The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-02-13

ciates ask you to 40. People who can
both see and do are invaluable helpers
put II one cannot have both qualities
give me the man who will patiently and
pioddlngly work out the task appointed
! him.
One reason people hesitate to teach
IN the Sabbath school is due to the fact
that parents criticise in the presence
OF the children and do not teach the
children to take the Sunday school Sc
rlously enough. Parents often regard
1t as something entertaining or anus
ing Tor the children, or as means
Tor getting them out of the way. Let
the children know that it is treated as
seriously as the day school, that some
thing is to be taught, that il has a
definite object, that orderly conduct is
TO be insisted on, let the parents do this
ana 1t would reduce the matter of
government to minimum and teach
ers would not hesitate TO undertake the
WORK Let it mean something al
nome, and half the work is
done in the securing OF teachers and
IN the management Of the school,
Ill. There is another side of the min
ister's work in which he needs very
seriously the assistance Of the pew, and
mat is in the social work of the church.
The pulpit is of course now as always
the hrst source of power. It is what
the minister can do on the Sabbath
that gauges his ability and his infiu-
ence. His first duty, therefore, is to
preach. The work Of Illling the pews,
winch so many ministers emphasize,
does not belong to the pastor, but to
the people. 1t stands To- reason, how
ever, that the better the pastor does
his work. the easier 1t will be for the
people to do theirs, and the better the
people do theirs, the easier the pas
tors work will become. SAYS
prominent writer: Times have
changed since fifty or sixty years ago.
Then literature Of every kind was
scarce, magazines practically had no
existence and newspapers were few
and poor. A minister was newspaper,
magazine, lecture platform, general lit
erature and library for the town. 1t
did not need much energy on his part
TO keep up with his people and to lead
them on, but in these latter days the
minister must give the larger part Of
his time to study" For a minister
today to do as satisfactory pulpit work
as was done by q minister fifty years
ago, three times the ktudy Is required.
Under these circumstances, ten or
twelve hours per week Is all the time
ne can possibly secure for pastoral
work. 1t Is evident to all that this
amount OF time spent in pastoral work
will not enable him to know his people
as he should know them in order to
be the most helpful, unless the people
take special pains to get acquainted
with the pastor.
Then, too, people can help in the So
cial life of the church by calling on the
new members. The pastor in his an
nua1 report made reference to this
matter. AS people become connected
with our church, either as pewholders
or members, their names and addresses
appear upon the calendar with the
suggestion that if they reside in your
neighborhood, a call would be accept
able. The pastor has learned from in
qutry that these suggestions are not
taken seriously or that each one has
an idea they refer to some one else.
The result Is that psople have been
members Of our church for a full year
without receiving call from any one
except the pastor. Then, too, we have
lost members because Of our inatten-
ton in this particular. People do not
count it sufficient simply to have the
pastor call upon them. They expect
him to come, but they expect others of
the church to call also and they have
a right to expect It.
Nv. Again, and this is the last
thought will take time to suggest,
you can help the minister by helping
him in his preaching. There are three
ways In which this can be done, name
ly, by your prayers, your practice and
your presence. The pastor of the
church should be remembered daily in
prayer by the members of that church.
not only on the Sabbath but during the
week. There is no influence which
counts more in determining the fact as
to whether a sermon shall be a success
or a failure. Let a pastor have the
consciousness that as he sits in his
study his people are praying for him,
that he may be guided wisely In the
choice of themes, Spiritually directed in
the unfolding Of his subject and divine
ly guided as he proclaims the truth
from the pulpit. and his words will
glow with a new power. Then, too.
what the pastor breaches not only must
he practice, but 1t must be practiced
by the people. The sermon is not an
essay, 1t is not preached simply to en-
terrain peoplei its objective is always
right living, DR., Lyman Beecher re-
piled, when asked the secret Of his sue
cess at old Park Street, Boston; 81
preach on Sunday, the people prac-
tice on week days"
Above all, you can help the minister
in his preaching by your presence. 1
put this as the most important, for II
is the precursor, except in cases Of nee
essary absence, of both prayer and
practice. You have no idea how much
difference it makes to the minister
whether he Is greeted by a full congre-
cation or by mere sprinkling of peo-
pie. 1t is not too much to expect that
whenever the minister should be in the
pulpit, his people should be in the
pew.
One of the most discouraging fea-
lures in modern church life is the ease
wit h ri And
ing home from church. They are a lit
tie tired or it's stormy, but is the
storm so severe or the physical ex-
haustion so complete that it would keen
them home from business or from a
social engagement? If not, then GER
tainly it should never keep them home
from church.
absence from church, the fact that the
minister preached AZ poor sermon last
Sunday, and therefore, will probably
preach a poor one this Sunday. This
does not necessarily follow, in fact II
Is more than likely to go in lust the
opposite way for the conscientiors
preacher, if he falls below his marx
on one Sabbath, will work extra hard
to redeem himself on the succeeding
Sabbath. But suppose the sermon is
poor. Is even that a sufficient excuse
for remaining home from church ?
You don't go chiefly to hear a sermon
but to worship God, and the sermon is
simply one Of the means used to hrinp
us into the spirit of worshipfulness
With circumstances as they are and hu-
man nature as it is, poor sermons viii
occasionally and inevitably come. Some
men are geniuses in this line. but the
best of sermonizers make occasional
first-class failures, but il the true oh
ject of attending church is worship
then whether the sermon be good ar
poor, it should not govern your attend.
ance.
= HEBREWS ELECT.