The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-13

Westminster Abbey down to the Lon don of our own day. Now if this is all true in matters of purely material effort, is it not much more vital in the building of a human character, and
 do we not build, not for a few years, l nor yet for a lifetime, but for an leternity2 And in building do we not believe that the God who has. creat-
 ed us, and who has enabled us to be- Lgin a good work, will likewise give us
 license and~ power to complete the
 same, if not in this world, then in some other world where amid such great offices as suit
 I The full grown energies of Heaven.'' there are offered larger opportunities for development thal. are offered l here.
 These are two of the human ap- breaches to belief in immortality They do not denonstrate it as a real l fly, but they do give one to Isee the very high probsb biiity Of a future life, the reasonableness Of it. They pre- pare the way for that which Jesus Christ reveals The resurrection com pIetes the span. It rests the truth upon secure foundationa Now the effect Of the resurrection is this: It not only vfndicates conscience. but 1t produces wonderful, marvellous, beautiful exa1tation of character. The. sub1imest proof of it's reality is found in the signal transformation 1t wrought l in the character of the disciples. Be- fore the resurrection, they were a ttimid, fearful unreliable group of men: after the resurrec tfon, their courage lbecame the marvel of the age Nots one of them failed to seal his identity
 with his death- As common men come to be heroes on the battle-heId where the inspiration to heroism ia on every side and victory is breathed in the air. so, because the Christ had
 not only proclaimed that
 Life is ever Lord of death And Love can never lose it's home
 but had actually demonstrated it., these
 men became fired with an fndomita;bIe zeal to go out and attack every evil and for Christ to conquer the world. lOf each it might be said that hence forth he was
 @One who never turned his back, but Marched breast forward,
 Never doubted clouds would break. INever dreamed-~ though right were worsteds
 Wrong would triumph
 Held they fall to rise, were bafrled to fight better.
 ISIeep to wake
 Have yon ever read the beautiful story in Beside the Bonnie Brfer Bush" of the good old Scotch widow with an only child son dedicated fatal Illness, she calls that son to her bedside and says: "The one great re- igret of my life is that shalI not be fable to hear you preach your first ser mon. but I shall be there in spirit, and I ask you, as good soldier, to preach E a sermon in the name of your great iCaptain. the Lord and Saviour, Jesus IChrist- Five years later the young fman returns to preach in the village kirk. He has1 prepared a. sermon which he considers an unanswerabIe' Esolution to all tIie controversies of the Iday. But he is reminded by his aunt Iof that dying prayer of his mother land. taking that precious document to which he has devoted so much time, he throws 1t into the fire, and breaches Jesus Christ, and the power of Hfs iresurrection. During the delivery Of the discourse,,' says the narrator. .syou could almost feel that the Christ
 was in the kirk. Tke explanation of this is not difficult to give. Religion l is 2 sense of want. It implies a per Iception of the Infinite. Man hungers not only for spiritual food, but for a solution of those baf1ing problens- the mystery of sorrow, the mystery of suffering, the mystery of death. In the presence of these, he wants that which shall open the lnreveaIed possi- biities of life, inspire one,s conscience, deepen ones earnestness, and give the bereaved soul ito advance into the great darkness serene in the confide ence that he will hear again the voice Of one that is stiII's Here is a truth that gathers Up all of these and in- terprets them anew in the Triumphant
 power of the risen Christ. The resur- to light, but it brings to light the latent, the dormant the dominant and potential possibilities of mans life. After his sermon, Rev. MT. Sher-
 man paid 9 glowing tribute to the
 memory of the late Rev Dr. William H. Lewis, former rector of the church. He said:
 Dear Parishfoners Today is the first Sunday we worship as pastor
 and people, members together of this historic old parish It is a parish of noble traditions, which traditions you have all had part in establishing It has played a part effectively in many | of the welfare movements of this com
 mupity It has throughout the years fministered silently to the countless hundreds who have nourished within it's recincts a spiritual life. It has been your church home and 1t has always stood for what is highest and best in the Christian religion. That i it has stood for this during the last quarter century has been due, I know in largest measure to him who was for So many years your rector and friend pr. Lewis I did not know, but I had often heard of him as a man of high ideals, of distinguished ability as a clergyman of the Church, and as one who was known far for his kind
 mes and for his devotion to this peo- pie. As one who Is to be permitted to enter into the fruitage of his la bors, want to pay this word of tribute to his memory on this first
 Easter Day when we are without him as know Nou do. To us it is given to fill in the ranks of the noble ones who have gone before, to strive to
 maintain the traditions they main tained and to see to it that the fu- ture years shall bring forth a 1ulI quota of earnest elldePvor and rich
 accom- plfshment. The tie of shepherd
 and people is Gods gift It is my earnest prayer, therefore, that the re- larfonship we establish here may de-