Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1900-09-01

Miss Sadie McCray, of Logan, Ohio.
The subject given to me is neither
sensational nor new. 1t is as old as
the establishment of public worship
and in the opinion of some, it is both
dry and duh. And yet to the thought
full mind, there is something about
this subject, that demands the deepest
attention and the most conscientlo
regard. Nothing in the universe ex-
cept God. can compare with the church.
We cannot begin to understand her
greatness or glory, fc~ they are so vast.
But we, even we, have a part in her
prosperity. And there is not any way
we can help the progress of Gods
church more than by regularly attend
ing all of the services, both on the
Sabbath and during the week. With
out stopping to dwell on the appropri-
ateness of this subject, for the young
people of our church. l shall enter at
once on the subject and give some rea-
son why all should attend church reg
ularly.
The first reason is because of its
helpful effect in the cultivation of good
habits. We should form the habit of
going to church. Jesus went regular
ly. We read. And He came to Naz-
areth where he had been brought up
and as His custom was, He went into
the synagogue on the Sabbath Day,a
stood up. for to read" In the courts
of the Lord, we will find our highest
coed, for to those that wait before Him
God becomes sun and a shield. In
Him they find life and from Him they
receive light for the life is the light of
men. God becomes a shield to those
that frequent His courts. In this world
OF temptation life is safest to those
that are found oftenest in the sanctu-
ary for worship and in most cases the
person who attends church regularly
is the person who can be depended on.
For he is cultivatng good habits, reg
ularity, system. order, and this culti-
walton will have a great effect on his
after life. For our character is large
ly the result of certain habits.
DR.. Wallace says, Bad habits are
like the course of a mighty river, once
Worn out, it is very difficult to divert
it out of its accustomed channel"
And we find some of the eldest rivers
in the world have the same place on
the map which they first cut for them
selves.
Again. we should attend church
regularly, because it is our duty. When
we enter church as members, we prom
;Se to study the progress of the church,
and to assist in supporting the means
cf grace. How can we do this. by at
tending the services only occasional
ly? When we come into the Christian
lIndeavor Society we renew this VOW
for part of the Pledge we take is
Trusting in the Lord Jesus for
: u ltHSlIls pl OlIllst Illll W SuDDOll
my own church, in every way. espec-
ally by attending all her regular Sun
day and mid-week services unless pre-
vented by some reason which | can
lonscientiously give to my Saviour"
And yet we find people in the church
who often give excuses for remaining
away from church, that they would not
think of giving in connection with a
party or entertainment When we
join club, or a society of any kind,
we not only feel that it is cur privilege,
but our duty to attend every meeting.
Thus showing our interest in the work,
our respect for the other members and
for the one to whose home we are in
vited. We like to visit at the home of
| good friend whom we love. We know
hat we will have a pleasant time and
hat it will do us good. And ii is our
luty to spend part of our time with
hem. God is our best friend The
.hurch is Gods home. While he is
'verywhere, no where is He so near
His children, as in place where His
lame is praised. The promises are
many which give assurance that God
eveals Himself in His sanctuary. And
t we love Him, we will long to be and
lelight to be with Him, in his home,
or He has been good to us, and we
'ught to return love. If our hearts
re right We will earnestly desire the
privilege of the Lords house. One
hat can endure absence from church
without distress of soul, has occasion
o be alarmed 1t is possible for one
o be Christian and not attend |
hurch, but it is not probable that a |
will do so. As a child loves |
is home, so will the soul, the heart, |
nd flesh, the whole being yearn for
ne courts of the Fathers House AS |
: IS not right for us to let some social |
emand keep us from Gods house.
either is it right to allow some petty
ousehold duty to interfere The Bible
iakes church attendance a duty, and
uties do not conflict All of us can
rrange our affairs, if we want to do
D. so we will be found at every SER
ice of the church. What we need is
} appreciate the duty. Not forsak-
lg the assembling of ourselves to-
ether, as the manner of some is, but
one another" Duty takes