Arizona republican., 1916-04-24
Tempe News Notes
SERVICES
 TEMPE CHURCHES
Services Appropriate to the Day Sermon of Congre-
 gational Minister

Appropriate Easter services were l carried out in each of the Tempe | churches yesterday forenoon and even- | ing and some splendid sermons were listened to by unusually large congre- gations. Special preparations were made for the day and everywhere the spirit of Easter was manifest.
 Pastor Clifford Mott Hand of the Congregational church at the morning worship service spoke on the theme, And They Departed Quickly from the Tomb" He said in part:
 There are two signs by which the church conquers-the cross and the empty tomb. The one is the sign of Good Friday, the other of Easter. It is significant that there is no account in the sacred writings of the great event which all Christendom this day cele- brates. There is no mention in the in spired word of the resurrection-much of the Risen One! The sorrowing dis ciples found an empty tomb, and they departed quickly" They refused to be concerned with the literal details of the material and earthly. They turned, | instead, to meet and worship the ever | living Christ. So also ought we. The church has spent many a weary hour | of argument in proving the wrong ! i the modern mistake of carnalizing the resurrection-of seeking a living per
 sonality in the abode of the dead.
 He is not here" in fleshly guise. He
 is risen"-the Daystar of Christianity.
 For it is not a revivified body but an imperishable Person who has saved
 the world. Tt was not possible for death to hold Him"-His personality
 was too vital. Yet the person trans
 cends the event. much more the man
 ner of it, the evidences of it and ac-
 cessories to it. Concerning the details
 of this event speculation is futile. The
 accounts handed down to us are vague
 and contradictory. There are vivid
 human touches, not intended as testi-
 mony for the courts. None saw Him
 rise. All saw Him risen. He still
 livedi That was enough to take
 Christianity out of the list of Jewish
 sects and to constitute it a universal
 religion. Theories are various, in-
 genious and plausible. They oft-times
 create more difficulties than they ex-
 plain. A miracle is. perhaps, the cas- fest hypothesis. But miracle or nc miracle, the emphasis does not belong
 in the realm of the flesh-"the weak
 and beggarly elements"-but rather or
 the everliving Christ who so stamped
 the reality of His risen personality or the minds of men as to be ineffacable
 And. after all, Christianity does moi
 rest on the credibility of any alleged historical fact.
 , So let us also depart quickly from the tomb" The ever-living Christ is our Christ. The pagan world had tht Eternal Christ" and rejected him Jewry had the Historical Christ" ant cruicified him. We have the ever | living Christ and now is the day o salvation. Not merely for us is tht , Christ within" nor the Galilean peas , ant" From the shadowy recesses o l, , conscience and reason, through anC beyond the limitations of earthly eX- : istence He has come-the ever living
 Lord of men-living and life giving ] The church often longs for the day. f of the Son of Man. The disciple wish , es himself back to the Galilean com
 panionship. With the little childreI ' we wistfully sing:
 q wish that His hand had been placed . on my head,
 n That His arm had been throwl = around me,
 v And that 1 might have seen His kin' V look when He said,
 . Let the little ones come unto me- But it is not the visible tangible
 bodily Christ who is the most req
 most personal, most vital. God hel d the church to learn this "They de t parted quickly from the tomb.' "Wh f seek ye the living among the dead a He is not here. He is risen" Tn
 ever-living Christ is in His world.