GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 166, 15 June 1936, Page 9

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY

AWAHURI PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. SERMON BY REV. HUGH BEGGS. Marking the golden jubilee of the Presbyterian Church at Awahuri, a special service was held at morning worship yesterday, Rev. Hugh Beggs, Moderator of the Wanganui Presbytery, being the preacher. Following the service the / Sacrament of Communion was administered by Rev. W. J. Berry ,the minister in charge of the parish. Speaking specially to the boys and girls in the congregation, Mr Beggs said that their lives did not take them back over a great many years and so they could not take the part many of their elders would in celebrating the jubilee, but they could realise that the elder folk were handing on something that had been hard won. They were being handed a heritage that had been won by strong hands, clear minds and hard hearts. The elder people who had built that heritage had not lost in the game of life, because if they had there would have been nothing to hand on. The men and women of the district who had laboured for the church had left something worth while, and it was up to the younger people to play the game as the older {iwple had done. The liking of the people of New Zealand for team-games had shown the younger folk the value of being united, and the speaker exhorted those to whom he was speaking to act always in unison for the Church. Taking as his text Paul’s Second Epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 6, verse 1, Mr Beggs drew a picture of the relationship between Christians and their God. The first, and oldest, relationship was that of a slave, one who did not belong to himself, who was owned by another man and for whom a price had been paid. Into the world had come One Who had wanted to purchase slaves, but not slaves as we knew it in the material sense. He had known the price He would have to pay, but He came and paid it. There was another expression, proceeded the speaker, which said we had become “servants of Jesus Christ.” The servant was better than a slave. He came of his own free will, and might go at his own will, But Christ had said he would not call them servants any more but would call them friends. That placed Christ’s followers on a higher step than slaves and higher than servants. Christ had wished to be thought of as a man, and, if that spirit of friendship were running through the world now it would 'be a wonderful thing. As a friend, Christ told us the secrets His Father had told Him. What a wonderful thing was the offer of such friensliip! First a man was a slave of sin, proceeded the speaker, then a servant of God, after that a friend, and then Christ spoke to him and he became a free man. There came a day in the life of Jesus Christ when He found people going away and leaving Him. The person who had used their freedom had been those .who had stayed with Him. They had exercised it in staying. CO-WORKERS WITH GOD.

Further still, there was the position of partner and co-worlter wn.it God, saiu Mr .beggs. it was as it a company had been tor mod with God, and people were sharing witii Him. Men saiu that in a partnership the first consideration was capital. Where were we to get that capital '( Paul told us that Gou found the capital. The greatest part of the capital was love, and lack of love was wnat the world was suffering trorn to-day, not lack of knowledge or of money. The second part of the capital was wisdom. We ffud none of it ourselves. The wisest of us were very toolish really, and we were most toolish where religion was concerned. The third section of the capital provided by God was power. W e might have love and wisdom, but we could not get anywhere without power; we could not progress. Young men and women bad more physical power than older people, but the power of the Lord did not grow old; there were no wrinkles even on the spirit of life. One found a sense of power in standing by great turbines or by great engines, and one sensed that same feeling of power when meeting some elderly persons whose life was nearly done. Christ had told Ilis disciples to wait at Jerusalem, Pentecost had come and they had been given that realisation of the power of God.

But if one formed a company ci.e had some enterprise in view, so what was the aim of forming the company with God? asked the preached. Cffrist liad come to this world to save souls and had made it possible for men to be redeemed. He bad said: “I am the vine, you are the branches.” The fruit was not borne on the vine but on the branches. The enterprise was the redemption of men. It was tor man tfien, to provide the fruit of the enterprise. .. , , , Supjmse a partnership tailed, what did we do with it? the speaker asked. 1 here was only one thing- to do and that was to end it. Because a small matter in the partnership might fail we could think that possibly the whole partnership would do so. It was oui own fault if the partnership failed, and the greatest thing in bringing about failures in the partnership war. lack of faithfulness. God gave us ample in love, wisdom and power. God had fulfilled His section of the partnership. AYe had a great opportunity in our partnership, one of fftting ourselves so that God might say: “I am making my will, and am making you My joint heir with Jesus Christ.” One could not go any higher than that in one’s relationship with God, the preacher concluded. The following were the hymns sung: “O AVorsliip the King, All Glorious Above,” '“All People That On Earth do Dwell,” “Rock of Ages” and “Art Thou AVeary.” The first Lesson was from the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and the second from the 14th chapter of St. Mark. Mr Berry announced that Mr Beggs would be preaching at a children’s service in the afternoon and that a choir from the Rangiotu-Tiakitaliuna charge would be singing at the evening service.