Milford chronicle., 1915-10-08

He may be disappointed in not finding in
the bride all that he expected, but the
reasons for a divorce can never exist.
She will be faithful to him and he must
be faithful to her through the whole of
life-all the days until the end. Now
then, dear Christians, having heard this
wedding formula do l hear you say in
decisive tones, do. -
DO YOU THINK OF THE CHURCH AS A
FAMILY?
When Paul wrote to the Epesians he
| likened the Church to a family, and he
knew what he was talking about. A
study of the Church will reveal at least
two things: First. that membership is
/ by birth; and. second, that there is a
variety of temperament. These two ideas
teach US that while the vocations of the
members may differ they are one in
spirit and interest.
We believe that the real Church is
composed of those who have been re-
generated. One cannot belong to fam
lily unless he is born into it. One can be
adopted into a family by legal process,
but he never inherits anything that is
not material and external. One can
marry into family, though she may be
a wife, she can never be anything more
than a daughter-in-law. Children may
be born unto the family, but she can
never be a member in the truest sense.
There are only two institutions that do
not have an artificial basis of member
ship-the family and the church.
Now word as to temperament. This
is various in the family, and is so in the
Church. The father may be harsh and
stern, while the mother may be sweet
and gentle-the son may be quick tenn
pered and nervous, while his brother
may be peaceful and slow. The sister
may be giddy and foolish. But because
the temperments differ we could not
argue that they are not members of the
family. Now examine our church MEM
bership and see how men and women
differ. One will be enthusiastic and
shout hallelujah, while another will be
devotional and quiet. Then in a family,
Mary becomes a teacher, John becomes
a lawyer. Sarah becomes a housewife
and stays in the home, while Jim is care
less and free, and is usually out of a job.
But when a problem confronts the fam
lily, or some evil threatens it, the family
spirit and interest is one. We find a
striking example of this in the family
AGuuS Ill hGuLuChNs LNGIY IGdl lllGAlDEL
of the Church when speaking of its
common interests does not say ''they"
and them" but 'our" and 1--WE"
THE PROBLEMS.
Ask People To Come. Each member
must feel that he or she is responsible
for the size of the congregation. We
each must be on the invitation commit
tee. We must compel them to come in
by our interest in them. We must ad-
vertise our Church and thus help those
who are trying to make it efficient.
Go For The Men. Women will come
and they make the majority in the aver
age congregation. We must see to it
that men are interested in the Church.
We must go for them in order to get
them.
We Must Give The People Something.
You can not feed chickens for a con-
siderable time on sawdust. We must
each furnish his and her part in the
church service. As much depends on
the pew as on the pulpit in making a
church homelike and inviting.
We Must Keep Out OF Ruts.-We
must try new schemes. "Monotony in
Heaven would drive the angels mad.
We must cast the old machinery into
the scrap heap to keep from going there
ourselves. "Taint a knowing sort of
cattle that is ketched with moldy corn. -
The most sensational. the most novel
preacher in the history of the world was
Jesus of Nazareth. Some one has called
Him the humorist" of the New Testa-
nent. We must keep fresh. The newest
hing in the world is the Gospel.
Lastly, We Must Enter The Open Door.
The Sunday School is the Church's
It's the recruiting station.
Then world wide missions must occupy
more of our attention. "Send" or "go,
5 the slogan of the up-to-date church.
We must give to this cause until we
eel it.