THE JUNIOR CHURCH * * IN ACTION * * WELDON F. CROSSLAND CppyrigTit N°^_ COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION WELDON F. CROSSLAND, B.A. (OXON.) I '^**t> <0«C(M) v- jfcoT C As 6* <^ C?*rfc THi: JUNIOR CHURCH CHARTKK With signatures of the Charter Members of the Central Methodist Episcopal Junior Church. Detroit, Michigan. THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION WITH TWENTY JUNIOR CHURCH SERMONETS BY WELDON F. CROSSLAND, B.A. (OXON.) ASSISTANT PASTOR, CENTRAL METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, DETROIT, MICHIGAN, 1916-1919; PASTOR, NINDE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, DETROIT, MICHIGAN WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY BISHOP THEODORE S. HENDERSON NEW ^2r YORK GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY «s .Irt c^ COPYRIGHT, 1 92 1, BY GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 23 I92I ©CU627854 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 'h* / to the leaders of the greater church of to-morrow: THE CHRISTIAN BOYS AND GIRLS OF TO-DAY INTRODUCTION BY Bishop Theodore S. Henderson It is oft repeated that the children of the church are the church of to-morrow. There is no way to save the manhood of the world except to save the boyhood of the world. It is folly supreme to plan on saving the woman- hood of the world if we neglect the girlhood of the world. When we save an adult, we are likely to save a unit; when we save a child, we save a multiplication table. There will be no church to-morrow if there is no religion of childhood to-day. What is told in this volume is a definite contribution toward building the church of to-morrow by building the childhood of to-day into the church. There is a vast dif- ference between baiting a crowd and building a church. There is a long spiritual difference between assembling a congregation and building a church. There is a tremendous Kingdom difference between erecting a build- ing and building a church. A church is more than brick and mortar, more than stone and shingles, more than nails and paint, more than window glass and furniture. One may build all this material into a church building without building a church. A church is a group of folks who live and labor as a family circle of which God is a real father; in which each behaves like a child of God, and treats all the other members of the circle as members vii viii INTRODUCTION of God's family. From such a circle it is a Kingdom crime to exclude the boys and girls. In the privileges and duties of such a circle, boys and girls ought to be trained with rare skill and real spirituality. Such is the ideal of this book. Its suggestions have been tested in the laboratory of boy and girl life. It does not dream unreal dreams; it records actual experience. The author is a spiritual scientist. He has put these chapters into the test tube of the Junior Church with the results herein stated. He is at this writing erecting a new church building ; he is doing more : he is building a church by building the boys and girls into the family life of God. There is no substitute for the church in the life of the boy or girl. Neither boys' or girls' clubs, nor Sunday Schools, nor any other ecclesiastical or social creature should separate boys and girls from the family life of God expressed in the church. The practice of the prin- ciples of this book will help in a vital fashion to build the church of to-morrow. Theodore S. Henderson. Detroit, Michigan. PREFACE This book is based on three years' experience with the Junior Church of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church of Detroit. As in Central, so in scores of churches in America the Junior Church has served the religious needs of the boys and girls of the church with unusual success. Although many excellent publications have already ap- peared, devoted to Bible stories and other inspirational themes, none of them have dealt at all extensively with the Junior Church as an organization for Christian wor- ship and service among boys and girls. So many pastors of various denominations have asked about the purpose and methods of the Junior Church that the present volume was prepared to tell of the excellent work the Junior Churches are doing. Much of the material of this publication was secured through the liberal response to the two hundred question- naires that were sent to as many of the leading pastors of the country. Every plan and method cited has been tried by some Junior Church and has been found to be successful. To Bishop H. Lester Smith, formerly pastor of Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Detroit, now of the Bangalore Area, India, is due much credit for constructive criticism in the reading of the manuscript. W. F. C. Ninde Methodist Episcopal Church, Detroit, Michigan. CONTENTS Part One PAGE CHAPTER I: THE JUNIOR CHURCH 15 What Is the Junior Church? — What Does It Do? — Increases Church Attendance Among Boys and Girls. — Develops the Devotional Side of Their Religious Na- tures.