SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22830, 14 March 1936, Page 7

SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME I DO NOT ASK. I do not ask, 0 Lord, that life may be A pleasajit road, I do not ask that Thou woulds-t take from me Aught of its load. I dp not ask that flowers should always spring Beneath my feet; I know too well the poison and the sting Of thiiiKs too sweet. For one thing only, Lord, dear Lord, I plead, Lead nic aright. Though strength .should falter, and though heart should bleed Through peace to light. —Adelaide Anne Procter. PRAYER. 0 God, Whose joy ia in service to Thy children, give us the kindly will, the never-failing patience, the helpful spirit of love toward all whom Thou hast made our neighbours in this earthly life. As Christ our Lord in ministry of service gave Himself f<jr men, enable us by watchfulness for opportunity and glad selfgiving to follow His- example. So take and use our efforts at like ministry as offerings from our grateful hearts "i memory of all thy love toward us through Christ our Example and our Lord.-Amen. —lsaac 0. Rankin. A TEXT FOR EACH* DAY'S MEDITATION. "A BUNCH OF EVERLASTINGS." Sunday.—" The Eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the Everlasting arms." —Deut, xxxiii, 27. " He hath made with me an Everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: lor this is all my salvation and all. my desire."—2 Samuel, xxiii, 5. Monday.—" The mercy of the Lord is from Everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children "—Psalm, ciii, 17. . " Surely, he shall not be moved for ever; the righteous shall be in Everlasting remembrance." —Psalm cxiu 6. Tuesday.—" Thy righteousness is an Everlasting righteousness, and Thy law is the truth."—Psalm cxix, 142. "Incline your car. and come unto Me. hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an Everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."—lsaiah Wednesday.—" The Lord is the true God. He is the living God. and an Everlasting King. 0 Lord, I know that the of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." —Jeremiah, x, 10 and 23.

"Yea. I have loved thee with an Everlasting love."—Teremiah xxxi. 3. Thursday.—"He that bclieveth on the Son hath Everlasting life; and lie that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth oil Him.'' — John iii, 36. " But whosoever drinketh of the water that 1 shall give him shall never thirst." —John iv, 14. Friday.—" Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath Everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."—John v, 24. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He tint believeth on Me hath Everlasting life. John vi, 47. Saturday.—" Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto Everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you: for Hun hath the Father sealed."—John vi. 27. Jesus Christ is my loving Redeemer. I pray He may be yours. —H. R. Higgens. in A.C.W. STRAY THOUGHTS Prayer is the pillar of religion and the kev of paradise.—Mahomet. He that loveth little prayeth little; he that loveth much, prayeth much.—St. Augustine. Spirituality is seeing God in common things and showing God in common tasks. —M. Babcock. In a state, pecuniary gain i s not to be considered to be prosperity, but its prosperity will be found in righteousness Confucius. .•■■■■ Ye believers, fear God and desire to draw near to Him, and strive in the way of God (Holiness) that ye may be happy. —The Koran. They ask me for secrets of holiness, ior myself I know no secret than to love God with all my heart and my neighbour (which is all mankind) as myself.—St. Francis. THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.' In connection with the Church Missionary Society hospital at Hangchow rural clinics are being developed. They ate usually held in small market towns or large villages where there is already a Christian church. The clinic is advertised by posters a week in advance if possible, and is held in premises adjacent to the local church. The visiting party ma/ consist of a European doctor and nurse with a Chinese dispenser aud one or more Chinese evangelists. The programme includes an evangelistic talk, personal conversation, and a public health talk, iu addition to the examination of patients, who often number some 200. Such work would have been impossible before the building of a system of motor roads which have opened up the country districts to a great extent. ABYSSINIAN EMPERORS AND THE BIBLE SOCIETY. Over the door of the editorial superintendent's room in the Bible House, Queen Victoria street, hangs a splendid pair of elephant tusks, a gift from Menelek li, a former Emperor of Ethiopia, to show his appreciation of the work of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The present Emperor has shown an equally keen interest in the society. During a visit to England he called at the Bible House in London, where he was particularly interested in the Coptic and Ethiopic manuscripts. He presented the society with £IOO to be de voter] to the library, and with this gift a large globe, showing the positions of the languages in which the Scriptures are published, was purchased and installed in the library. The Gospels in Gofa, Sidamo. and Gudeilh which the Bible Society has produced for Abyssinia are printed at the royai printing press in Addis Ababa. The Bible Society's latest annual report states that the circulation of the Scriptures in Abys sinia this year has only been exceeded once since the society bo?an work in that country. A CHINESE CURATE IN AN ENGLISH PARISH. The first sermon preached by a Chinese clergyman attached to an English church was delivered on Sunday morning, December 20. The preacher was the Rev. Addison Hsu, of the Kwangfi Diocese, who has joined Christ Church, Folkestone, for three months to study life in an English parish before returning to his own country. The invitation to act as temporary curate was extended to Mr llsu by the vicar, the Rev. C. A. Martin, with the consent of the Archbishop of Canterbury. A largo congregation assembled to hear the young Chinese minister. THE KAIL OK UITUXCTUALITY. A local citizen burst into the office of a railroad official and demanded: "J want you to give orders that (lie engineer of the express 1 that nasscs through Elm grove lie forbidden to blow the whistle on Sunday mornings." The railroad oilicial retorted: "Why, that's impossible. What leads you to make such nn unreasonable request? " "Well, our preacher preaches until he hears the train whistle blow—and that confounded express was 35 minutes' late last Sunday."—Boston Globe. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE SERVICES. "Substance" is the subject of the lesson-sermon in all Churches of Christ, Scientist, to-morrow. The golden text is " Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase." (Proverbs iii: 9.) Among the citations which comprise the lesson-sermon are the following from the Bible:—"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word

of God, so that Ihinss which are seen were, not inade of tilings which do appear." (Hebrews ii: I, •'>.) The losson-ti'i'inoi) also included the following passages from the Christian Science text book, ''Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," by Mary Baker Eddy:—"All substance, intelligence. wisdom, being, immortality, cause and effect belong to God. These are His attributes, the eternal manifestations of the infinite divine principle, love. Xo wisdom is wise but His wisdom: no truth is true: no love is lovely; no life is life but tlie divine: no good is but the good God bestows.' 1