BAPTIST CHURCH.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18202, 13 October 1924, Page 11

BAPTIST CHURCH.

DEDICATION SERVICES AT SYDENHAM. i , I Dedication :-crvices were hcia ut tne new schoolroom of the Colombo street Baptist Church, yesterday, ;!n tllc building was officially opened. The church itself has not- yet been erected, and the services will be held in the schoolroom in the meantime. flic old church, known as the Sydenham IhiTiist. and built on a different site, was recently sold. The door of the building w?.--, opened by the vice-president of the New Zealand Baptist Conference, Mr T. LToneycliffe, of Gisborne, at 3 p.m. yesterday, before a very large attendance, and a service wa.s held inside. Mr Toneycliffe said the new church ancT school would give tbc workers a golden opportunity, and he hoped they would grasp it with both hands. He liked to believe that in the church they were dedicating something more than wood and plaster: that they were giving their living bodie3 to tbe living bod. The honse would represent their prayers and labours, for they had put far more in it than mere pounds, shillings, and pence. He then, declared tho church open for worship. The Rev. J. K. Archer, pastor r,f the church, welcomed the parishioners, and said he hoped the new church would b*the centre of tho whole of ths lite of the district., spiritual, sporting, and intellectual. The Rev. W. S. Rollings, of Woh.ngton, conducted t.he first and tho first sermon was preached by tho Rev. A. H. Collins, of New Plymouth. Mr Collins took for his,text Revelation xiiL, S, "The Lamb that hath been I slain from the foundation of the world." Ho stated that, the central and basic fact, of t.ho Christian gospel was that without, tho shedding of blood there Could bo no remission of sius, no civilisation, and no progress. Love was always sacrificial and redemptive. The foundation of the Empire was in the shedding of'blood, and the Dominion had boon won by the pioneers by sweat and toil and blood. The liberty of thought and speech they now enjoyed was gained ai'ter blood had 'flowed in rivers and tears had been counted nothing.' The universe lived by iha law of self-sacriiicc, of which.the cro,«s of Christ.was tho highest and ideal form. Special music, was sung by the choir, conducted by Mr K. G. Archer. Tea, was provided for parishioners and friends in an adjoining • room at, 5 o'clock. NORTH BRIGHTON. Tho new Baptist Church at North Brighton was dedicated-yesterday afternoon... Tho service wan carried out by Mr H; M. Smeeton, president of tho | Baptist Union, the Rev. A. Anstice, of Auckland, the Rev. J. Laird, of Nelson, j and Mr A. W. Stewart., of Linwood, superintendent of the New Brighton Churdh. Mr'Smeeton said that .the occasion was a, great day for all the visitors, because, .it. was tho first time that they had attended a service in the North Brighton Church. Tho boys and girls lived'in New Brighton, and he wanted them to realise that, the church was t,heir 'home on Sunday afternoons. They .9.11 knew that Jesus Christ desired their best goods. 110 wanted them to love the church. The speaker said that he wanted the children" 'to remember the early years of the church in their district. Addressing the elder , people, Mr Smeeton eaid that' he wanted to say that the building of a new church was the thing that gave ■ visibility to their- faith. As- tho years went by t.hoy would fc'el in t.h'eir" hearts the Word of God. Thev would find that tho Church was the placso where the Wofd of God was preached, where the W r ord of God was felt, and whoro the power of God was revealed. The Church ought to bo the centre of their affections, because of the spiritual good . that they received. He wanted the boys and girls to bring other scholars there', and they could thereby advance the interests of the school and of God's work. He urged them to be faithful in their attendance on Sundays at the services, to bo faithful in their contributions, and to be faithful in the study of the Scripture. There was one thing that he wanted to impress on their minds, and that was to place Jesus Christ before everything else in the world. Then they would have not, only joy arid satisfaction, but they would feel that they were living lives of usefulness for Christ. He congratulated the people on the erection of the Church, and he also congratulated the. fifteen people who had placed their names on the first membership roll, and were prepared to carry on with the work of the church. He wished them every joy and blessing in the days that were to come. Rer. A. Anstice said that out of a. church much smaller than theirs three churches had arisen in his own district. The boys and girls, who went to t.he little cburc.h loved it,, and in those. years God's work had been wonderful. The boys and girls would remember of David giving instructions to Solomon to be strong and build the house of God. It. -was the boys and girls who would have' to build the true Church, the real living Church of flesh and blood and of warm, loving hearts. It .in tbe children's hands so to do. That Church should be a sanctuary to them. The world needed two things. It needed to see the ceaseless activity of God's people and t e gentle hand of Jesus on the world s fevered brow. The Church was going to grow. Just as wheat, had the of propagating, so a. little church i"'_ theirs would grow. The more they ha< Jesus Christ, the more life the\ haf > and the more the Church would grow. Rev. J. Laird offered the dedicatory prayer. At the conclusion of the dedica io service a baptismal service took pl.it c.