Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-11-22


/ on the sabbath day. But this Is not
the case with you. Here you are llv-
Ing practically under the shadow OF
/ the walls OF our church. Here Is a
place i'm the family pew always wait
ing you. Here are good men and wo-
men ready and willing TO pray with
you. Whenever you come within these
walls spirit OF love and conservation
creeps over you such as you find In no
other place on earth.
A Church Home.
oh, how sorry feel for the man or
the woman who has no church homei
L feel almost rs sorry as for the man
who has no domestic fireside and who.
instead of eating at his own family ta-
bic, Is compelled to eat at boarding
houses aud in restaurants. Home,
home, homei 1t Is the sweetest word
In all the English language. Home,
home, home! 1t means the laughter
of children and the frolic in the nurs-
cry. Home, home, homei 1t some
times means very humble roof and
very plain fare upon the table. Home
home, homei 1t may mean struggle
and poverty and sickness and DEATH
But home means love, home means q
tender place, home means human
hearts clinging 10 us as we cling to
them. So in the household of faith,
called the church. We may not seem
| to the outside world to amount to
much, but we are one family gathered
in Gods temple. which is our spiritual
| home. Here we are living for each
| Ofhnr ITarn ~. IN 60, 81,
other. And here, as in no other place,
we feel the spiritual magnetic touch
of our fellow men. My friends, as a
church we ought to try to live more for
| God. For the sake of the love we bear
| each other we should try to do it. Are
we not as the wild ass knee deep In the
| field of sweet scented clover? Are we
not as the OK before the manger filled
TO overlooking with richest grain?
But there is another fact that 1 have
never heard you complain about, and
that is your opportunity for doing good
| in the great outside world in which
| you live. / have never heard you say
that there were no people In trouble
near your home. AS was writing this
sermon l looked down from my study
4
young ladies walking past. They were
dressed from head to foot in black.
They had sweet faces. But 1 was not
looking at them so much as looking
beyond. I said to myself: "I wonder
who has lately gone out of that family
circle. Was it father or mother!
Was 1t Il brother whom those sisters
were helping to educate at collegei
God pity Them" And as l spoke thus
l thought of how many aching hearts
there were about me, bleeding from
the cash Of the gravediggers spade.
The Bees In the Barbados.
Then the poor and the sick-oh. how
many there arei And the young people
being led forth into n life of sin-you
see them all around you. Then the ole
folks-how they would love to have us
come and visit them aud read to them
Yes. the opportunities are all about US
for doing good. You have only e
stretch forth your hands to toucl
them. Are we so happy, so contented
so selfish, that we help not one abou
us? Charles Darwin, the great physi
cist. tells us that there is a\degenerac,
NANSh iptVNo
Many years ago quite number o
bee swarms were carried to the islant
of Barbados, in the West Indies. A
first they went diligently To work I,
gather honey TO prepare for the comm.
winters. But when those bees fount
that they were I'm land of perpetua
summer they ceased to gather honey
Instead they spent most of their time
tying around, singing the natives. Sc
i sometimes think 1t is with some OF
us. We have what can be called spirit
ual degeneracy. God has surrounded
us with so many blessings that instead
OF working for his glory and for the
good of our fellow men we spend mos
of our time In living for self. We thrust
the sting when we should be gathering
the sweetness of the gospel life to give
out again to starving men. Are we mo-
standing knee deep amid the clover
ops or multitudinous opportunities
which we can use for the good OF
those who have never learned 10 homo,
the name of our Christ?
But lastly remark that / have new.
er heard you complain that God is not
willing to place the hands of ordina.
ton and conservation upon your head
now for the glorious work OF the Cos
pei IL you are only willing to surrender
your hearts TO him. 1 care not what
your past has been. i care not wheth-
er you have sinned seventy times sew
en-. Though your sins are as scarlet,
yet II you will come to him they will
become whittier than snow. Though
they are like crimson, yet they shall
become white as wool. oh, my broth
er, with so many of your gospel oppor-
tunities wasted, will you not make
your last days your best days? VIII
you not pray that the eventide of YOUR
life may shine with the golden sunset
OF Gods smile of benediction?
Today have been telling you about
| your silences. For years you have
been complaining that you could not
do this. that and the other thing. To-
day 1 have been telling you a few
things that you could do If you only
wanted to do them. The mercies of
God about you are Infinite The great
helds OF the sweet scented clover tops
OF his love are spread out before you.
The Bethlehem Manager is filed to over
flowing with the divine sacrifice Oh,
hungry. starving sinner, VIII you not
come to the cross today and cat your
I'LL. "Ho. every one that thirsteth,
come We to the waters. and he that
hath no money, come we, buy and eat!
Yea, come. buy wine and milk with
out money and without pricew
Bullets and Powder of 1641.
In the roof of Durham castle, Eng
land, there has been discovered a buck