Papurau Newydd Cymru

Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru

Cuddio Rhestr Erthyglau

12 erthygl ar y dudalen hon

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BARRY FREE CHURCH COUNCIL…

MEETING OF THE PASSIVE RESISTANCE…

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SEA - WEED THE HEALTH- GIVER,

WHY I AM WELL.

QUOITS: BARRY V. TON YSTRAD.

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BASEBALL.

J BARRY NEW CONGREGATIONAL…

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

J BARRY NEW CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. SERMON BY THE REV. PRINCIPAL FORSYTH. THE CHURCH FABRIC AND PERSONAL DEVOTION. As we briefly stated last week in our report of the proceedings connected with the laying of the jouuuai-iuii stoat', of mdhor-road Com-iFgat-ional Churcu, Barry, on Wednesday, the 10th distant, the special preacher at the evening ?r.rvi?e> hpTd at the Wesleyan Church, kindly lent for the occasion, was the Rev P. T, Forsyth, A i, D D principal of Hackney College, London,who delivered a masterly discourse to a crowded con- gregation. Dr Forsyth preached from the text, What mean ye by these stones ? (Joshua iv., 6.) The iOundation scone of the new church laid that afternoon would gather around it other stones, fitjy shaped into a holy temple and the question naturally would be asked how came they there ? They cost money- bbour, and ED.c'>ficp. They looked back upon these fabrics and admired the churches and cathedrals that had been built centuries ago, and thought oi the faith ;:¡,¡It had caused them to be built. That faith had not decreased; these edifices were still heine f r^et-d • and the answer would come to their children, as it had come to them, that it w-s wovth the money and labour, and sacrifice to erect them. Going back to the story of the text, Dr Forsvth said these stones meant something. They were memorial stones, speaking stones, and had a soietnn mean- ing. The stones of the churches v.t^ nci- put together merely as objects of beaut.?. They were to aid the preaching of the pulpit they were stones that spoke out. Thev helped to irc'daim the vrcspel. Yet tiiere could be as much real wor- ship in a church that was a barn as in a beautiful cathedral. The test of the church was not in the behaviour or conduct of its members. Thoy did not find that the success of Christianity depended upon the members of the church. If that was the case, Christianity would not survive a century. When he spoke to Christians, he told them there was much room for improvement: but when he spoke with those who were not Christians it was his joy to defend the Church, h;;d tell those who were only too pleased to find f.rai.t with the Church, to come inside themselves and make it better by th"ir example and infliisrce What was needed in the churches safe more self- criticism, self-examination, and self- vigilance; they should be vigilant with trembling. The Church was there in the power of the stospel. and would rise or fall with the gospel. The Church did not say Look at m°." but me." Thft Church was not an object, of faith Thev had parted company with those who tried to c&s upon them that the Church was an object oi xaich. It was a witness, and not an ioct of faith. What the pulpit was in the Church, so "3 'he Church itself to the neighbourhood in which it stood. No work was con.i' with tne Ccaouuig of the right kind. All preachy was not done in the Church. A preacher might not excel in minis- terial work and in pastoral work. Th y .-hcald not expect it. They should not kill th- preening genius of their minister by trying to extort from him pastoral genjUR. During divine worship in some churches he had heard whispers, and frequently during the offering- of nervous excitement tcuk the place of Liue woibhip Ministers should insist upon more reverence both before and during divine worship. They had lost more to the EstaS'ishcd Church because of the poverty of their worship than from any other cause, nnd there were a grea". many other causes. They ought to be full to overflowing with the reverence that was the t and essence of worship. The wonder was not that God should touch the heart, of their insignificant beings, bnt that He should toueh the hea.rts ü1 s,icd enormous sinners as they were. The man who said from the bottom of his heart, God be merciful to me a sinner," was one who had tasted of the love of God. The length and breadth of the love of God was great, but the height and depth of the love was much greater. Let them never let their love for God grow thin, or their whole moral and spiritual tone would also grow thin. The churches lacked people with soul s history. People who were converted twenty years ago were the same religiously to-day as they were then. Thf-re was no romance about their soul's history. In the churches they must have living stones, people with living histories. They should not be at liberty to do in the Church what thev would not do in their own homes. Let them take off their hats when they crossed the threshold of the sanctuary, and when they entered into conversation their whole tone should be subdued to the reverence of the occasion. He had with great horror heard whistling in the corridors of the churches. These were places that should be held in sacred regard because they were the places where they met God and opened out their heart to Him. He prayed that the grace of God would rest upon this church in their new spiritual home that His glory might be frequently revealed and that many souls would be drawn to Christ within its portals."

---SOUTH WALES BIBLE CHRISTIAN…

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