"And Jesus said, wilt thou be made whole?" .Tohn 5:6

"FINDING A PURPOSE"

Kipling tells fascinating story - "The Ship That Found Herself". The "DD.mUL " 2500 tons. Glorious sight as she sails out Liverpool for maiden voyage. Skipper said asn't "been sweet­ened yet ••• nothing but a gale will do it."

Out in ocean every part of ship begins talk. Hundreds of voices. Cast iron, steel, frames, rivets, plates, thrust-block, engine. Garboard strake caught between force of sea underneath and weight of cargo above. All voices of com­plaint and selfishness. Talk of quitting.

Only reassuring voice was that of the steam. Been to sea many times. Tells how rivets had let go and ship had been destroyed. Reply of the rivet, "Reedy little peg - I blush for the family, sir". Settled down more firmly. Other parts of ship also settled down to their task. After sixteen days the 'DIMB'UIJi." sailed through Narrows into New York Harbor. Through stor.ms. Rides proudly past great ocean liners.

Then a new big voice speaks slowly. "Who are you?" said the Steam with a laugh. "I am the "DThffiUL.H." of course'·'. Steam knew what happened. For when a ship finds herself, all the talking of the separate pieces ceases and melts into one voice which is the soul of the ship.

This ship had found a purpose for being -purpose for which she was launched - that of bridging the Atlantic with great tonnage of car­go. Had found herself - she was a ship; with all voices and efforts blended into one voice and one purposive effort. What a parable!

Finding Ourselves How disunited and distract­ed we are as persons. Our inner lives like Bedlam -

a st~ange compound of contradictions. Full of voices calling for this desire and that desire to be fulfilled. Full of selfish whims. Full of complaining. No unity; no purpose; no one

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clear call; no one compelling voice. Strong personality is the united personality.

Life ' s great battle is to take our tens ions and emotions and come to inner unity; to take the many voices clamoring within us and somehow unite them into one single and harmonious voice. Not easy to do - I suspect I have to control more temper in a day than most people have to control in a whole year! An achievement.

A great thing to happen to a person when a new voice is heard - the single voice of the whole and unified person. Psychologists speak of a nmcl.jor choice" - that is, a choice that does not have to be made over and over again. the matter is settled. All lesser choices and decisions fit into that major choice. Accept or reject things according to that major dec­ision. Two Biblical examples: Lot 11pit ched his t ent t ow<J.rd Sod om" . Daniel opened his 11Window t ow rd Jerusdlem".

Great thing when a ship finds herself - but greater when person finds himself - in terms of purpose. Jesus came to man at Pool of Bethesda and asked him "Wilt thou be made whole?". Man stood up and walked - first time in 26 years. Can ' t explain it - but man became convinced of new purpose; under impact of Jesus the man ' s total personality was unified and he walked.

I think of others who have found themselves. Have discovered unity and integration - whole personality spoke with one single voice. Was a unity revolved around a moral and spiritual pur­pose and core. Martin Luther; Lincoln; Vlesley; Schweitzer; Jane Addams; Lord Shaftesbury etc ••

William James has a classic definition ot this process. He speaks of that process where­by "a self, consciously divided, defeated, in­ferior and unhappy, becomes consciously united, victorious, superior and happy". Conversion!

The Voice of a Nation Think of this story of "The Ship That Found Herself" in connection

with our nationa l life. 'l'he thing that makes

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America America, is the fact that in times of great national crisis the many voices of sel­fishness and rivalry, are submerged so that the Voice of the Soul of America can be heard. It is true there are other voices that clamor, but there is also the deep booming diapason of the Voice that is really America.

That Voice of unity and purpose was heard in dark days of American Revolution. Became artic­ulate in that statement, t t n 'i e hold t hese t ru t hs t o be self -evident , t hat dll men dre creat ed eaudl". .and when the cause has been great enough and the storm violent enough, that voice has rung out - and will continue to ring out.

