The Washington times., 1901-07-29

greatly assisted in all works concerning
| the welfare of the church.
| OF the three actual founders of the
church two are still living, namely Georg,
| Wilmer and Friedrich StutZ. The latter
Joined in 1876 the newly founded English
| Lutheran Church. Of which his children
are members also. Mr. Wilmer. notwith-
standing his eighty-five years, is still
active as the president of the congrega-
| ton. On February I. 1901. he celebrated
his sixtieth wedding anniversary, which
| was attended by the pastor of the church
and the members of the congre CATION.
The present officers of the church are:
| Norsteher. George Wilmer F.. Rohde. G..
Fey, w. Heider, jr.. Trustees c. Graf,
| II. Prinzhorn, c. Martin; School Superin-
tendents, c. II. Reisinger. G. II. Aschen-
bach: Financial Secretary. p. Kuhnel
| The ladies of the congregation in con-
| nection with the celebration will give a
| lawn party this evening at the residence
OF Mrs. NJ. Heine. on the Brightwood
| Road
At the evening service the Rev. William
| Dallmann. of New York. the President
| of the English Lutheran Synod of Mis-
souri, and other States, preached the ser
| mon and took for his text Ephesians
v:25-2T: He said in part:
The Church of God Is glorious
church. From the Apostles down the
ages rolls the cry from millions of lips:
| i believe in the holy Catholic Church,
| the communion of saints This is the
| one clear. intelligible and comforting
truth In the Babel of confusion into which
the vanity of men has plunged the church
of God. From every land and every
tongue they have called upon the Lord
in spirit and in truth-all these are MEM
bers of the Church. They that In unison
with seraphim and cherubim now chant
the praise of God in heaven, the church
triumphant, and also they that are still
in the din and smoke and confusion of
battle, that are foot-sore and travel
stained on their Pilgrims Progress, the
church militaEt-ail these are one.
trgh hlI oil
1t is a communion OF saints. When We
look at the members of the church as
they appear to the eyes of men, ii may
appear ridiculous to call them holy. They
are not holy in themselves. They them
selves sigh and groan, wretched men that
we are, who shall deliver us from the
body of this death. But they are not
called holy in virtue of their own good
works. but wholly account of God s
holiness given to them. God has clothed
them with the garments of salvation:
THE Church has a glorious founder
Empires may boast OF their great and
glorious founders, dynasties point with
pride to their head. organizations and So
cieties to theirs, but their glory pales into
midnight darkness in the light of the
glorious founder of the Church, for that
is the Lord God Almighty
The Church is of glorious duration. Go
to the pyramids of Egypt and see hoary
age settling upon them; go to the Alps
and see cycles of centuries nesting upon
their snow-crowned peaks, and yet all
these things are as new born infants com-
pared with the Church, foS God has
planned and chosen his Church from eter-
nifty, ere yet the fight of years began.
And as the Church had her beginning in
eternity. so shall she last to all eternity.
The Church is built OF glorious ma
terial-not OF marble from the queries of
Pentelicus or Carrara, of which the
proud monuments of Grecian skill and
reared for the delight and despair of an
admiring postefty but of the lively
stones of immortal souls credited in the
image of God, redeemed by the blood of
the Savior from sin and satan, quickened
into spiritual life by the breath of the
Holy Ghost, sanctified by his gifts, ce-
mented together by the blood of Christ.
nourished by the sacrament of his body
and blood.
'The Church has a glorious purpose In
the salvation of souls. Jesus Christ left
his throne of heavenly glory and came to
Bethlehems manger and went to Geth-
semanes agony and Calvarys shameful
death. and through the grave to Easter
glorious resurrection, solely for the pur-
pose Of redeeming the souls of sinners,
and the Church is loyal to her liege lord
and master only In so far as all her as
pirations' and activities directly or indi-
rectiy tend to the salvation of souls re-
deemed by Christ.
Christ was emphatically a poor man
and the poor mans friend. ard has taught
the Church to have a proper regard for
the lowly, TO preach the gospei 10 the
blind, to strike the shackles from the
slaves of sin. 10 open the doors for those
that sit in the bondage of Satan, to pity
and protect the widow and orphan the
needy and helpless. to build up the broken
hearts. to teach honesty to the thief.
Kindness to the cruel. the true God to the
idolator. to put blessing the lip that
cursed, aud prayer on the tongue that
blasphemtd. to take the raving maniac
In the delirium of his wild passions that
he may sit clothed and in his right mind
IL nEf.a Il t.
devil and make him a brother of Christ
and child of God and heir of salvation.
Church
1T is a commonplace SAYING that all
great inventions are very simple, and the |
instruments Of carrying on the glorious
work Of the Church are simplicity itself |
they are the preaching of the gospel and |
the administration of the sacraments
These are the God-appointed means |
for the upbuiiding of Gods Church. and |
they are to be applied according to Gods |
Gods work must be done in |
Gods way. To attempt to aid Gods work |
by our own schemes is as foolish as to |
attempt to add force to Niagara by pour |
ing thimbleful of water into it. or as |
trying to aid the sun with tallow dip.
Your bazaars and your pink teas and |
oyster suppers and strawberry festivals |
and concerts and entertainments may be |
all very well in their way, but they have !
no legitimate place In church as church |
work. You may have them for sociabili-
~. but do not dream that by them you
are saving souls. The gospel of Christ |
s the only power to save souls.
THE Church has glorious success In
our day everything is questioned the |
of all things are examined. |
The acid of criticism Is trying to dissolve
and the Church has not es-
caped the ordeal In many quarters the
Church is pronounced failure The
Church has never been failure What |
las been a failure has not been a church.
false church. an imitation church. a
church, a hypocritlcaI church. |
church has been a failure. |
)ut all those have not been the Church |
If Jesus Christ. Turn the page of his |
DRY and read what she has written.
when in the course Of tim.;. owing to
he carelessness Of the Christians. Satan
lad succeeded in saddling on the Church
he incubus of human traditions and |
'apal bulls and council edicts, which sat
IN the Church as nightmare, Martin
luther revealed the anti-Christ in the |
emple OF God and purified the Church of
rod wholly and alone by the gospel of
iod The leaves of the Bible were scat
cred as leaves of healing for lost and
infuI world. and the open Bible laid the
for our modern liberties in
-hurch and State.
THE gospel. and the gospel alone, bound
nd banded together our beloved Luther
n Church and our beloved Missouri |
ynod. The gospel and the gospel alone. |
altered you, the members Of this con- |
-regation. and held you together to this
resent day and led you to lovingly labor
or the building Of the church you today |
edcate to the service of God. The gos- |
el and the gospel alone is the power of |
ureiy silently but effectually. the face |
A Asia Africa, and the isles of the sea. |
8 il has changed the peoples of Germany, !
and Great Britain.
H. Il