Pulpit Messages Christianity and Life

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22513, 17 December 1947, Page 9

Pulpit Messages Christianity and Life

(Contributed by Minister*’ Association.) j

TEXT “God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds.” —Heb. 1,1, 2. Church’s Need Today “The Church today needs men and women of faith and vision who are prepared to dedicate themselves and their calling to the highest cause of God- Too long have we dreamed of the new Utopia, deluding ourselves into believing that just around the corner lies the victory we most devoutly desire. But the victory tarries, and we are beset by the continuity of frustration which hardens and embitters our soul. Men may ask, and reasonably so, ‘Where stands the Church amid this maelstrom of disillusionment and despair?” said the Rev. lan Cameron of the Presbyterian Church, Matawhero. “As to the Church’s ability and readiness to help let none doubt. This is indeed her sacred calling, and she should give to men the authentic voice of God, bringing them face to face with Him in all the totality of His being so that they see clearly the way wherein they ought to walk. The Church can have no less a motive than this. The Church does not demand orthodoxy of her people, for this is a most abused and traduced word. She only claims the right to demand of them loyalty in the highest degree to Christ. “Is this loyalty to Him an effeminate and unworthy thing? One would judge it to be so by the unwillingness of many to adopt it as the cardinal feature of their life’s activity. They give boisterious lip service to party claims and materialistic doctrines, but fight shy of the greater loyalty to Christ and His cause. So languishes the Church. She has need of men of good will who will bring, through allegiance to Christ, faith and vision and service, to beautify the common round and daily task, to right the wrongs and’to stir to the depth of its being the world in which God counts for little.” The Personal Note

Surely that personal note is the only authentic note of true religion. The burdened and needy sinner cannot come to God by proxy; no one may take his place in the secret place. The greatest hymn in the English language does not begin: “When we survey the wondrous Cross.” It is I who must come to the Mercy Seat, I myself alone, if I am to appropriate the saving benefits of the crucified- And, though Edward Gibbon once described the word “I” as the most indecent of the personal pronouns, can you deny that its absence would be indecent here at the Cross? That great hymn ends, very properly, on the same personal note with which it begins;— gins:—

“Love so amazing, so divine, “Demands my soul, my life, my all.” News and Notes

Pardon another reference to the “Shoes for European Deaconesses,” but it is interesting to know that finally the appeal realised 30,000 pairs of shoes, all of which are now on the way to Europe, expenses having been paid for by contributions of money sent in to meet the packing and transportation costs. It is expected that the shoes will arrive in Antwerp by January for distribution by the World Council of Churches.

A further appeal from the World Council of Churches has asked the New Zealand Churches to help, together with the churches of five other countries, to provide the food to carry through a scheme to feed 120,000 German children one meal a day for three months. It is hoped to send from New Zealand a consignment of 20,0001 b of such food as malted milk. This is our share of the whole project. Only surplus goods which can be purchased wholesale and already packed, and the export of which has been approved by the food controller, are being sent. The sum of £1 will feed a starving child one meal per day for 90 days. Please contact your minister or ring 2571. We would draw the attention of all to the fact that each Sunday from Station 2YH, Napier, at 10 a.m. till 10.15 a.m., there is a special children’s service conducted for the benefit of those under 16 who are unable to attend Sunday school or church. This service will continue whilst the present restrictions last. We commend this service to all. , , It is the intention of the Ministers’ Association to conduct a united beach service on Christmas night at the bandstand on the beach, at 8.30. Hymn sheets will be provided and the Salvation Army Band will accompany the singing. In conformity with the regulations children under the age of 16 will not attend.