— Trains Them in Christian Service Along Church Lines. CHAPTER II: HOW TO START A JUNIOR CHURCH 22 Laying the Plans. — Announcing the First Service. — Launching the Plans. — Who Will Have Charge of the Junior Church? — Can Every Church Have a Junior Church? — The Time of the Service. CHAPTER III: THE JUNIOR CHURCH SERVICE . . 29 The Order of Service. — The Boys and Girls Partici- pating in the Service. — The Music — Special Features. — Memory Work. — The Devotional Attitude. — The Order During the Service. CHAPTER IV: THE SERMONETS 35 Is It Easy to Talk to Boys and Girls? — The Range of Sermonet Subjects. — How to Illustrate the Sermonets. — The Language of the Sermonets. — The Length and the Presentation. CHAPTER V: ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SERMONET SUBJECTS 40 General Inspirational. — The Old Testament. — The New Testament. — Church History. — Church Doctrine. CHAPTER VI: THE JUNIOR CHURCH ORGANIZA- TION 46 Should Be Along Denominational Lines. — The Board of Trustees and the Board of Stewards. — The Standing Committees. — The Societies. — The Ushers. — The Fi- nances. — Other Features. CHAPTER VII: THE JUNIOR CHURCH ACTIVITIES . 53 The Expression of the Boy's and Girl's Religious Life. — The Life Service Opportunity. — Attendance and Mem- XI 1 CONTENTS bership Contests. — Ways of Serving the Church and the Community. — Work for Home and Foreign Mis- sions. — The Junior Jolly and Other Social Affairs. Part Two .TWENTY SERMONETS DELIVERED BEFORE THE CENTRAL METHODIST EPISCOPAL JUNIOR CHURCH, 1918-1919. PAGE I Good Roads m . 63 II If I Had a Million Dollars . . ., .. .... 67 III Keep to the Right 71 IV A Good Start 74 V Do You Own Your Face? 78 VI The Laughter of Jesus 81 VII How Great God Is 84 VIII Soldiers of the King 87 IX Measuring Folks .,.,.... 00 X What Shall I Be? . . . „ . . . „ . . . 93 XI Are You in Tune? : „ . . ., . 96 XII Be Strong 99 XIII A Book of Rules 102 XIV Listening to Voices 105 XV Building Air-Castles 108 XVI Be a Good Scout in XVII Talking with God , ... 114 XVIII How to Catch Fish 118 XIX The Message of the Magnet ........ 121 XX Just Mud,— and a Bulb . . „ ,.. ....... 124 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION PART ONE THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION CHAPTER I THE JUNIOR CHURCH The Junior Church is no longer a new thing in church work. Many ministers of many denominations now have it as an integral part of their church organization. With- out exception they commend it enthusiastically. Scores of these junior congregations have sprung up in all parts of the country to meet a very real need, until to-day the movement has become one of increasing interest to church leaders. Ranging in size from twenty-five to three hundred members, Junior Churches are to be found in churches of all sizes, — from one hundred and nineteen to twenty- eight hundred members. Wherever the Junior Church idea has been fairly tried, it has met with excellent suc- cess, has increased the number of boys and girls attending the morning church service, and has afforded an unu- sually high type of training for them in the work of the church. What is the Junior Church? It is a regular church service and organization for boys and girls, — one that seeks to train them in Christian worship and service. It serves their religious life in the same way that the regular 15 16 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION church service does the religious life of the adults. Its chief features are (a.) a regular order of service and organization that is as much like that of the denomination as is possible ; (b.) a sermonet, sometimes two, on some great sub- ject of the Gospel, the religious life or church history ; (c.) a Junior Church choir, with a pianist, who is a junior, to lead in the junior congregational singing; (d.) ushers, officials, offering, — in fact as complete an organization along denominational lines as the leader may think desirable. The service is held at the hour of the regular morning worship. In many churches the boys and girls come to the regular church service for the inspiration and worship of the first part of the service, passing out during the hymn just before the sermon. In other churches the two ser- vices are separate and contemporaneous. Under the lead- ership of the assistant pastor, the deaconess or some com- petent