THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22102, 4 November 1933, Page 21

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME IN THE SECRET OF HIS PRESENCE. When winds are raging o’er the upper ocean, And billows wild contend with angry roar, 'Tin said, far down beneath the wild commotion, That perfect stillness reigneth evermore. Far, far beneath, the noise of tempest dieth, And silver waves chime over peacefully: And no rude storm, how fierce soe’er it flieth. Disturbs the Sabbath of that deeper r sea. So, in the heart that knows Thy love, 0 Saviour, There is a temple, sacred evermore, And all the tumult of life’s angry voices Dies in hushed silence at its peaceful door. Far, far away the roar of passion dieth, And loving thoughts rise calm and peacefully; And no rude storm, how fierce so’er it flieth, Disturbs the soul that dwells, 0 Lord, in Thee. 0 rest of rests! 0 peace serene, eternal! Thou ever liveet, and Thou changest never; And in the secret of Thy presence dwelleth Fulness of joy, for ever and for ever! —Mrs Beecher Stowe. PRAYER. Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we humbly acknowledge our manifold sjns and offences against Thee by word and deed. We have neglected opportunities of good which Thou in Thy love gavest unto us. We have been overcome by temptations, from which Thou wast ready to guard us. We have looked unto men and not unto Thee in doing our daily work. We have thought too little of others, and too much-of our own pleasure in all our plans. We have lived in forgetfulness of the life to come. But Thou are ever merciful 'and gracious to those who turn to Thee; So ‘now we come to Thee as those whom Thou wilt not cast out. Hear, 0 Lord, and have mercy upon us, 0 Almighty God, heavenly Father, who forgivest iniquity ‘ and transgression. 0 Lord Jesus Christ, Lamb of' God, who takest away the sin of the world; 0 Holy Spirit, who helpest the infirmities of those who pray, receive our humble confession. Give us true repentapce and sincere faith in Thee. Do away with our offences, and give us grace to live hereafter more worthily of our Christian calling; for the glory of Thy great name. Amen.—Bishop Westcott, 1825. A TEXT FOR EACH DAY’S’ MEDITATION. “HAVE FAITH IN GOD.” Sunday.—“l am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation unto every one {hat believeth. . . . For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” —Romans i, 16 and 17. Monday.—“ Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God / through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom we haye access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”—Romans v, 1 and 2. Tuesday.—“ God commendeth His love toward .us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood,we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” —Romans v, 8 and 9. Wednesday.—“ I beseech you therefore, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by thfe renewing of your mind.” —Romans xii, 1 and 2. Thursday.—“ That ye may prove what is that good, and and perfect will of God.” —Romans xii, 2. “Without faith it is impossible to please God. for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.”—Hebrews xii, 6, Friday.—" For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith, ' Who is he that overcometh the world; but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.” —1 John v, 4 and 5. Saturday—“ But ye,beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Ghost. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking tor the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal life.”—Jude 20-24. —H. R. Higgens in A. C. W. A. J. RUSSELL. Writing in the Australian Christian World, the Rev. F. C. Spurr says:— Mr A. J. Russell, whose book “ For Sinners Only ” made_ such a stir a year ago, and which is still a best seller, has written a sequel to his famous book, it is entitled “One Thing I Know," and it is a deeper book than the other. He seems to give an intellectual background to his experience, and a sort of theology. It will be widely read,, and justly so, since his conversion was so thorough. 1 met him at Oxford. He was not at all the man I expected to find. A big burly man, of fine dimensions, he looks, the typical man of business. But there is m his mien, and particularly in hie eyes, 'that indefinable something which proclaims the one who has found and is at peace with God. A young fellow ot similar build came into my pulpit a tew Sunday mornings ago—at my request—and told to a great congregation how he had been changed by the Oxford group. It made an enormous impression upon people whom I had never before seen stirred. Things are happening, thank God, and moral miracles are being performed. Sometimes I feel an Apostolic urge within me to go out, as once I did, and tell to thousands all about these wonderful changes that are taking place. It is a new kind of revival. It needs guiding, but we cannot ignore it. A MORE SPIRITUAL OUTLOOK. A recent arrival in Sydney, says the Australian Christian World, declares that the swing of the pendulum is sweeping the youth of England from the recklessness and materialism of the years immediately following the war to a more sober and spiritual outlook. He says: 1 think there is a distinct improvement. There is an inquiring spirit among the ■younger people. They are becoming rather tired of their, pleasures and pastimes, and of their secularism, and are seeking something more spiritual _ and satisfying.” This is very gratifying—and encouraging to those who have the welfare of our youth at heart, SERVICE AS REDEMPTION. The Rev. D. H. Telfer, preaching in Winnipeg, said: “I know of nothing so redemptive as the service of God. If men walk without direction they are in danger of going to pieces. There is a character in H. G. Wells’s works who says, ‘ I’m not a man, but a mob/ That comes from having no purpose which sets one aside from the mob and stamps one as an individual.” INTERCOMMUNION. The Rev. Canon Guy Rogers, in a paper he read to the Modern Churchmen’s Conference, made an appeal for intercommunion between the Church of England and the Free Churches. “ What the non-episcopal miilistries need to be assured of,” he said, “is . not that the Church of England proposes to abandon either episcopacy for itself or its belief in constitutional episcopacy as the best form of government for a widespread and far-flung Church, but that it does not make any exclusive claim for it as essential to a valid sacrament. _ Until that answer is forthcoming in specific acts of intercommunion, disabling doubt will hamper the negotiations and, if unresolved, will ultimately destroy them.” CAUSE TO FEAR. Dr J. D. Jones, C.H., who was married on September 5 in Wales, spent part of July at Gleneagles, Scotland. What he saw caused him to write: “This neglect of the Sabbath —this disregard of worship is no sign of progress. It is "something to cause concern to those who truly love their land. The Sabbath has >een one of the great bulwarks of our moral life. It has been a recurring reminder of God.”

A METHODIST APPEAL. The Rev. A. T. Holden, Presidentgeneral of the Australian Methodist communion, has been pleading for church unity. Like everyone else, he sees that a unity based on a form of words, even a form of sound words, would not be effective, even if it were possible. It piust not be sought by bargaining or compromise. The past futile efforts are discredited. Mr Holden belieevs the unity must come through combined activities and a richer spiritual vitality, at any rate it ought to come, for the Church cannot do its best work disunited as it is. PROCESSIONS OF WITNESS. Lately the Methodists and now the Christian Endeavourers have been treating Melbourne to the sight of a procession of witness. Some 2000 Endeavourers, by allowance of the City Council, marched through the city to a mass meeting in the Exhibition Building, on a Saturday afternoon. The members marched six abreast. One unexpected result of this religious processioning will be the growth of symbolism in nonepiscopal churches. The band and the banners are a necessary part, and some symbols of the faith will be a felt want, these with singing give life to a march.