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RELIGIOUS SERVICES,
St. Paul's Churcli was crowded last even
uig when his Lordship the Bishop of Ben
uigo preached his farewell sermon prior to
his departure for England, where he will
represent the Bendigo dioccse at the Lam
; both Conference. His Loroehip appropri
; at-ely chose the words of the Apoetlo St
! 1-aui in his exhortation to the elders of
fcpheeue as recorded in Acta, 20ui cii;vpt,er
32nd verse—"And now, brethren, I com'
mend you to Ciod and to the word of His
Grace, which is able to build you up and
• J® 5?ivC . i'ou an inheritance' among all
, them which are sanctified." After describ
ing the touching scene where Paul was
about to start for Jerusalem, the trials,
dangers jiikI tribulations by whicli ths
church was beset, and the courage and
faith of the man of'-God, his Lordship
t said tluit the picture presented in the
! Apostolic times was quite applicable to the
; condition of the church to-day. They had
grievous wolves of danger facing the church
I to-day, and it was of the utmost impor
tance to the chui'cli and the individual mat
they should be ait-are of those evils, and
seek from God that strength and power to
fight successfully against those dangers.
"Were there not danger^ to-day that were
destructive of spiritual life and men's souls '
—a kind of corrupt Christianity with which j
they had to deal? He dealt, with unbelief i
and "other forms of superstition," in which
he bracketcd theosophy, an elegant name I
for what iva<s really Buddhism, spiritualism'
and Christian science, and then touched on
materialism and agnosticism. .Surely the
exhortation of the Apostle was just as ap
plicable to-day as it was in those olden
day«. It was the miserable indifference
and utter carelessness of men that paved
the way lor these grievous wolves to enter
ni. .He did not think there was any period
in their history when there were more
nominal Christians who were professors
and nob possessors than there were to-day.
There wiw only one antidote, and that was
the building up of men's charactcrs. There
was only one power that would enable liiei.
to be built up mentally, spiritually and
physically, and that was the grace of God,
When the Holy Gliost took possession of a
man s soul it traiislonned him and made
him a new being, giving him that power
and vigor enabling him to pass through all
•dangers. At present they were suffering
in this city from what was the result of
the carelessness of those who were in
power. They were sufioriug through the
--rcvalonee of typhoid fever,"of which uie.y
had read so nmcli in the newspapers. Only
the building up of the system would en
able a man to withstand it, and so in the
spiritual world, only the Holy Spirit of
God could build up a man's character to
withstand the evii forces of the day. Hoi
pleaded with his hearens to sanctify their j
lives to God, and to offer themselves as
living sacrifices for His service. In con- j
elusion, his Lordship said that in the Pro
vidence of God be was leaving the dioccse :
for a short season, and lie believed that
he was following where the Lord won la
have him go. His heart wont out with
yearning love to those whom ho would
leave behind. It was only ]5 months since
he came anion gst them as a stranger, and
he had learned to love the place and the
diocese, and very many of tho dear people
with whom he had come in contact, not
merely in St. Paul's parish, where he had
met with such kindly sympathy and af
fection, but throughout tho whole dioccse
hosts of people had manifested their re
, gard and affection, and had taken him
into their Ii ear's and shown great sympathy,
; kindness and support. lie 'was leaving
them for a season, and if it were God's
holy will that he should for a little longer
be permitted to come back and labor
amongst them he would return renewed
in faith and strength. He concluded by re- j
pealing St. Paul's exhortation, "I com
mend you to God." The service was fully
choral, and Mr. P. \V. Drake acted as
organist and choirmaster. The choir ren
dered the anthem, "Hesamia in the
Highest," and tuneful quartet was given
by Misses Eva Blake and Hancock "" and
Messrs. Harrison and Wittscliiebc. During
the offertory M:ss Winnie Bradbury and
Mr. A. B. Harrison sang the duet, "Oh,
For the Wings of Dorr- " The conclud
ing voluntary was Handel's "Halleluiah
Chorus." . j
j The anniversary services of the Hargroaves-'
street Haptiet Church were ce! 'bvated yes
terday, wV-n the Rev. H. TT. Jeffs, of Cam-1
bcrwel!, officiated at both morn ing and
evening services In the morning he select- ,
ed his text from Exodus 33—21, 22, "Thou''
s'halt Kta.id upon a rock: I will out thee in!
the cleft of tho rock." The pre.whor, refer- :
ring to the Jew; at. a people, isuid no imago j
was more pk-asiug to iliem than a rock: 1
also that God was i he rock on which they :
were. sure. In all perplexities and ups and <
downs in life tiiey could always fiee to the
Hock that was <vie.*»dfast and immovable,
and they should find safely. Thev must not
live down in tie v;illey.-;, where thev only
saw the hills on either side. Let. them get
on the mountain top, so as to see the wen- •
derfiil works of God. If they would see— i
end thev should «ce something <>'■ the love ;
of Christ for humanity—let I hem climb the
Hill of Ca'vary, The anthem "A Day in Thy i
Courts" was remit'vd bv the choir. In
the evening tlie rev. gentleman took hi:,
text from Luke 17—ill, 'The Kingdom of
God is within you." in the course of his
remarks the preacher etc.tcd that there was .
at the present time much outv.ard show ;
which was mere sham. The Kingdom of ;
God was not a tiling iu ti;o distance, hut a j
present day religion. .Religion, meant life I
between God and the people. Men shrank :
from God because they did not know of
His love towards them. .Selfishnew governed
their lives. The world presented many fas- 1
einafing joytf, but they were transitory.
