The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-03
PEOPLES CHURCH MARKS THE
CLOSE OF IT'S FIRST TEN
YEARS
WITH A SPECIAL SERVICE.
REV. SAM G. SMITH breaches A
SERMON APPROPRIATE TO
THE OCCASION.
DUTY DEvoLvEs ON EACH MAN
To Make the Most of His Opportuni-
ties for Good in the Coming
Decade.

Within the solid walls of the Peo-
pies church, accompanied by the VI
brant strains of its immense pipe or
gan, the congregation Of 800 or more
met yesterday morning to offer up
praise for the attainment of the tenth
year of it's successful work
1t was the anniversary of the organi-
zation of the church, and the pastor
Rev. S. G. Smith, preached the birth
day sermon. There was nothing os-
tentatious or boastful about the ser
vices, but they were in keeping with
the modest architecture of the build
ing and the still more modest creed
of the church.
The church building which now
stands at the corner of Pleasant and
Chestnut was dedicated to God on
Palm Sunday, 1889.
Rev Samuel G. Smith, the founder
of the church. had been the pastor Of
the First Methodist church, and was
seriously considering a call from a
Minneapolis church, when number Of
gentlemen interested in the organiza-
ton Of a new church conferred with
Dr. Smith, and it was decided to or
ganize a new church, and it was from
this that the Peoples church was given
its birth.
Previous to the occupancy Of the
present edif1ce, DIR. Smith preached in
the old Grand opera house, where i'm
mense audiences assembled every Sun
day morning. 1t was not long until
the project of building a new church
building was talked Of, and a fund was
raised to further the project. Fifteen
months after the present 100000 edi-
fee was completed and dedicated.
DR.. Smith took his text yesterday
from Philippians ill.,, 13. He said in
part:
I'VE are about to enter a new decade In
the worlds history, and the next ten years
will bring even more than the past ten have.
1t will be decade of new ideas, new thought,
and new progress. Beware Of institutions
which are reminiscent and coddle themselves
in the memories Of the past. Beware OF the
man of one book, for he will trip you up,
as he has intensified and enlarged his mind
pn one subject, and he has shut himself up
10 all new ideas. The reason l am such an
Admirer of Gladstone Is that he thinks mod
ern thoughts and reads modern novels. He
is a grand old man, and as he is shut up In
his library in the retirement of his old age,
he is the most beautiful character In all the
world this morning. 1t is not his grip on one
thing that las made him great, but his de-
sire to grasp something of the future, some
great achievement which IS beyond his reach.
morning l call upon you to forget all your
temptations and defeats of the old year, and
all that should be forgotten, and go out into
the new world with new zeal and courage.
Even the savage of the West pulls up stakes
occasionally and changes to a purer atmos
phere, and l call upon you this morning to
pull up stakes and leave the old year behind
you. The Christian should move out of the
old into the new, and live in the year
with new power, not troubled with the old
beliefs and old dogmas, but put on new
man.
1.-The past ten years have been a decade
which must forget, the decade which rises
before us will be the greatest in the worlds
history. The next ten years will mark the
triumph Of the West. At the end of the next
decade there will not be a continent or Is
land of the sea which will not be controlled
by half-doZen great Western powers of the
earth. We are on the eve of this great revo-
luton. India has kneeled before England,
and few years will pass and the other
Oriental nations will be under the SOW
ereignty of the West, America must stir
herself in taking part in this great drama;
not necessarily war, but she must seize the
opportunities which open up before her. This
city is also called to face a new decade. We
are to leave old ideas behind and face the
stern reality Of the coming decade. The
church is also called upon to face this new
decade and the ambassadors OF Jesus Christ
will have to be well alive to the needs of the
times. The church must rise to the proper
hfe in the new era. The strong man of
recent civilization cannot stand the test of
the times unless the grandeur of the march
of Gods civilization puts him on his feet
and enables him to grasp the possibilities Of
the coming century.
al tell you, my friends, you cannot be
crushed; you Gods elect, and although
those of you who think you have no opportu-
nifty to go out into this new era Of modern
thoughts and higher civilization, because Of
your petty cares, are the ones who can do the
most. The greatest of all Stole philosophers
was p mere slave.
st greet you, my brethren. in the name Of
the Lord Jesus Christ, as it is to as a
church that the next year lays open before
us, that we may take advantage of the bless
ings of the high calling which Christ is will
ing to bestow upon US, and let try to
solve the great problems of the year before
US together.
''My brethren in the Lord, let us run our
course with hope and courage and let be
in advance Of the foes of Christ, and crush