Evening star., 1907-09-04


The subj Of the discourse was Christ,
the Center of the Universe" the text being
the eighth verse of the second chapter of
Colossians: Beware lest apy man spoil
you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudi-
ments Of the world, and not after Christ"
Mr.. Locke's Discourse.
Mr.. Locke said. in part. that the secret of
st. Paurs wonderful success was found in
his implicit confidence in Jesus Christ
Paul said to the Corinthians: Jesus Christ
and Him crucified:" and to the Galatians
he wrote: FORBID that should glory save
In the cross Of our Lord Jesus Christ"
The teachings of ST. Paul tell US that
Jesus Christ cannot be substituted by any
thing else; He is the central thought Of the
Scriptures, the great common center of the
universe, the one center that the philos-
ophy and deceit of man cannot supersede
The thought of God is planted in the heart
and literature of all nations, call Him by
any name you choose. The preaching that
showed Christ on the cross had no apology
to make.
You can study Jesus Christ and under
stand man. Man is not creature. to live
here in a perhaps selfish existence and then
die, but he is a something that has the
spark of Jesus Christ in him and is to stand
before Him complete in the likeness of
God. The man who studies and under
stands philosophy and history. sacred and
profane, and leaves Jesus Christ out puts
out the light. said Rev. Locke. Men talk
about counting the stars. their distance,
relation to each other and about reading
the heavens. but Jesus Christ is greater
than astronomy, for He made the heavens
and all things. He made the earth. looked
upon it and pronounced it good. while the
angels sang for joy Men talk about get
ting to heaven by building character. but
more than that is needed.
Referring to the large number of religions
Of the world, Mr.. Locke said they cannot
be regarded as imposters, for ST. Paul
says they are feeling for the light. Around
all the religions of the world, in the
planetary SYSTEM is common center,
Jesus Christ.
only fitness that Jesus Christ asks of u.s. to
become His followers. is to feel our need of
Him.
After the sermon a communion service
was held participated in by nearly every
person in the church.
The regular business sessions began at
o'clock today, and the conference will likely
last until Thursday afternoon.
The Presiding officer.
The presiding officer of the conference is
Rev. Eldrdge V. REGISTER. who was ap-
pointed presiding elder of the Washington
district at the last session of the Baltimore
annual conference, which met in Staunton
Va, last March. M. REGISTER is a native
of Virginia, but has resided the greater
part of his life in Maryland. He was ad-
mitted to the Baltimore annual conference
in 1894, and has served charges at Easton,
Md; Leesburg, Alexandria, Va, and Trim
ity and Central churches in Baltimore. Md.
His father, DR.. Samuel Register, was
Methodist minister for forty-one years,
prominent in the church as a presiding
elder, was delegate to the general confer
ence four times and was one time pres-
dent of the Maryland Agricultural College.
Many of the delegates will not arrive until
later in the day Some of the Washngto-
mans who came last night Were Rev. w.
F. Locke, A. B. Pugh and d. l.. Coon. from
Mt. Vernon Place Church; Capt. ]. w.
Fite, S. w. Goodson and l.. Pierce Boteler,
Epworth Church; Rev. ]. c. Hawk Mar
vim Church; Edgar F. Nelson, ST. Paul;
Benjamin Cornwell, Calvary, West Wash
ington and Rev. ]. J. Rives, Clarendon, Va.