Be a Sincere Follower of Christ

CAPE ARGUS - 1939, January 28

Lines from Sunday's Service

“We are told that when the soldiers came to take Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter drew his sword and wounded the servant of the High Priest. Here we have an instance of an outsider being wounded by a follower of Christ. Is not the same done today? By our actions and words, we often wound the outsider. The greatest force in India today, Gandhi, might have been a Christian if it was not for the way he was treated by supposed Christians when he visited this country some years ago. There are many people outside the Christian Church today who should be inside, because they have been put off and disgusted by the lives lived by so-called Christians.” – The Rev. Norman H. Pike, Methodist Minister, Woodstock.

Burdens and Loads

CAPE ARGUS – 1939, February 20

Lines from Sunday’s sermon

“St. Paul writes of two sorts of ‘burdens – our own and our brother’s – and he uses different words to describe them – ‘burdens’ and ‘loads.’ Every man has his own life to live, his own problems to solve, his own responsibilities to face. Friends may help by their cheering counsel and kindly sympathy, but the full weight of the burden must rest on his own shoulders. But there are other burdens which one can carry for another, and this helping hand fulfills the law of Christ and makes one’s own load the easier to carry.” – The Rev. William Avery, Presbyterian Church, Woodstock.

The ever-open door of Christ’s heart

CAPE ARGUS – 1939, February 20

Lines from Sunday’s sermon

“Holman Hunt in his painting ‘The light of the world,’ has pictured Christ as standing at the door of our hearts, knocking and waiting to be admitted. While this is a true picture of the state of many men and women in the world today, it is also equally true that the world is gathered at the ever-open door of Christ’s heart. But for many of us this is as far as we get. We are afraid or unwilling to enter. This is the root cause of all our troubles today. Until we are willing to pass through the door, there will not be that freedom, power, and love for which we long.” – The Rev. Norman H. Pike, Methodist Manse, Woodstock.