The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1915-11-22
some PREREQUISITES
TO chU8cn PROSPERITY


Taking for his subject Some
Prerequisites to . Congregation 3
Prosperity" Rev George W. Pas-
sett. pastor OF the Main Street
Christian church. preached a most
excellent sermon Sunday. He said
In part: $50
THE prosperity OF the Church of
Christ Is . subject which Hes very
close to the heart Of every true
child Of God. No one can be q
ltrue child Of God or real disciple Of
Christ and be Indifferent to the
welfare Of his church. 1t is evil
dent to us all that church can
prosper under certain conditions
and only under certain conditions.
That. in order to it's prosperity, it
| is absolutely necessary for those
who constitute it to possess certain
qualifications and meet certain re-
quirements
Since a church can hope to pros
per only under certain conditions
and since no one can be true dis
cipIe of Christ without desiring.
hoping. and laboring for the pros
perity OF his church, the question
that is nppermost in the mind of
every follower of Christ is. What
are the essentials or prerequisites
to the progress and prosperity of
the church?' What contribution
can make to the prosperity of the
church of which | am part2'
In order to consider this ques-
!; ton intelligently and answer it
properly, we must determine what
lit takes to constitute a prosperous
congregation. When a congrega-
ton may be said to be and when
not to be in prosperous and pro-
gressive condition. OF course there
may be some difference of opinion
on this point. There are some peo-
! pie who think or at least seem to
think that church Is in prosper
Gus condition when 1t owns a large
and beautiful house of worship and
is otherwise well equipped for its
work, When it is able 10 meet all
its obligations promptly and is well
spoken OF by those without When
/ lit has a popular man for its minis
ter and all its Lords Day and mid
week services are we'll attended.
This definition will in my opinion
mot do While these things are
helpful and much to be desired they
do NOT necessarily indicate pros
porous church.
/ "A prosperous church is one
through whose effort souls are CON
tinually being brought into the
kingdom OF God. 1t is one in which
those who constitute it are being
| built up in the most holy faith. In
other words it is one in which sim
ners are being saved and saints
edited.
! The majority of you will. | pre-
sumo, accept this definition. As
Stunning that you will, | shall now
point out some of the essentials to
the prosperity of this congregation
and of any congregation for that
matter
First Prerequisite.
The first prerequisite is an in-
telligent membership.
BY an intelligent membership ri
mean membership who are able to
give reason for the hope that is in
them. The apostle Peter exhorted
the early Christians to be ready at
all times to give reason for the
hope within them, BY the hope
within them he referred to the hone
of eternal life. The hope of meet
Ing love ones gone before and
spending eternity with them. This
is the hope that the world wants
and needs and without which il
can never be satisfied. IL is the
hope that will appeal to the world
and bring it to the foot of the
cross when all things else fail. But
II the world is TO be reached BY
this hope and called by it from a
Life OF sin to a life of purity in
Christ. those who are christians
must be able to give a reason for
this hope. la other words they must