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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1930-11-27, Page 6tr. ' MO 0 • KM .....,,,,, a aa,a, Sunday School Lesson ANALYSIS Z. STEPHEN TBE Z4A1..01.1S eusikolise, 6: 1-15. 11. rvi.LsEiym AccusED, 7: 1-58. III. THE ivIATtrat, 7: 54-60. December 7. Lesson X—Stephen (An Early Interpreter of Christianity)._ Acts 6: 7.10; 1: 54-60. Golden Text —They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost.— Acts 6; 5. INTRODuceici.i—Chapter six of the book of Acts records a new develop- ment in the Christian movement in Jerusalem. Two groups now appear, "the Grecian Jews," or Hellenists, and "the Hebrews." The former spoke the Greek language. The were Jews who had lived abroad, engaged for die most part in trade, who had returned to Jerusalem to visit friends, or to join in the celebration of the ancient festi- vals, or no doubt in some cases out of love for the holy city to spend their last de.: there. Of them E. F. Scott writes, "It is not difficult to guess why they, more than others, were at- tracted to the new teaching (that is, the Christian teeching). Bytheir contact with a larger world their out- look had been broadened, more than they were aware, and when they came back to Jerusalem the‘, were apt to he bitterly disillusioned.. Instead of the religious ardor they had dreamed of they, too, often found nothing but the wranglingof worldly priests and the endless hair-splitting of the interpret- ers of the law. In the Christian com- munity they breathed a larger and more spiritual atmosphere. Here was Judaism at its bes set free from all that narrowed and perverted it. Here, if anywhere, was the real feeling for religion." To th'ir. group Stephen belonged, and his understanding of the Christian faith, as well as hie attitude toward the Jev-ish institutions, is of profound interest to those who would fully ap- preciate the growing life of the church and especially the ministry of Peel in the period that followed. I. STEPHEN THE ZEALOUS PREACHER, 6: 1-15. There may have ween a disposition among the Hebrew Christians to treat the Grecians as outsiders and foreign - e and the ''murmuring" of the latter may have been justified. Where the twelve apostolk leaders had charge, all was well, but the members of the Christian community had so increased and its activities so widened that they were fully occupied with preaching and teaching. And, they said, "It is not reason that we should leave the word of CT od, and serve tables." And so they advised the appointment of seven "over this business." Stephen, however, was not content merely to serve tables "in the daily ministration." He became a preacher "full of grace and power," as did also another of the seven whose name was Pl.ilip, chap. 8: 4-8. In their case the lower ministry led to the higher, the less to the greater. It seems dear that Stephen, in his preaching and in the disputes in which he became in- volved (v. 9),too'- the essentially Christian position that the law of Moses and the temple ritual were not c-ssary to salvation, and that Jesus had -pened to all men a new way of faith. Of course that was "to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law" (v. 13), but only to put them, as institutions of religion, im their proper 'place. But the ene- ;pies of Stephen distorted his words, accuAng him of blasphemy and had him arrested and brought before the council. IL FALSELY ACCUSED, '7: 1-53. In deadly peril of his life, dragged before an unfriendly tribunal, Stephen preserved his courage and serenity. Those who sat in the council "saw his face as it had been the face of an angel," chap. 6: 15. Stephen's defence of his teaching befoe the council presents ar argu- ment which must have app-aled to fair-minded men among his judges. Ms enemies were insisting upon the divine and unchangeable authority of Mosaic law and ritual. He shows them in a rapid review of their history that God had appeared to Abra:iam and made -covenant with him long before the time of Mosc...e.that he had deliver- ed Josepit and had given :lint favor and wisdom before the Egyptian ruler centuries before Moses led their fath- ers out of Egypt, and gave them the' Itaw at Sinai, and that Moses himSelf was but one of that succession of great leaders whom God had raised up in Itzael. He reminded them that the inert of Israel had