T H E CORNERSTO NE
Leave it to the minister, and soon the church will die; Leave it to the womenfolk, and the young will pass it by. For the church is all that lifts us from the coarse and selfish mob, And the church that is to prosper needs the layman on the job. Now, a layman has his business, and a layman has his joys. But he also has the training of his little girls and boys; And I wonder how he'd like it if there were no churches here And he had to rear his children in a godless atmosphere. opened it, however, she was quite taken aback, for it contained several large boxes of oatmeal mush. Undaunted, she praised the Lord for His goodness, used the few cans of condensed milk she had left, and settled down to this meager diet of mush and milk for the next four weeks, until her regular sup plies arrived. What surprised her was that, despite the lack of variety in the monotonous diet, she began to feel bet ter. When on furlough, she told the story to a church in which there was a doctor who had been familiar with her illness before she went to the field. He told her, “You always put God first so the Lord heard your prayers. He supplied your need more wonderfully than you ever realized. You see, for the sickness from which you were suf fering, we physicians prescribe a four- week diet of nothing but substances like mush. Not only did the Lord give you the right diet, but also He made certain you got it for the proper length of time.” How blessed it is to trust the Lord, remembering again that faith is a connecting link between our finite needs and His infinite supply. PREACHING TO SELF A pathetic story is told concerning Origen, one of the early church fathers, who at one time during his life slipped into apostasy. Then, realizing the error of his way, he faithfully sought the
It's the church's special function to uphold the finer things, To teach that way of living from which all that's noble springs. But the minister can't do it, single- handed and alone. For the laymen of the country are the church's cornerstone. When you see a church that's empty, though its door are open wide It's not the church that's dying— its' the laymen who have died; For it's not by song or sermon that the church's work is done— It's the laymen of the country who for God must carry on. — Edgar A. Guest
Lord’s forgiveness and restoration. He visited a little church where the con gregation was unmindful of his diffi culties. Unknowingly they asked him to bring a special sermon to them on the spot. He took the Bible, opening it carefully. Apparently it was by acci dent that he turned to the 50th Psalm. Reading it aloud to the assembly, he came to the 16th verse, “What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing thou hatest in struction, and castest my words behind thee." Remembering how he had slipped into doubt and unbelief so short a time before, he could not go on. The audience was shocked to see him fall to his knees, weeping bitter tears of remorse. He confessed his errors so frankly that the entire congregation began weeping with him. His humility and heart-felt repentance were no doubt the greatest sermon they had ever witnessed. Can we say with the hymn writer, “I would be true, for there are those who trust me. I would be constantly in touch with God. 1 would be in tune to hear His slightest whisper, I would have faith to keep the path Christ trod”? The Apostle Paul declared that he had constantly to bring the old sinful na ture into subjection, lest that by any means when he had preached to others he himself might be disqualified from the race. 27
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