The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1920, Sheet 35

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The Lutheran Pioneer,

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PusiisueD BY THE EvaNGELicaL LutneraAN SyNnopicAL CoNFERENCE oF Nortu AMERICA.
REY. F. J. LANKENAU, Ep1Tor.

Published monthly by Concordia Publishing Tlouse, St. Louls, Mo. Subscription price, 25 cts. per annum, payable strictly In advance.
IEntered as second-class matter at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., under the Act of March 3, 1879.

Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for In section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 5, 1918,

Vol. XLII.

st, ULES M0, MAY, 1920.

No. 5.

The More Excellent Way.
1 Cor. 12, 31.

Devote your life to love sincere,
Then you'll be happy even here;
Full many a eare will leave you then
Which is but harmful unto men.

O love your God with all your heart,
Who never will from you depart,
And serve your neighbor faithfully.
Ilow godlike is true charity!

Give all your life, my Christian friend,
To love, for it will never end.
While faith and hope will pass away,
Love is indeed “the better way.”

H. OsTeruvs.

The Spirit of Christian Missions.

When our Lord ascended to heaven, THis last
command was, “Go ye into all the world, and preach

the Gospel to every creature.” For ages most Chris-

tian people supposed that this command was limited
to the apostles. In the present day it has been ex-
tended to include a few men and women who are
expected to perform the labor and practise the whole
self-sacrifice, while most members of the Church
live at ease, and suppose they are obeying the com-
mand by giving a small portion of their abundance
to support those who perform the chief labor and
self-sacrifice. The writer can remember the time

when an annual collection for home missions was

about all the call for such benefactions in many a

parish of our Church, while the pittances were so
small that the sight of a dollar bill in the collection,
even from the wealthiest of the church-members,
produced almost a sensation.

“Preach the Gospel to every creature” — this
was the farewell charge of Christ to His disciples, °
to His Church. They heeded His command and went
out into the world, preaching the Gospel as faith-
ful missionaries. Amid all the dangers, hardships,
and persecutions they never gave up their glorious
work. But what the apostles and early Christians -
did is every Christian’s duty. It is every -Chris-
tian’s sacred duty to see to it that this command
of the Lord is not disregarded. Let us see to it
that fervent prayers ascend to God for the spread-
ing of the Gospel, and that we contribute according
to our means toward this blessed’ work entrusted to
the Church. Knowing that the time is near at hand
when the ascended Lord shall return to ask us to
give an account of our stewardship, let us not be
slothful in our Lord’s work. The Gospel and the
Toly Sacraments are the only means to save sin-
ners, and these means the Lord has entrusted to us!
Do you realize your great, your stupendously great,
responsibility ?

It is told by a missionary in South Africa that
an old Negro, who had heard and accepted the.
Gospel, said to him: “Why did you Christians wait
so long? It was surely high time for you to come.
My hair is turned gray, and I am near my grave.
You came late, very late; but I am glad you did
come. I now know how to die a happy aces i

Let us, O let us, remember our ascending: Lord’s.
parting command: “Preach the Gospel to every
creature.” Se AGA US:

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