The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-01-18
CONGREGATION IN
 ITS NEW EDIF|CE First Christian Church Had h. teresting Service Yesterday. VERY LARGE ATTENDANCE The Pastor Preached a Sermon on the Church as 1t Is Described
 in the Acts of the
 Apostles.
VERY LARGE ATTENDANCE

nue, for the first time at the morning service yesterday. The Rev. A. R. Moore. the pastor, occupied the pulpit. taking for his theme, ''The First Church."
 The weather was ideal and the large auditorium of the church was filled to overfiowing.
 The church has not yet been completely furnished. and chairs were used for tenn porary seats. The pews, however, have been ordered, and in thirty days the church will be elegantly fitted up. The dedication exercises will not take place until the furnishing Of the interior has been completed.
 The new building Is constructed of pressed brick, trimmed with stone, and will cost when completed $2i OOO. Its seat ing capacity is 800.
 The First Christian church was or ganized in 1885. Up until last August the congregation has been worshipping in frame tabernacle .on the site where the new church now stands In August the tabernacle was torn away and work on this edifce was begun During the time that it has been in course of construction the members of the church have been holding services at the courthouse. At the beginning of yesterdays ser vices, the Lords supper was admin istered and thank offering was made. The pastor read letter from one of the church's staunch members, Dr. l.. s. Cheek, expressing his regret that ill., ness kept him from attending the first service in the new church, wishing the members and the church Gods richest blessings, and enclosing $iOO as thank offering.
 The Rev. MT. Moore read the End chap ter of Acts for the scripture lesson. He said in part:
 The First Church.
 "The first meeting in a new church building is quite an event in the life of a congregation. While some things are not yet complete, and our pews have not yet arrived, still we are glad to get into our new building. This Is a great occasion for this people. I congratulate you and pray that Gods blessing may continue to at tend you.
 q know of nothing more appropriate for this occasion than a study of the first church, as set forth in the Acts of l Apostles, The book of Acts is a book of l beginnings, or first things. Here we have an account of the first Penticost after 1 the resurrection the birthday of the church. Here we have also the first out | sss cr1i, ,-tt tha fin l gospel sermon ever preached the first conversions ever made under the full gos- pei; the first Christian church ever es- tablished; the first persecution; the first 1 Gentle converts the first missionary journey. All this and much more, is set l out in the book of Acts, making it one of the most interesting volumes ever writ l ten.
 But among all these interesting first things, we are concerned this morning with the character of the First church. What was it and low was 1t distn- l guished?
 We find no particular name for this first church at the beginning. It was sim ply called the church, or congregation. There was no question as to which church to join, or which church was right, for there was but one church, the church of Christi.
 Church of Faith.
 This first church was a church of faith. They had faith in the word of l God, faith in Christ, faith in prayer and faith in man. There is marked contrast between the faith of that first church and many congregation today, which has well-nigh lost faith in everything-the in- 1 spiration of the Bible, the divinity of Christ, the efficiency of prayer, the in- tegrity of man and, indeed, what else 1 is not questioned in this age of unreason- | ing doubt?
 "The first church, moreover, was full 1 of the Holy Spirit. They waited for this promise of the Father When He came 1 the very room where they sat was filled with His presence so that they were guided | by Him in word, thought and deed. Per- haps as a result of this, the church was filled with wholesome doctrine. They spoke as the Spirit gave them utterance. They preached a full or complete gospel. | The first full gospel sermon ever heard on earth was that delivered by the Apostle 1 Peter on the day of Pentecost. The first church required a three-fold change in the converts before admitting them to membership--a change of heart, a change of mind, and a change of state this three-fold change being accomplished in their faith, repentance and baptism.
 Thorough BenevoIence.
 'The first church was still further char acterized by thorough benevolence. They brought their money, selling their property if necessary, and laid all at the apostles feet Every need of the church I was freely and fully met by a noble lib- erallty. The congregation was full of praise. They came together, prayed and sang together. broke break together. In other words. they took time to be holy. time to attend to the Lords business.
 When there Is added to all this the statement that they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, that they were | of one heart and mind Is it any wonder that the church was filled with power, that three thousand were added in one day, and that many more soon came fin :? Is this to be wondered at in the least7 | Not at all. The same characteristics will | bring the same results today. May God