Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1899-10-30
LOOKING BACKWARD

LUUilllIu UlIUnUlllIU
The Subject Of q Sermon by Rev. R. R.
Bigger
AT THE THIRD PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH LAST EVENING
SONS FROM THE PAST FIFTY
YEARS HISTORY OF THE
CHURCH, LARGE CONGREGA-
TION IN ATTENDANCE = THE
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY TO
BE OBSERVED NEXT THURS
DAY.
Rev. R. R. Bigger, Phi. D., delivered
an excellent sermon upon the topic,
Looking Backward" to lage and at
tentive congregation at the Third Pres
byterian church last evening. The
minister selected this particular sub
ject in view of the fact that the mem
bers Of the congregation will observe
the fiftieth anniversary of the church
next Thursday evening. The text was
according to Deut 1921: Remember
the days of old; ask thy father, and he
will shew thee; thy elders, and they
will tell thee" He spoke very enter
tainingly of the growth of the church
since its organization end recalled
many Incidents serving rs lessons. His
remarks were as follols:
after we have taken a journey, 1t
is customary for us to quietly sit and
recall the scenes and experiences which
came to us as we passed along the
road We think of the individuals we
met and we dwell on their words OF
kindness and cheer. We remember the
stopping places and the incidents which
occurred at these places. II there
were any accidents or misfortunes they
come wildly to our minds. In this
way we live the journey over again.
These thoughts have been suggested
to me by the fact that this service
marks the closing Sabbath of fifty
years work for God in this church
Some of our aged members are privi-
legged to look from the eminence on
which we now stand, back and down
to the foot of Mount Zion and recall
the experiences of the last half century
as they climbed step by step from
the last Sabbath of October, 1849, to the
last Sabbath of October, 1899. What
mighty changes have taken place in
this church and in this community dur
ing this time, neither tongue nor pen
is able to make our young people fully
understand.
''As the original pilgrim band jour
neyed, one by one their bodies returned
to the dust it was, and their spirits
returned to God, who gave them, until
at present only a few remain. Look
ing down the slopes Of time, row of
green mounds there and anon marks
their resting place. But as they jour
neyed, from time to time they were
joined by other pilgrims. Some of us
Joined this band very recently and are
acquainted personally with but a small
portion of the road.
What the Third Presbyterian church
is to-day is not due to any single
preacher, officer or member but to the
sum total of the efforts of all who have
labored and prayed on this consecrated
spot.
The little deeds were just as neces-
sary to build up church as the great
acts. The day of small things general
ly appears in the long run to have
been the prelude to the day of great
things and where the process of growth
ceased to be small and become great
no man can tell; in TACT the more one
studies the growth of enterprises, the
more conscious he becomes of the fact
that there is no small thing, and that
our Judgment of the relative values of
things as we see them from day to day
is almost without value. Looking
backward at the harvest time the seed
is seen to be as important as the ripen-
ed grain; looking backward from the
close of a notable life, the early days
of obscure struggle and self-denial are
seen to be quite as important as, per-
haps more Influential than, the later
days of acknowledged success and in
fuence. So without the many little
helps which have been given by the
humblest members to this church we
could not possibly be what we are to-
day.
I'VE owe much to the struggles of
the past. Very few churches have had
to face such difficulties as this church,
and it's triumphs and victories have
been remarkable. God sends trials up
on churches as we'll as individuals for
wise purposes. Just as the oak which
braves the storms and blasts of winter
is stronger and better than the tree
which is sheltered from the tempests.
So the church which owes its existence