The chronicle=news., 1913-07-14

SERMONS
In The ChEistial Church.

~ SoG S0ttDeD8 So04Vos
The Glory OF the cousnOnplare'
Such was the sermon. theme In the
Chi istian church Sunday uornlux. as
discussed by Rev. Cook. and which
Was based on the story Of Philip and
tn. Abyssinian officer: Phiiip had
been called from = successful work
In towns and villages Of Samaria 10
xo down into the regions OF Gsza.
which Is DESERT meaning an uniu-
vitink. thiniy settled. and barren re-
slon. The results suggest the theme
Of the nornink. Mr.. Cook said. In
part.
II. The experience Of Philip is u
common ono. II Ia natural 10 show
Indifference toward the arid soaes Of
earth. ~ we'll ~ toward the unprous
isinE fields Of human society. But
this stony proves that We are often
mistaken. rs shown IN in = material
way. This whole western section
was once put down In the Gsoxraph-
les as the Great American drsesi.
and when the purchase Of Alaska
was being considered by Congress
some Of the leading men Of that time
|opposed Il: yet the wcst-rn prairics
have become one Of the most valuable
sections Of the country. and Alaska
has uxloniShed the world with her
riches. Il II the arid regions Of Cali
fornia that have given us III. sold
and oil. as the ruby river valley Of
Burmah hiss given M the worlds
richest gems. All this is n parable
Of human life.
III. The Glory Of the Common.
place finds striking iilustratioa In
all lines Of history. uD Amons
stasessnen. like Lincoln and Garfield:
t: In literature. We have Homer.
Dante. and Shakespeare: 70 I, has
been t3D In invention. With few ex.
cepiions those who have given us oir
art. philosophy. In fact the things
that have biessed the world. have
come from the obscure and least cx-
pected places Of the earth.
iii. God made application Of ihi.
principle In religion. When he need
ed man TO become the father Of y
race he chose Abraham: when he
needed n governor he chose Joseph
when he wanted leader for his p~o-
pie he made choice Of Moses: and II
was not from Rome. with her power.
not from Greece. with her wisdom.
but from d.spIscd Israel that he chose
the greatest tenchcr OF the ages.
Nv. The Glory OF the Common
place finds further illustration In
the worlds reforms. Two thoughts
are here illustrated. and taught. viz.
u That the corroding vices and sins
that ruin civilization and find their
origin among the upper stratas Of 40
ctety: from there they work them
selves down TO the lower stratus. t2I
That the reforms that have blessed
the world have their origin In the
lower stratas Of society. and work
themselves up. Civilization invar.
iably breaks down in the upper "clas-
sea" first. as illustrated by Rome,
Athens. Babylon and Nineveh: also
Paris. Chicago. New York and San
Francisco. Were II not for the influx
OF new blood into the cities, they
would not last fifty years.
"V. What has all this for us?
Three lessons. as follows: % The
church needs new vision OF the
Our heaven Ia too far
off: we need to bring It here among
men now. Cleveland. Ohio. Is con.
sidered the best governed city In the
world. and because Tom johnson
lived there: five-eighths OF the popu-
lation are foreign: but they helped,
out OF their materials mt hand, to
transform that city: what has been
done. In that and other places. needs |
to DC done over all the world. t2)
The church needs a vision Of the
voluc OF commonplace folks. who are
the fibre. bone and sinew OF the land. |
Christ had such a vision. and the
common folks heard him gladly.
There are some strange stories In the
Bible: there are strange stories IN
and strange stories in
life. Most Of the folks who wrote
the Bible did not know where their
next meal ticket was coming from.
CD The church needs to see her COM
mon place duties. and do them.
There are plenty of folks to do the
big things, but we need race Of
folks to do the commonplace things.
The lesson story shows that the SAL
vation OF one man is big enough Job
n nx-n M 1tat Il