The Brunswick daily news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1903-1906, 1904-10-02
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE BY THE
REV W. S. RAINsFoRo. D. D.
Subject. The Love of God-The CHRISTIAN
Church IS PIaced in Trust by God
With the Gospel-Let Us Try to Give
IT to the World.

Subject The Love of Ged-The CHRISTIAN
Church IS Placed in Trust by God
With the Gospel-Let Us Try to Give
1t to the World.
BROOKLYN. n. Y. The Rev. w. S.
Rainsford, d. D., rector of St. Georges P.
+. Church. Manhattan, preached at ST..
Peters Church, State and Bond streets,
IN this borough, at the evening service Sum
day. His subject was The Love Of God, I"
and he said:
People are saying to-day that the church
does not occupy as important place in
he thoughts OF men--that it has not as in
fluential a place in our nation or in society
as it used to have. ] speak, OF course, Of
the Whole Christian church, and one thing
IS sure and that is that the church cannot
hold her own by simply asserting, however
loudly or persistently, the greatness Of her
deeds in the past Whatever success or
shortcomings there NAV have been in an
cient times, one thing is certain, and that
is that we live in an age when men almost
violently are seeking the truth: when the
keenest sort Of light is turned in all direc-
tons in search Of the truth. When those
who have got anything to do can do it;
when those who have got anything to say
worth saying can say 1t, and when those
who have got anything to be can be 1t, but
there is no mercy for the sham. When, IN
the future, they come TO criticse our time
it will evidently be criticised as an age Of
truth, and its spirit VIII be spoken Of a.
the spirit Of truth; it viii be criticised
from all other ages as a time when men
made great sacrifices for the truth and
when great glory was gained in discover
ing and obcying the truth. There Is no
argument among thinkers whatsoever about
this.
From this it follows that il we Chris
tians have not got something real to give
TO the world, to society, to the United
States, at this time we are really going to
lose our hold and position; and the ques-
ton that we want to ask ourselves. indi-
vidually and collectively, is this. What
have / got to give to the worldy What il
it the church has got to give to the world
! am inclined to think, if | were allowed
to see you, one by one, and ask you to put
down what ii is on paper: What you as an
individual and as a Christian have got to
give to tho world. and the church as
community? there might be great deal OF
uncertainty That this question is one that
deserves a very clear answer there - no
doubt, and everybody ought to know what
that answer should be. There is no man
ner Of doubt what the church has got to
give to the world; What the individual
Christian has got to give to the world.
want to talk about that tonight
We, the Christian Church, are placed in
trust by God with the gospel. That is
what we have got to give to the world. If
sc are Christians we believe the world
cannot get on without that gospel We
use the word gospel IN a very slipshod way.
II we are Christians we believe that not
only can not the world do without the gos-
pei but that business and politics and the
United States democracy in this Western
Hemisphere cannot do without the gospel.
A great many people believe that, but
when we ask them to put it into practice.
not only by going TO church, not by putting
trihe IN the plate, not by repeating
creed or two, but to go back to their work
and see ii they cannot take the gospel
with them there. They say, Business is
one thing, and religion is another" Men
that talk that WY have got to step aside;
they are no iSnfr1IJnefS ss.the church or the
world. They are misleading; they are the
people that tend TO make NE whole thing
a sham, because the world won't tolerate,
aud rightly SO, religion that can confine
itself to certain times and seasons and that
can satisfy itself by obedience to certain
conscences on sunday and perhaps once
a week thrown in. We have got definite
charge for the world, and that Is the gos-
pei Of Jesus Christ.
That being So let me lead you to another
question, and as | put il | shall seek to
answer it: What is he gospel of Jesus
me. aud perhaps more fhan before If
were b he allowed to ask the onsstion n.
dividually, What is the gospel and ask
for a definite reply, what a great variety
OF answers would be given: and many
would hesitate. AS Christians we certain.
w ought 10 be able to saw what tho thing
Is we stand for or we stand for nothing:
to say what we mean by The gospel, or the
wogd won believe at all In church, il
we have one great thing IN common which
we all hold, not because we are various
scots. but because we are Christians. we
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