Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons:
A cynic once remarked that Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, and what he got was the church -- a distinct disappointment. Certainly there is reason to be disappointed with the church these days. Its membership is melting away. Its life is torn by controversy and dissent. Its influence on the life of society has all but disappeared. And those who have found the center of their trust in the church's message, through all their life long, despair of the slow ruin to which it seems to be subject.