was, he was a man who had a living 
faith 
in the Christ. Thus Jesus 
builds His church upon a_ living 
faith. 
‘We are passing through revolu- 
tionary times. The misuse of capital 
and the sometimes abuse of labor 
Ny 
I 
ae" > 
“A 
FORE, 
. 
” 
W. W. Main 
dissatisfaction 
Pleasure has caused some to forget 
cause and — distress. 
God. Some who have been set for 
the strengthening of Christian. faith 
have east doubt on the cardinal prin- ° 
ciples of Christianity and have thus 
confused the minds and the _ con- 
sciences of men. It is well to face 
these facts and to ask ourselves in 
-yiew of these facts this question: 
What is the mission of the church 
which Christ has founded upon a liv- 
ing faith in Himself? As we come 
to the re-dedication of this church 
this morning this will be our theme 
for consideration: The Mission of 
the Church 
“We will first see what the mis- 
sion of the church is not. It is not 
political, although the church must 
be interested in the civie well-being 
of men. Its interest in politics must 
be incidental. Its mission is not so- 
cialistic or ethical. The church 
should, however, constantly and 
boldly raise her voice against the 
evils which threaten home and _ so- 
ciety, and must lead in the develop- 
ment of character. All this work is 
but ineidental. Some think that the 
mission.of the church is educational. 
The church today is but one force 
among many forces for the intellee- 
tual enlightenment of man. Plainly 
lier mission is not educational. Nor 
is it institutional. Good as are the 
many lines of institutional work con- 
ducted by many churches, the mis- 
sion of the church is not institu- 
tional. 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
“‘The mission of the church is 
greater and deeper than any of the 
lines I have just mentioned. Her 
mission is the redemption of men 
from sin, the bringing of men to 
God. Her mission is identical with 
the mission of Christ who came to 
seek and to save that which was lost. 
Ilis whole life, from Bethlehem to 
Calvary, was filled with one consum- 
ing purpose, redemption. 
“The chureh can fulfill her mis- 
sion by getting Christ’s viewpoint, 
and by following His method. In 
other words, the church must see as 
He saw and do -as He did. Christ 
saw that man is lost apart from 
God; that God loves the lost; that 
Ile Ilimself is the way of man’s re- 
turn to God. To lose sight of these 
eardinal facts means that the church 
has lost-the power to fulfill its mis- 
sion. 
‘*Christ’s method may be briefly 
stated: ‘Ie went about doing good.’ 
IJe did not simply wait for men to 
come to Him, but went to them. The 
mission of the church is not to cod- 
dle the saints but to reach the lost. 
The saints need to be fed and ought 
to be fed, but the ehureh should not 
neglect her mission of redeeming 
men from destruetion. A eold- 
Llooded application of Christ’s meth- 
od of going and seeking the lost 
will never result in the rescue of lost 
souls. The great success of the re- 
vival in Wales under Evans Roberts 
was the deep travail for souls. No- 
tice, too, that in going after men 
Jesus paid little attention to the tra- 
ditions or to eriticisms, but went di- 
rectly at the realization of ITis sub- 
lime purpose. We must do the same 
ir the chureh is to realize her mis- 
sion. 
“The church of today. if she is to 
be the church of the livins God, 
9 
must be true to her divinely given 
mission of saving men by pringing 
them to Christ. ‘She must,’ as Dr. 
Van Dyke has well said, “be hving 
in the living world as her living 
Lord, her sermons translated out of 
a theological dialect into a living 
Hon. Davin I. Rosinson 
tongue that comes home to the busi- 
ness and bosoms of men.’’ 
‘‘Sailors tell us that there is a 
buried city off the coast of Franee, 
and on a calm night, as they fioat 
homeward, that they can hear the 
musie of the bells of buried churches 
Tf we listen today, we ean hear the 
murmur of lost souls who are away, 
from God. ‘It is the music of buried 
hopes, and fears and yearnings, the 
heart of man erying for God. like a 
ehild crying in the night.’ The 
ehureh that hears and heeds. that 
ery of the lost soul will not only 
have a mission but will accomplish 
(Continued on Page 24.) 
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