The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-02-18

He calls his own sheep hy name" Here is the pastoral friendship between the people and their shepherd. The faithful shepherd must know his flock. He should try to know the children, the young and the aged the rich and the poor. He should know them in thsr homes, in go- ing from house to house, in counseling and giving words of cheer to discouraged ones, and inspiration to those who have lost it. His peoples sorrows are to be his sorrows; their joys. his joys. When they have prosperity, il is his prosperity, and when diversity oyertakes them, his heart is also there.
 Social Element.
 If any one element should be pre-emi- nent in this church, let it be social element, where pastor and people shall know one another. and be brought to- gether as around one common center in their church work and in all their church love. What a beautiful picture the Mas ter gives us when He is feeding the five thousand He had them all arranged in groups of fifty, sitting on the grass. Why, they might have gone off, one by one, to consume the food so generously given, but the Master had them sit in groups of fifty and there was the social element leading from heart to heart like an electric current. There was the in- tensihed interest in one another, and an interchange of thought So is it with the shepherd who knows his flock and there must be in the flock that element of so- ciablllity which carries within it's own heart the potentialty of great results for a church or anything else. The shep- herd must pre-eminently know his flock; but there is another side. It is the duty of the flock to give him every oppor- tunity of knowing them; hence, the apos- tic says "Know them that labor around you" Know them not simply as clergy men Of the church, but as neighbors and friends. and as those who are here with you.
 Nothing can take the place of this rela- uonship between a pastor and his flock. It is an inspiration to him to feel that those to whom he ministers know him, and 1t must be comfort to you to know the man who stands in your midst to be called into your homes in life's most sacred moments; who is to take into his arms your little ones and baptize them, and sign them with the sign of the cross, and who is to stand at the bedside of your loved ones, as they depart into the awful mystery of death, and yet into such depths of peace Ohl there are men whose eloquence, and whose vocal powers can freeze a church, and yet there are others-simple hearted men, whose words are newer tuned to any flights of oratory, and who know nothing of the simplest rules of eloquence and who have, Sunday after Sunday, congregations with hearts aname, filled with love.
 Minister as Leader
 The last point to which l make men, ton is this: "HIe leadeth them out" Tho pastor of his flock is to be spiritual leader. He Is not to be content with vast enterprises and successes which have been won. He is to have no sympathy with that eontentment of spirit which complacently loses itself upon 'holding its own" It is out of the question to go back, of course, and 1t is only possible for man to hold his own. The leader of the flock must lead them out, and so the leading should be indorsed and followed by the people. This is an age of aggresstVeness, an age when every line of activity is un- der the lash, and none know it better than the people of Birmingham. No scheme, however great, is a success of itself. The scheme is thought out, then projected, diff ficulties are overcome, and men are sent on the road to advertise and represent the scheme; and being backed by leadership, pluck and perseverance, 1t does succeed. It Is characteristic of the times.
 This is an age of great enterprises, ot great combinations of great buildings, of great ships that plough the deep, and of great fortunes to which a Croesus seems poor In comparison, and of great engineering feats, by which the railroads are laid. Now the church of God-our ehurch-this church 9t whose altar we come, is here In the midst of these actiV- ities. Is it for small things, and shall we be content with what our fathers did, or shall we be satisfied with what we have done in the past? Do not ten thousand voices bid us go forward? Is it not the very heart throb of the voice of God as He tells us to undertake more important things? Tho shepherd leadeth them out. From what, into what? Out from the narrow past into a larger place, until we shall scale the breastworks of all that which should be. I dare say that God has great things in view for us here in this church: great things for us to do; great things for us to be- if we but enter into the possibilities that lie before us. Oh let us in our hearts feel the sentiment of the ancient Jew, who, as he stood upon fhe ton of a hill and looked down upon Jerusalem. said "Beautiful, oh, beautiful The foy of the whole earth art thou, oh, Jerusalem Jerusaleml' For he loved it Let us love this center of spiritual life and activity and seek to consecrate our selves at the altar of God so that the very highest praise and interest of the community shall be atthched to this Church of the Advent, which I now say Is our church.
 The afternoon services were fairly well attended. Beautiful music was heard both morning and afternoon.