Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1909-12-02
Thanksgiving DAY.
Services we're Held at 1.-THE First
Methodist Church in This City.
SERMON 81 REV. h. |. GRAIN
The Collection Taken Proved TO be One OF The
largest In The History Of Thanks.
giving Day Services.

The services held at the Methodist
chrch last Thursday morning were
we'll attended The Sermon by Rev
Grain was one especially appropriate
to the occasion, Rev. Grain took for
his text the 10th and 18th verse of the
9Th chapter of Thesalonians, he said in
part:
Paul draws distinction between
thanks FIR II things" and lin
everything In Eph. $500. he means
to this all things collectively the for
tunate and unfortunate alike, we mas
give thanks. when We remembr that
together they work for good to tnses
who love God. 1t is a question whether
thanks for things is acceptable. AS
individuals or as nation we may
pray as the one did in Christ s
presence. II thank The that we are not
as other nations" 1t NAV be selfish
complacent prayer. Our forefathers
returned thanks to God for harvest ana
fruitage obtained from a virgin soil
after it had been cleared and subdued
hard by labor. They little dreamed
of the vast acreage OF soil which this
wear yielded its billions of bushels of
grain or the richly stored mines from
which we have taken the treaures of
centuries They could not know the
vast industries which have been de-
veloped by modern ingenuity to
the extent that raw material Of this
most resourceful land have been put
through wonderful mechanical pro.
cess and turned into products which
marketed in the parts of the world
have brought sheaves of wealth. to us.
but with these vastly greater riches for
which to give thankss Are we pro.
portionately more thankful than they?
Are we even equallvs OF Are we not
more materialistic and less spiritual?
This rich scene of material prosperity
and progress hangs glittering before US
as We are called by our executive to
this dav of thanks. We do no look
through it to the unseen things of in
tellectual moral and spiritual value.
In our prosperity. We ought to give
thanks for these things. our schools,
our privilege as citizens, the ideals of
our forefathers preserved in the cur
rents of public life. and fol- the con-
tinued favor of our fathers God
1t is equally true that in reverses as
thew come to the individual. the COM
munity, and the nation. we should
thank God for these things. Our
national history teaches us that we
we're never more conscious of God 8
favor than when we were suffering the
privations and peril of the Revolution
or the dissension and disaster of the
Civil War or the strains and struggles
of social. industrial and civic reforms.
In government. in the business world.
in the relation of classes in our Social
structure, and in the great civic and
economic efforts of our dav. we NAV
be grateful that men are rising to a
high plane of thought and action, that
voices are being lifted with prophe ic
warning and inspiration from the
pulpit in the press and public plat
form. leading US on in the process of
making better manhood and more
perfect state. 1t is equally true that
in private life, whether In prosperity
or adversitv 1t is love of friends. JOY
in intellectual development. and con-
tentment in moral Struggle and the
blessings of spiritual growth for which
we NAV give thanks. We must not
be satisfied with material gain or SO
dull to moral virtue or so blind to the
spirital efforts of life that we shall be
optimistic in our prosperity only. and
peismistc lin adversitv We NAV be
grateful today and complaining tomor-
row. unless we give thanks in every
thing for the love that realizes it's
G ,rist. its birthright to human brother.
hood and its duty to humanity
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