-3-~ER ORLD IS COMING. "KILL HITLER TODAY AND ON

-THE MORROW THER 1LL BE, ANOTHER HITLER!'' TALKING OF A THIRD WRLD WAR. "THERE ALWAYS HAS BEEN WAR AND ALWAYS WILL BE." "CAN'T CHANi3-E lillMAN.. TUBE".

OULD HAVE US BELIEVE THAT HATE WILL AL AYS REIGN. THAT IGNORANCE VILL ALwAYS PREVAIL. THAT ~ARS W ALWAYS RAVAGE. THAT FOUR HORSEMEN WILL ALWAYS RI

IDEALISM SEEMS TO BE UNPOPULAR. V~ ARE LOSIN FAITH IN THE NEW ORLD EVEN BEFORE WE HAVE LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF IT. WE DESPERATELY NEED A RE­BIRTH OF A FAITH THAT BELIEVES IN THE IMPOSSIBLE. MY O' N FAITH IS THAT ~E CAN HAVE THE KIND OF NEW

ORLD THAT WE ANT - IF WE ARE WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE. THERE IS NO NEED TO PUT UP 'ITH THE OLD ORDER. NATIONS CAN BE RE-BORN; CIVILIZATIONS CAN BE CHANGED; HUMANITY CAN BE IMPROVED. THE GOD OF SURPRISES IS ALWAYS wALKING ACROSS THE HISTORY OF NATIONS MAKING GRASS TO GROW ON MOUNTAINS. I AM AN OPTIMIST. I LIKE ~ ORDS OF GENERAL JAN SMUTS. ADMIRATION FOR OLD VETERAN. PURSUED AS REBEL AND DEFEATED IN BATTLE, HE HAS WEATHERED STORM TO WIN RESPECT OF HOLE ENGLISH-SPEAKING \'ORLD. LISTEN!

PERHAPS WE___l:ffi.VE LOST FAITH IN THE FUTURE BE­CAUSE WE HAVE ST SENSE OF WONDER IN RELIGION. GREAT AFFIRMATIONS OF RELIGION HAVE BEEN PUSHED

-ASIDE .SY NY OF US. SOME DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE SUPERNATURAL. SOUGHT TO DISCREDIT EVERYTHING WE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND. RELIGION HAS BEEN DEFINED AS A KIND OF ESCAPE MECHANISM - AN ESCAPE FROM THE HARD AND BRUTAL FACTS OF LIFE. OUR GENERATION HAS SUFFERED FROM HAT JOHN GALS ORTHY DESCRIBED AS ''COCK-EYED COCKSURENESS".

OUR PROACH TO LIFE HAS BEEN INTELLECTUAL AND SCIENTIFIC. OULD PROVE ALL THINGS. REMEMBER

ORDS OF SAM CHADWICK - "THINGS BEST KNO. N AND THINGS BEST VvORTH KNOWING ARE THINGS CANNOT PROVE NOR PLACE WITHIN A FORMULA". THERE IS FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION. SCIENCE APPROACHES LIFE ~ITH QUESTIO~ MARK; RELIGION 'ITH EXCLAMATION MARK. HAVE BEEN LIVING IN AGE OF MARK OF INTERROGATION - SOUGHT TO OPEN ALL THE DOORS; WRITTEN QUESTION MARK OVER EARTH AND SKY; SOUGHT TO PUSH BACK SKIRTS OF TIME; RITTEN QUESTION MARK OVER SELVES - HAVE CRIED ''STAND AND DELIVER YOUR MESSAGE! 11 SOUGHT TO GET RID OF ALL MYSTERY.

RELIGION STANDS FOR MYSTERY - SOMETHING BE-

YOND US AND TOO BIG FOR US. ~E HAVE FORGOTTEN - T RELrGI()N IS A REVELATION OF ETERNAL TRUTH. WE HAVE ALMOST LOST OUR SENSE OF WONDER IN FIELD OF RELIGION. THAT IS WHY WE ARE SO INSECURE AND SO UNHAPPY. STUDDERT KENNEDY SAID YEARS AGO THAT MEN NEEDED GOD - "I MUST HAVE GOD THIS LIFE'S TOO DULL WITHOUT; TOO DULL FOR AUGHT BUT SUICIDE'' . ~F rlE COULD REC.QVER THIS LOST SENSE __Q.f vONDER, A BEL~EF IN THE GOP HO_ ~IQES_QRASS TO GROW_ ON MOUNTAINS, LIFE WOULD HAVE NEW MEANING AND WE V OULD WALK MORE JOYFULLY AND PATIENTLY THROUGH THE SHADOWS OF TO­DAY.

