Amerikai Magyar Reformátusok Lapja, 1932 (33. évfolyam, 1-53. szám)
1932-03-05 / 10. szám
8 AMERIKAI MAGYAR REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA AZ IFJÚSÁG KÖRÉBŐL. SUGGESTED PROGRAM FOR WORSHIP -SERVICE. Sunday, March 6. 1. Hymn. “Nem csábit földi kincs ...” Hall. No. 148. 2. Scripture. John 15:12—16. 3. Hymn. “Oh, mi hü barát a Jézust..” Hall. No! 162. 4. Prayer. O, Christ, Who art the friend of the world, we come to Thee at this hour of worship to understand mo-re clearly that Thou art our friend, One Who is loyal, helping and sacrificing. May this spirit o-f Thy friendship find fertile soil in our hearts, so that it may grow, radiate and penetrate into the hearts of others. May we through this friendship win others to Thy cause. We ask it in Thy Name. Amen. (This prayer may be followed by sentence prayers.) 5. Hymn. “Fogjad kezem . . .” Hall. No. 51. 6. Topic. “Friendship”, based on Scripture Lesson, John 15:12—16. Christ, the example of a true friend. We are Christ’s friends. There is a great need for friendship. THE DEVOTION COMMITTEE OF THE HUNGARIAN C. E. UNION: Stephen Dallos, Béla P. Bacsó. THE BEST SEEKER. In Carlyle’s remorseful and tender tribute to his wife we read: “In childhood she used to be sent to seek when things fell lost; the best seeker of us all, her father would, say or look as she thought, for me also she sought everything with such success as I never saw elsewhere.” This is a tribute unique so far as we remember, but when one comes to think, there must be many households where one is recognized as the best seeker and is thereby endeared. The best seeker is -not merely the most earnest seeker, but the most successful. What is necessary for a good seeker? Mind, for one thing. It is not easy to draw a sharp line between the mind and the heart. Ihe one acts with the other, and neither by itself suffices. For the true seeker there must be sympathy with the loser. What does sympathy really mean? Here it is: to1 suffer with! It is sympathy that gives the key to much that may have happened and that prompts the continuance of search after long and frequent discouragements. Is there such a thing as sympathy with what is lost? Suffice it is to say that for seeking there seems to be necessary a form of mystical understanding which is not easy to express in words. We are on surer and simpler ground when we say that for successful seeking there must be concentration and patience. The heart must work with the mind toward attainment. The quest must be for the time the supreme if not the solitary occupation of the soul. Wandering thoughts, wandering looks, a sick hurry, a divided aim are sure to end in failure. The best minister is the best seeker — not the most eloquent preacher with a flowery language, not the profoundest thinker, not the conspicuous leader of men — but the humble, patient, resolute, prayerful seeker of souls. Lord, save ministers of the gospel from believing there is honor or praise in a ministry that does not have “its fruits unto holiness”, in saving souls from hell. Not the skill of the operator, but the result of the operation, is the thing to be kept in mind. A physician, on visiting Paris, was asked by the surgeon-in-chief o-f the empire how many times he had performed a certain wonderful feat of surgery. He replied he had performed it 13 times. “Ah, but monsieur, I have done it 160 times. — How many times did you save life?” continued the Frenchman, after he had looked at the blank amazement of his colleague’s face. “I”, said he, “saved 11 from 13. — How many did you save out of your 160?” “Ah, monsieur, I lose them all; but the operation was very brilliant.” Of too many popular ministers might this same verdict be given. Souls are not saved, but the preaching is very brilliant. Hundreds are attracted and operated on by the rhetorician’s art, but what if he be compelled to say, as the French surgeon did, “I lose them all”, but the sermons were brilliant? What is preaching good for if it does not wake up the sinner, and start him off in the way to heaven. Seek! Results! O, men of God, not admiration of the hearer, is what you are most deeply concerned in. Preach for results that will show well in eternity! Julius Szathmáry.
