OUR SUNDAY CIRCLE

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 13966, 25 August 1917, Page 3

OUR SUNDAY CIRCLE

WHAT THE CHURCHES kit

DOING.

PRAYER.

\ Oiir Father, we come to.Thee with thankful hearts, touched into gratitude, we (rust, by Thy manifold mercies, and as we look back on nil the way by which the Lord our God has led us wo would not let Tliy mercies die. without praises, but wpuld bless the Lord with all that is within us. "We pray Thee to help us that past experience may lead to present trust, and that we may front all the unknown future with the calm hearts that become those who know that God's past is the revelation of God's future. Thou hast been our help, therefore. we pray with unfaltering faith that wc shall be heard. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amcii,

A SPLENDID HYMN. In an article contributed to the London Christian World by the Rev, W. Garrett llorder, he quotes the following hymn, which, he says, "in this day of widespread sorrow, is bringing comfort to a multitude of hearts." The author is the Rev.Luciaii Ifosmer. It is set to Mr E, D. Kendall's tune "Hillitop":- ■ Father, to Thee we look in all our

sorrow; Thou art the fountain whence our healing Hows; Dark though the night, joy conieth with the morrow; Safely they rest who on Thy love

repose, When fond hopes fail, and skies' are dark before us, When (he vain cares that vex our

lives increase,Comes with its calm the thought that Thou art o'er us, And we grow quiet, folded iii Thy

PQftee, Naught shall affright us, on Thy goodness leaning; Low in the heart faith singcth still

her song; Chastened by pain, we learn life's deeper meauing; And in our weakness §hon dost make us strong. Patient, O heart, though heavy be Hiy sorrows; He not cast down, disquieted in vain; Yet shall thou praise Him, when these darkened furrows, Where now ho plouglicth, wave with golden grain.

SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSONS, August 26th, ; "The Captivity of Christ."-11. Kings xxv, 1-21, . Golden Text: "As I live, saith tho Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,"—Ezekiel zzziii. 11.

September 2nd. "The Shepherd of Captive Israel."— Ezekiel xxxiv, Golden Text: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."—Psalm xxiii. 1.

SAY SO! (By Rev. J. H. Jowett, D.D)

"Lot the redeemed of the Lord say so."—Psalms cvii. 2. c - You would have thought they could not have helped saying so. They have had marvellous happenings in their souls and they have said nothing about it. It is amazing what men can experience and yet retain their silence. It is possible to be a dumb participant in grace. There are emancipated slaves who never mention their deliverance. There are men and women who have been lifted out of the horrible pit and out of the mire and clay, who are never heard going along the road with a new song in their mouths. People receive marvellous comfort in sorrow, strange cordials and balms, who never refer to their healing. This is the tragedy of dumb disciplcship. It is possible to come into the riches of the love of Christ and yet never to name the Lover's name. You would think they would mention it because they could not help it. You would assume that their silence would be broken under the sheer compulsion of a great joy or by the equally .powerful constraint of an upspringing praise. But there is another reason beside that' of common gratitude why we should open our lips in glad and reverent testimony. T.he sincere witnessing to a.secret spiritual happening strengthens and enriches the experience. If 1 may so put it, we oxygenate our inner life when we give it sacred expressions. That is so with our feelings. Peelings that are dumb arc apt to become- faint. Gratitude which never says "Thank you" lias a very precarious life. Pity which hugs itself in secret soon passes away. These feelings arc strengthened and confirmed by a wise publicity. And so it is with truth, Wo grasp truth with a.firmer hand as soon as we begin to give it away. The disciple is never matured until lie liecomes an apostle. When vc proclaim the. gosficl to another man it reveals itsolf in new brightness'and glory. If we live unto ourselves we surely die. In this, as in all ot).x matjers, the socrct of saving one's life is to give it away; in'losing it we have it for ever. And. therefore. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." '

And we must "say so" because- the living witness is ono of the great ministries by which the heavenly life is to bo transmitted to others, We cannot overestimate the quickening influence ofn really vital testimony to the renowiiifr, energies of grace and to the providential leadings of our God. ' AVlien an-' honest man, speaking about theW things, reverently and strongly says, "I. know,'!' his. assurance seizes tlnytimidities arid the hesitancies, of others and consolidates them into a regal strength.' ■ Tho firm and,quiet:Word of the believer

pi ovules the. antidote to panic, and tinnsfoims many a tiembling ilosprtor into a couingeous soldier of tho Loul, And ncvei had the behvei moio wonderful oppoitunities foi witnessing than he has to day It is thojioufpf the lay witness Would that all tho lowM sonants were piophetsl Let us toll what we have seen; let us pioclaim tthnt we ha\e known "Let the redeemed of the' Lord say so!" , ..;•

NEWS AND NOTES. . The monthly magazine of Broughton Place Uhurch, (Edinburgh, tells of an interesting scheme carried out through the agency of the Christian Endeavour Society. " Each week, the morning sermon has been taken down, and copies typed,, these being then passed round by the members of the Society. Thus those' who, through age or illness,, could not attend the church service, have still a share in its privileges. Not a few who, able to worship with trie congregation, miss a great deal through the affliction of "deafness, have.also shown their appreciation of this ministry, Already "between thirty and forty members of the congregation are kept regularly supplied."

Tho liberality of tho United' Free Church of Scotland has once more passed the million pounds record. For the support of the ministry, but not including supplements, the amount contributed was £284,21.13, an increase of £ls, 568; for missions at home, £13,083, a decrease of £0694; for missions abroad, £103,247, an increase of £8056. The general increase' compared with last, year is one of £33,267.

The statistics of the, Church of Scotland havo been published, and on the whole compare favourably with those of last year! Collections and contributions for all purposes amount to £422,280, as compared with £416,818 for 1915. Tho

number of communicants on the roll at the end of 1916 was 721,158,, an increase of 21.

The movement'for admitting women members to church councils and diaconates gathers volume every week, Dr. R. F. Hqrton, writinfjn'' Church Life,'' the annual report of Lyndhurst Road Church, Hampstead, states that 1 ' tho church has gone through "a searching experience" in the question of olecting women to the administration of tho church. Dr. Horton asked the men at the front for their opinion. "Tho majority of these younger men," he says, "with whom lies the hope of the future, are clearly of opinion that women are coining to their own in all departments of human life, and if tho Church, closes her eyes to this she will seal her own doom." Since Dr. Horton wrote his "Foreword" in March his Church has decided to give women a place in church management.

Rev. Dr. John Kelman's American tour during which he explains to the great audiences ho addresses, Britain's aims and position in the; war is to be extended. He is raising tho U.S.A. war sentiment to a very high level,

Westminster Chapel, London, of which Dr. Jowett has now accepted the pastorate, shares with tho City Temple the honour of being one of the largest Congregational Churches in London. Both havp seating accommodation for 2,500 people, although the City Temple is usually regarded' as the '' headquarters" of the denomination on account of its longer history, dating bnclc to 1640, some 200 years before Westminster Chapel was founded. In the English provinces there are a few larger Congregational churches, the biggest of them all-Wood Street, Cardiff-hold-ing no fewer than 3,000 worshippers.

Out of a native population of 90,000 Fijian*, more than 80,000 claim association with the Methodist Church. There are 730 churches and 950 schools attached to the mission, and a large staff of European and native workers is regularly employed in fhe work. In addition to its efforts to serve the Fijian population, the Methodist Missionary Society has for several years been endeavouring to further the welfaro of the Indian community in Fiji, which now numbers 513,000. In some degree Fiji has felt the influence of the movements which' arc at work in larger and more advanced communities, and which arc creating new problems for missionary workers.