Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1904-04-11

another I3lih. 20 another the grit or
healing. but al are governed by the
same spirit"
Now. Why are these various gifts
bestowed upon the members Of the
church? This he explains in the sew
enth verse: But 10 each one is given
the manifestation Of the spirit to profit
"ithaI" That is to say these di-
versities Of gifts are bestowed for the
good Of The whole. Whatever gifts
! Goa bestoWs upon any man are a trust
put into his hand for the profit Of the
entire church. The ideal church is one
where the members are using their in
dividual Eifts for the ed.Gcation of the
entire body. Too often church mem
bers shirk their individual responsible
/ ties: all of their gifts are not put into
the service. The minister is expected
to preach his regular sermons, perform
his regular pastoral visitations and the
church officers go the round of their
ordinary duties, but many fail to realize
that they have mission in helping
forward their fellow Christians in the
Ipath heaVenward. The church is called
/ the household of faith" and the ideal
| "houschOid' is that in which each
/ member strives to be of service to all
the rest.
] i it SDlfI u tO4llllGEt4Al4SIIL ana IL
Valry existing In the outside world has
a tendency to stife the sympathetic
/ and helpful spirit which ought to pre-
vail in the household of faith" The
attention Of the Christian layman is so
concentrated upon his business that he
/ has no time for persona! ministrations
/ of love and sympathy toward his
/ brother man. Often ne stands willing
/ to contribute of his means to help for
ward the church of which he is
member, but fOrgets to speak a word
/ OF sympathy or do al act of kindness
to his Christian brother. The lack OF
personal sympathy, one toward an
other, is one of the perils of our mod
ern church Iife. The church member
does not fulfill his duty VINO pays his
share of the church expenses. Each
member owes a debt of love to his fell
low Christian, and this he cannot pay
in money or through a committee, but
only by coming into personal touch
with him. The injunction comes to us:
Bear We one aother's burdens, and so
fulfill the law Of Christ"
Again, the ideal church is one that
fulflls its mission in extending the
Kingdom into the world. 1t is not
lodge iii which a bond of brotherhood
exists toward those who are connected
with the same order. It is not club,
nor a mutual admiration society. The
church exists for d purpose; that pur-
pose is nothing less than that o. leav-
ening the world with the principles Of
righteousness and love.
Jesus, in one OF his appearances 20
the apostles, said to them: As the
Father sent me, even so l send you"
The apostles were 10 be the representa-
tiVes Christ upon earth: they were 10
go on with the work he had begun in
spreading the gospel and establishing
His kingdom among mcn. There was
4 special sense in which this commits
sion Of eV&ngeHZing the world was
given the apostles. He had trained
them for this work and they We're en-
powered for the service hy the anoint-
ing of the Holy Spirit. But the obi
cation of spreading the kingdom rests
upon all members of Christs church.
As one has said, The spiritual de-
scendants of the twelve apostles are
found in the church" We are called
as members Of this body, to do the
same kind of work that Jesus did, and
which he commanded the apostles to
do; Q work of ministering to the needs |
of men. The ideal church is the
church that serves.
! This service begins in the communi-
ty in which the church is placed. Each
local church ought to be a mighty
force in its own community. BY its
works of benevolence it's power ought
to be felt by the outside world. Never
should we give the world the oppor-
tunity to say or think that the church
is absorbed in itself and that it has TO
raIafifvc s'tp.ygY1 tbay,, fI,9+ ..rr ,r.ftr,
out"
[ think it is a mistake that special
revival meetings held each winter are
necessary conditions Tor the conversion
of souls. in the early church "the
Lord added to them day by day those
that were being saved" If the church
had more of the missionary spirit the
love for souls, the passion for humani-
~ that moved our Master and the
apostolic church, conversions would
occur constantly through ordinary
means of grace. While | am in SYM
patty with revival work of the right
kind. l am inclined to tEinI that as
Christians we need more of the mis-
sionary spirit in our ordinary work
from week 30 week. The ideal church
is surely a missionary church. 4 church
that is filed with the spirit that moved
the Master; the spirit of love. The
church should be Interested in moral
reform. In the fight against the So
loom the social evil and the war against
civic corruption the church o. Christ
should be hold and aggressive She
should conserve her energies and seek
to use her forces where they Will count
the most. but never should she avoid
the moral issues which she is called
Ipon to decide As regards methods
Of warfare in moral reform. it is not
the purpose of this sermon to discuss.
The idea that 1 want to impress is that
the ideal church is an aggressive
church, and that it is not afraid to lift
it's voice against intemperance, social
impurity, civic corruption and sin in