Pulpit Messages Christianity and Life

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22617, 21 April 1948, Page 3

Pulpit Messages Christianity and Life

(Contributed by Ministers' Association.)

TEXT “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him?” Jesus in the Midst Speaking at Pututahi on Sunday last, the Rev. K. lan Cameron said: “The scene is the crucifixion of our Lord. The powers of evil which are ever to be seen in the world appear to have ' triumphed, arid incarnate goodness in the form of the Son of God hangs • bruised and broken and dying upon a T cross. On either side of Him there hang two malefactors, who unlike our ! Lord, do but pay the penalty their misj deeds demand of the law. As I see the Son of God 'in the midst’ I am reminded I that this has always been His place, j Here we see Him in the midst of j suffering humanity. To the penitent ! thief He has the word of hope and conj solation, even as today to suffering men I He brings the joy of the Divine Presence. I "To be in the midst is the rightful place of our Lord and we hurt and I harm ourselves if we would drive Him j out. He must be 'in the midst’ of the | family, the unit of human society, for I such a society can only be strong and I happy when in the micist of the family | life Jesus stands 10 bless and inspire, j Jesus must be in the midst of the comI munily. How divided and distracted, we are in our communities 'by the clashing and contention of class and cieed, of social status and ambition, of pride of, place and the stirring after power. Let Jesus stand ‘in the midst” of the community as Lord and King, I and the things which divide and separi ate us will be dissipated by the joy of His blessed Presence. “The world today stands impoverished and humiliated by the very inability of man to establish among the nations the sweet accents of peace. I The world has made no effort to seek I the way of our Lord. There in the midst of the world He stands alone, mocked and scorned and rejected. And yet He holds in His hand the gift of peace for which the world has waited long. When nations see Him as He is, the Prince of Peace, and crown Him tiius, national regeneration begins. May it so begin with us to the praise and Glory of God’s Holy Name.” Work of the Scientist Speaking at the Fraser town and Ardkeen services on Sunday last the Rev. D. E. Duncan, of St. Andrew’s Church, vVairoa, said: “Almost every activity of man has been profoundly influenced by the work of the scientist. So great has been his impact upon our everyday lives that many feel that we are wholly independent upon the ingenuity of men for ihe necessities of life. We cannot minimise the work the scientist has done for good and ill, nor can we pass over with base ingratitude that which he has contributed to our welfare, but we need to remember that the scientist can work only upon that which is already given him in Nature, which is Gods creation; he can persue his investigations successfully and apply his findings only insofar as he keeps within the prescribed laws of nature, and these are the laws which God has formulated to control and sustain His universe. The wonders science has revealed and the benefits it has bestowed should bring us to our knees in awe and gratitude before God Who has created all things good, and Who alone has enabled us to have the necessities whereby we live.” News and Notes

At the annual meeting of the Gisborne Ministers’ Association, held on Tuesday in the Baptist School Room, the Rev. J. G. B. Talbot, Vicar of Waerenga-a-hika, was unanimously elected president, with the Rev. Kingsley Fairbairn, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, as vice-president. The Rev. H. Dyson continues in Office as secretary, with Mr. R. March, of the Y.M.C.A., assistant secretary. It was good to have present at the meeting Canon A. F. Hall, who for some weeks was confined to his home. He is already manifesting his well-known vigour.

It was with a profound sense of loss that the association learned of the Rev. B. M. Tasker's illness and of the necessity for his retirement from his official position. Sincere thanks for the very devoted service to the fellowship of the association were recorded, and the hope was expressed that/ with the blessing of God, he would be restored to sound •health.