The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-10-18
HELPFUL CHURCHES
Rev. DR.. Ta1mage Says the Church
Should be Practical
Sanctuary Help Should Come From the
Music, the Sermon and the Rpayers
of the Heeple-Fifty hymns Arc
Enough for fifty Years


mon follows
II you should ask Atty men what the
church is they would give you fifty
different answers. One man would say,
1T L. convention Of hypocrites."
Another, "It is Hn assembly Of people
who feel themselves groat deal better
than Others" Another, 1T 10 q place
for gossip where wolverine disposi-
tions devour each other" Another, 1T
is place for the cultivation OF super
sGtion and can't" Another, 'It is an
arsenal where theologians go TO get
pixies and muskets and shot" Another,
'Tt is an AIT gallery, whore mon go TO
admire grand arches, and exquisite
fresco, and musical warble, and tho
Dantesque In gloomy imagery. An
other man would say, ut Is the best
place on Garth except my own homo.
If forget thee, o, Jerusalem! let my
right hand forget her cunning"
Now, my friends, whatever the
church is, my text tells you what 1t
ought to be; great, practical, homely
omnipotent help. Send the help from
the sanctuary" The pew ought to
yield restfulness to the body. Tho
color Of the upholstery ought to yield
pleasure to the eye. The entire serv-
ice ought TO yield strength for the moil
and struggle OF everyday life. The
Sabbath ought to be harnessed to all
the six days Of the week, drawing them
in the right direction. The church
ought to be magnet, visibly and
nightly affecting all the homes Of the
worshipers. Every man gets roughly
jostled, gets bruised gets cut, gets in
suited, gets sighted, gets exasperated.
BY the time the Sabbath comes, uhas
an accumulation of six days annoy
Gnce, and that is u stKrvling church
service which has not strength enough
to take that accumulated annoyance
and hurl it into perdition. The busi-
ness man sits down in church hcadachy
from the weeks engagements Fer
haps he wishes he had tarried at home
on the lounge with the newspapers
and the slippers That man wants to
be cooled off, and graciously diverted.
The first wave of the religious service
! ought TO dash clear over the hurricane
decks, and leave him dripping with
holy and glad and heavenly emotion.
"Send thee help from the sanctuary"
In the frst place, sanctuary help
! ought to oeme from the music. A
woman dying in England persisted In
singing until the last moment. The
attendants tried TO persuade her 10
stop, saying 1t would exhaust her and
make her disease worse. She answered;
81 must stag; | an only practicing Tor
the heavenly choir" Music on earth
is a rehearsal FOR music In Heaven. II
you and are going to take part in
that great orchestra, 1t Is high
time that we were stringing and
drumming our harps. They tell us that
Thalberg and Gottschalk never would
20 into concert until they had first
in private rehearsed, although they
were such masters Of the instrument.
And can 1t be that we expect TO take a
part in the great oratorio Of Heaven II
we do not rehearse here? But am
not speaking Of the next world. Sab
bath song ought to sot all the week 10
music We want not more harmony
not more artistic expression, but more
volume in our church music.
Now, am no worshiper Of noise, but
/ believe that II our American churches
would with full heartiness OF soul and
full emphasis OF voice sing the songs Of
Zion, this part Of sacred worship would
have tenfold more power than 1t has
now. Why not take this part Of the
sacred service and lift II TO where II
ought TO beP All the annoyances ot
life might be drowned out of thai
sacred song. Do you tell mo that II Is
not fashionable to sing very loudly
Then, / say, away with the fashion
We dam back the great Mississippi o.
congregational singing, and let few
drops Of melody trickle through the
dam. say, take away the dam, anC
let the pillows roar on their way to the
oceanic heart of God. Whether it Il
fashionable to sing loudly or not, let III
sing with all possible emphasis.
We hear great deal Of the art o
singing, of music as an entertainment
of music as a recreation. 1t Is higl
time we heard something Of music rs {
help, practical help. In order to d.
this, we must only have a few hymns
New tunes and new hymns every Sun
day make poor congregational singing
Fifty hymns are enough for iftyyears
The Episcopal church prays the samt
prayers every Sabbath, year after year
and century after century. For tina
reason they have the hearty responses
Let us take hint from that fact, anC
let us sing the same songs Sabbath
after Sabbath. Only In that way can W,
come to the full force of this exercise
Twenty thousand years will not weai
out the hymns Of William Cowper, and
Charles Wesley, and Isaac Watta Sup
pose now each person in this audienc,
has brought all the annoyances Of tn,
last three hundred and sixty-fve days
Fill this room to the ceiling with sacret
song. and you would drown out al
those annoyanoes OF three hundred
and sixty-Hve days and you woult
drown them out forever. Organ ant
cornet are only to marshal tn,
voice. Let the voice fall int,
line, and in companies, ant
in brigades, by storm take the OBJ
duracy and sin Of the world. II 20,
cannot sing for yourself, sing for others
BY trying to give others good cheer
you win bring good cheer 70 your owl
heart. When Londonderry, Ireland