ONDER AND OURSELVES AND H0 1{ WE NEED TO RECOVER

THE SENSE OF ~ONDER IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES. TIMES WE

ARE ALMOST OVER\ .HELMED BY DISAPPOINTMENT AND DES­PAIR. FOR ALL OUR STRUGGLING WE SEEM TO BE NO FUR­THER AHEAD. WHEELS DRAG IN THE SAND. BECOME SO ENTANGLED BY THINGS. ALMOST TEMPTED TO SURRENDER. CRY OUT WITH PAUL 11 VIHO SHALL DELIVER ME FROM THE BODY OF THIS DEATH; I RETCHED MAN THAT I AM . 11 SO LITTLE SEEMS TO COME OF OUR BEST ENDEAVORS AND OUR HIGHEST RESOLVES. WE FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE. ViE LOSE SENSE OE' WONDER. CANNOT BELIEVE ANY GRASS WILL GROW ON MOUNTAINS FOR US.

BUT LET US NOT FORGET THAT GOD IS THE GOD OF WONDER AND MIRACLE . HE CAN MAKE THE WEAK STRONG; THE FUTILE CONFIDENT; THE CALLOUSED COMPASSIONATE. HE WHO STANDS GUARD OVER BARREN PEAKS AND KEEPS HIS SILENT WATCH UPON THE HEIGHTS, CAN MAKE THE DESERT TO BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE EVEN IN THE REALM OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.

THERE IS NO LIFE SO HOPELESS AND FORLORN THAT IT CANNOT ME MADE TO TRIUMPH; THERE IS NO SITUATIO THAT CANNOT BE REDEEMED; THERE IS NO TOIL SO ORDIN ARY AND NO TASK SO MENIAL, THAT IT CANNOT BE MADE GLORIOUS - THAT IS, IF GOD IS BROUGHT INTO THE SITUATION - THE GOD OF SURPRISES; THE GOD OF WON­DERS; THE GOD WHO MAKETH GRASS TO GROW ON MOUNTAIN

-2-AGAINST THEM. SEEMED TO LEAD FORLORN CAUSE. MEN SNEERED. NO WEALTHY FRIEND TO SUPPORT THEM. NO PUBLICITY AGENTS TO POPULARIZE THEM. INCREDIBLY POOR. FISHERMEN. ILLITERATE . UNLEARNED. ALL THEY HAD WAS FIRE OF GOD IN THEIR HEARTS. BUT THE GOD OF INCREDIBLE THINGS, THE GOD WHO MAKES GRASS TO GRO \'N ON MOUNTAINS, WAS ITH THEM; AND WITHIN A FEW CENTURIES THEIR LITTLE BAND HAD GROWN TO BE A CHURCH OF SEVEN MILLION CONVERTS. AND AFTER SOME SIXTY GENERATIONS, ONE THIRD OF THE MODERN ORLD NAMES THE NAME OF THEIR LEADER, EVEN CHRIST. THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENED.

BIOGRAPHY AS ~LL AS HISTORY VINDICATES THE SUPERB FAITH OF THE PSALMIST. OUT 0 THE MOST UN­LIKELY PLACES HAVE COME GRE TNESS A~D BLESSING -GRASS UPON THE MOUNTA INS. LET ME MENTION- A FE INSTA~~ THINKING NOf OF THAT SECOND CLASS VILLAGE IN FRANCE. DRAB HOUSES CRO 'DED ~ ITH POOR AND IGNORANT PEASANTS. NOTHING CAN COME OUT FROM THAT VILLAGE! BUT GOD, THE GOD OF THE UNEXPECTED WAS AT vORK THERE; AND OUT FROM THAT VILLAGE A GIRL WALKED - WALKED INTO IMMORTALITY AS THE SAV­IOUR OF FRANCE. HER NAME WAS JOAN.

LANARKSHIRE IS A SOBER AND DULL PLACE IN HIGHLANDS OF SCOTLAND. NARRO~, YINDING STREETS. GRAY HOUSES. PEOPLE POOR. LIFE HARD. YET OUT 0 F THAT DRAB SETTING THERE WALKED ONE DAY INTO THE HEART OF AFRICA, ENGLAND'S GREATEST HER0 OF NINETEENTH CENTURY- DAVID LIVINGSTONE.

SO ONE MIGHT CONTINUE - ILLUSTRATING FROM BIOGRAPHY HO THE POET'S FAITH IS VINDICATED. SO WE HAVE MARTIN LUTHER BORN IN MINER'S HOME; AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN BORN IN LOG CABIN; AND JESUS LIV­ING IN NAZARETH. IT WAS A PROVERB - "CAN ANY GOOD THING COME OUT OF NAZARETH - LITTLE, SQUALID NAZARETH? 11 BUT IT DID! GOD SPRINGS SURPRISES -HE MAKES GRASS TO GROW ON MOUNTAINS.

