The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-12-25

The extremely disagreeable weather
prevailing yesterday prevented the SER
vices from being as well attended as
they might have been under more aus
picious circumstances, but all of the
churches were fairly we'll filled at both
services.
The services at the First Presby-
terian church were perhaps of as an
elaborate nature as any in the city.
The morning sermon was delivered by
Rev. S c. Logan, d. D., pastor emer-
titus of the church, who officiated owing
to the illness of Rev. James Mcleod,
the pastor. He took as his theme,
And He Shall BE Called Wonderful"
and dwelt especially on the incarnation
of Christ referring to it as the most
stupendous fact in the universe At
this service a number of Christmas
anthems were rendered by the church
choir.
In the afternoon at o'clock the an
nual Sunday school exercises were con-
Quoted. number of Christmas carols
were sung a this service by the chill
dren AMI an address was delivered bv
a. w. Dickson, the superintendent Of
the Sunday schools.
The Crowning feature of the day,
however was the sacred cantata, The
Coming of the King" which was rend-
erel in the evening by chorus of
thirty-eight voices. under the direction
OF Prof John q. Watkins. 1t is doubt
full If more beautifully rendered or
more elaborate Christmas musical SER
vice was ever heard before in this city.
Solos were rendered by Mrs. Kathryn
| Thiele, Mrs II. S. Keller, David
/ stephens and David jenkins, and there
were numerous triOs, part chorus and
full chorus, notable among which was
the trio of the three Magi rendered by
Messrs. Stephens, Jenkins and Post. In
fact, so universal was the praise of the
cantata that it has been decided to re-
peat it upon the return to the city Of
/ DIR. Mcleod.
SECOND PRESBYTERIAN.
| AT the Second Presbyterian church,
| Organist J. NJ. Chance prepared spe-
| Cial Christmas selections for morning
| and evening services yesterday, which
were cnjoyablv listened to by large
| audiences. The usual church choir
rendered the selections in the morn
| ing, with Mr. Chance at the organ.
The evening service consisted of a
! Christmas song service. and was CIV
| en- by the quartette, choir and church
! choral society, accompanied by the
| Sabbath school orchestra aud organ.
All the selections were of Il high or
| der and were given in a most artis-
tic and devotional style. The choir
work was excellent. the soloists thor
| oughly artistic, and the orchestra with
| grand organ accompaniment was Il
| fine support of the body of singers.
! Miss Mabel Renne rendered the or
gan prelude Meditation" by Guilmant
and the pOstlude Fugue, in G. minor.
| by Bach, in a very finished style,
evidenCing rare talent. The anthems
brightest and Pest" by Buck, 20
! Holy Night" by Eyer, were beauti-
full numbers and much enjoyed.
Miss Black sang "The New Born
King" by Hammered, in superb voice
and style. Miss Garaean was thoro-
ughly artistic in the singing Of THE
| Birthday of a King" by Heidlinger,
and Mr. Beynon never sang better
than he did in the solo, "Hark, What
Mean Those Holy Voices" by Rossini.
The fine playing cf the Sabbath
school orchestra was heard to a great
! advantage in an andante, by Schu-
/ mann. Charles Doersam. aCcompania1 Il
on the organ and gave as q solo "Thr
! Virgins Prayer" by MaSsanet. This
young musician is an organist and
accompanist of exceptionally fine abil-
! itY and artistic temperament. Mr..
Chance directed with grace, taste and
perfect assurance The church was
beautifully decorated with palms and
| ferns.
PASTORS SERMON.
The Christmas sermon was delivered
by the pastor Rev. Charles +. Rob
nson, d. D., in the morning. He took
as his text Hebrews >, IA: For as
much, then. as the children are par
takers of the flesh and blood, He also
Himself likewise took part Of the
same"
The doctor showed that the Christ
mas theme of the incarnation bound
the verses of this chapter very closely
together. He brought out too, in the
exposition, the relation between this
chapter and the prayer of our Lord
! in the seventeenth chapter of John.
THE children and their many sons
! to be brought to glory, being partakers
| of flesh and blood" it behooved Christ
! to be made in all parts like unto them
| 1t was the behoof of His solemn
| promise, pledging His life itself to
! their redemption, which led Him to
empty Himself of His heavenly glory
| to be born of a Virgin. He did it to
deliver the children" from bondage
The doctor said that when DR.. Howe
| gave his time and the best of his life
| TO set Laura Bridgeman. blind, deaf
| and dumb free from her bondage there
was something in his nature that was
| like Christ's, being made like unto
"the children" to deliver them. When
a nation takes up the pain and sacri-
flee and awful burden of war to de-
liver a race from tyranny there is
something Christ-like in the nation.
The Son Of God took on Him our
nature that it might be possible for
Him to die and by His death to de-
stroy him that had the power of death
and redeem 1.-The children" One great
feature of that deliverance was the
| redemption of our lives from the bond
age of materalism. One great temp
tation Is to depend upon possessions
upon having things, instead OF being
true men in Christ Jesus Tho life
which Christ lived here was the on
position to that temptation and made il
| clear that the true life does not con-
| sist i'm the abundance Of possessions,
but in God-like character. Another
characteristic of that deliverance is in
redemption from the bondage of sin,