The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-05-01
.KHI go To GHlRGH2.
(Continued from nage I1.l

Continued from page I'D
united effort. The rallying point Of
that effort is the church and the Sum
Il lay services.
The question Of church going is
not only question OF the individual.
It IS not alone what he gets or does
mot get.
This is part of the whole ques-
ton, but 1t is only a part. 1t is Just
like everything else in life: other
people are concerned in what We do
or leave undone.i
The success of a church depends
largely upon its attendance. we
cannot stimulate one another to fell
lowship and good works II we do not
come together. There is value IN
association. We can help each other.
Bach one Is strengthened.
Influence of Church Going.
It remains to say word upon the
Subject Of church going, as 1t stands
related to the community.
1T has been said that there Is no
institution on the face OF the earth
possessed OF such tremendous power
for good as a church supported regu-
larly by full attendance of faithful
worshippers." 1t has been further
said that "the person outside the
church gains, in large measure, his
conception of the value of the ser
vices by the way the members attend
tnem, and he will naturally Judge
them to be OF little Importance when
he notes how many members fail to
attend them"
1t is for you to say whether your
church shall mean anything to the
community. 81 the community I'M
derstands that the church is de-
serted on Sunday they will lose re-
spect for 1t. Its power will be weak
ened, ana its influence will be re-
duced to a vanishing point.
AIbsenteeism casts discredit on the
church and It's functions. In ignor-
ing and neglecting the church SER
vices the Christian Is impressing the
outside world with the idea that such
his repeated absence, this member
practically says to the world: SIN
my judgment, these services do not
amount to much, and 1t ioes not
matter whether one attends them.
They can be dispensed with, for they
are by no means essential"
Work For the Church.
We are here to work, through
the church, for cur community and
to help on the work of God in the
world, ii is not alone for your
individual sake that urge attend
ance at the services; it is for the
sake of making your church a more
efficient instrument in the hand OF
God. Ut is not for your sake alone,
but for those. who are young.
Many youth to whom church
going would be of inestimable value,
keeping him from the evil in the
world, finding the church service
dead and cold, seeks greater interest
elsewhere and drifts from the moral
safeguards which a church can pro-
vide.
The young men are nodded in
these matters by you laymen.
You cannot ignore the objects for
which the church exists.
A young painter was directed by
his master to complete picture on
which the master hal been obliged
to suspend his labors on account OF
his growing ilfirmities. 81 commits
sion thee, my son. said the artist,
TO do thy best upon this work Do
tiny best" The young man had such
reverence for his masters skill that
The felt incompetent to touch the
canvas which bore the work of that
renowned hand. But do thy best
was the old mans calm reply. The
youth, trembling, seized the brush
and kneeling before his appointed
work he prayed: 1T is for the sake
of my beloved master that | implore
skill and power to do this deed"
His hand grew steady as he painted.
| Slumbering genius awoke in his eye.
Enthusiasm took the place of fear,
fulness he finished his labor. The
beloved master was borne on his
couch into the studio to pass judR-
ment on the result. AS his eye fell
upon the triumph Of art before him,
he burst into tears and, throwing his
enfeebled arms around the young
artist, exclaimed: my son paint
no more" That youth, Leonard da
VincI, became the painter of 1.-THE
Last Supper" the ruins of which, az
ter the lapse of three hundred years,
still attract annually to the refractory
of an obscure convent in Milan hun
dreds of the worsaippers of art.
Christ's unfinished work has been
left to His church.
Much already has been ACCOM-
plished, but much yet remains to be
done.
Think OF what 1t means. Then see
whether you cannot say: For thy
sake, oh, Christ, l will cast my in
fuence, my presence, my energies,
with the church that is commissioned
to complete the lslbors of my
Lord"