The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1904-08-06
Rev. Carothers breaches His Last
Sermon in Old Church.
A TOUCHING AND IMPRESSIVE DISCOURSE
Venerable ninister of the Gospel Has
Occupied Its Pulpit Quarter Gen.
tury-Large Congregation.

of the Master, the Rev. J. c. CarOth
ers, will never again be heard in The
"old Presbyterian church" pleading
with the unsaved to accept the saliva
tion of the Christ, or offering word;
of encouragement to those who have
already consecrated themselves to God
After having preached the gospel in
this ancient edifce of worship fOl
more than quarter century, on Sun
day last the pastor said farewell to the
dilapidated structure, and when he
again addresses his people in theil
own home it will be in a building of
modern architectural design, and hav.
| ing appointments in keeping with the
present day. The congregation, as
sembled to bid adieu to those sacred
walls around which cluster SO many
pleasant memories, was large, and the
service was impressive. The pastor
preached an unusually strong dis
course, taking for his text Acts, 2Sth
Chapter, part 0f the 18th verse" He
thanked God, and took courage. y
The sermon dealt with Paul, who,
though prisoner bound with chains
and closely guarded that he might not
escape, thanked God and took cour-
age" Paul'S glorious work Of self
denial and toll for the Master, his re-
ception by christians while enroute to
Rome, his mistaken faith in God un-
der trying circumstances, were dis
cussed logically and intelligently.
The trend of the sermon was to inn
press upon the minds of his congrega-
tion the remarkable influence of chris
tian friendship and christian fellow
ship. We need human associations,
human cheerings and fellowship, and
kind speeches." said the speaker.
20, my brothers, life is very short; let
us do no unkindneSS in it, but make
it glow with deeds of noble friendship,
and make it sing with the music of
trueSt christian love-
In touching upon the change about
to take place in the church lives of
members of the congregation, the Rev.
Carothers spoke impreSSively. He
said:
HAS our christian friendship al
ways been all that it should have
been during the years, now past forev-
er, that we have been worshiping
God together in this house of prayer
that has almost grown grey with age?
Have we always been in that spiritual
frame of mind and heart that would
make it perfectly consistent for us to
sing that sweet hymn.
"Blest be the tie that binds
Our hearts in christian love,
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above"
It may be that memory, as it re-
views the past, cannot give perfect
ly satisfactory answer to the question.
For we are imperfect. Brethren,
when with glad, grateful hearts, we
enter our new house of worship, where
with renewed spiritual life we shall
continue to praise God from whom
all blessings flow, ''let us prayerful-
ly seek to have and enjoy the perfec-
tion of christian friendship. We are
not perfect. We have not fully realiz-
ed Christ's conception of His church
What church has? But we thank God
for the past. He has been patient
with us in our imperfections, and we
take courage.
"Some of you may go out of this old
house with sadness and regret because
the secret prayer of your heart, that
has gone up to God these many years,
as, Sabbath after Sabbath, you have
come here to worship, has not been
answered. Burdens have been lifted
from other hearts, and other lives, and
your burden still presses on your heart
and your life. Loved ones in other
homes have been converted under the
preaching of the gospel, and in answer
to prayer, but the dear one in your
home is still unsaved. And as you
are spending your last Sabbath in this
house, where you have worshipped God
SO long, and have SO often pleaded
with Him in prayer. 1t may be that
you are saying In sadness, 'Unanswer-
ed yet, the prayer your lips have