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T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
September, 1940
NOTES on Christian Endeavor By MILDRED M. COOK
After Pentecost—
And Today Two friends met, and after a chat one said to the other: “ Come and have a round of golf on Sun day morning.” “Oh, no. I have to attend serv ice at church.” “Well,” replied his frfend, “I do not know what your religion is, but you keep it to yourself. I have asked you to play golf half a dozen times, but you have never invited me to your church.”—THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, London. Compare the incident above with the custom of the early Christian church: “Daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42). message. It was not education. It was not philosophy. It was “ CHRIST, and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). 1 . This message recognized the Old Testament Scriptures as being inspired of God. Note the number of references to the fulfillment of Old Testament passages made by Peter in his dynamic sermon (Acts 2:14-39). Today it is often con sidered "intellectual” to scoff at the au thenticity of the Bible. But the church that has power is the church that preaches a whole Bible, 2. This message carried conviction (v. 37). When CHRIST is preached in the power of the Holy Spirit, sinners are always convicted. Jonathan Edwards was considered by many is being “the most intellectual man America ever has produced,” and his name is famil iar to students of sociology through the studies o f inherited ability traced in the line of his eminent descendants. On July 8 , 1741, he preached a now-famous ser mon entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” ; and so stirring was this utterance that it marked the be ginning of the greatest revival ever witnessed on this continent. (The ser mon is available at 10 cent 3 a copy from I. W. Rogers, 2704 Tennessee St., Pa ducah, Ky.) How long has it been since some one in your church—your Christian Endeavor Society—asked: "What must I do to be saved?”
3.
This message stressed personal sal
OCTOBER 6 , 1940 OUR CHURCH A LABORATORY A cts 2:37-47 The Leader’s Opening Remarks
vation (v. 38). Note the emphasis upon “every one of you.” “EXPERIMENT” II—A UNIQUE MAN NER OF LIFE. 1 . Believers were obedient to the Lord’s command (v. 41). Not only did they receive the word which was preached unto them, but they also received it “gladly,” and the im plication is that they immediately obeyed the command to be baptized. What would happen in YOUR church if every member obeyed quickly and fully the instructions of the Word of God ? Consider some of these com mands (Acts 16:31; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; Matt. 28:19, 20). 2. Believers were steadfast (v. 42). The passage does not say that these men and women were extraordinary; they were merely faithful—and faithful ness, rather than success, will earn the Lord’s reward (Lk. 19:12-26; cf. 1 Cor. 4:2). They were steadfast in doctrine," in fellowship, in observance of the Lord’s Table, and in prayer. Who could say that this is a hard course to fol low? But ask yourself frankly: Am I regularly at the prayer meeting, at the Lord’s Table, at worship services? 3 . Believers were generous (vs. 44-47). So great was their love for one an other that they “had all things com mon.” This community of goods was entirely voluntary; the Lord did not de mand it. But it is a significant fact that In every age, those who love the Lord fervently have the desire to give generously, without thought for self. For instance, in the Moody Memorial Church, Chicago, the annual missionary pledge for 1939 was $36,000.00, and the amount paid was $41,000.00! Illustrative Material Any number of churches—large and small—are outstanding in their loyalty to the Word of God and their evan gelistic and missionary fervor. Bring in brief sketches of the achievements of some of these churches.
As a student in high school or col lege, you know that by far the greater number of experiments performed in a school laboratory have as their pur pose, not the advancing of new methods, but the demonstration, by experiment, of methods which already have been proved logical. A first-year student in chemistry or physics, for instance, is not expected, in his “lab” work, to find pome new conclusion that no one ever has thought of before, but he is re quired to confirm truth already estab lished. Likewise the church, viewed as a “laboratory,” is a place of demonstra tion, rather than of curious experimen tation. One of the greatest miracles of all time is the success which accompanied the efforts of the early church. The members (according to their critics) were “unlearned and ignorant men” (Acts 4:13). Their Leader had left them. They were bitterly persecuted (cite in stances of brutal treatment at the hands of Nero, Diocletian, etc.). According to George P. Fisher, in History of the Christian Church, p. 50, the first three centuries comprised “the heroic age in the history of the church, when, with no aid from an arm of flesh, the whole might of the Roman Empire was vic toriously encountered by the unarmed and unresisting adherents of the Chris tian faith.” The on-sweeping victory of the early church was the result of a certain kind of message and a certain kind of daily life. In the “laboratory” of YOUR church, any church, if these two fac tors are made evident by demonstration, the same glorious results may be ex pected. The Speakers’ Outline “EXPERIMENT” I—A UNIQUE MES SAGE. Test the message, first of all, for content. The early church had but one
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