not understood the deliverance which God was giving them by the hand of Moses (vs. 25), How the Telephone Helped • • t• 5'1 45 • • • • • "Great stuff!" exclaimed Jack Wright, former captain of the. local football squad. "Next_best thing to being with the boys is to hear from you regularly and to know how the team is shaping' up." Jack's. team mates thought a lot of their captain and when the doctor ordered hiin right' at the very beginning -of the season to go to the mountain sanitarium for a complete rest, they arranged amongst themselves to call •him on' the long distance telephone two or three times a week. The calls cost very little and as coach Hennessy said "those telephone talks not only cheered Jack but they kept the team members right on their toes for naturally, they didn't want to talk about anything but wins when they spoke to jack!" that at first they had refused his lead- e7:ship (v. 35), and that in the wilder- ness they had not been obedient to his authority (v, 39). In a passionate climax he turned upon his accusers and charged them with resisting the spirit of God as their fathers had done, and with their last and greatest crime, in that they had "become be- trayers and murderers" of Yesus, the Righteous One. III. THE %ARTYR, 7: 54-60, These last words of Stephen so aroused the passions of the mob that a furious attack was made upon him, and he was dragged forth from the ccuncil chamber and the city and stoned to death. One can hardly doubt that the "young man named Saul" had more than a passive part in the crime. It may be, indeed, that Saul had heard the speech. of Stephen and that, though he resisted the force of its argument, both the speech and the conduct of Stepen had made an indelible impres- sion. upon his mind. Both in speech and in action that day Stephen the martyr was a true interpreter of the Chris- tian faith. PD AQA "When a man has mush to say he often. whispers it." Settlers. Take Up Land North Bay, Ont.—During the pastl 12 months 600 settlers have taken up,' land in the district which is under the Crown. lands agent of Cochrane.' This area includes 16 townships, from the Quebec boundary west to Fauquier, the greater number of these settlers are in an area within a radiu of 18 miles of Cochrane. This is said to be the largest num- ber of settlers to come to the district since it was thrown open for home- steading.. Europeans have out -num- bered Canadiaa but quite a number of native have crane from the Weot, particularly Manitoba. The majority of the new arrivals in the district are Finns, Hungarians and Slave. In' Pine and Machin townships there are large commun- ities of Finns who still retain the communal system under which they lived in their own land. Six or seven years, ago there were practically no Finns M Cochrane but today they have 18 Finnish hotelsthere. When Cats Were Rarities The Manx cat is dying out. Even in the Isle of Man itself the tailless breed is becoming rare, while the mainland type, complete with tail, is increasing in numbers. The Manx 'cat is not a native of Man—indeed, it is believed to be of Japanese origin, though how it got to the Isle of Man from far -away Japan is something of a mystery. But, then, the ordinary domestic cat is not a na- tive of Britain, and was comparatively rare in Europe until late in the Mid- dle Ages. It is believed to be the re- sult of crossings between the Egyptian cat, a sacred animal in ancient Egypt, and the wild cat. Cats without tails, or with.. rudi- mentary tails only, are still common in certain parts of the Far East. New Brunswick Hills The Geodetic StPrVei Of Canada,De pertinent, of the-kterkir, ittilhekohrse of its work on the triangulation of the Maritinic; iectirktely, determined. the geeiraphieFi)ositions and elevations of a number of pro- minent hills in' northern. New Bruns- wick, such ae Mbunttarleton, 2,690 feet; Costigan, 2,197 feet Bald peak, 2,086 feet. He (at 11.30 pin.)