THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21196, 29 November 1930, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE.

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME. THE PROCESSION. Climbing Dawn upon the mountains, Drifting; gold and amethyst, . Fleeting wonder of the mist. Fleeting wonder of the cloud — Gazing on you, breaketh from us Jubilate Deo. Shining Noon upon the mountain, Spinner that from blue to red Spinning seven-coloured thread , Weaves one wide fair web of white— Gazing on you, breaketh from us Jubilate Deo. Golden Evening on the mountains. Spirit of enchantment yours. Spirit of the heathery moors. Spirit of the bluebell woods— Gazing on you, breaketh from us Jubilate Deo. Gentle Moon light on the mountains, Did the angels weave the pale Shimmering beauty of your veil To the sound of songs in., heaven? Gazing on you, breaketh from us Jubilate Deo. —Amy Wilson Carmichael, A PRAYER FOR HARMONY OP HEART WITH GOD. O Merciful God, be Thou now unto us a strong tower of defence, we humbly entreat Thee. Give us grace to await Thy leisure, and patiently to bear what Thou doest unto ns, nothing doubting, or mistrusting Thy goodness towards us; for Thou knowest what is good for us better than we do. Therefore do with us in all things what Thou wilt; only arm us we beseech Thee, with Thine armour, that •we may stand fast; above all things taking to us the shield of faith, praying always that we may refer ourselves wholly to Tjjy _ will, abiding Thy pleasure, and comforting ourselves in those- troubles which it shall please Thee to send us, seeing such troubles are profitable for us. We are assuredly persuaded that all Thou doest cannot but be well; and unto Thee be all glory and honour, both now and for ever. Amen. —Lady jane Grey, ajj 1553. A SCRIPTURE MESSAGE IN"”" MODERN WORDS. God’s Marvellous Love.—Moffat’s Translation of Romans 8:31 to 39. d^ ie J for l . us i-T ho can be against us? The God who-did not spare his own Bon but gave him up for us all, surely He will give us everything besides! Who is to accuse the elect of God? When God acquits, who shall condemn? Will Christ? the Christ who died, yes. and rose from the dead! The Christ who is •at Gods right hand, who actually pleads J 25 . u . s , ! , «m» ever part us from Unrists lore? Can anguish or calamity or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger °r the sword? ■ (Because, as it is W u l tl eD ’j^ or , Tby sake w e are being killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.) No, in all this we are more than conquerors through him For i am certain neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the +WTw£ r Powers of the Height or of the Depth, nor anything else in all creaw • f b T e to Part us from God’s love in .Christ Jesus our Lord. A TEXT FOR EACH DAY’S ■ MEDITATION. « race at aU e i T? ? od w.a sun and smew, the Lord will give grace and glory no goo d thing will He withhold fromthem ‘hat walk uprightly. m °f hast*, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee.’’—psalm 84:11-12 Of Hisi fullness have all we received and grace for grace. „ M „ or t “ e . la w was given by Moses, but ca “e by j esua . Christ. Behold the Lamfi of God which taketh sm of the world.”—J o hn 1:16V " There is no difference. All Dave snined and come short of the glory of Being justified f ree ]y by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jeaus?’—Romans 3:22 to 24. Wednesday.—" Where ein ■ abounded, B r jic6 did much more abound* ■ That as sm hath reigned unto death. even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord."—Romans 5:20-21. Thursday,—“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”—2 Cor, OiO, * “ Mygrace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”— 2 Cor. 12:9. \ ~ “ In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins •according to; the riches of His grace.”— Ephesians; 1:7. , “ For by grace are ye saved through taito; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God"—Ephesians 5:8. , Saturday.—“ One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all: . "But unto every one of us is given grace according t<> the measure of the gift of Christ.”—Ephesians 4:6-7. “Grace be with all. Amen.”—Heb. 13:5. —H. R. Higgins in A, C. W. IS THERE A FUTURE FOR THE CHURCH? “Is there a future for, the Church? ” asks the Rev. J. C. Neil, M.A.. 8.D,. in the Liverpool Congregational Magazine. Ine problem confronting the Christian Church of this country to-day," he writes, ' in the opinion of a growing number* of people is fast becoming the problem of its simple continuance!: Can it survive, the hardened neglect of the vast non-church-l goihg multitude and the easy indifference of so many of its nominally attached? Some have their fears." Having quoted recent remarks by Dr Douglas Brown and J • t L). Jones, Mr Neil adds; rt Now when two men of the eminence of those whose words I ■ have just quoted venture to speak with such gravity, there must be cause for heart-searching. But is there heart-searching ? There is unrest. There is discontent. There may be in some cases complaint. 1 But is there searching of heart on the part of those in whose hands the immediate future of the churches lies? If there is, the signs of it are not obtrusive. . ■ [ WHERE IS THE TROUBLE? The crisis of to-day is in the individual churches. It is only secondarily a matter of organisation; primarily it is a spiritual problem. The petty worldliness and the unimaginative mind, which are guiding so many of our churches to inevitable disaster, can only be dismissed by new receptions of spiritual power. Many of our diaconates, when they come to deal with the perpetual problem of changing times and needs,. or the occasional matter of choosing a minister, behave with the uninspired littleness of the directorate of a fourth-rate cotton mill, "We never did so in dear Mr -’ s time.” ..." We must have a young man who will solve our financial puzzle by largo congregations.” • . . are the well-known, futile formulas of disaster.”—Rev. George Shillito. ROBERT RAIKES’S HOUSE. Efforts are being made to raise £IO,OOO to purchase the house at Gloucester where Robert Raikes lived. Dr Roderic D.unkerley, speaking at the annual conference of the National Sunday School Union at Gloucester, said he had an option for the purchase of the house, which was in force until next June. The object was to make the house a real centre of religious activity for all the churches in Gloucestershire. The house was on view during the period of the conference, and some of the original furniture had been collected and placed in the building. A RELIGIOUS DRAMA MATINEE. Great interest was shown in the first London matinee performance arranged by the Religious Drama Society, of which the Bishop of Chichester is president and Dr Sidney Berry one of the vice-presi-dents. At the Rudolf Steiner Hall on Monday an excellent cast presented three mediffival mystery and miracle plays and a modern play, “ The Travelling Man,” by Lady Gregory. The object of the society is to co-ordinate the various efforts to make the stage an ally of religious teaching and. inspiration, and to encourage the writing of plays. (not necessarily on "sacred” subjects) which can be suitably performed under the auspices of the , CbMab; . ... . . ... . J