THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23330, 23 October 1937, Page 24

THE SUNDAY CIRCLE

RELIGIOUS READING FOR THE HOME , THE CHRIST-LIFE Grim disappointment, bitter woe. And grief which only God can know Strong grappling while the stormwinds toss To carry worthily a cross. More storm than calm, more shade than sun; More faith in the Eternal One. More striving for a better day For others sojourning this way; More faithful labour when our light Is dimmed awhile by sorrow's night, With steadfast will unflinchingly.Exhausted—but triumphantly, Extracting joy from efforts made. And strangely happy, unafraid. This is the road the Master trod, His footprints lead us straight to God. (Blodwen Davies in The British Weekly.) PRAYER I thank Thee, 0 Lord, that Thou hast placed an angel behind me—hast glorified the things of memory. I thank Thee that the resurrection angel sits upon the stone where sleeps my buried past, and gives me promise that it will rise again. ... I do not wish a child's forgetfulness. but a man's remembrance. I am not so eager that the tears should be wiped as that the tears should be vindicated. It is easy to ex Eunge— the angel in front can do that, ut to explain—that needs an angel at the back of me. Send into my past not a cloud, but a sunshine—not an oblivion, but a glory. Amen. —(George Matheson. D.D.) GRIPPING THE AGE The Rev. L. D. Smith, Wesley Church, Melbourne, preaching from the text, "Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden," affirmed "that if the Church wished to come to grips with this age, she would not worry overmuch about sacraments, creeds, and dogmas. She would preach Christianity, not as a system of thought but a way of living, the basic principles of which were love, righteousness, peace, equity, justice, and brotherhood. Imagine what would happen if the great proletariat of the world came to Christ. All economic troubles are ultimately due to rejection of religion. If labour would learn of Christ and set about organising its life according to His way, labour might redeem the world. The solution of all our problems Is in Christ." FOR EACH DAY'S MEDITATION "OUR WONDERFUL REDEEMER" Sunday "O my Redeemer, What a Friend Thou art to me; O What a Refuge. I have found in Thee." "Behold the Lamb of God, whicn taketh away the sin of the world.John i: 29. Monday.—" Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God." Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again."—John iii: 5 and 7. Tuesday.—" Verily, verily, 1 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. Wednesday.—" Jesus said unto them i am the bread of life; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out." —John vr 35 and 37. Thursday.—" Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight. 0 Lord, my strength and my Redeemer."— Psalm xix, 14.

•• Fear not: for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."—lsaiah xiii, 1. Friday—" Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: J am the Lord thy Ood which teacheth thee to profit which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." "O that thou hadst.hearkened to My commandments."—lsaiah xlviii. 17 and 18 Saturday.—" Then had thy peace been as a river, and thy. righeous as the waves of the sea."—lsaiah xlviii. 18 "Their Redeemer is strong: the Lord of hosts is His name: He shall thoroughly plead their cause that He may give rest to the land. '—Jeremian ' ' ' -H. R. Higggens. in A.C.W. SECULARISM IN THE WORLD TO-DAY Professor John Baillie, of Edinburgh, chose as his subject for the Lee-Lee-ture, "The Secularistic and Demonic Forces in the World To-day." "Secularism," he said, "was essentially the same thing as humanism. He traced its rise to the Renaissance, which gave dignity and independence to the secular interests. To-day all the old passwords of the humanistic period were under challenge or suspicionfreedom, liberalism, democracy and even rationalism. The tragedy of what was happening in Europe to-day was not that reason was being too much trusted, but that it was being openly flouted. It looked sometimes as if the time might be coming when Christians would be found defending reason and humanity and likewise philosophy and progress, and even democracy, against a world given over to unreasoning obedience and spurious authoritarianisms and the leadership of many contending messiahs. We must learn again that 'man's chief end is to glorify God,' and once again we must bring all our lesser ends into relation to that." SOME PITHY SAYINGS "As we wait upon God we find the pathway to power."—Preb. W. W. Qash. " God save us from an insincere consecration."—The Rev. W. H. Aldis. "The Church realised the Kingdom of God, and becomes the deposit of it for the world."—Dr Campbell Morgan, "The wind of His Spirit blows free through the world, and where you are at this moment may become the Hill of the Lord to you."—The Rev. H. Earn-shaw-Smith. "A pessimist is a man who blows out a candle to see how dark it is."—Dr S. M. Zwemer. CHRISTIAN SCIENCE CHURCHES "Probation After Death" Is th« subject of the lesson-sermon in all Churches of Christ, Scientist, tomorrow. The Golden Text is: "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Matthew, xxiv, 13.) Among the citations which comprise the lesson-sermon are the following from the Bible: "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that }9 written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians, xv, 53, 54.) The lesson-sermon also contains th« following passage from the Christian Science text .book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy: " Existence continues to be a belief of corporeal sense until the Science of being is reached.