—"Did you know I could imitate any , bird you can name?" She—"No, didn't. Can you imitate a homing pigeon?" • • Mary—"Your-iiisults.have no effect onme. You. wili not gain your pbint in hat 'way!" Martin—"What do I want to gain?" "You want to' make me go to mother. But I will send for her to come here." Mrs. Ohat—"It says here in the paper that a certain man hasn't spoken to his wife for twelve years," Mr. Chat (in name only)—"Give him time. He may get 'a chance yet." -To Helen of Troy By Helen Hoyt Helen, it is not you they have desired, And it is not 'you they praise now in their songs, But you are a thousand women and a thousand 'faces, And the glances of many eyes glance out -of yours, And the allureneent of your breath Is not the allurement of one woman that fails, But your beauty is beauty itself, And with that you have held men's love, their praise. For never are they long in' the delight of one delight, But their must taste at many *rings and far rivers, Seeking not any woman, but all wo- manhood. And you are that perfection and illu- sion, For they have made you after their heart's wish And call upon you by your name, your beauty, • But 'tis not you they call—not Helen, not Helen's tees. If you returned, would they remember Your footsteps? Or be more eager to look or follow after? Or would they stop with. you more than they stop with us? Stay then their story, and be immortal and all -lovely; For only yours is the beauty that can bend them wholly, It is the dream of love their love is constant to, The dream of love that holds, not we that hold them. Only yours the beauty they let bind them, unwearied, And never our beauty, the binding of our single love, 0 Trojan woman who died, who never lived, whose beauty passed,- It is only the dream of love that does not die. 111*Madamaea, Lorne ads By 0011IKE ANN BEST Ability, natural ab lilies are like na- tural plants, they ieed pruning by stini.Y.Bacen, Building We are living in a wonderful age. I wonder if we realize just how Won- derful it is. Ordinary people live in miniature palaces compared to the shelter our less fortunate ancestors fashioned method for measuring, a enjoyed. It is appalling. what neces- yard by stretching the goods at arm's sary things they had to do without. length, holding one end of it up to her Now we have electricity which wields nose her magic wand scattering comfort One day Betty came to her saying, and light broadcast so lavishly. What ,., Smell this, Grandma, and see how is it? We use it but who knows what long it is." it is? And out of thecauldron of na- Twilight Hour Story—What is the tural hidden wonders 'which have been Story About? are spotlessly clean. Put your hand into a paper bag, take the floor cloth, use it, replace it and still have spot- less hands. Rubber -tired castors will make a convenient tea -wagon out of a table too low or too small to be of much use otherwise. Snuffling Inches Little Betty's grandma used the old lying dormant until now, how marvel- ously have the builders, thinking men and women, uncovered some new trea- sure to lavish on our present civiliza- tion. Each new thing invented or dig, covered we receive with. wonder but in all too short a time accept and use it as a matter of course. Having these things ma:kedly lessens our tasks and gives us more leisure but we fail to use that leisure to develop our own particular talents and individuality. It may mean hard work with:dis- couragement for it is a fact that things worth. while are not won, easily, nut every one has something which Mr. Wealth: "I am leaving town for my health." Miss Seeker: "Do you always take Your doctor's advice?" Mr. DeWealth: "This was my law- yer's advice." Chapter 1 This' is going to be a story about a bird and the kind of a bird I am sure • You know, and if you do not know what this bird looks like ask your .Daddy to take you out to a farm so you can see for yourself just what the bird I am going to tell you .about looks like. But then I am sure you,have. often seenonealmost exactly like the one I am going to describe. Perhaps it may be you even have some of your own out in the back yard. Now can , You guess what it is about? Well, it only he or she can do and it is tunas- is about a chicken, a nice fat chicken ing how that something develops and grows if we try, and we slowly but surely push in to' our rightful places. So often we make the mistake of thinking tithe is wasted if we do not earu money with. what we have learn- ed. It is true material things aro very desirable, no one denies that, but af- ter all it is our spiritual growth whioh counts. It is all we can take with us into eternity so the thought comes, "Are we helping and instilling in our children a desire to build their per- sonalities?" We so often nowadays hear this, "You know,„I never study my music any more since we have the radio. I think we'll just sell our piano." We forget because we have at some time studied music, that the door leading to an understanding and appreciation of name.was Lucy, thought - she would what we hear is always open to no but like to. have some little fluffy baby for our children who grow up all too li Quickly we have closed the door be- cause they hear the. radio but most fail to either understand or appreci7 music it o s itf oe etlie re es ao:tv'er towoffer. ptrhldeirotpleasure which heads and. they .