Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1893-10-19
AT THE TABERNACLE.
liEv. DR.. rALMAeE Dlsoouases UPON
HELPFUL CHURCHES.

liEv. DB. TALMAcE DlscoUAses UPON
HELPFUL CHURCHES.
Varied Definitions Of Rsiisious orsaniEa-
tions-The Ksssntiais Of Successful wos-
ship-Ths Right Kind Of REusie. Preach
Ing and Prarer-Doors 70 Hsavsa.
BRooKLYN, Oct. la-The character ofths
hymns given out by Rev. Dr.. Taimage In
the Brooklen TabernAcie Ehis forenoon
called for the unusual power Of congregs-
tional singing, organ and oornet, and the
voices OF the thousands OF worshipers made
the place resound with music. The subject
was, Helpful Churches" (" the text being
Psalms xx. 3. Send thee help from the
sanctuary"
II you should ask 30 men what the church
i. they would give you 30 different an
swers. One man would say, ut is q con-
vention Of hypo0iteA" Another, 1T Is an
assembly Of people who feel themselves a
great deal better than others" Another,
TT Is place for gossip, where wolverine
dispositions devour each other" Another.
"It is place for the cultivation Of super
stttion and can't" Another. IN Is an arsenal
where theoiogians 20 to get pixies and mus
kets and shot" Another, ut Is an art
gallery, where men 60 to admire grand
Arches, and exquisite fresoo, and musical
warble, and the Dantesqus 10 gloomy Inn
agery." Another man would say; ut is
the best place on earth except my own
home. II forget thee, o Jerusaleml let
my right hand forget her cunning"
Now, my friends, whatever the church Is,
my text tells you what It ought to be, a
great, practical. homely, omnipotent help.
"'Send thee help from the sanctuary" The
pew ought to yield restfulness 70 the body.
The color Of the upholstery ought to yield
pleasure to the eye. The entire service
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 direo-
ton.
The church ought to be magnet. visibly
and nightly affecting allthe homes Of the
worshipers. Every man gets roughly jos
tied, gets abused, gets cut, gets insulted,
gets slighted, gets exasperated. By the
time the Sabbath comes he has an accumu-
lation of six days of annoyance, and that is
q starveling church service which has not
strength enough to take that accumulated
annoyance and hurl it into perditien.
The business man sits down In church
headachey from the weeks engagements.
Perhaps he wishes he had tarried :. home
on the lounge with the newspapers ind 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 sanc-
tuary."
CHURCH MUSIC.
In the first place sanctuary help ought to
come from the music. A woman dying in
England persisted in singing to the last mo-
ment. The attendants tried to persuade
her to stop, saying It would exhaust her
and make her disease worse. She an
swered: II must sing. / am only practic-
ing for the heavenly choir" Music on
earth is rehearsal for music in heaven. II
you and are going to take part in that
great orchestra, it is high time that we
were stringing and drumming our harps
They tell us that Thalberg and Gott-
schalk never would go into a 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 part
In the great oratorio Of heaven IL we do not
rehearse heref But am not speaking oi
the next world. Sabbath song ought to
set all the week to music. We want NOT
more harmony, not more artistic expires
sion, but more volume in our church music
Now, am no worshiper Of noise, but
6a1ia1,a That or1r A uooriooy, ~hryolos
would with full heartiness of soul and full
emphasis of voice sing the gs Of Zior
this part Of sacred worship would have ten
fold more power than it has now. Why moi
take this part of the sacred service and lifi
it to where it ought to bei All the annoy
ances of life might be drowned out Of that
sacred song. Do you tell me that it is moi
fashionable to sing very loudlyi Then,
say, away with the fashion. We dam bach
the great Mississippi Of Congregations
singing and let a few drops of melody
trckle through the dam. say, take away
the dam and let the pillows roar on theil
way to the oceanic heart of God Whether
it is fashionable to sing loudly or not, lei
Us sing with all possible emphasis.
We hear a great deal of the art of sing
ing, of music as an entertainment, of music
as q recreation. 1t is high time we heart
something of music as help, practica
help. In order to do this we must onl,
have few hymns. New tunes and new
hymns every Sunday make poor congre
gational singing. Fifty hymns are enough
for 30 years. The Episcopal church pray
the same prayers every Sabbath and yea
after year and century after century
hat khaxy hoxo &hn
sponses Let US take hint from that fac
and 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 wear ou
the hymns of William Cowper and Charlie
Wesley and Isaac Watts
Suppose now each person in this audienc
has brought all the annoyances of the las
365 days. Fill this room to the ceiling will
sacred song, and you would drown out al
those annoyances of the 1865 days, and yol
would drown them out for ever. Orgal
and cornet are only to marshal the voice
Let the voice fall into line. and in com
panies and in brigades by storm take th
obduracy and sin of theworld. If you can
not sing for yourself, sing for others. B.
trying to give Others good cheer, you vii
bring good cheer to your own heart.
When Londonderry, Ireland, was be
sieged many years ago, the people insid
the city were famishing, and vessel cam
mp with provisions, but the vessel ran o.
the river bank and stuck fast. The enem
went down with laughter and derision t
board the vessel, when the vessel gave
broadside fire against the enemy, and b
~ 4,,rx .oI banl
and all was well. Oh, ye who are high an,
dry on the rocks of melancholy, give
broadside fire of song against your spirit
nal enemies, and by holy rebound you viii
come out into the calm waters. II we wan
TO make ourselves happy, we must max
others happy.
Mythology tells us Of Amphion, VIII
played his Tyre until the mountains wer