That is, if we let it. 'rhere are dangers; There are many voices. There is selfishness and pride. There is prejudice dnd racial and social injustice. ·rhe lesser voices must yield in the stm~ to t he greater Voice that is really Ameri­ca. Voice of the American Dream - a dream says Maxwell Anderson in "Valley Forge ~', "that men shall bear no burdens save their own choosing, shall walk upright, masterless, doff a hat to none". That is the dream, that the Voice, that the purpose.

a Challenge to the Church How the church needs to find itself! In some churches there

is no strange and compell ing voice - a bedlam of voices - selfishness, arrogance, pride. And es­peci lly pride. "Episcopalians look down on the Congregationalists". Thank God there is emerging a strong and unifying Voice - was heard in city of Amsterdam a few days ago. The ecumenical . church is beginning to find herself again and is destined to speak with a single voice someday. Always been fond of Wesley's saying, "If thine heart is as my heart, give me thine hand".

Also perturbed about the local church. A babble and Babel of many voices. Voice of sel­fishness sometimes. Loyalty to small group or organization in the church rather than to whole organization. Voices of bolts, plates, rivets,

frames, engine, steam, and a lot of cargo being carried along - nd all speaking with confusion. Each rivet thinking of its own voice; wondering if it shanl quit. That is a description of a church that has never found itself - unmotivated by a great and consuming purpose and failing to speak with a single and compelling voice.

When a church finds itself, multiple little voices crying for attention disapp ear. Petty rivalries vanish. A new Voice is heard - Voice of the Soul of the Church even tbe Voice of the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ.~

A ship must find itself; a person must find himself or herself in terms of unifying purpose. A nation must find itself in terms of a great ®nd lofty purpose if it is to survive. And the church must allow the Voice of her Lord to be heard above the murmurs of self-will if she is to survive and to be worthy of survival.

Finding ourselves, means putting a great purpose at the center of life - and as far as I am concerned, the only center, for the nation, for the world, for the church, for the individual, is Christ - His is the only authentic and redemp­tive Voice.

0 God, subdue our clamoring and petty voices, that the Voice of Christ might be heard. Amen

The cnurch of t he · soldiers ' n~ t h down and out s; t he church of t he cl ss s ~nd t he mdss s; t he church of fellowship dnd of privdcy; t he church for t he cheerful dnd t he church for t he desperut e; t he church for t he edl t hy and for t he sick; of t he young und of t he old. I t vas t he church in which t he congreg- t ion WdS no mor shocked at hearing t h minist er prdy for t he s t reet -walkers, t ndn p ruy for school t edch-rs, for t he crooks t h n for t h cl rgy, for

bldckgudrds t han for bishops. I t b cdme refug for tn unh~ppy, dnd home for t he hoLeless. In s ort , i t us a Christ ian Church.

• l. descrip t ion of St . Murt in' s -in-t he-Fields, London

{3od in the Student's Life ;\ PPROXIMATEL Y three million of America's most

_/'\__ promising young men and women will this year be

studying in our colleges and universities. In the course

of time these young people will have much to do with the

thought and life of the people of our country. Their influ­

ence and efforts will either help to lift our nation to higher

spiritual levels, or their weight will be felt on the side of

those who think of material things only, whose life is or­

ganized solely about the idea of Time, to the neglect of

Eternity.

That our nation is in need of an increased emphasis on

things spiritual is generally accepted. Men in high places in

government have repeatedly stressed the point. Educators

on every level recognize the need. Even labor and industry

seem to sense that life is something more than food and

shelter, something more than jobs and money.

But how is the rising generation to be led to a point of

view where matters spiritual are placed above material

things? Such a shift is far from easy when the groundwork

has not been laid in childhood. However, one approach to

the problem remains open: Put God into the lives of this

generation ; make our Lord Jesus Christ real to them. Let the

Church increase its Christian work among the students of

America . Therein lies the answer to the call for a greater

spiritual emphasis in our nation.

1.? H. No . 893 Litho in U.S .A .

