Norwich bulletin., 1914-05-02
SHOP TALK SPEAKER
 HAD ATTENTIVE AUDIENCE
Rev. pr. SIocum's Topic Was A Friend
 The Best Friend.

Rev. Joel B. Slocum, D. D., spoke upon the topic A Friend at the Y. M. c. A. shop meeting held at the Cres- cent Arms company Friday noon be- fore a large, attentive gathering of employees of that company. Appro- priate selections were played on the Victrola.
 The speaker said in part:
 You have often heard the expres- sion, "the best friend" You, your self, have made that statement more than once concerning someone whom you regarded more highly than others. You have said, referring to that per son, Well. he is the best friend I ever had" The fact is. you have not quite meant that, or you have meant 1t in not quite that way. The moment you begin to think 1t over, you will real ize that your best earthly friend was, or is, your mother or your father. Your mother, for instance, is your best friend, because she has been you better than other friends. But even when you say your mother is your best friend, you are not en- tirely right. There is one who has been friend to you longer than mother or father. I refer to Jesus. He is the one whom all of us can call our best friend. There are several reasons why he is our best friend. I will mention a few of them.
 Our Best Friend.
 In the first place. He is our best friend because. as I have just said, He has known us longest. And then He is our best friend because He Is our most friendly friend. He has the kindest heart and He does the incest things for us. It is just here that we test our friends. It is not what they say they are, but what they prove 4I- great tests of the friendship of Jesus. First, He has paid us great compli- ments. He has called us His sons. His friends. He has invited us to come into His family and He will make us His heirs and will give us happiness and rest. Then. in the second place, He has kept all of His promises. Reasons Why.
 This brings us to the next reason why Jesus is our best friend, and that is because He is the most powerful friend Think of the power that He commands. It is impossible to esti- mate it. By that power He created the great universe. By that power He sustains the worlds and the stars. How glad we ought to be that we have such a powerful friend. When we were boys at school, we used to get real bold when we knew we had a big brother or some other strong friend who would fight our battles for us. So we have in Jesus a big Brother who will champion our cause. It is good to have Him on our side. The only way, however, to be sure that His strength will be available for our need is to make sure that we are on His side During the war, some people approached Lincoln with the sugges- ton that he request the church people all over the north to pray that the Lord should be on our side. Lincoln replied, characteristically, T am more concerned that we should be on the Lords side"
 best friend Is because He is so &C., cessible. When we want Him most, He is always near. We do not need to send for Him to come from some distant place. or make a long journey to Him.
 Next week I have to go to New York to see a man personally in re- gard to some Christian work. Tele- phoning and telegraphing and letter writing will not do. He is a good to talk with me, simply because I want him. It is here that we see one great difference between our earthly friends and this wonderful friend Jesus. He is powerful enough so that he can be and is present with us in all our need.
 The Earl of Essex was a particular friend of Queen Elizabeth. One day she gave him a ring and told him that if he ever got into trouble, to send that ring to her and she would help him. He did get into trouble and sent the ring to her. But an enemy of his intercepted the ring. and so the earl lost his head, But Jesus is so near that when we are in trouble there is no danger that eur message to Him will be delayed or destroyed He will come te our relief, and come at once. His answer may not always be just the kind we expect. but it will be the right answer.
 Dr. SIecum appealed te the men to nut canddaRca in this grsatast ct ~