CHURCH NOTES.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 24 April 1901, Page 4

CHURCH NOTES.

By Amicus.

A Missionary Appeal

On Sunday evening last the Rev, Mr Stewart conductod service in the Presbyterian Church, selecting for a text 2 Cor. x 16.—"1 preach the gospel to regions beyond you." He gave an impressive address on the duty of Christians respecting the extension of the church. Corinth was a city that had lately received tho gospel, and the admonition was to pas 3 it on to others. Tho Rev. Mr Gillios was preaching on the Coast and advocating the claims for the churoh extension fund, which had beon fixed at £IO,OOO. His coming to Greymouth would be looked forward .to, and tho subject that night would b 3 preparatory to the special mission being made. The Church of Corinth • was a credit to tho Apostle Paul, as it was established in a city that was full of wickedness and great iniquity. After leaving Corinth certain teachers came in and tried to disparago St. Paul's work, and proselytiso his convorts. The Apostle bore with these with great patience, but ultimately sent this epistle in which is seen the disdain with which false teachers were held. He thought the best way to preserve Corinth was to set the Christians to preach tho gospel to others. In the text this desire wag expressed. The words teach us (1) the unity of believers, all have a share in tho work. There is no such thing as an isolated life, labour or experience. Every individual stands in close relationship to his successor. "Wo do not live in an isolated time. Human life is moulded by operations which exist and principles exercised by others. Let us adhere to the gjspel. Wo shall have our privileges enlarged. Each one will be explicable to the other as one part of a machine is explicable because of its relation to other parts. 2nd. The text teaches us that the Gospel is a very powerful agency for food. St. Faul has proved this. The rst great blessing it brought was personal salvation for the present life as well as the future. The Gospel comes with great blessings and ameliorates our present life and ensures our eternal welfare. 3rd. Our responsibility for others is also recognised. Each is his brother's keeper. We influence each other for good or for evil. Our actions, our utterances, our character—all have an effect on other lives. Our duty then, is to make arrangements for the spread of the Gospel. St. Paul believed in the power of God's love to change the life. It had changed his own, and there is nothing better to recommend to others. See the agency for good it had been in , our own colony. In 1814, Christmas Day, ' Samuel Marsden first preached near the Bay of Islands until now organised labor is arrayed all over the country. In 1810 tho first Presbyterian minister preached at Petone and now thoir church was second in numbsr. But still all the churches were in a formative stato and needed much development. Wo are yet pionei r i and in a primitive stato. The largeness of our charges were killing men with the

■work. In New Zealand 4 charges were receiving aid from the extension fund. In Auckland 11, Hawkes Bay. 6, "Wellington 3, Wanganui 14, Westland 5, Christchurch 4, Tiniaru 1, and Nelson 3. Mr S:ewart there went in to rolate the hardships entailed by the care of these districts. Ministers had to work harder than any of the men among whom they lived. They needed assistance acd &i a new settlement always involved considerable expense it wa3 our duty to help to provide the settlers with churches. An earnest appeal was made to the congregation to support the century fund and thus give practical application to the admonition of the text.

♦'What ro»y times parsons hav*e"! is the ganeral expression we hear from men who Sear no conception of the arduous tasks Connected with the ministerial office. Jfrom morning till late at night the mind i* bosy preparation for the pulpit, visiting, listening to the bewildering wail of

dissatisfied individual, the minister is ex- I pected to move aoout with gentleness and sympathy. He must know no anger, never bo lacking in generosity, and j ready at the call of anyone who comes at meetings every night of tlie week, tvwav from h -m- in n 1 weathers, the recipient; of all qotnplainta and a scure of other things which necessitates a vast I amount of patience. Some ministers may have an easy time, but to the thinking man this office can never be compatible with a lazy life. Like the great Ideal Treacher ministers must ever bo taxed in all their energy, time, and patience, and no clearer manifestation of ignorance given than tho man who sees nothing in a clergyman's life than eating and drinking and an absence from work or business.