The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-09-25
The pulpit
A SERMON G@SEEA
81 ThE REV. Naw
lAWfENDERS0NWN
Subject: "The Opportunities and
Abilities of the Church."

Irving Square Presbyterian Church,
VERIFIED street and Hamburg ave-
nue., on the above theme, the Rev.
Ira Wemmell Henderson, pastor,
took as his texts Jno. ABS and Mat.
$500. He said:
1t was Theodore Roosevelt who
said, The M thing supremely
worth having is the opportunity
coupled with the capacity to do a
thing worthily and well, the doing
of which in it's vital importance
touches the welfare Of all human
kind"
Opportunity and ability-that is
to say, the chance and the capacity
to do. All true success is a combina-
ton of these two elements in human
life. Failure is a lack Of either or of
both. Without opportunity the man
Of capacity, of ability, of real worth
is handicapped in the race Of life.
To be without the chance to do is to
be doomed to failure, whatever may
be our capacities or abilities for &C.
complishment. Contrariwise lack of
ability shears opportunity Of value.
The mute, inglorious Milton of whom
the bard so sweetly sang, was, and
is to-day a man of power, Of ca
pacity, of ability, lacking in oppor-
tunity. Not otherwise many a man
has had opportunity standing at the
door of his life reckoning to success
who has shorn that opportunity Of
its value because he has had no abil-
ity, because he has been unable to
accept the chance that was presented
to his view. If there is a sadder
thing than a man Of genius lacking
in opportunity, 1t is chance awaiting
the acceptance Of incompetency.
Ability needs opportunity in order to
the exercise and the presentation OF
the powers of the human soul. Like
wise opportunity is valueless with
out corresponding and sufficient abil-
tty.
AS with the world so with the
church of the living God. The church
has ability beyond any force that
works for righteousness and for God
In the world to-day. But If the
church has no opportunity for the
exercise of her divinely granted ca
liabilities for the uplift and the re-
generation of the world her capacities
are yalueless. On the other hand,
whatever the opportunities Of the
church may be-, save as she has the
ability to do the work that God has
given her to accomplish her oppor-
tunities are voided.
The opportunities and abilities Of
the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let US look for a moment at her op-
portunities. There are to be found
to-day conditions that are at the first
glance Numerically opposed that af-
ford an opportunity for the church
If the living God. The opportunity
Of the church is to be found in the
lack Of principle so largely presented
m the lives Of the leaders in our
social life, as has been revealed in
The recent and horrifying disclosures
n our political and financial and in
iustrial affairs. Another opportunity
If the church is to be found in the
Imperfect acknowledgment upon the
part of men in all walks of life Of
their accountability to God and to the
1ivine control. A further opportunity
If the church is to be realized in the
present distrust in the fnality OF ma
serialism as a method of life and pro-
gress which is increasingly common
n all grades Of society and among all
classes and conditions Of men. We
are growing to know that money in
itself is of little value. We are ma
turing into a comprehension of the
truth that wealth without character
IS a condemnation of its possessor.
We are learning to grasp the fact
that the things that are temporary
are really transient; that the spirit
1al realm in the universe Of God af-
lords the greatest satisfaction to the
soul, is most of account, lays hold
1pon eternity. Opportunity for the
Christian church Is to be found in
that comprehension of the value of
the eternities that is becoming in
ereasingly the vogue. Men, multitudes
If men, find that the life that dis
counts the relations of the human
soul to its divine Creator is dissat-
lsfying. They are critical Of their
own spiritual fitness, and of the
,hurch's. They r questioning the
:redibility and reliability of the
church's spiritual concepts and dec
!arations. The church has a glorious
opportunity in the return toward God
kupI 40 CAol oSIOA VI IAC 1--WE VI
4 host of Gods children throughout
this land. From sea to sea, from
lakes to southern CULTS, materialism
Is palling on thoughtful wanderers
from God, the truth is appealing and
with such force as seldom in the
history of the world it has ap-
pealed. To be sure this appeal is
along new lines. 1t is suited to the
needs and the demands Of this day
and of this generation. It is not
Yesterdays appeal, it is to-day's. But
it is real. 1t is vital. It is compell-
Ing. 1t is heard. 1t win bear fruit.
1t will be the leaven in the meal
that will perfect society and make it
palatable to thoughtful men. 1t is
the truth Of God. 1t is Gods voice
in the language of the land and Of
the day. 1t is the message of the
Almighty to the people. It cannot
be denied. It will not be denied.
There is a moving in the tree tops.
The footballs of Jehovah are to be
heard on earth. The signs Of the
times, he who runs may read. Any
man with an open a and open eye
AID IN open mind may hear, and see,
and satisfy his soul in the contempla-
ton OF such revelations as are as
t~ranscendent as they are immediate.
Having considered in some fash
ion the opportunities of the church,
let US consider now some of the abil-
tiles of that organization, instituted
of God among men, into whose hands
has been given the tremendous, d.
vine task to transform individual
lives and to transmute sinful, erring
human society into the image of the
heavenly democracy Of God.
The abilities Of the church are
commensurate with her opportuni-
ties Emmanuel is with her as