THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19904, 25 September 1926, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

KELIGIODS BEADING FOR THE HOME. where' the church domes in. Right where the handclasp a a little stronger, Right where the sm.Uo dwells a little • longer, That a where the church cornea m. There’s where the eun is a little brighter, Koike treat each other a little whiter, ■ And the bonds of home are a wee bit tighter. That’s where the church comes in. Over its steeple the skies seem bluer, Friendship’s within it a little truer. For that’s e here the church comes in. There’s a breath from God like a fresh breeze blowing, , There’s a stream of happiness, banks o’erflowing. And the richest reaping from patient sowing— That’s where the church comes in. When children’s lives are in the making, Or someone’s heart with grief is aching, That’s where the church cornea in. Where there’s more of Binging and lesa of sighing, Where there’s more of giving and less of buying, And the strong to help the weak are trying, That's where the church comes in. —By the Rev. Truman H. Woodward in the Congregationalism PRAYER. Lord out life has been darkened and burdened by unbelief. Belief in Thy Presence would have saved us from many a sin. Belief in Thy love won d have saved us from many an anxiety. Belief that Thou hearest prayer would have opened a channel for Thy wealth into our life. Graciously forgive our unbelief which has so crippled and impoverished us. Quicken faith in us, we beseech Thee, till the great fact of our life be that Thou art in it, and its chief joy that Thou lovest us, ami Thy purpose of good its abiding hope and confidence; for Thy name’s sake. Amen. TEXTS FOR DEVOTIONAL READERS. WAITING UPON GOD. I.—l wait for the Lord, my sOul doth wait, and in His word do I hope.—Ps. 130: 5. IX —Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the Lord, and he shall save thee.—Prov. 20 : 22. HI—I waited patiently for the Lord; and ha inclined unto me, and heard my cry.— Psa. 40’ 1. IV.—The Lord is good unto them that wait for uini, to the soul that soeketh Him. —Lam. 8: 25a. V—Wait on the Lord; be of good cour age, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait. I say, on the Lord. —Psa. 27: 14. VI. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our GOD ; we have waited for him, and He will save ue; this is the Lord-, ve have waited for Him, we will bs glad and rejoice in His salvation.—lsa. 25: 9. VII. The Lord is a God of judgment, blessed are all they that wait for Him.— Isa. 30: 16. AUTHORITY IN RELIGION. At the Conference of the United Methodist Church, held this year In Nottingham, the President (the Kev. H. James), in his presidential address on "The Outlook and the Task," said there were many grounds on which the Christian Church might find encouragement. Scholarship was making more and more room for God, and It was In their favour that they had learned to shift the basis of their creed from authority to experience. There would, of course, always be a place In religion for authority properly practised and enforced, but not the authority which was almost entirely external and merely mechanical, and was only workable so long as men were willing to he treated as children and have their thinking done and their creeds constructed for them. It was,, another reassuring sign that tbe Church had awakened as never before to the social sense of her creed. The supreme need of the hour, said the President, was a quickened sense of God. “Look around on the rampant Paganism of our times; notice the effrontery with which Sunday klnemas and Sunday games are multiplying; observe the ever-widening practice of gambling under all sorts of forms encouraged by municipal authorities, connived at by the magistrates, and Invested with a,seducing respectability by the Government of the day. Look at the character of present day literature, so much of your fiction dipped In sexuality, and the dally press serving up the garbage of Police Court and Divorce Court to widen Its circulation amongst the most prurient of the people. The public disregard of the sanctity of the Sabbath and of the olalmc of worship Is now a commonplace.” He noticed with Increasing seriousness bow little discipline was exercised by their Church. They had surrendered the power of the keys. They had forgotten their Puritan ancestry. Their direct need was a quickened sense of God. The Church had something to say, declared tbe President, about wages and conditions of labour and the homes of the people. She was urged to declare that until Capital and Labour each considered Itself a sacred stewardship, there would never be industrial peace, and when she saw little children In overcrowded and Insanitary areas foredoomed to physical weakness and