Evening capital and Maryland gazette., 1911-01-05
WEEK OF PRAYER
Large Attendance Al The Pres
byterian Church Last Night
.-Rev. T c. Birds Adj
dress
"WORLD'S CANCELLATION
A Broad Theme The Mission OF Christ
And The Mission OF The Church
Are Identical


Church. the Week of Prayer service
will be held again tonight at the
Presbyterian Church, the Rev. DR..
George S. Bell, pastor.
Last nights service was held in
this church and was largely attended.
the main auditorium being filled
with large congregation composed
of all the churches engaging in the
Week of Prayer services The sub
ject under consideration last night
was The Worlds Evangelization. "
The layman who discussed the same
was Mr.. Walter B. Norris.
The sermon was preached by the
Rev. Thomas c. Bird, minister of
College Avenue Baptist Church Mr..
Bird is splendid preacher and SER
monizer Of whom there is none hette-.
He is close student, deep thinker
and studious theologian. His dis
course was carefully thought out, well
prepared and was full of practical
lessons. The minister spoke in part
as follows:
The mission of Christ and tn e
mission of the church are identical,
he said. In the intercessory prayer,
John, II, occurs this phrase, "As
thou hast sent me into the world,
even so | also sent them into the
world" Christ is the Saviour not
Of tribe only, or of nation. He is
the worldSaviour.
We do not think of Him as being
Jew. He is not bounded by time
or nationality. He is the Eternal
Man, the Universal Man. The mis-
sion of the church must be no less
wide. The church needs to take her
stand once more beside her Master
on Mount Olivet, and hear Him say
again "All power is given bunto Me,
go We unto all the world" etc.
How this ought to stir US to our in
nermost being. Ancient sages and
philosophers talked about the 'emo-
tion of sublimity." 1t was felt
when they contemplated something
vast, magnificent. But while they
talked and wrote of it. they are not
the only persons who have expert
enced it. The shepherd has known
it as the thunderous peals reverber-
ated among the hills. The sailor
boy lazily looking over the side of
his vessel into the deep beneath him,
has felt it as he has contemplated
the vast expanse of water, meeting
a like expanse of sky on his horizon.
And if such emotions are stirred
within US regarding natures won
ders, what ought we not to feel
when we consider the moral dignity
of the missionary enterprise?
1t is unfortunate that even in this
late day we must batter down so
much prejudice before we can get
sympathetic hearing for this cause.
On every hand we hear / do not be-
lieve in foreign missions. We
have enough to do at home" Per-
sonally,I do not like the term mis-
sions. Neither Go / like the dis
tinction drawn between the various
kinds of missions. I much prefer
the term Worlds Evangelization.
The terms are, however, helpful
in the allotment of tie various
activities of the church. The chief
difficulty lies in our remaining iF
Jerusalem" where we are, of
course to begin our mission, but
certainly our task is not complete
until we have compassed Samaria
and the uttermost parts of the earth.
The minister spoke of the univer-
salty of the Lords Prayer. "Our
Father" He spoke of the argument
from C5rist's command "Ye are my
frierds.'' In argument for Christian
tvs fitness to be the universal relig-
ion, he referred to Buddhism, Confu-
cianism, etc. and illustrated that they
perished, but Christianity thrives
wherever it is given a chance.
The Rev. Mr.. Birds discourse was
listened to with marked attention,
and at the close of the service the
minister was congratulated on his
splendid discourse, which delighted
the congregation. Congregational
singing was again a feature of the
service.
There are two more services this
week, that of tomorrow night, clos.
ing the Week of Prayer, the first
week in the year. in which there
has been much interest manifested
by the good church people.
The local Ministers Union has
arranged the programme, following
the topics suggested by the Evangeli-
cal Alliance for the United States.
1t has been arranged that one of the
ministers and-a layman shall speak
each evening.
The services will begin at O'Clock
promptly and will close at 9 o'clock.
The people are requested to attend
exactly on time so that there may be
no interruption to the exercises.
The programme for the rest of the
week is as follows:
Thursday, First Presbyterian
Church Subject, The Home and th'
School" Rev. w. F. Roberts and Mr.
I John II. Strahorn.
Friday, Maryland Avenue M. E
Church Subject, Government an
Politics." Rev. James L. Smiley an
| Mr.. Winson G. Gott.