The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-02-15
At The Baptist
Church Sunday

The members of the Bible school
of the Baptist church had most
interesting talk from DR.. Little OF
Jackson, Tenn, followed by a mes
sage in song by Miss Pearl Johnson.
Every Sunday there is at the close
Of this hour of Bible study some real
Gem of thought given, or beautiful
message brought to us in song.
; Bro. Wears subject for the morning
,, hour of worship was "The Brother
, rood Of the Jerusalem Church. !" The
keynote to this eloquent sermon was
Spiritual Obligations. Reading
from Acts 4:32.37, where the history
CT the Jerusalem church's power and
influence as patterns a church is out
lined. The great brotherhood being
OF enc heart and of one soul-thus
having the mind of Jesus was their
secret Of power.
In their division Of their posses
sions they exemplified the commun-
ity interest-manifesti interest in
ministering to the temporal wants of
the brethren. The man a blessing
who uses his earthly possession to
benefit humanity. In a great meas
ure our possessions express our lives
either we use them to the glory of
God or for self. In this Jerusalem
church each esteemed others better
than himself, after which they were
able to teach Christ and His resur-
rccticn, making Jerusalem church
a power to stand against Judaism
a power to evangelize the world-a
church that stands for brotherhood
- church of divine institution
The lessons we learn from this early
church are many, but that of stew
art,ship one of the most important
Like Barnabas, we can lay our pos
sessioHs-our time and talents-on
the altar of Gods service. Barnabas
the sympathetic-shows his inter-
est IN men, listens to the call OF nu-
1nanity, which is Gods call. Let us
not be like Ananias and Sapphire,
but give all to our Master, thus
claiming the blessing of faithful
stewardship. Bro. Wear closed with
an earnest plea to those of his flock
to live true to the principles of
brotherhood, that the bond of love
and sympathy between the brethren
be oemented by their love for their
Savior. -
At the evening hour the largest
congregation ever present in the his
tory of the church worshipped to-
gether. The Boston Lyrics, consist
ing of Mr.. and Mrs. Jordan and
Miss Wells were present. Mr.. Jor-
dan sang II Think When l Read
That Sweet Story of Old" with rare
sweetness and beauty of tone. Miss
Wells, the talented elocutionist and
impersonator, gave a reading, "The
Lost Word" The fine congregation
81 singing was one of the delightful
features of the evening service. A
violin solo was much enjoyed. DR..
Luther Little, a lifelong friend of
Bro, Wear, gave us the message of
the evening, "The Centurion's Con-
fession." The Bible reading on the
cTucifixion of Christ-picturing in
graphic words the confession of the
centurion, This is the Son of God. :"
How the centurion in his confession
disregards the early training of his
Roman mother, going against his
material interests as an officer of the
Roman government, losing his per-
roIai influence. Citing the influences
that caused this confession, such as
the pure and blameless life led by
Christ, the influence of those who
followed him, the miracles of the
cruc'fixion, the earthquake and the
darkening of the sun. The centurion
listens to the words of Christ, "Fa-
Their forgive them for they know not
what they do" knows that this is
tic Son of God. In our day how
much easier it is to confess Christ.
The world is filled with the miracles
of Gods grace. God, the Father,
takes the life that is given unreserv-