moral defeat before tbe battle of life bad well begun, she was grieved In spirit, and turned an Indignant eye upon a supine society which quarrelled about houses Instead of building them. A MODERATOR’S PRONOUNCEMENT. The official address of the Right Rev. Dr R. Scott-West, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, was just the kind of production one might expect from the pen of a man of wide vision, gifted with the power of graceful expression whether in the spoken or written word. The advantage would be with thoee who heard the deliverance; for Dr ScottWest has distinctive personality and is at his best in the pulpit. In his address, there was an entire absence of the spirit of controversy, although there was no lack of sane and vigorous criticism. The Moderator held the balance between an unwarranted pessimism and a too exuberant optimism and ut tered many wise words which the Church will do well to take to heart. He put his finger upon some of the sore spots in the body politic as one would say, "Thou ailest here and there.” His diagnosis of the condition of tbe Church and his prescription for its betterment would seem to indicate that notwithstanding its obvious defects due to various causes, the Moderator believes that the maladies with which the Church is afflicted, are functional rather than organic and provided certain courses are followed there is still a future for the much abused and age-worn "body of Christ.” Dr ScottWsst does not mince matters in his trenchant criticism of what he calls "the existing state of affairs” in human society. He speaks of the present as “an aggressive and self-assertive ags, ’ which illustrates iisoil by belittling the past by changes in the standards of conduct, by a "side Blip in practical ethics,’ by the increasing cub-serv'em-e t-‘ tee -'•■M tio---oe appetite. He holds up to reprobation much v ...e uiei.k.,ito in me any as exhibiting ‘l* p.lll.um, ,10.,0..e U, souis altogether unworthy to piny the part of author.” He ia particularly severe in his castigation of "the moral pests ot society—pimps of passion—masquerading in the guise of oatsreura of innocent pleasure, laying their plans to demoralise the community in order to increase their material gains, ' and of others "who with light hearts remove the land marks winch were set up by uioir fathers at a great cost, foolishly imagining that the present is an abiding quantity,— that to ignore a law is to abrogate it, — and that a man does not reap what he has sown.” On the other hand tne Moderator has something to say to Christian people. For instance, ha does not find the antidote to this social poison in speculations as to the Second Coming of our Lord, or any of those eccentric interpretations of Scripture which tempt men to trust in theological theories rather than practical effort to bring people lo Christ here and now. The Moderator would have the .members of nis Church take a sober survey of the past, so that all comparisons between the present state of society and that of bygone days may be based upon a clear understanding of the facts ,of history as well as of the phenomena' of to-day. He is doubtful of the amount of credit for the amelioration of social life, due to the agency and influence of the Christian Church, but he has no doubt that the uplift of social conditions among the poor is due to the inspiration of the Christian spirit its "push and pull.” The Moderator declares sin to be everywhere a. very real and ugly fact, and although for periods the mischievous power of sin may be held in cheek so far as its public manifestation is concerned, it is sometimes blatant and defiant. Evil is broadcast ns well as good, and the increased facilities for intercommunication may worn bmh va re Si i e same time, Dr Scr.fMVest ’ffn'-e-" n-> *’-e whole an upward (rend. He ventures on the opinion—wub .vinca w,; «... . (.hat the lessening ot the r.uinbeia m professing Christians may be of advantage lo the Church; for Chnstianlity as a fighting force, is fat more selective than formerly when fashion, respectability, and tradition were powerful influences in favour of perfunctory attendance on public worship. As a means for building up the Church and making it» work effective on behalf of the Kingdom of God on earth, the Moderator urges the necessity for the right kind of leadership. In this connection Dr ScottWest declares; ’’At present the great man is conspicuous by his absence." In the larger aer.ee that is true; for there can he little doubt that the Church, whilst liberally siinniied with good men and women and fine Christians, is waiting for the "man of the age’’- not (lie kind of personage shepherded by Mrs Annie BesaiU—but the gieat mar. of the tvpe of John Wesley, who eavad EngXeevJ Iron I LPv..uuen in the eighteenth cm-