Evening journal., 1909-01-18
PASTOR CRAWFORD
ON CHRIST SERVING
Tells Central Church COnere-
cation that the Divine Call
to Service is imperative
NEW PASTOR WELL RECEIVED

The Rev. J. II. Crawford. preached
his first sermon as pastor of Central
Presbyterian Church yesterday morn.
ing and was we'll received. His sub
ject was Serving and Following"
taking as his text, IF any man serve
me. let him follow me-" st. John 1926
Mr. Crawford sad in part:
1--WE have never done full justice to
what one may call the imperious side
of Christ's nature. Average man thinks
of Jesus as a gentle Christ-so He was
but lie was stern as well. People
think of Him as meek and submissive
so He was but He was heroic as well.
In His intercourse with men He was
frequently imDerious because He was
imperial. One Of the greatest yearn-
ing in the world to-day is for a Christ
that is divinely masculine.
when Jesus Christ calls a man TO
His service it is a call that is i'm
perative and imperious. VIII you
agree with me as a general PROPOSE
ton that Jesus demands are impera,
tive7 That they transcend all Other
demands to the extent that man
must leave his father or mother II
need be. and follow Christ; that a
man must burn the bridges behind him
and follow Christ; in a word, that the
demands of Christ are transcendently
the greatest demands that was ever
made uDon a human life. If He is not
supreme as my master, He is not my
master AS has been we'll said by
another-if he is not Lord Of ALL He is
not Lord at all" He is only a fetch
an object once removed from the OBJ
iect that my Hindu brother worships,
more beautiful and refined, but only
once removed from that conception of
authority and supremacy
"I lay it down as fundamental
proposition no matter who you may be
or what your environment or social
position may be. Jesus Christs claims
upon your life is both imperious and
imperative.
"Now how are you going to meet it!
That's a serious question.
"I believe first we must get back
to the other worldliness Of the early
| Christians who learned of Jesus. I dc
not say unworldliness because I have
never found that men are made better
by negative. You can only make
them better by giving them snow
| mountains to climb, then they will
leave the malaria of the valley.
"The other worldliness of church
there is little enough Of that to-day
Look at Christians piling up theh
money instead Of treasures in heaven
that wax not old" The church seems
to think she must vie with the world
in providing amusements for her mem.
] bers; that the one thing is to keeT
popular with everybody and have g
good time. SO we have our churches
turned into fancy fairs and all kint
of questionable things to make money
! or course recreation is needful for N
all. We could not live without II
Christian people must learn TO maxi
their family circle happy that tn
young may not need 10 go outside
But surely you are never going to in
duce the noblest youth of this countr.
or I have strangely mis-interprete
their hearts-by saying come to churc
and you will have q good time. Sec
ond. there must be a vital belief an
trust in the cross Of Christ for on
salvation.
"A very eminent preacher said: Go
forbid that I should glory save in tn
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ an
1 think Paul will probably outlin
some Of the new tangled ideas and he
liefs and schemes that have grown u
around thee hurch. But the cross mus
be a present day reality. We mus
die with Christ unto sin. BY .thi
sign you will not only serve and fol
low your Lord. but gain the victor
Of yourself and conquer the world"
IL Years, Exnsrisnoe in Eve Work