The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-11-01
PLUNKET FORMALLY INSTALLED PASTOR Rev. Mooney Breaches Able h.
 staIIation Sermon SPECIAL MUSIC GIVEN Mooney Brings Out and Emphasizes the Importance of Perseverance In
 Righteousness-Woodbrldge
 and Handey Assist.
SPECIAL MUSIC GIVEN

Dr. ]. T. Plunket was last night formal- ly installed as pastor of the South High lands Presbyterian church according to the impressive ceremony of the Presby- terian church. The Rev. Urban D. Mooney, pastor of the Second Presby- teran church, presided at the services, preached the regular sermon for the oc- caslon and propounded questions provid- ed in the book of church order to the pastor-elect and the congregation.
 Dr ". G. Woodbridge. pastor of the Avondale Presbyterian church, delivered most impressive charge to the pastor installed, bidding him always keep in mind the dignity of his position as pas- tor of the Presbyterian church. Dr. l.. S. Handley delivered the charge to the congregation. urging them to aid and CO., operate with their pastor in all matters, and to feel at all times that he was their friend and adviser.
 Special music was provided, the follow ing programme being carried out:
 "As the Hart Pants" (Mendelssohn). soprano solo by Mrs Gladden..
 "I will Extol Thee, Lord (M. Cos ta) anthem.
 Love Divine All Exceling'' (De ReeD, quartet.
 Rev. Mooney's Sermon.
 Rev. Mooney preached an able sermon, choosing as his theme perseverance In righteousness. His text was from Gala tians. 6:9-"Let us not be weary In well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not" Ills sermon in part was as follows:
 "The fundamental issue of life depends on man decision whether he shall choose the way of the flesh or the way of the spirit When he makes that choice he must stand alone and unaided. His early training and environment stand him in no stead in the end; be stands the mere man, stripped of all restraint. And so when you and I go forth into life we must l take our stand alone, to win or to lose. We must choose between the life of the flesh and the life of the spirit. When we make this choice we settle destiny. If we choose to live according to the law of l the flesh we will have in the end a wasted life. If we live under the law of the spirit we shall enter at the end into the final heritage of the just and righteous.
 Decisions Not Final.
 "But these great principles and de- cisions, though fundamental, are by no means final. It is not all to make the i decision. It yet remains for men to main i tain themselves in their decisions. If we ! choose to abide by the law of the spirit we must sustain ourselves in that choice. i Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not
 we find that in no time during His life did Jesus cease to forbear and for l give; that in no time did He falter in
 His work of preaching and spreading the 1 gospel. And so 1t Is with us. We must be loyal not only today but always. It i is one thing to choose our course in 1 life and another to maintain ourselves steadfastly in that course. It is one thing to decide upon a life of righteousness and l another to sustain ourselves in a life of righteousness to the end. It cannot be doubted that to sustain ones self steadfastly in the course he has chosen there is true heroism. It is usual to think of heroism as surrounded by cer- tain glamor, as attended by excitement, l but there is such thing as herosm at unusual times, unattended by glamor or 1 excitement. In truth, there is nothing in | life really worth while that has this glamor of attraction about it. The things of real worth are found in the conven- tional, seemingly monotonous routine of life. The glow of the footlights and the artificial atmosphere lend attraction to the stage, and yet an actor will tell you that his life is one of mingled insults and disappointments, of never-ceasing hard work: that the stage is very sordid and , material within, though it has its at- fractions without All work really worth ooing will seem somewhat commonplace and monotonous.
 Let us remember in our life of right eousness, lest we falter, that we are en- gagged in a great work, that we are build ing the kingdom of God. Christ's king dom cannot be built by a spasmodic effort, but by patient labor and sustained power. The vital work of the world is the work that Is unseen. In passing over a great railroad bridge we admire the beauty of the superstructure, but forget that the vital part lies in the stones of the foup- dation that are invisible. We hear the words of some great orator who is en- abled by his eloquence and power to sway the minds of his audience and admire and applaud him, while somewhere in the shadow sits the patient mother, who has paved the way for his career of greatness in giving him his early teachings and precepts. Some statesman rises in a time of his country's need and is en- abled to accomplish some great deed or avert some threatened calamity, while perhaps in the little red schoolhouse still remains the master who installed into his mind the first principles of character. It is the unseen work that Is vital.
 we must remember in doing these labors that We are engaged in work that must last for all time. In the end the unseen must become the seen. The stones for the foundation that must rest under the waters of the river may seem to dis appear as they are cast in one by one, but we finally see the framework as it rises above the water and to the height of the superstructure. It is then that the un- seen takes the form of the seen. In our life each day of patience and sacrifice, faith and locality is as one stone that is dropped into the water and disappears But in time the unseen will become the | seen, and the superstructure will rise n. oR. sT