Morning journal and courier., 1885-09-21
PREsRYTER1AN SERVICES.

Sermon By Rev. MT. Rodger
 The Hudson River Presbytery-
 A New Church Organization Prob-
 able.
 The announcement made few days ago
 that meeting would be held at the lecture
 room of the College street church on Sunday afternoon at o'clock under Presbyterian
 auspices led to considerable speculation
 among church goers as to what the inno- vation really meant. Some went so far as to announce their firm conviction that the College street church was 'tgoing over in a body" to the Presbyterian denomination, al-
 though this opinion was not very generally endorsed The whole matter was set at rest yesterday, however, at the meeting in ques- tion. At the hour appointed for the meet ing there were only about twenty persons present, but the numbor was increased by the addition of four or five others who came in after the service had commenced. The services were conducted by Rev. J. G. Rod ger of Newburg- on -the-Hudson, and mem Der of the Hudson river presbytery, under whose direction he labors. The opening exer- cises were not unlike those of other denom- nations except that the preacher had to act as cho1ister, and in both positions he seemed perfectly at home. His text was taken from the eighth verse of the 18th Psalms: ''Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth" He spoke in substance as follows: Men inherit religions as truly as they inherit character istics. The devout Jew, when he read the passage "And God said let us make man in our image, after our likeness" believed that God moulded the plastic clay with his own
 hands and breathed his own divine breath into hic, efriI1 no1yi fo- tive of the devout Jew and he believed literally in what God said. There was an other class who said God was not 8 person
 ality and David called them fools. There was still another class who, though they knew God was their helper, did not recognize him as such. There are similar classes of men in the world to-day.
 The question arises, Is man able to ac- complish all for which God holds him sponsible? My position in the Presbyterian church is that God holds man responsible for more than he is able to perform. He tells him that he shall obey all of his laws, which he is unable to perform. God has designed that truth and human understanding shall stand together. It is Gods design that hon. esty and theft shall not come in contact. He demands that man shall live in harmony with all the relations in which he is placed Are any of us able to keep Gods code of laws, or do men keep them?
 
 of murders, of suicides! Some cannot help doing these things. They have an inherited weakness that they cannot overcome, ,,or they have not an inheritance of strength to over come and keep these laws within ourselves. God has not changed his laws. He holds us responsible and tells us, if we can, to keep his laws in ourselves. But we cannot do this without Gods help, Gods strength and Gods wisdom. Through his mercy and his strength can keep all of his code of laws. Why do we see so many failures in life? I do not mean failures ill business, but why do men fail to attain to that high state in life which they should? It is because they go forth in their own strength and thus fail. They neglect to lean upon God and that is why they fail.
 I come here to-day, not in my own strength, not in my own name, but in the name of God. In him and through him ex- pect success and to him shall be all the glory.
 On the conclusion of his discourse Rev. Mr. Rodger stated that if there were any Presbyterians present he should be pleased to make their acquaintance after the ser vices were concluded. Or if there were any present who know of any Presbyterian fami- if they would give him their names. He said he did not come to New Haven to pros elyte, but he came to look over the field and report to hi5 presbytery. It was reasonable to suppose that there were many Presbyteri- ans in the city that had connected themselves with other churches when they came here because there was no church of their own denomination in tie city. If it was found that there was enough of this class who desired to form themselves into a Presbyterian church or ganization then he was here to assist them in the work. He said that services would be held in one of the church lecture rooms on next Sunday and it was hoped, through the aid of the daily papers, to reach those inter ested in the work and secure their attend l ance. Due notice of the place of next meet l ing will be announced in the newspapers 1 later in the week.