Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-12-23
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON AND
YOUNG PEOPLES MEETINGS
News of Interest to Church Goers By a
Writer Who is An Authority on Religious
Subjects The International Lesson for
Next Sunday.
SERVING THE WHO'LL WORLD.
Terse Comments Upon the Christian
Endeavor Topic for December rs.
"Our Responsibility for Home and
Foreign Missions" Matt. 20: 20.
(BY WILLIAM t. ELLIS,

(BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS)
Everybody's first business is to live
his own life. That takes precedence of
everything else. 1t must be his own
life, and it must be life-not a re-
Election or a shadow. 1t is obligatory
upon him, also to make his life true
and to make it as large at possible
The poverty of our time consists not
in the temporal needs of the poor, but
in the poverty of real life on the part
of both rich and poor William E. Rus
sell well said, There Is one thing bet
ter than making living: that is MAX
Ing life" A man may heap up things
until his poor starving life is smother
ed beneath them. It's life we need: and
large life comes by large sympthy
and large service, which links this
basic thought to the present Christian
Endeavor topic.
Every man is responsible for the ut
termost reach of his covers.
Wherever God puts us he puts Il
duty down alongside Of US. And now
that he has made us nigh neighbors
of all the world he has laid upon us an
obligation to minister to the whole of
mankind.
Home" and foreign" are pernicious
words that will one day be eliminated
from the missionary vocabulary. 1t is
not just to God to divide his world
fields up into sections that provoke
partisanship. Moreover it is beyond
the power of man to make the division
fairly. Who can tell where home"
ends and foreign" begins? BY what
token shall we determine which is
which? Shall we cay that the sway Of
the flag determines it? Then all the
mission work in the British Empire.
whether in Africa, India or China, is
home mission work. Shall color of skin
determine it? Then let us hand over all
the negroes and Chinese in the land to
the foreign mission boards. The whole
division is absurd in this twentieth
century with its compact world-neigh-
borliness, there is only one mission
field. Holy Writ defines it: THE field
is the world
God calls by many voices, but most
commonly by capacity. It is the man
who has strength who should bear
burdens. Ability to breach is call to
preach. Power to give Is an appeal to
give. The simple fact that today the
Christian church is so tremendously
able is providential summons to
world service.
All the reasons that brought Christ
into the world apply to constrain
Christians to labor for the world.
Ass
In all the religions of the world there
is only one manger. The little Child
has no place in other faiths. Christ
ianity alone glorif1es and exalts child
hood. Hence it is the only religion for
children. There is no god beside our
God who is a loving Shepherd. with
tender care for the lambs.
| He who cannot understand that
Christ died to save all men cannot un-
derstand Christ at all.
| Christianity alone satisfies. No 9TH
er religion does. Peace on earth is i'm
possible to any except the Christian
Every other religious system leaves
longings unmet. desires unsatisf1ed
and therefore in vain outreachins
after coveted mystery, men who have
not heard of Christ erect affairs "tc
the unknown Cod" There is nothing
more pathetic in the heather worlt
than the vague and deep yearling after
| That need can be satisfied only il
Christ.
The world rises as it follows Christ's
| reckoning.
The principles of peace will prevail
among the nations only as the Gospe
of Christ is given sway. To promote
| peace, preach Christ.
All the worthy features of other re.
| ligions may be found In ChristianitE
with Incompatible additions. 1t is tn:
sum of all good because the Eterna
Goodness is the author. Christianity |;
all-inclusively excellent because it L
in Itself the body of the living Christ
The lifting up of Christ lifts up the
world. The elevation of humanity de
ponds upon the exaltation of the cross
We are not practicing Gospel a
home unless we are preaching i
i abroad.
i Gods kingdom will surely come
though we may miss the blessing o
helping to bring 1t.