God's Kingdom, however, was everlai-riing.
Anthems were rftnig by the church choir,
and solos were lendered by AH-ses 1. Hercert
and M. Hycitt. The anniversary social i
will be held on Wednesday evening at 7.30. i
The 56th anniversary of the Go! den
squ.u'o Methodist i.-'nurch wits ceieOi\..ied
Yesterday, when three seivices v.ere con- ,
ducted by the Ilev. W. Morlcy, D.B. In !
the evening there was ;x guod congregation, ;
andthe rev ;.;eutleman pr'ached an impici-' ■
sive sermon on the forgiveness of sin, l>as- j
ing ha.-t iiniiarks on Isaiah, <13, 'i.'i, "i\ even j
I,"and He that blettetli out they trawgres- >
moms for Mine Own. sake, and will not :
remember thy sin." At the morning ser
vice Air. A. Andrew sang "The Lest
Chord," with good effect. Hi the afternoon ;
the Kolo, "Wearer My God to Thee," vnw, j
feelingly rendered by Vlis.; Bradbury. Air. i
V/. Brown sang a ooio in the <vening. The
anr.iversa.ry will Ire continued by a social in
the school itali thif. evening.
'I'ho annual anniversary of the Kamarooka
Methodist Church was held on Sunday,
5 th insfc.. when the. Rev. J. M. Cattcrall,
of Bendigo, eouducted services in the after
noon at :s and at 7.in the evening. Tho
church was crowded on each occasion, and
the collections totalled over ,£5. The choir
rendered special anthems, Miss Edith
Fletcher presiding at the organ. The an
niversary wars further celebrated on Wed
nesday night, when a concert was given
in the church, the building being again
packed. Mr. R- H. Fletcher presided. Ad
dresses were given by Messrs. 11. 11.
Fletcher, M. Alilcs, and F. P. Morris, of
Bcndigo, and the Rev. II. C. Trebilcock.
Items were contributed by Mrs. Smith,
Miss Gronow, Mrs. T. Nicholls, and Messrs.
A. Allies, T. Tinkler, and H. Harry. The
choir again rendered special selections in
fine style. Miss E. Brown and Alias E.
Fletcher played the accompaniments for the
vocal numbers. A vote of thanks to those
who took part in the entertainment was
carried by acclamation, after which light
refreshments were served.
The anniversary-of tlie Eaglehawk West
Methodist Church was celebrated yester
day, whoa three special services were held.
The pulpit was occupied morning and even
ing by the Rev. J. M'Bride, of Daylesford;
formerly of Eaglehawk. In the morning ■
the rev. gentleman preached on ''Covetous
nefe," and at tlie evening, service he took
a-i iiis text. "Go Thou, and do Likewise,"
fromt the parable of the Oood Samaritan
in St. Luke. The pici'cher delivered a
practical sermon, and urged his he irers
to imitate ns far as possible the good ex
ample contained in the parable, and to ap
ply it io themselves in their everyday life.
In referring to the anniversary they were j
celebrating, Mr. M'Bride said what was I
urgently required was the services of the •
young married men and women to apsist- j
iri the Sunday school teaching, in addition
to the younger teachers. In the afternoon
Mrs. H. Bride Barber gfcve a short address
on the denial of St. Peter of Our Saviour.
The congregations were large, especially at
the night service, when. the church was
filled. Th-e singing throughout was a fea
ture of tlie. anniversary, the choir, assisted
by an orchestra, renderincr special anthems
most affectively. Puring the afternoon
solos were nicely rendered by Miss 13. Pas
toe {"The Golden Gate-'') and Miss T. Mur
ley (""Vision of Life"), whilst at the evening'
service Miss C. Thomas sang "'Nearer My
God fo Thee," and Mr. It. I?nle "Per*ce on.;
Earth," both singers being in good voice.
M?sa L. Thomas presided at the organ in an
etlicient manner, while the whole of the
musical portion of the service was nnder
the conductorship of Mr. J. I?,. "Richards.
This evening the anniversary will bo eon
tinned by the customary tea and public
meeting. At the hitler Mr. P. Murdoch
will preside.
Prayers for Tain were offered last even
in jr at the Golden-square Methodist Church
anniversary by the Rev- W. Morley, D.D.
who also prayed for contributors to ami
editors of newspapers, and. expressed the
hope that the articles published by them j
might bo for the uplifting of the people.
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