The Newtown bee., 1894-06-01
Fairfield County News
sTEPNEY AND VICINITY.

SKETCHES OF MEMORIAL SERVICES HELD
 IN THE BAPTIST CHURCH, LAST SAB
 BATH EVENING.
 An unusually large audience assembled in the Baptist church to listen to the memorial sermon, which the pastor had announced he would preach, and had in- viCed the G. A. t. members and old sol diers not belonging to any G. A. R. post, to be present. The opening hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers,n was sung with great earnestness. Pastor Merwin then led in fervent prayer, asking God 10 bless our country, and be with all in authority over us. The audience then sang "The banner of the CrOss,' follow cd by the Stepney Glee Clubs rendering Il beautiful chorus Rest, Soldier Rest" Pastor Jones then read the scripture les son from Ephesians G 7-l0. A quartet, "Onward March" was then sung. The pastor then arose and gave out his text, l Corinthians l7 :l3. The preacher said :: We are permitted to meet in Gods house this memorial Sabbath evening to worship our Master and to give honor to the memory of our brave and noble dead, and to try and learn some lesson, which the day with it's sad and joyous mem- ories teaches; many are the discussions as to the origin of Memorial day, but 1t Is generally understood that Mrs II kimball of Philadeldhia first suggested the idea to Gen Logan and that through her he issued an order in 1868 naming the 30th of May as Decoration day, and urged all G. A. R. men to strew the graves of their comrades with flowers, or otherwise decorate them, and hoped the custom would be kept up as long as q survivor of the war remains to honor the memory of the departed. We have representatives with us from the E. R. Lee Post, No. 7S, of New Hartford, from from the Custer Post of Sandy Hook and from the Elias Howe Post Of Bridgeport. We welcome these soldiers tonight to this our house of worship, we welcome them in the name our com mon country, who by their facing death has secured for it the name, "The land of the free,' and we welcome them in the name of our common Lord and Mas ter, Jesus Christ, who Is the God of battles, who giveth His children victory in righteous cause, but who loves to be known in this, His blessed book (the speaker held up the Bible) as the God of peace. Our text is selected from the writing of the inspired apostle Paul, a preacher who was not of many words, and who did not use all kinds of namby- pamby, style of utterances for the sake of filling in time like so many of us preachers do to-day, but every word had its weight, and very stirring words in- deed are they. I'll venture to say they ring in the ears of these soldiers, tc- night, with the inspiration of the bugle blast that called them to the front, Paul was familiar with military men and mil itary tactics, and he often met them on the march as they filed through the streets of the cities and over country roads. All such sights were familiar to Paul. He lived under the shadow of the mightiest military monarchy the world has ever known and these words of his are suggestive of military life. We have in them the idea of the camp, the march, the battlefield, they stir our hearts blood us we read them, and dead indeed Is the man who does not catch their spirit. The first word of command is watch. This Is what the officer says to his sentinel as he shows him the points of danger in the field as he tells him to watch for any suspicious move ment in the brush. Carelessness has lost ardice, and how many lives it has ruined. X careless young man Is worse than vicious young man. christian should watch, ho is In the midst of danger, secret sins are all the while coming in upon him to form the attack Watch, for we have dangers within and with out. How many men admired by mS, we have seen ruined because of this one neglect, and many Bible characters fail in this one noint Peter, noted for heroism denied his Master when taunted by servant girl. Guard youi weak points, keep your sentinels on the look out, otherwise tho prince of the power o darkness will gain the victory stand fast in the faith. The apostle urged them not tt Rive mp tho faith they had in Jesus Christ The strength of the army is In accordance with the way the men stand at their post. Lei tho square that is formed become weak in one single place, and t Is SC hard to keep the encmy back. In church life, Chris tinn soldiers, In the name o Of Jesus, beseech you stand fast, do noi finch, but stand firmly Tor the cause of Jesus Christ. "Be mon,' be mon, not children,mer that will be brave, be true and courageous Tho Bible is not only n God-like book, but il is A innn.like book ,nanliness runs all through tho Bible. Many have the wrong idea ol Christianity, they think it is to be associated with long faces and that 1t makes them m manly, but whore ask you do you find a hrnvcr class Of Inon than in the churchi Who're do you nndfanen ready to go to the rack. to tho GhtHG8mbs of Rome. and to the dungeon dark nnd trear. and have unwelcom