The musical part of the service was a marked feature, and elicited many expres■• sions of appreciation. At the morning service the anthem, -Call to Remembrance,' was rendered, .Miss Olive liuckman taking the solo, and rarely, if ever, has this young lady been heard to greater advantage. '* The Heavens are Telling" was the selection for the evening service, and there was a very full choir for the production of tjiis gem from ''The Creation." Miss Ruby Okey and' .Messrs Ambury and Asher rendered the trio part.

I Tim Kev. T. C. iirooke was the preacher for the day. In the morning the subject wns the building of the walls of Jerusalem after the return from captivity, the characteristic feature of the occasion being "Xlie people had a mind to work." At night Air iirooke took as his text the words of Jesus, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock f will build my Church." lie commenced by saying that the text was capable of double interpretation; ond part oil the church claiming that Christ meant he found His (Jhurch on Peter, and the other part was equally emphatic that Christ meant lid wduld found ilis Church on the groat truth lo which i'eter had just given utterance. As making the former interpretation untenable the preacher pointed out that i'eter had not the qualities to lit him for the position of founder of the Church. His presumption, his backsliding, his bigotry, were in turn touched upon as an evidence of this, it could not be said the Church was kept pure by the teaching of Pete--The only ellieient and ueriuuji"-' -'■ elier in the Church v-' -"' tel 1" Chost, and iio '- ■•'* Uiu llol . v tcachimr -' _ oi Peter, but the truth of -j. 'it was equally futile to say that I'eter having established the Church the Church itself was the depository and infallible exponent of the truth. The persecuting spirit of the Church in the ilidilie Ages was a complete refutation of that theory. The principles that prompted the Church lo the awful massacre of hit. liartholoincw's Day, 11HL'. and that both before and after then had compelled some "of the noblest men and women that ever lived to face "the fagot and the tlame" was proof positive that it was not the Church of Jesus Christ. if, then, this inlerI prelalion was so manifestly at vanlance with the teaching and practice of Jesus Christ, the preacher urged that the leal meaning of the passage was that Christ would found ilis Church on the truth that Peter vuiccd. Such an interpretation was shown to be in harmony with the terms "I'ctros"' (a stone) and "Petra" (the bed rock) used by Christ. This latter interpretation put Jesus Christ first ami always before men as their [Saviour, and was the one living tru h that was an inspiration to serviec and sacrilici! today. in conclusion, an appeal was made to the congregation to recognise their personal responsibility and to accept Jesus Christ as their one foundation. The collections for the day were close on ;i;2O.