DAY OF INTERCESSION.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVII, Issue LXXVII, 19 July 1918, Page 5

DAY OF INTERCESSION.

OGiiSdtVANCE IX HAWEBA.

Largo numl>ers of people gathered at the Methodist Church during yesterday i.om 11 a.m. onwards, to take part in tho intercessions on behalf of the Empijt> and its Alii&s. Tiie Methodist, i.-'i fvsbytoi'ian, 'Salvation Army and Anglican ministers and JiiletsiTi E. D.xon at;d L. A. lktue conducted the proceedings. In the evening a combined service was hold in St. Mary's Anglican Church, when a large gathering of members of the four douominaiidons met together in intercession and thanksgiving. The first lesson was read by ohe Ilev. A. Liroi sedge, the second hy Commandant San::on, *md prayer was offered by the Rev. H. B. Cray.

Mj- Cowen, taking as his text I Coi-int--i.ifi.ns I, part of verse 11, "For it hath been signified unto me that there are contentions among you," said thai St. Pa:i] after spending eighteen months in laying the foundations of the church ?t Corinth, found sooil after he had left that dissensions had ftiison among the Christians, and he wrote to them Mjlniking them for their divisions. As we looked back we found that the.church had become divided, rr.d ?o lost its power. We thought of the little the church ccukl do in these times of crisis, and realised how little the church could do in preventing the war. , The reason, he thought, was because the church had been so divided up and hod lost the power that she had. We were -living in a great and wonderful age. When we remembered the men who had fought and died together had been ministered to by chaplains of ether denominations, and when we remembered that many of the men had lived side by side hi a great brotherhood, we could understand that they wo;:ld not like to come back and. pee the church split up into divisions. Let us hope that the church will be able to heal its wounds. "Unless we heal those divisions the church will lose all its power m the world. Wr* must endeavor to heal our divisions, in the cause of God and humanity. We feel that to-day we have all been drawn closer one to another. This has been a great day, and we have begun to learn a great lessen." Continuing, the preacher said that in recent years one could notice that the church was losing her hold over the people, and one reason, he thought, was because we had been too content to go along different roads instead of fighting in unity. The West front had shown the need for unity of the armies; the Church of Christ must also take its place as a united army in the service of her King. May be that the divisions were like different regiments fighting for one end; may be that they were following different roads leading to the same place; but instead of being united and of one voice they were each going their own *vay., A message came from the West front to the church to take its place in the world. The church must dictate the policy of the: world. Looking back at the great struggles between Capital and Labor, and in national policies, one saw that the church stood aside. If the world was going to be better it could only he? when the church took her place 38 leader and guide of the world, and ;nade impossible a repetition of the carnage of the last few years, During the present time ofhumiliation, of th© clir.roh tht>y ought to pray for forgiveness, pray to be filled with tho spirit of Christ and humility, and pray for n spirit of conciliation one for a&otier that they might realise in the Fatherhood of God there was a brotherhood of man. The men on the West frontwere learn ing it. "Wo can be ki. nd t loving, •uiOufe^iiLil one for ■&n:: J..l i cT. Ii the :ove ex Go.d ims tue ii-aris and souls «.j. His people, Urn .uiue divisions —for i^oy «i o little—that separate the body -ox CL.^tiai.s can be hcalecl.'* 1 He fe't t iia t as they had pia^u tnat d«lj' t-Toil had nearu u.em, u^u wiat tiie result would '};,& to sh-eivgLliaa and help Our cominaudeis a.iicl in<.-u, ana wouia help to bring peace and victory. In days to come they wanted to be wortuy of tne sacrifices. JLire was too wonderful to engage in little petty things.. That day haa gone by, and wtte.n, they )\ere lace to face with great problems fc^g little, petty things of daily life i.ere as notlili!^.- They wanted the power of vision to g«t oy vl - petty^ L.imgs, and when they wore filled witn tiie spirit of Christ, humility, and love the time would come tor tne brotherhood of man. They might then have etitferences of opinion, but they would be settled peaceably, and the churches would fight side by side as one great army and war would become impossible. It all depended, upon the church itselr whether these things would happen. -'The church is the one hope of the world. We may boast of aroitration treaties and iaague Conventions, but these are, after ail, only 'scraps of paper.' . Only one sure, lasting peace is possible, and that is when the individuals of the nations are tilled with tiie spirit of the Prince of Peace." That day they had realised that they had had a vision they had never had before. If they were tilled with the spirit .of Christ they would be in a position to say there should be no more war. . When tne church carried out Christ's teachings she would be the greatest power in the world, and would not be brushed aside. Let them, then, pray for the outpouring of Christ's spirit upon the troubled waters of the world and the church. They wanted the spirit of a united church that they may dg able to fulfil their place in tho world. So they would go forward and do all they could to bring about the healing of their unfortunate divisions and do all for the extension of Christ's Kingdom on earth.

Special hymns, psalm's, litany, and prayers were used. Mrs King presided at the organ. The singing of the National Anthem brought to a close a. memorable day in the church life of Hawera.