Martinsburg journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1920-1977, 1921-06-09
Names ESSENTIALS
IN GROWING CHURCH
THROUGH OUT ACES
Prayer, Church Attendance,
Fellowship Among Them.

Communion Sermon Deliver
ed by The Reverend A. NJ.
Chuck, Pastor Christ Reformed
Church. Sunday Evening, June
80
Nets 2:l}, Ii AMI they contin.
I'd steadfastly in the apostles doc
ejno al j fellowship, and in broak
~ E. ur.ad, and in prayers,
~ rta Lord added to the Church
srct a S should he saved
ta0rch of the Apostolic Age
re'ed for the rapiditv o. its
.7eiA Within the first year Of
IS existence here upon the earth
q membership amounted to more
h21 "a o00 souls How aid all this
wonderful growth come about2
mink the answer is to be found in
the words OF this text Let us look,
then, with some care, at the things
set forth in these words.
l. They continued steadafstly in
the apostles doctrine" This means
hat they continued steadfast in the
teaching of the Christian faith. What
are these truths? The great funda-
mentals are: belief in God the "a.
Their Almighty, in the divinity Of
Christ, in the person Of the Holy
Spirit, in the mission of the Church,
in the forgiveness OF sins. in the
resurrection of the dead, and in the
life OF the world to come. These are
the things which Christ taught his
disciples. and these are the things
which the apostles preached, and
these are the things which the first
Christians held steadfast even unto
death. When these great funda.
mental truths OF our holy religion
were assaitc1 as they frequently
were in tho days, the Church
dealt with them with the rough
hands Of a man In earnest
Built On Apostolic Spirit.
And just in proportion as the
Church has been true to this apor.
tolic spirit, Just to that degree has
she truly prospered The brightest
periods of her history are these
periods in which her members have
been true to the faith once deliver
ed unto the saints. Experience
proves that the only way OF saliva.
ton is the way of the Gospel OF
the Son of God.
We need this spirit today. For
instance. Mr. Fl. G Wells, the most I
gifted writer OF our day. is telling |
US that our idea OF God is wrong
that God is not Almighty, that all F
that We can say of God is that He I
is love. II this idea stayed with
Mr. Wells it would not matter so
much, but unfortunately it is find. F
ing wide acceptance. because II
seemingly points a way out of many
of the mysteries of life and the
result is that in the theological /
wo.ld today we hear much of the
i'actripe OF the fniteness of God"
The doctrine may expIin some mvs.
81 s.. but it leaves us comfortless.
What comfort is it to me to know
Iist God is love if He is not n.
mighty love. if He is not al.wiee
love. and il He is not an every
love- We need to
renew our faith In God the Fathe1
maker of heaven ami
earth. and Of all things visible and
Invisible"
Must Join Church.
II. "They continued steadafstl;
n fellowship" This means thai
hey held fast to their memberships
IN the Church. In the Apostolic /
Age every Christian was a member
If the Church. Right here there is
/ great deal Of misunderstanding
People think OF church membership !
Is relation to an organization. But /
here is something far deeper than /
his involved. A saved man IS a
nan in covenant relationship with I
Jesus Christ, and man in covenant /
with Jesus Christ will |
surely want to be member OF the I
Church which he has established /
'or the propagation of his spirit in /
lie world People who are not will
rg to be members Of the church
mean very little for the Christianiz.
ing OF the world. Men sometimes
ell me that they do not feel that