The Newtown bee., 1894-03-30
AT THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

weather did not prevent a large audi vice on Easter Sunday in the COngrega- | tional church. The children especially | came in force, and their happy faces and earnest participation in the service added | in no small degree to it's attractiveness. | The display of potted plants, most of i them in bloom, was very profuse, and it | was matter of wonder with many | where, considering the earliness of Easter this year, so many plants came | from, all being kindly loaned by mem- bers of the church. Geraniums, calla | lilies and other plants lined the edge of the platform, while at the back was a | large bank of green foliage interspersed
 with the white and red of flowers. A tall begonia in bloom attached to one of the pillars was a noticeable feature of the display. The singing of the choir
 and Sunday school was excellent, show
 ing long and patient practice. The
 opening anthem, sung by the choir,
 'Christ is risen,'' touched the keynote
 for the entire service. A brief address
 in opening was made by Superintendent
 Smith. The parts of the children were
 all well taken and harmonized beauti-
 fully with the thought of Easter day.
 Mabel Taylor, Julia Duncombe and
 Carlton Hubbell gave recitations and
 Miss Mabel Cummings read an Easter
 object lesson to the children, showing
 how the birth of butterfly illustrates
 the rising of the pure and beautiful
 spiritual body from it's prison house
 in the tomb. Two very novel and pretty
 features of the service were the "Chau-
 tauqua Drill" by Harley and Ethel
 Peck, which consisted in the reciting of Bible verses whose thought could be eX- pressed by movements of the body, and the offering of their pennies by the children, this being done while march ing and singing an appropriate hymn. The children by doing many little ser vices in their homes had earned quite a . sum of money, and this was presented as their part in the chandelier fund. l This fund was materially increased by r the generous contribution of the audi - O@ ~ l burners hung in it's place for the first s time and gives promise of being great t addition to the Sunday evening mission e ary meetings of the church. Rev Otis b w. Barker, the pastor, preached very S appropriate Easter sermon from Mark j. 16:3, "And they said among themselves T who shall roll us away the stone from e the door of the sepulchre?" Following t is brief outline of the sermon e The Jewish Sabbath was ended. It wa! it the passover Sabbath of the great feast e and the day had been celebrated by the r. priests in their golden temple with un ;! wonted pomp and ceremony. Think O. + it The priests of God rejoicing and wor 1T shiping God in His temple while the Sor IT of God lay dead in rock-hewn cav' y near by, outrageously put to deatl T. through their own connivance and al e their nstigation. asTo some this day hat
 been day of unusual joy, but not so t. r. others. Can you picture the scene whel es Joseph and Nicodemus, followed b. n the faithful women of Galilee, bore tn IS beautiful, blood-stained body of thei g dear Master to the quiet resting place il
 a corner of the garden? Jesus lay dead h Those three short words told it all. 0H n- was .singularly pure young man, wh Ut worked wonders and spoke things whicl y the people could not understand, who
 through envy, was cruciffed by tn
 priests without resistance" That wa
 the way in which he would be remen
 bered, but that was all. Such were tn 1e thoughts of the women as the text prs " sents them to us. They were on tn us way to the tomb. The day before the ir had spent in preparing spices and oin,
 ments and fine linen to dress their Mas
 ter's body for regular Jewish buria
 But even now their loving purpos is might be baked; a great stone la
 against the dooc of the tomb. Wh
 should roll it away? When they cam ,n to the spot where the stone was, it wa 5h rolled away. This is the lesson: Go re very often sends His angel of help t ht rolIaway the hindrances that lie in ou " pathway. We all need this lesson. Br Id notice that these women knew the gres e stone was lying against the entrance e. the tomb before they started. God send at the angel of help to roll away the hiI