Macedonia and help us."

Now, my brethren, this was the cry of the strong for help. This was the
cry of the peoples that were following the westward course of the star
of empire. And yet, in their strength, they cried as though they were
the weakest of woman born. And when that missionary, in response to that
call, crossed the sea, though he came to that Macedonian city which had
been the battle-scene of the contending forces of the Roman empire, he
found access for the gospel into Europe through the open heart of one
woman--Lydia, a seller of purple. And there, sitting down by the water
course, where prayer was wont to be made, he just grouped those
individuals into that unit of God's operations on the face of the earth,
the local church. And this church was distinguished among the apostolic
churches for its family traits, for the infusion of feminine grace and
masculine strength, for the most domestic hospitality and the very
faults of the close attritions of human life. There he planted the seed
which has grown into our European and American civilization and
Christianity.

And so ever at the cry of the strong for help the gospel has had just
these three great prime factors to present for the solution of the
problems of every age: first, the home, with its priesthood of the
father and mother, the sanctuary of the house and the ministrations of
family life; secondly, the school; and thirdly, between the home and the
school, the church. When our Lord himself, from all possible sources,
made selection of the first among the many means he has chosen for the
redemption of this world, he chose a trained personality. As the medium
for the transmission of truth, no improvement, no change has been found
in all the progress of the gospel. By this trained personality--the
heart that has been led to live with Christ awhile, and then go forth in