Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-02-16

hours are never ending. The re-
wards are a well fought battle, a prize
fairly won, the pledge of devotion
faithfully sustained"
Dominion Through Friendship.
H. d Atchison, D.. D., pastor Of st.
Luke's Methodist church Of DUBUQUE,
delivered anselQ quent address on Do.
minion Through Friendship. !" Rev.
Atchison is an earnest, pleas
ing speaker, Ss- and held the
closest attention Of his audience. He
is graduate of Northwestern college
of Chicago and was a college chum of
DR.. Craig.
In his remarks last evening Rev.
Atchison referred to Christ as con-
quering the world through friendship
and that it was by this means that
the work of the church must be car
ried forward.
Regarding the early work of Christ
he said that 1--WE were apt to think OF
the first disciples chosen by Christ as
remarkable men, but upon closer study
would find that He chose common men
and the very fact that they were raised
to kingliness should be wonderful in
spiration.
A World conqueror.
"Jesus set out to be world con-
queror That was his ambition. Who
shall say He did not have within Him
the power to be the greatest of world
conquerors il He SO chose and by any
means. He refused to found a new
empire, refused to found new reli-
gion or philosophy but chose to found
a kingdom upon the foundation OF
friendship. He chose common men
and befriended them This is the dis
tinguishing character of the Christian
religion.
Befriend the World.
Christ set forth on that mission to
befriend the world. He passed by the
court where Herod ruled, passed the
camp where Caesar conquered, passed
the church where the Pharisee prayed
and chose to conquer the world by
friendship. He said: 4 have called
you not servants but friends
"A large share Of the credit given
Queen Elizabeth for being wise ruler
is due to the able men she selected for
her advisors. The same is true of
Henry w of France The name of
Louis XIII has come down into history
as that of a wise monarch simply be-
cause he had the wisdom to choose
Cardinal Richelieu and keep him In
office. Christ showed originality in
choosing His cabinet by selecting men,
not who could help Him, but whom
He could help.
Extending the Work.
elm trying to extend the work of Je-
sus Christ through friendship we must
learn to trust men as Jesus did. He
trusted in men whom many thought
untrustworthy. He. trusted humanity
because He believed it was in men to
do right. In bidding for patrons Of
the church l believe we are apt to
think Of the. quality too much. We
are apt to look for the men of brains,
men Of wealth or influence when we
should be getting the people. The
children of the poor and the rich, the
ignorant and the learned will raise up
alike as apostles Of God"
Way Of Receiving.
In conclusion Rev. Atchison said
L that the first sign of a spiritual awak.
ening in a man was when he showed
a lack of self-suficiency as did Peter
when first offered the friendship of
Christ and that a man could not help
to extend the kingdom Of God through
friendship until he first was rid Of this
self-sufficiency. Rev. Atchison called
upon all of the members of the Broth
erhood Of st. Paul ITO allow Christ all
the opportunity that is in us to extend
the kingdom"
Vote of Thanks.
At the conclusion Of the program
Judge M. A. Roberts made a motion
that was carried by a unanimous vote,
that thanks be extended to Rev. Atchi.
son for the excellent address and to
the ladies for the splendid repast
served.