The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1916-06-02
Honor Heroes at Churches.

Honor Heroes at Churches.
Pastors in Owosso churches paid
tributes to the memory of departed
heroes of this nations wars during
appropriate services Sunday.
In the Congregational church on
Sunday morning a large audience
shared in the enjoyment of an inter
esting and inspiring service. The
music of organ and choir was of a
high order. Particularly enjoyable
was the male ,quartette 1.-THE Boys OF
the Old Brigade" by Messrs. Gibson,
Wilson, Coulter and Lovett. DIR.
Mattson preached sermon that was
received with deep appreciation on
the subject, "The Nations Heroes OF
Faith; Their Call to u.s. The text
was from Hebrew 11:39,4 "And
these all, having obtained good re-
port through faith, received not the
promise: God having provided some
better thing for us, that they without
us should not be made perfect"
DR.. Mattson used the text as a tel
escope through which to view the
consultations in the armament of
our national history and the princi-
pies on which alone free nation
can be built and can endure.
The speaker reviewed the four
epoch making struggles in our ma
tional life, the revolution for the
right to be a self-governing nation to
share the freedom of the seas; the
Civil war, for purging out of the two
internal evils OF sectionalism and
slavery; and the Spanish American
war as our first great call to the
larger task of service for humanity
and Of place as world power.
Now this great world war is teac&-
ing us the lessons we should have
been learning in these two decades
past.
The era of preparedness we are
tardily entering is to prepare us not
for war but for our rightful place in
the worlds better life and to enable
us to give the service we owe to the
making of better internationalism
That day is at our doors and we must
be prepared to take our place and
to pay the cost and to prove that the
heroic spirit is still living force in
the nations life.
Sunday morning at the Baptist
church, Rev. H. A. Waite delivered
a unique sermon from the theme
The Message of the Letter box"
"A thousand things in the world
are forcing their messages upon our
ears and happy is he who reads as
he runs" said the speaker. Artists
and poets. are made by the artistic
side of nature in its appeal to their
souls, Musicians tune their harps
to the symphonies of woodland,
stream and ocean, and God is so law
ish with his gifts that every common
man can get inspiration for life out
of the practical things he sees and
hears around him. Let me lead you
to the common letter box on the cor
ner, and get it's message. Upon the
little iron door of every box is writ
ten the words Lift up-or Pull
down" and at once before your mind
two classes Of people arise-the
crowd that is lifting up the race and
the crowd that is pulling 1t down.
People you are meeting every day
all through the world. AS individu-
ais we are in one group or the other.
1t is for you to say where you are to-
day for no one knows better than
yourself. Is your personal spirit of
toward the consequences
of sin, or your greed and selfishness
prompting you to Cypress others, or
your spirit of lust feeding upon inno-
cence, or spirit of carelessness max
ing you callous to your opportunity
then you belong to the crowd that
is bent on pulling down the race.
Or! is it true of you, that in honor
you prefer another that you are
relieving the sufferer-bearing the
burdens OF the oppressed-Going out
to lift up the fallen-going forward
to extend the kingdom of Christ to
the point of sacrifice and self forget
fulness-then you are in the group
of people whose motto is Lift up"
In the sum total of life these who be-
long to the latter group will hear His
commentator. Inasmuch as We did
it unto one of the least of these we
did it unto me-"
A large audience listened to the
sermon of the evening among them
a number of veterans and members
80 hA DnI Of hn NIL
patriotic music on the organ and by
the choir was much appreciated.