„ They are not .building in their minds the -storehouse fcir, music. It is a small and poor building and they cannot hear with the hearing of understanding. The same is true of every vocation in life. It doesn't matter what it is. It is necessary to study it and then. try to do the things we have learned our- selves in order to broaden out into what we ishould be. • In each new thing learned we are really building, always building an invisible habita- tion. with pure pretty white feathers. Didn't you ever wonder how she keeps so clean? I do. It seems she never has to take a bath or have her face or)her han—goodness, I was, nearly going to say "hands." Of 'course she hasn't any . hands, and that makes me remember she has only two feet too, hasn't she? Not much like pussy cat, is she? No hands and only two feet. It must be funny to be made like that, but then she has things we haven't got. For one thing she has those lovely white feath- ers. Oh, don't they keep her nice and warm, especially just now when it's getting cold? Those feathers are even better than a fur coat. But we must get on, with, the story. One day a good many weeks ago, when it was still nice and warm out- of-doors, this yyoung Lady Hen, whose Paper bags are a boon and a bless- ing besides being convenient for pack- ing separate field lunches, they are handy to slip a hand into for disagree- ' able small task—for instance it may be necessary to wipe up something spilt upon the floor when one's hands chicks. She didn't know what they were like because she never had any before, but someone told her, I believe it was Miranda Sparrow, that she could have some all her very own, but Miranda told her "If, you want those little chicks you mustn't lay that nice white egg in_ the nest in the chicken. • house the way you did yesterdayor the day before. I won.'t tell you to- night what to do but next week I'll tell you. what to do with those nice white eggs so you can have some cute little baby chicks. So next week lit- tle boys and girls, if you're real good and shut your eyes now and go to sleep in the nice dark which was made, so we could go to sleep, I'll promise to tell you all about it. The dark is kind and cosy, The dark is soft and deep, The dark will pat my pillow And love me as 1 sleep. God made the dark so daytime Could close its tired eyes, And sleep awhile in comfort Beneath the starry skies. Next week—What.Lady Hen Did. A couple were walking down the street and the wife said: • "John, I'd like that dreas in the window." John—"Well, it's there, isn't it?", Husband (fed up): "By George, I must have been crazy to marry you!" Wife (placidly): "You were, dearest —I remember you said so every day for months." Master of. the House: "Er—Mary, your mistress and I have been dis- cussing .raatters, and, to put it plain- ly, we suspect you Of eaves -dropping. However, to save further trouble we—" Mary (breaking in): "I heard you; and I've got my box packed." Peguis Post Office Peguis post office in Manitoba takes its name from Peguis, the Saulteaux Indian chief, who was a friend of the Red giver settlers and 'well disposed. to the whites in their efforts to found a colony in the early years of the nine- teenth century. Salt in Manitoba In Manitoba numerous brine springs are found in the area west of lake Winnipegosis, and brine has been countered in drill holes in the district between Winnipeg and the boundary of Saskatchemau, Every day -should be passed as if it were to be the last—Publius Syrus. MUTT AND JEFF— By BUD FISHER 3EFfs FR6M WOW TtiqP.c-z AIN'T GONNA 'Be NO PRWACy: IlAts NE.t.0 INIVENTION•• TELEVISION. WILL MPG IT PoSSIBLE. FOR PcoPLe "tr) ma),) Art'D See GveR•CriiiNGI - • -11 - • _ 7cumbu5 Petisce. tutu &sr,' esv'eFuL: *nit.F.- WILL •I'etN: te‘S Gw;!?IrS NJ'(ttl41a Jeff. Fools. the Latest Invention.