The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-11-29
Photo by Southworth.).

Photo by Southworth.)
spiritual temple for while these brick
and stones do not constitute the church
OF Christ, with them We form place in
(which the church may assemble and dc
/ that work which God has given it to do.
So every house like this is q real and
valuable contribution TO the spiritual
temple and so essential has become the
house that by association it has come to
be called a church.
King solomon was not content rC
merely build u house. Nothing less
/ than great house would meet the
largeness OF his purpose. The housl
that build is great - We too should
build worthy of the high and holy aims
and end of the church of God. Let the
same zeal impcl us and the same broad
vision guide us. Let us, too say, the
house build is a great house
What constitutes great church. Ger
tainly not mere wealth piled up in stone
and spire, nor the flourish of vain pre-
tentions. While / most heartily favor
adequate and even elegant buildings Of
worship, yet | wish to be emphatic in
saying the greatness of n church is not
in the pretentiousness of its building,
A great church depends upon great
principles
First of all, church to be great must
be built accoring to the divine model.
God had shown David, the father of
solomon, the pattern by which the
temple was to be built. Then David
gave to solomon, his son, the pattern, "
l Chron. 2S:l1. So our Lord in the
New Testament has given to us the pat
tern by which to build his cnurch; not
the material church, but the spiritual,
and no church, however pretentious or
otherwise. can be Il great church if it
Ignores this divine model.
Second, Il great church must have II
great message: it must tell the world of
loving Father: it must eXaIt the Christ
as the supreme authority in religion; it
must proclaim with appealing eloquence
the gospel Of redecming grace; it must
announce a living hope to the sinful
and wretchcd Of our race and unerringly |
point to the doorway of the Fathers /,
home; its message must include the !
unity and fellowship of all Gods peo-
pie. and ferventIy believe in day, /
radiant with light and tuneful with Joy, |
when all of Gods people shall be one,
even us the Father and the Son are one:
it must tell even the most degraded of .
our race that in Gods image they are /
made, and though fallen and the image .
marred, yet, through the grace OF our
God and their own corporation with |
Christ, they may stand again in the like !
ness OF the loving Father
The final tesr of greatness is service. /
The church that sends helpers swift Of I
foot, With sympathetic heart and ready +
hands into the throbbing and sobbing I
world, that turns tears into rainbows Of /
hope, and lifts humanity from depths of /
woe and wickedncSs TO the Fathers face
that church is great The church
must be a refuge for sinners. nursery
'or the bal es in Christ, Il place Of service
ior the strong in faith and a center Of
-elief for the needy and suffering Of our
ace. 1t must touch the tangled wilder
ness of human wretchedness with the
wand of divine love and make it to
blossom like rose. That church is
great that docs noble things, not dream
hem all day long, and thus make life
md death and that vast forever one
,rand, sweet song" II
The builder Of thetemple at Jerusalem