The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1900, Page 35

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The Lutheran Pioneer. 35

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| preached the confessional sermon. Rev. J. | night when on duty, and in the tumult of the

|Ph. Schmidt distributed the Lord’s Supper. | barrack, the voice of his conscience reproved

| During the service the Concord choir sang| him, and what in his youth he had learned of

oOo

Dedication of the Chapel at Dry
School House.

On the morning of the Sth of August, as
early as seven o’clock, wagons, buggies, and
vehicles of all kinds, modern and not modern,
could be seen coming from east and west, north
and south, slowly or rapidly winding along
the roads toward Dry School House. When
the clock showed eleven many people had as-
sembled. Rockwell had come with a wagon-
load of eleven persons and three buggies;
Gold Hill had sent its delegates in two bug-
gies; Mount Pleasant and Reimers-
town had turned out in full force;
Concord had sent its welcome choir
and several buggies and barouches ;
all members of Dry School House
were there, and besides many friends
from far and near had come. All had
come but for one purpose —to cele-
brate the joyous event of the dedi-
cation of the newly built chapel of
the St. Peter Congregation at Dry
School House.

Two years ago this congregation
had been organized by Rev. N. J.
Bakke under the name of ‘‘St. Peter
Ky. Luth. Congregation.’’? Unpromis-
ing had been the beginning. In a
house 8X12 ft., with five windows
(10X10 in.), of which only three had
window-glass, with four planks for
seats, with a stove, the only relic of
modern civilization, with four rows of
shingles—and these full of holes—,
and with but a small congregation
assembled therein, the mission work
had begun. But during the short time
of two years the Lord had blessed
the work so that this house could no
longer accommodate the number of
hearers. The congregation bought
two acres, and on this land the Hon.
- Board of Mission provided a new
place of worship. A chapel was built,
24X34 ft., costing in all $300.00.
A pleasing sight it is when one comes
out of the pine woods and his eyes

behold the beautiful structure, with a tower)

(20 ft. high) raising its lofty peak to the skies.

This fine building was to be dedicated to the
Triune God.

Near the hour of noon the people assembled
around the door. A prayer was offered by
Rev. J. Phil. Schmidt, pastor of the congrega-
tion, thanking God for the manifold blessings
He had showered upon them. Then in the
name of God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Ghost the doors were opened,
and silently the people filled the house. After
the singing of several songs of praise and
thanksgiving, Rey. J. C. Schmidt of Greens-
boro preached the dedication sermon, basing
his discourse on Exod. 20,24. His theme was:
‘Why can we enter this house of God with
thanksgiving?” Whereupon the undersigned

Come unto Me, all ye that lnbor, an

| several beautiful ‘songs.

| After services dinner was served. A long
| table was well provided with fine cake, chicken,
| bread. Several watermelons had also put in
| their appearance, but they soon disappeared.
| At three o’clock in the afternoon services
jagain were held. They were opened by the
Concord choir singing several songs. In this

| service the undersigned preached on Gen.
| 28, 17.

and I will give you rest, Matt. 12, 28.

Allservices were well attended, and the con-
gregation, numbering about 200, paid good
attention to the sermons. The collection in
both services amounted to six dollars and
some cents.

The congregation at Dry School House is
to be thanked for taking so well care of their
guests. :

May the Lord bless and prosper His work.

P. ENGELBERT.

<>

Read too Late!

One of the most hardened and reckless sol-
diers in a certain English regiment in India
was young Jacob w—. He had deserted
his parents and home to seek his fortune
under the English flag. In the silence of the

d are heavy laden,

Jesus and his love smote his heart. But he
| hardened himself against the workings of the
Holy Spirit, and in the noise of reckless pleas-
| ure and wickedness he sought to silence the
| admonishing voice in his heart. He became
| the wildest of his wild comrades.

| One morning, after the lapse of several
| months, the English mail arrived, which was
a rare occurrence. The oflicer who distrib-
uted the mail, passing him, said, ‘‘Here is
something for you,” and handed him
a letter. The young soldier hastily:
took it, tore open the envelope, and
hoped to find a cash remittance in the
letter. In the hardness of his heart
this would have been the only thing
to make news from home welcome.
But he was disappointed: the letter
contained nothing but a written sheet
of paper. Angrily he thrust it back
into the envelope without reading it
and flung it into his chest.

A year has passed by and young
W: is occupying a bed in the hos-
pital, cast down by a mortal disease.
In his loneliness he suddenly remem-
bers that unread letter and asks his
waiter to fetch and read it to him.
This is what the letter contained:
“Dear Son, —

I should like to purchase your re-
lease from the army and enable you
to come home. I have bought a small
piece of land for you, and prepared
everything for you, and in fervent
love, in your mother’s and my name
I beg of you: Come home again! The
captain of the ship W. has orders to
give you a first-class passage. It is
lying at Colombo. He has the pur-
chase-money and everything else you
willneed. Let nothing keep you back,
only come. All send their love and
their hope that you will come.’

‘J shall never forget that scorned
letter,”? says the narrator who was
young W: 7s nurse, ‘I shall never forget
the anguish and despair that seized the dying
man, when he heard the kind message of his
father which through his own fault reached
him too late.”

O you poor lonely and lost sinner, there is
a message for you in the Gospel from your lov-
ing Father; he bids you return. Read it ere
it be too late!

“Return, O wanderer, return,
And seek a Father’s melting heart!

His pitying eyes thy grief discern,
His hand shall heal thy inward smart!’’

—_+ ~<oaeor eo

‘J wourp not give one moment of heayen
for all the joy and riches of the world, even
if it lasted for thousands and thousands of
years.”’? — Luther.