PULPIT VOICES.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 225, 23 September 1929, Page 5

PULPIT VOICES.

LIGHT IN BUSINESS WORLD.

MISSION OF ST. MATTHEW'S.

SEVENTY-SIX YEAES OLD

In appealing to the parishioners of St. Matthew's Church to maintain a high standard of worship and service, Canon Grant Cowen said in the course of his sermon last evening that the Church was called after St. Matthew, a business man who renounced all worldly gain for Christ, and it was therefore ntting that the city church, standing in the midst of the business life of the community, should be a light to the business world.

The occasion was the seventy-sixth anniversary of St. Matthew's. In the norning tne service was conducted by the Rev. Charles Chandler, and in the afternoon a children's floral service was followed by a pilgrimage to patients in hospital for a special distribution of flowers. At the close of the evening service a recital was given by the organist, Mr. J. H. Phillpot, and the choir. "To-day in , the business world," said Canon Cowen, "there is such keen competition that it is difficult for a business man to be a Christian and to carry out his business successfully. St. Matthew's Church, standing where it does, emphasises the fact that not only in homes and in social life, but also in business life, there must be the highest possible standard, and that success must not be allowed to take the place of honest business methods. "In these days, when there is a great laxity in public worship and Sunday observance, due to a great extent to general slackness of life, it is only right and fit that a high standard should be kept by those who profess to be followers of Christ. The Church is passing through a very difficult time, but we have the greatest confidence that we will surmount the difficulties caused by the war and the many innovations that have recently come into life, but it is for those who labour in the Church to see that their influence shall permeate not only the home but also the personal and business life of the community. "Our duty is to pee that we hand to those who come after us the same olorious heritage that we have received through other men's labour, to make the lot a little easier and to make the burden of life a little lighter for those who follow." A reunion of past and present St. Matthew's people is to be held in the Parish Hall on Tuesday evening. CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS. "Matter" was the subject of the lesson-sermon in First Church of Christ, Scientist, of Auckland, yesterday. The text was from Psalms lvi., 4: "In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me." The lesson-sermon included the. following passage from the Christian Science textbook, by Mary Baker Eddy: "We must reverse our feeble flutterings—our efforts to find life and truth in matter — and rise above the testimony of the material senses, above the mortal to the immortal idea of God. These clearer higher views inspire the God-like man to reach the centre and circumference of his being."

CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOUR. The junior rally in connection with the 37th annual convention of the Auckland Christian Endeavour Union was held on Saturday night at the Unity Hall, 23 societies being represented. The competition shields for the largest increases in attendance during the past year were won by the Mount Eden and Green Lane branches of the union. Miss Jennie Street gave an address on the work of the organisation.

Many of the Churches observed yesterday as Christian Endeavour Sunday. This "evening the annual business meeting is to be held in the Beresford Street Hall.

METHODIST EVANGELISM,

The special services in connection with the evangelistic campaign in the Pitt Street Methodist Church were brought to a conclusion yesterday. At the morning service Rev. W. Walker preached on, "Spiritual Enrichment," in which he endeavoured to sTiow that the measure of blessing received is always determined by the attitude of mind and heart on the part "of the worshipper. 11l the afternoon a youth rally was held in the church parlour, the address dealt with the privileges and responsibilities of church membership.

At the evening service, which was broadcast by IYA, the text was Rev. iii, 20, "Behold I stand at the door and knoqk." The Rev. Walker declared that it was the purpose of God to bring each person into vital union with Himself. It was to achieve this that He had revealed the fulness of His love in Jesus Christ. Jesus was God's message to all . mankind, telling of His loving thought, and calling each person to a true repentance. "At every avenue of the soul," said the preacher, "Jesus stands awaiting admission. The text tells of the patient forbearance of Jesus as Hβ stands knocking at the door of the heart. Persistent resistance to His appeal always results in the hardening of the spiritual susceptibilities, so that it becomes more difficult to hear His voice or to respond when His voice is heard. Jesus will never force an entrance for every person is endowed with free will, and the door must open from within. To do nothing is to keep the door closed against Him. Salvation is the simplest thing in the Christian ' religion. It consists in opening the door to Jesus who is the light of the world. The light of the sun has travelled 00 million miles to enable a person to see, but if the door of the eye be closed he will continue, in darkness. Jesus came from the heart of God to bring light to mankind, but every person must open the door before the light can shine into the eoul." ! Mrs. W. Leather eang effectively, "Behold Me Standing at the Door." SPIRIT OF MISSIONS. At the Church of Christ, West Street, Pastor Campbell said that the deep satisfaction, the peace, the quiet joy, and assurance of the life to come, in the hearts of these who knew Christ Jesus as Saviour, and abided in Him, imposed a duty to introduce Him to those living without Christ, without God, and without this hope. Many seemed outwardly to get along perfectly well without God, paying no heed to Him at all; and while the sun shone, they did not realise their emptiness; but when trouble came they did. "Hold on," said an atheist to his dying atheist friend; "Alas," wa<s the reply, "I have nothing to hold on to." "Why should we bother about foreign missions?" the speaker asked. "John G. Paton wrote from Tanna, 'All the scepticism in Europe would hide its head in shame, and all its doubts would dissolve under one glance of the new light that Jesus, and Jesus alone, pours from the converted cannibal's eye. . Can Christians be missionaries at home? We can; first of all by ceaseless endeavour to find the grace of Christ constantly enriching our lives, so that they shall breathe of the fragrance of heaven; by parents setting up and maintaining the definite daily reading of the Word with their children in the home, bringing the children constantly under the powerful influence of family prayers; by interceding at the Throne of Grace for specific Christian workers and their efforts; by deliberately allocating a set portion of money to chosen missions, consecrating it in prayer before the Lord that He may own and bleee its use to His glory; and by seeking the grace and joy of introducing others, individually and collectively, to Christ through His Word. This is the spirit of missions, whether at home or abroad."

ONEHUNGA PRESBYTERIANS. Special services were held yesterday to mark the reopening of the Presbyterian Church at Onehunga, after it had been closed several weeks for renovation. The preachers were the Revs. J. Craig, T. Halliday and'D. D. Scott, pastor. Added interest was -given to the musical portion of the services by the improvements which had been made to the pipe organ, consisting of two solo stops, two couplers and pneumatic action. Electric power for blowing the instrument has been substituted for water power and the organ has been removed from the side of the church and placed in a recivs immediately behind the pulpit at the end, with thi-; "console in front of the pulpit and. choir. Solos were rendered toy Mrs. J. Craig and Mr. J. McDougall. The choir rendered tiie Te Deuin at the morning service. A quartet by girls from the Sunday school was given in the afternoon, followed by a male quartet at night. A congreynfonal social will be held on Wednesday, when Lr. Neil McDougall will give an organ recital.

APPROACHING ANNIVERSARY. On Sunday next in the Town Hall special services will be held for the celebration of the anniversary of the Beresford Street Congregational Sunday school. In the evening the Rev. Lionel B. Fletcher will speak on "Youth and Modern Life. A choir of 600 children will sing.