St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-11-25
THE OBLIGATORY SERMON.
DIR. j. II. TuttIe Makes an impress
sive and Appropriate Address.

DR.. TuttIe preached the dedicatOry
sermon. He took the very appropriate
text, Beauty for ashes" He said:
The text is short but the meaning is
long. 4 sermon from it, more impress
sive than mine, has been already
preached to you. Preached in the crea-
ton or recreation of this church, which
we have come this morning to dedicate.
Not many months ago the ground be-
meath US was covered with dreary
mass of debris and dust. the outlines of
the noble etiifice which once stood here,
were visible parts of the former walls
blackened and torn. mOurnfully testified
to the ruin which had been wrought in
them, and the handsome tower which
kept erect and intact against that temp
est of flame still held its solitary guard.
And this solid spire yet pointing heaven
ward its loyal finger, helped TO anchor
us to this spot, but for that We might
have dTifted to some new place.
Though the chimes had not the heart TO
ring nor we to hear them with such
desOlat on in sight. Although the clock
no longer counted out the hours for us.
the grand symmetrical structure which
held them drew our eyes and our
too. impreSSing us as often as We saw it
or passed by it with lessons of tidel-
ity. Fidelity to the ground which we
had Zealously dedicated TO God; fidel
ity to the associations and memories
which the fire had left uncOnSumed.
Nothing else remained of the almost
faultless temple which cost SO many
sacrifices to build, whose very stones
we had learned to love. and before
whose altar we had wOrShiped tOgP ther
so long: but. behold the change. What
have we now? When you came here
on that ever memorable winter morn
ing. and saw your beautiful
Church of the Redeemer falling into
sure destruction there fell upon
you a feeling of heavIness and
you were suddenly clothed with
sorrow. Look around you now
and see how God has fulfilled his
promise TO you. He said to you
in those dread hours and afterward
whatsoever we thought of our great
loss, whenever we came together
in strange places to worship, He said 10
us Il will give thee beauty for ashes, the
oil of gladness for mourning. the gar
ment of praise for the spirit of heavi-
ness"
We were weak and cast down then
now through the grace of God and the
love of Christ We are strong and cheer
full. The powers of heaven and the
powers of earth have combined and
mended our loss, relighted our dark
ened lamp and converted the ashes
where we sat discOpsOlate into another.
temple of beauty. We were cast down,
| have said, but we never lost faith. not
even in ourselves. The trustees were
men of wide and varied experience.
They called council and without hest
tatiOn resolved to rebuild. The society.
with not less bravery, met and ratified
the action. All talked 20 earnestly OF
tie matter that the troubles which
seemed to stand mountain high before
us at the start began to melt rapidly
away.
Tie keynote of our feelings to-day Is
one of rejoicing. and why should it not
be? We have had our time of lamenta
ton. let this be one of praise. A thrOng
of memories press upon he at this mo-
ment, memories which reach back
through all the years of my pastOrship
to the time whe first came among
you. My dear friends we have walked
together almost a quarter of a century
and " hat individual. what mutual eX
:
that period. The children whom met
then, meet now as men and women
What was little more than village
here then has grown to a large city
What changes have happened in town
What ira nsfOrmation and advances iI
our streets. in our business and bust
ness places. Yea. in our homes and In
| our lives. | remember our first meet
| ings; our small gatherings in Harrison
| hall. and then iii our new church in
Fifth street. | remember well how
pleasant that little church seemed t.
| us: how proud we were of it-Ot the
| frescOes, the first seen in the town; OF
| the organ. one of the first i'll the town
ahd a gift from one of our generOu:
! men, and of the growing congregations
| II is not strange if the almost complete
| happiness which filled our hearts in
/ those early years has not been eXcelleC
| even in our more prosperous years. God
| blessed in large measure and in many
! ways. The harmony which reigned
among US. the hopes which inspired the
warm friendship we felt for each other
| created what seems to ME now, as | look
| back upon it, an earthly paradise.
We had our gains and our losses. ouI
| Joys and our sorrows. Some of OuI
hopes persisted, some of our plans fell &C
| pieces. The ashes which our burned
| church left more than year and hall
ago are not the only ashes we have bad
to mourn over. Death, mightier than
fire, has swept our loved ones
down to the dust of the grave
We heard in the burial service
Earth to earth. and ashes to ashes. y
and we set bowed IN unutterable grief.
| and may we not praise God to-day that
he changed these ashes to beauty; also
that he has planted life in these place:
of death? Has he not given us a faitf
atleast which holds for us the treasure:
that we have lost OF whatsoever kind
! which has hung our darkest night full