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{3od 111 Their Life

FREMONT STREET lllliTHODIST CHURCH Gloversvill e , New York

September 12, 1948

ORDER OF MORNING WORSHIP

ORGAN PRELUDE - "Prayer" CALL TO WORSHIP - By the minister HYJvm 12 - "Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee11

Bo e l mann

Hymn to Joy

1U ni stor : · People:

Crea te in me a clean heart, 0 God;

Minister: Peopl e :

Minister: Peopl e :

And r enew a right spirit within mo . Restore unto me the joy of thy sa l va tion; And uphold me with thy fr ee spirit. 0 Lord, open thou my lips ; And my mouth shall show f orth thy pra i se .

DOXOLOGY - To be sung by a ll

* RESPONS IVE RF':.ADING - 37th Sunday - Pfl ge 604 GLORIA pJ,TRI :: APOSTLES' CREED SCRIPTURE LES SON - John 5:1-15

* SOLO - "O Lord Most Holy" Franck Miss Marilyn .Olson

PASTORAL PRt.YER :: LORD'S PRAYER ORGAN OFFERTORY - "Re joice Gr eatly 0 My Soul"Ka r g-Elert PRESENThTION OF TITHES AND OFFERIN GS HYl1lN 70 - "The Lord 1 s my Shepherd" A von SER1'\JJON - "FINDING !J,. PURPOSE" HYMN 2 79 - "God of gra ce and God of gl ory" C•vm Rhondda BENEDICTION - By the minister ORGAN POSTLUDE - "Choral" Bo ellmann * Interval for Ushering

R~ v. Fred Clarke , Mi nister Miss Gloria Ia. cone , ~1inistor of Music

Mrs. Harvey Connor, Yi ni stor •s Ass i st ant Mrs. Keith Giffo r d , Church Secreta r y

Ur. Lewis Cunn i ng , Sexton

CALENDAR FOR TODAY

10; 30 Morning Wor ship and ser mon. Fremont is ha ppy to have members of the c ongre ga tion of t he. St . James' Lutheran Church as guests. We congr a t ul a t e this sister church upon the beautifying of their sanc­tuary.

.1.:..QQ Union Evening Servic e a t First Met hodist Church with the Rev. Ha rold P. Kaul f uss as the pre~ cher. ·

Miss Gloria Iacone our new 1.I i nister of Niusic begins her minis t ry at Fremont today. We extend to her our wishes and assure her of our prayers as sho t a kes up the work.

Flowers for today a r e gi ven by Mr. Eli Smith in memory of his wife a nd pa r ents.

WED .

11:00 6:00 7: 30

THURS. 6:30 7: 30

THROUG'"rl THE WEEK .:.T :F'REHOUT

Woekd&y School; gra des 10 and 11. Council of Churche s dinner and meeting . Midweek Ser vic e . :r1:r • .Cl a. r ke will preside . i.V;iss Hel en Pursell will spou.k on "AS ONE jgQHANGE TEh.CHER SJ,\!lr fN GLl.J.JDH . This ~t­i ng will mu rk t he openi ng of the f a ll pro­gr am of the Woman 1 s Societ y of Christian Servic e . Refr eshments will be served. All a r e cordially invited. Epworth Workers cover ed dish a t the church. Fremont Choir r ehearses.

THE CHURCH SCHOOL will r e- open next Sunday for its 1948 - 1949 s ea son. The rww time schedule will go into oper­ation at this time . Children o:f nursery, beginners a nd prinl:ocry departments will go directly t o their r ooms a. t 10:30. Boys and girls of t he junior depa rtment will at­t end the first part of the Mor ni ng Wor sh i p and th en go t o their room. The you :;h department will att end the en­t ire Mo r n ing Ser vice .... A+.l. activities begi n e. t 10 :30 and end a t 12 :15 . We pl ea d fur- your copera. ti on as we begin th is now progr am . It has Kr ca t po s s ~bilHie s .