The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-04-21
AT THE FIRST METHODIST
FIRST SERMON PREACHED BY THm
 NEW PASTOR YESTERDAY.

|
 NEW PASTOR YESTERDAY.
 Rev. Dr. Henry Baker Comes from the
 Pfttsburg Conference and As.umas
 Charge of tho CongregR ton Here :
 Strong and Eloquent Sermon Preached
 on the Dialogue of Christ and Peter
 Concerning HLove.n
 The First Methodist church is cer-
 tainly to be congra tulated on securing
 the services of Rev. Dr. Henry Baker,
 who assumed charge of the congrega-
 tion at the morning service yesterday. Dr. Baker comes from the Pittsburg
 conference and he enjoys the reputa-
 tion of being one of the best pulpit ora
 tors in the Methodist churches of the country. He was educated at Wesley
 an university, at Middletown, about
 twenty-five years ago, and has always
 held high place in the several confer-
 ences of which he has been a member.
 Besides the Pittsburg conference, from
 which he has just come, he has been as
 member of the New York, the Newark,
 N. J., and the Wilmington, Del, cons l ferences.
 There was a very large congregation
 at the morning service yesterday to
 greet the new pastor and this should
 have been very gratifying. At the close
 of his sermon he said that for the first time they were together as pastor and people. They were not acquainted with his methods and he was unfamiliar with
 those things to which they had been ac- cust6med but he was sure that the mu- tual friendly relations which had exist- ed with his predecessor could be cons tinued, and that the work of the church. could be carried on in the same splen- did manner for the glory of God and the upbuilding of His kingdom here on earth
 The discourse of the morning was an excellent one, full of splendid thoughts and delivered in the impressive manner for which the reverend gentleman is noted. His text was from the lesson of the morning, being the fifteenth verse of the twenty-first chapter of St. Johns gospel, part of which is: Jesus saith to Simon Peter: Simon, son of Jonas, lowest thou Me more than these?"
 The speaker said that Jesus Christ had attracted the attention of the whole world, no matter whether the men were His friends or His foes. He stands as the center of an absorbing and intense interest, and the influence which results is always beneficial. No word or deed of the Master was without vital influ- ence. But how are we to study Him? The clearest delineation of His life is on His appearance after the resurrec- tion, when He had led captivity captive and He stood there in new character before His disciples who had known Him before On that appearance He stands there asserting His divine per- sonality as the Redeemer of man. After He had broken the power of the grave He appeared in Judea and there was visited by His disciples. After that ap- pearance He inquired certain things. Simon, son of Jonas, lowest thou Me?'' He conducted this Investigation to learn the real feeling. There seems to be an between the Lord Jesus and Simon Peter. How could He deny hirp? The Lord knew Simon's weak ness; He knew the environing which him, and He sought after his real nature. There was a touch of with Master and disciple such as there should be between Master and man of this life.
 This consciousness should characters ze the relations of Master and man. The Bible was not written for the peo- ole of one generation, but it was written to stand for all times and for all peo- oles. If we carefully study 1t we will ind ourselves delineated and reflected n those characters of olden times Our experiences of to-day are answered by hose of long ago. Peter and James md John are our brothers, for they lear our words and we share their characteristics. Peter's human traits 'ome nearer to us than those of tha 'thers. He is our interpreter In thesd writings we find a dialogue in progress uch as somewhere or somehow is con- lucted between the Lord and ourselves. After His resurrection Christ comes to IS in the character of permanent hu- nanity: He is the same Master and over of souls as He was before the rucifixion. He was not God simply lothed with the glory of the Father be- ore the world, but He was the simple nan CHdJ lie was. The power tO aSk uestions is significant of knowledge, nd Jesus Christ was the prince of uestioners He was never concerned ,ith current affairs and always avoided lcdental topics.
 The essence of all religious matter of he church Is love. Love is the center f Christian character, and the Lord esus Christ came offering the true cons option of the life of man. Character life organized into habits, and the reat man is the great lover. Love is le center of all knowledge and the indling center of all action. The of- ering of Christian character Is to be
 teacher of love. To disclose love to len avoid the harsh discord and con- lsion of time, and there will come the nile and sweetness for which we 1ould always strive.