The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-01-19
DIR. IRA ALANDR|THAT
FIRST CHRISTIAN
breaches on Mission of the
Church of Today
ASKS CONSIDERATION
Only Earnest Lives Count, He SAYS.
One Trouble With the Church Is
"VirtuOus Conservatism" He
Declares

Yesterday morning at the First Chris
tan church, Dr. Ira Landrith of NASH
Vile preached on THE Larger Mission of
the Twentieth Century Church" empha-
sizing the abundant life which the church
Is commissioned to practice and proclaim.
| 1T is only earnest lives that count"
said DR. Landrith, only positive people
that are powerful. 1t is those who can
toll terribly whose earnestness is blood
earnestness that can do the work to
which Christ calls. Wesley asked for
100 men who loved their fellows and
who feared God alone. and promised that
with these he would take the world for
Christ. 1t was earnestness that he plead
ed for, the earnestness needed by tho
church i'm its tasks today.
alf-heartedness a Crime
''Half-heartedness Is the crime of Chris
tianlty The world is in sin and the
church has the gospel for it's salvation.
yet it gives itself to perfunctoriness while
men perish. Its time Is short. yet Zion
is at ease. And this in the face OF the ex-
ample set by the business world. In that
world there Is plenty of zeal; and these
jealous leaders in business and In poll
long to the church of Jesus Christ They
could do what they would in religion. II
they would only do what they could Yet
the church lives lamely: public and pri-
vate vice abounds: the body of Christ is
divided and all because of half
heartedness in service that is nothing less
than crime.
Conservatism Misplaced
"one chief reason for these ills In tie
church is what passes for virtuous con-
servatism. But conservatism Is not al
ways a yirtue--we cannot let well enough
alone. Whenever We are satisfied with
religious or moral achievement we beYin
Immediately to go down and back There
is no conservatism for the follower of
Christ 1t Is his duty to be extreme--eS-
treme enough to raise its voice and ren-
der it's service for all that brings abun1-
ant life to men.
THE church OF the twentieth century
must stand for whatever is wholesome
and helpful to childhood, womanhood am
manhood, to the city the state and &
nation. And 1t must stand against wi,
ever hurts these things, because the/ =
jury of these retards the salvations'
souls. Although salvation was the ch.s@
mission of Christ, 1t was not His only
mission. Let us not limit the atonemert.
lie came to save all that needed saving,
and to impart all the life there is-spirit-
ual, mental, physical. soeial-all life that
is pure and good.
In Debt to Four Generations
s'sAs servants of Jesus Christ, and min
listers of His life, we are in debt to four
generations we are in debt to the gencr
alton that is dead-the generation from
which we have inherited our powers We
are In debt to the living, to the men Of
our own generation and to the generation
after us now coming into the world 10
give the best of life as we have found II
I'm Christ And we are in debt to the gem
Grafton vet unborn to give to the worii
a race of men fit to live and tit TO live
with a race not merely regenerated, but
a race trained to do right, to speak riSht,
to think right, to be right. rms is tire
larger mission of the twentieth century
church"
The afternoon service was devoted 70
O. musical programme which was greatly
enjoyed by all who attended.