Henderson daily dispatch., 1942-06-08
Church Must
Advance, Says
Mr.. Mc1nnis

ANUS III Nlit IIOIIl (ll NPIlIl VI
the Presbyterian General As emily
IN Chattanooga last week, which he
attended as q commissioner, Rev W.
D. McInniS, pastor OF the FIRST Pres
byterlan cherch. preached Sunday
morning from the subject, The
Command To Advance The text
was from the Book of Exodus.
Speak to the children of Israel that
they go forward In part. MI. Nc
INNS said.
"Advance Is the word of the hour.
II Is IN the heart of every Brltisher
who looks out across the narrow sea
which separates him from his grim
enemy. It is III the mind of General
Douglas Macarthur and his faithful
followers IN Australia. 1t Is the
dynamo that turns tine wheels of in
d lStry and commerce here in Amer
lea. Advance, The enemy must be
conquered.
Long ago Gods chosen people
stood at the cross road of then eN-
IStence. They were pursued by the
Egyptians from behind. They were
faced by the sea in front. Gods word
to them at this moment of peril was
| ttuN d!lCt. III lIhC iIldllllcl III llllS
hour of peru; at this moment of crisis
in the history of the church, the
voice of God comes clear and strong.
Advance
"Observe first the fundamental
truth here that this word of God was
to the multitude, but their advance
was absolutely dependent upon the
response Of the individual. The first
forward step this group had to take
was IN the hearts OF the individuals
who composed the company. SO ii is
nothing more than a fine brand u
double talk for any church, large or
small, to be thinking or talking about
obeying completely Gods call TO ac-
vance unless every individual Ia the
church is willing to surge forward.
The responsibility is upon me as
! an individual. and upon you as an
individual. My Willingness to coop
crate and my consequent action Will
not suffice for you. God. no doubt,
could have moved this people for
ward without their consent and CO.
operation, but the point IS he didn't.
And he doesn't now This being tue,
we ask How are we as members of
his church 10 advance? In what?
ways?
In the first place, we are to ad-
vance IN personal devotion to Jesus
Christ. In a deeper and more abid-
ing love for him who loved us and
gave himself for us, We have made
the mistake of thinking hat what
the church needs most is more ma
terial possessions; better buildings,
better equipment and finer organlza-
ton. These things are necessary.
Every church should be willing to
work and sacrifice for them, but I'M
less there is behind the bricks in our
walls and the melodies Of our or
ganS and the intriCacles of our or
]ganizatiOn a deep devotion for Christ
we might as well be put in a tum-
bled down shack in the midst of a
wilderness. The early church had
none of these physical aids, yet in a
most marvellous way they changed
the lives of those whom they touch
ed. Why? Because they had made
Jesus their master the chief affection
and allegiance of their lives. Paul
threw down the feeling of all of them
when he said, For me to live Is
Christ"
In the second place, we are chal-
lenged to advance in personal work
for his church. In the providence
of God he has chosen this as the
major method of kingdom eXton-
sion. Jesus spoke to the multitudes
when he had opportunity but his
most effective work was with the
individual. We Can do this-all of Us.
W. -,,-l% - I~ ~ NHo~, ,,rl>,,L{
edly hold back because they feel that
they are not spiritually qualified
because they feel that the Job is loo
big. 1t isn't, 1t can be done in SO
many simple yet effective ways
Mail a weekly bulletin to some one
and tell them you missed them
That's personal work. Talk to pco-
pie personally, It is not enough for
me to stand here and preach fo1
thirty minute on Sunday morning
| must be about my fathers business
every day of every week. 1t is MOI
enough for you to come here end lis
ten. Do you want this church to be-
come a great spiritual power? DE-
you want these pews filled to over
flowing? If you do you have tn
thing in your hands that will &C
complish this-personal work.
"1n the convoy that landed on
boys on the shores Of Ireland was al
old freighter. The boys painted GU
the name it had borne for man,
years and in its place wrote this
Berlin Express" That's the spiri
that will win any war God want
won. That's the spirit that will carr.
any church forward. In this hour o
crisis the Church must know bu
n word and that word is advance.