Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1905-09-29

VnNS, luot ne mas compelled me TO
work. Thank God today that you hare
been able to cast OF the inactivIties of
a vacation and have been compelled TO
go back to the daily treadmilis OF man
uai and mental toll. The financial
struggles OF life not only ehrn bread
for our children. hut also unlimited
joys for our own healthful physical
and mental existence.
Welcome Back to Church.
But as l welcome you back TO the
store and to the domestic firesides
and to your reunited families 1 also
welcome you back TO your church home
and TO your family pew. l welcome
you home to the Household OF faith. %
l welcome you home to Gods temple
where you can worship God better and
more simply and devotedly than In any
other church in all this round planet.
l welcome you back from this pulpit
and TO this altar.
What do l mean by making such a
statement as this? You may have sat
In finer churches than your own while
| you have been away; you may have
heard more eloquent preachers than
your own; you may have had your
souls lifted by gr0nder music, more
exquisitely rendered. than you hear In
| your own church, but has that given
you distaste for the home services I?
Oh, no. AS the best place for a man
to grow and live In domestic sense
Is by the Preside OF his own home, SO
the best place In which he Is to build
up spiritually Is In bis own church.
In spite of yourself, when you go TO
| other churches you 90 in a critical
spirit but here in your own church
home you come to worship. There is
an atmosphere about your accustomed
church which ought to be more sacred
to you than that of any other building.
| That Is your church home. There you
have so often commingled your prayers
that they have n different meaning
there than when you pray among stran-
gers. The pastor is in a gospel sense
part of you and you are part OF him.
He welcomes you back to your place
Of worship, to your household OF
| faith"
| Then there Is another reason why
30 gladly welcome you back as wor-
shippers to your own church pew. You
know as well as / know that most of
the good we get from a gospel ser
mon Is due not so much to the In
trinsic worth and to the brilllancy of
the sermon as to the spiritual prepare
lions we make at home for the recep-
ton Of the Bread OF Life. This Sab
bath day, In Christian home, you
awoke in spiritual atmosphere. You
did not see any fishing poles. You did
not see the carriages being driven up
for the long mountain rides. You did
not see the pleasure parties starting out
for yachting trip. You arose in the
spirit OF prayer. After breakfast you
gathered the children about the family
altar. Then before you started for
Sunday school you all knelt. Then
you uttered a prayer like this: 20
God, like Enoch. may we walk with
thee this day. Be with our Sunday
! school Give the teachers power to
expound thy word. Give the scholars
receptive hearts to listen to thy lessons.
And, o Father, thou great and omnip-
otent King, be with our pastor He is
one OF us. May we lift up his arms.
May he today be n man with mighty
|
word be spoken which will bring down
n shower of blessings to our hearts, -
Are not those prayers having any re-
suits? Why, friends, as I speak this
morning feel strange influence lift
ing me up. That influence. oh, my
people. comes from the prayers OF the
family affairs OF my church. That
power comes from the prayers OF my
people here in this church home, pray
Ing for me. That power comes from
the fact that when you started for
church you and your households were
In praying atmosphere. 1t is hard,
awfully hard. to make the necessary
spiritual preparations for Sunday
service when we are out In the country
In n worldly summer hotel. 1 con-
graduate you that you have been able
to start this holy Sabbath In the right
way upon your knees before your fam
lily affairs.
A Vacation From Church.
Then l also congratulate the home
Corners because you have come back
TO your opportunities OF religious work
as well as to your temporal work and
to your church worship. A vacation
from the store Invariably means n W.
cation from church labors and church
work. Thomas Guthrie, the great
Scotch preacher. once wrote a book
entitled "Out OF Harness" In It he de-
scribed himself as away from his pul-
pit amid the Alpine hills seeking health
and relaxation from toll. In one chap
ter he described himself worshiping
with couple of prominent English d.
vines In a little Swiss village church.
AS the service went ON, led by the VII
lage pastor, he looked across the aisle
ut the noble brow Of a great London
preacher sitting there Then he COM
pared this silent preacher to a mighty
engine with its fires drawn. The
screws, the boiler, the mighty driving
wheel, the smokestack were all there.
But there was no water In the boiler
and no coal In the furnace and no
steam was being generated The great
throbbing life Of the engine was still
ed. So with you during your past va
cation. You may have attended the
church services, but you went to
church simply as worshipers and not
as workers. And, my friends, true
Christianity Is not developed simply
by bending the knee in prayer, but in
iaboring In Gods vineyard.
The vineyards OF Christ's great city
are now ripe for the plucking. Your
Sunday school class is ready to well
come you back. The boys and the girls
ought all to be brought into the Chris
tan life this winter. The missionary
society needs building up as never be-
fore. You must go to work there this
winter. You only gave half hearted
service last year. You must do better
this year. The young peoples meetings
need reinforcement as never before.
All these opportunities OF gospel work
are opening to you. Oh. 1 welcome You
back not simply to worship, but to
consecrated labor in Gods vineyards
and in Gods great harvest fields.