THE LOST MOOD OF WONDER LIVING IN DAYS WHEN WE ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING SENSE OF WONDER. CAUSE

HAS SEEN ITS DARKEST DAYS; l)A~S OF DISAPPOINTMENT AND DESPAIR. BUT BEGINNING TO SEE LIGHT; THOUGH LIKELY TO BE LONG ROAD OF GRIM -SUFFERING AHEAD . BUT ARE REASONABLE CERTAIN OF ARRIVAL OF VICTORY. BUT ONE OF DISAPPOINTING FACTS IS THAT PEOPLE_ABE CYNICAL AND BITTER CONC~RNING FUTURE. B._OT SURE A

RELIGION AND VACATION f'7\. TEvER were the words of Jesus weighted with more tender J \1 significance than when He spoke of children.

"Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." .. . "Feed my lambs."

In the household of God no one occupies a higher or more important place than the child.

The Church today is conscious of a great obligation to the children. Christian education in some form engages the atten­tion of practically every local church. Elaborate programs are set up within every denomination. The demand for more effective religious education is steadily growing throughout the land.

Protestant denominations have accepted the Sunday school as their chief agency for Christian instruction. The Weekday and Vacation Church Schools have not been generally ac­cepted, nor have they been given a fair and adequate trial.

The Sunday school, with its hour a week, touch-and-go system, does not supply what life today demands. It ought to be superseded by something better, or for want of that, strongly supplemented by a well organized and effectively staffed Weekday and Vacation Church School.

Vacation time is almost here, and what a grand time for the children it is, with outdoor life in sunshine, wind and rain, with due emphasis on play, on exercise, and carefree living. The children need all that. They need too the experience of chores and duties in and out of doors.

But a summer vacation has not been spent to best advan­tage if it has not also included in its program of activities some weeks of daily, part-time instruction in Christian truth.

Bible study with practical application, instruction in the fundamental Christian doctrines, the memorizing and sing­ing of favorite hymns, the storing away in mind and heart of choice selections from the Old and New Testament, these may well form the groundwork of an effective Vacation Church School program.

FREMONT STREET :METHODIST CHURCH Gloversville, New York Fr~d Clarke - Minister

Dorothy E. Mellick Minister of Music

Grace L. Gifford Church Secretary

_______________ l:_e_:v-is -~unning.:: Sext_on __ _

ORGAN PRELUDE Andante CALL TO WORSHIP - By the minister HYMN 4 0 worship the King, all-glorious above INVOCATION AND LORD'S PP~YER

* RESPONSIVE READING GLORIA PATRI APOSTLES 1 CREED

*

21st Sunday - page 586

SC RIPTURE LESSON Psalm 147 UN ISON PR.b.YER FOR THOSE IN THE ARJ1ED SERVICES

Faure

0 Lord of Hosts, grant to those who have gone forth to fight our battle by land, sea, or air, Thy protection in dange r, patience i~ suffering and moderation in victory.

Look with compassion on the sick, the wounded, and the captives. Sanctify to them their trials, an·d turn their heet rts unto Thee . We beseech Thee to comfort and bless t he dying; have mercy upon the widow and fatherless, and give the assurance of Thy presence to all who mourn.

And, 0 God, who ma.kest wars to cease in ·all the earth, r estore to us the blessings of peace; and grant that our present trouble may be overruled to Thy honor and glory; through Jesus Chris.t, our Lord . Amen.

* Hark, Hark my Soul Edwards

PASTORAL PRh.YER ORGJ,.N OFFERTORY A Song PRESENTATION OF OFFERINGS

Iljinsky

HY.MN 69 How gentle God's corrura.nds

SERMON "GRASS UPON THE MOUNTAINS''

HYtm 111 Fairest Lord J esus BEl\J"Rf1.TCTIOlJ blTD DOXOLOGY

March from l .. thalie l!1ondolssohn

10:30 11:00 11:45 6:00

7:30 7:30

MONDAY

TUESDAY

..

lVlAY 21., 1944 - CALENDAR FOR T OD.:~Y

Morning Worship - sermon by the minister. Primary and Junior church. Church School. Everyone welcome. Fremont Youth Fellowship. Leader, Moritz Gun­dersen. All young people invited. Student Council at the home of Audrey Dennie. Union Evening Service at Kingsboro Presbyterian Church with Rev. Paul Hyden preaching.

THROUGH THE WEEK AT FREr.WNT

3:45 7:00 8:00

7:30 6:30

8:00

Junior Choir rehearsal. Girl Scouts. l~y meeting of Board of Education.

Chorus Choir rehearsal. Cordial Class covered dish supper at the church. Election of officers. Executive Board of w. s. c. s. meets.

VlfEDNESD.h.Y 7:30 The Mid-week Service at the ·church.

THURSDAY 6:30 The Werner Workers will hold their An­nual Banquet at the Hotel Johnstown. Speaker, Rev . G. Elliott Pre sby.

Altar flowers today are given in memory of Edwin F . Gifford by his family.

COMING EVENTS

Children's Day artd Promotion Day will be held in Fre­mont on June 18th. Sacrament of Infant Baptism will be administered.

Baccala. urea. t o .Service •iill be held a. t Fremont on Sunday evening, June 25th .

We extend a cordial we lcome to all visitors who worship with us this day.