Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1890-10-01
Religion as a Life.
SERMON BY REV. j. E. BUSHNELL AT ST.
MATTHEW'S CHURCH.


MATTHEW'S CHURCH.
Rev. j. E. Bushnell, pastor of St
Marks, in the new city of Roanoke, VS.
preached Sunday morning at st. Matthews
church, corner of Clinton and Amity
streets, Brooklyn, N. Y. Mr.. Bushnell ad.
dressed the reunion at Penmar last week
where over fifteen thousand Lutherans met
to promote the welfare of their church,
The sermon was based upon John i:14:
"The word was made flesh and dwelt
among US land we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father)
| full of grace and truth"
| He said: The religion of Christ is as SIM
| pie as mothers love for her child. God
is love. We may not fully explain this,
but the human heart knows what love is
An old roommate at Yale college told me
yesterday, in New York, that he seldom
went to church because it dealt with mat
ters which the human mind could not
understand. The apostle, however, de-
clares that the Word, the revelation of
God, was made flesh and dwelt among us
and we behold His glory, full of grace and
truth. Christ is the incarnation of divine
love. st. John had leaned upon the
Masters bosom and he could say we have
seen and heard and handled that which we
declare unto you. Religion is a life. The
gospel was not beautiful rainbow of alb
stract truth flashed across the darkened
sky by Almighty power. It comes full of
sympathy and cheer, grace and truth, in
the personal light of Gods Son. He came
to brighten and bless the world amid its
joys and sorrows. Living Christianity
comes from God and dwells among men in
the universal household of faith, where
kI,a~, = k1o &c ~.
ligion. 1t is more than love for God which
is the command of a holy law. Heaven is
love, not that we loved God, but that He
loved us, and sent His Son to be the pro-
pitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but for the sins of the whole world. One
day the shadow fell upon my home, as on
many others. The only son was taken to
the better life beyond. Not SO when God
gave His Son to suffer and die. The sor-
rows and sadness now is a picture of the
world in all ages. With His heart full of
the same love which the compassionate
Father feels for us and for all His children
everywhere in the great world to-day Jesus
left heaven and dwelt in world of sin,
going about among men, into their homes
and the market places and streets and high
ways, speaking the same words of grace
and truth for all alike. This gospel of love
for the sinner makes the whole plan of
salvation practical and plain. When we
know and believe the love that God hath
for us we must be able to tell others that
this same love is tor them. This is Gods
way of reaching and saving the lost. The
church is not living up to the standard
which the Master sets in his own example.
We need to have our hearts so full that we
can overflow and bless those in reach of US
amid the common walks of daily life. We
should make the way to heaven as clear as
the way to our earthly homes. The door
of the church should be open as wide here
as it is there.
Rev. Mr.. Bushnell was listened to with
much attention by large congregation
He is a speaker of much eloquence and
clearness of expression.