Arizona republican., 1897-12-14

ny skies The church whs crowded to it's utmost capacity. A large number were present from Phoenix and neigh boring districts and the other loca churches suspended services in order to attend. A kindly feeling was in the air, for whatever the individual creed may be, the new church is confessedly a distinct and valuable improvement to the community. The services were opened with prayer by Rev. B. D. Mo Creary, followed by an anthem, sung by the local choir with fine effect. The pastor of the church, Rev. w. T. Cook, then read the fon.y y-sixth Psalm as the morning lesson, and the choir of the First M E. church of Phoenix, who greatly aided the services, sang an anthem. Following some intro ductory remarks, the pastor intro duced Rev. E. D. McCreary, pastor of the Phoenix church, who delivered the sermon. He took his text from the forty y-eighth Psalm: 'fWialk Ebcu. Zion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bull warks, consider her palaces" David wrofe this in the palmy days of his reign. He had built around Jerusalem impregnable Iamparts and unscala'ble towers ana in burst of patriotic en- thusiasm he delivers himself as in the text. What Athers was to the Greeks, Mecca to the Mdssulmans and Rome to the Romans, Jerusalem was ito the Jews, the center and source of Jewish life land thought and power. But Jerusalem was not simply a fortress; it symbolized the strength and glory of Gods church inr the world. The chiefes8 protectio1u and source of strength of the church has been in all ages, rot in towers and bulwarks, which crumble with the march of time, but in the invisible power of Go'd which is the same today, yes .eTday and forever. It was this power that upheld Moses and the Israeli es in the wilderness. Animated by this power the infant church stood firm amid the storm of Romain persecution and amid Jewish hate. The blood Of the mar tyrs was the seed of the church, and when the storm cleared away, the church lowered in triumph, mighfer than fagots or swords or dungeons. When the barbarian hordes of the north Cverranlh Roman empire, every vestige of civilization was destroyed, but Gods living church stood serene amid the wreck, Hike lighthouse in a stormy sea, and senb the light of truth through the darlaress to the barbarian hosts. In the present day our mis- sionaTies, far from friends and tin al en lands, are sustained by this same power. The church is strong becau. .e truth is its bulwarik. The tooth of time gnaws down the pyramids and the ramparts and towers of Zion, bu. the living church time cannot destroy because it is founded on the eternal verities. One of these great truths is the immortality of the human soul
 To tho question, Whence cometh man?" science answers by pointing tc a grinning ape. Materialism says Man comes from the beast, and zoe; we know not wfhither." But the gos-
 pei prcclaims that man is the handi. work of God, made inn his image ani "a little lower EhanI the angels. Some claim that nature offers proof of i'm | mortality. But nature is dumb as al | oyster in reply ito mans query, If {
 man die, shall he live agaiin?'' and .iih, | question was mot answered until Chris came and, broke u,.,e bonds of death
 Gods will has been ihe quest of me
 in all ages, and in Gods word. ever, 1 question the heart or mind Or con l science of man can ask, is answered On an old lighthouse was this inscrip
 tion: '"To give light and save life
 Christ is the light of the world God
 church is a great moral lighthouse, in
 finite in reach and power The churc. | is also the intellectual ligh
 of the world. The church car ried the germs of civlizatio.
 safely through the middle ages
 Every great college in Europ
 and all but one in our land have bee
 built and endowed by Christian mer
 and this one, Girard college, WIS flrde
 to get a Methodist preacher las it
 president Infidelity hasn't brain
 enough to run a single first-class co
 lege. Our grand public school sysse1
 was founded by band of Puritan m I isterss not by such men as Paine an
 Ingersoll. Stand at the open gray
 and ask the question: s'What is tn
 destiny of mam?" Science rephes ''It is leap in the dark" The pee . his eyes with a fine frenzy rolling, h. face shining with the light that nevt
 was on land or sea, is silent, and tt
 light fades from his fee. The man : Nazareth answers in trumpet tone
 'I ann the resurrection and tlhe life
 All the world today is filled with tf glory of God, His church and H ? truth.
 !. After the sermon, Trustee J. !. Doner made statement, showing tl amount expended on the lots, churC and furniture to be $2,3cS, and amour 2 received by donatious, including $5, c from the Church Extension societ e $2,083, leaving a balance to be raise
 of $225. This amount was subscribe = by hhose present in a short time, = that the church starts out free fro !, debt. The exercises were closed l = Nearer My God to Thee" sung l . male quartette consisting of Pr