person of the congregation, the Junior Church carries on its service and activities as does the regular church. When boys and girls reach a given age, — four- teen, fifteen or sixteen, they are expected to remain in the regular church service. That boys and girls do not attend the morning church service in gratifying numbers is a fact that everyone admits and regrets. A look over any congregation will reveal this condition. Why are they not there? Here are just a few of the answers that many frank pastors THE JUNIOR CHURCH 17 give to this large question. Some of them are abrupt and extreme, but all of them have at least some grains of truth in them. One New York pastor says, "There is little in the aver- age service for them." "Parents do not wish to have their own worship and that of their friends disturbed by their children." "The relaxation of parental control, — parents do not insist on their children attending church as they formerly did." "The feeling among parents that the Sunday School is a sufficient substitute for church attendance, — one that meets most of the religious needs of the child." "The boys and girls are usually not con- sidered when the church service and the sermon are being prepared." "Most of the average sermon is 'over their heads/ — for the most part meaningless to them." "If the church service were as uninteresting to adults as it is to children, there would be even fewer of them there." Certainly the least we dare say is that the church service does not reach boys and girls in anything like the desired proportion. That the Junior Church brings more boys and girls to the church service is strikingly demonstrated in the tab- ulated results of the replies to the two hundred question- naires. The following chart speaks for itself. These churches ranged in attendance among boys and girls from one out of two, in a church that had a Junior Church, to one out of thirty-seven in a church that had neither a Junior Church nor a sermonet. The reasons for this increase are fairly evident. The boys and girls will attend church if they feel there is something there for them. They love the church and what it stands for in their lives, but their opinion of the church service is often not especially flattering. And 1 8 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION church leaders must reckon with that opinion, one-sided as it sometimes is. Unless the prevalent idea among boys and girls that the church service is 'dry' is corrected, that opinion will still obtain as it so often has, when they grow old enough to attend the regular service. (2) (3) In In Churches, Where a Churches That Sermonet for Boys Have Neither the and Girls Is Given Junior Church Serv- at the Regular Serv- ice nor the Sermonet, ice, (i) In Churches Having a Junior Church Serv- ice, D □ One out of Seven One out of Eleven One out of Twen- persons in the con- persons in the con- ty-one persons in the gregation were boys gregation were boys congregation were and girls under six- and girls under six- boys and girls under teen years of age. teen years of age. sixteen years of age. When they know that there is a service of their own, one that they can follow and understand all the way through, or when the preacher speaks to them specially for a short time, they do attend more regularly and in greater numbers. In one of the smaller churches, the minister's wife, who has charge of the Junior Church preaches to a larger congregation each Sunday than does her husband. THE JUNIOR CHURCH 19 The attendance of boys and girls at the church service can be secured, if sought for in a reasonable way. That the Junior Church develops the church-going habit among boys and girls and binds them more intimately and permanently to the church has been the experience of practically all those preachers who have Junior Churches. "They become accustomed to the spirit and the mode of worship and are much better prepared to become members of the main congregation when they are a little older," said Dr. Lucius H. Bugbee of Christ Church, Pittsburg. Rev. J. Randolph Sasnett, Associate Pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, Seattle, Washington, says, "Yes, we find that the Junior Church forms the church- going habit because it keeps them related to the church just at a time when so many drift away from the King- dom." "They feel that it is their own service," said Bishop H. Lester Smith, while pastor of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, Detroit. "These boys and girls become just as loyal to their own Junior Church as the most loyal members of the adult congregation are to theirs." The Junior Church also develops the devotional side of the boy's and girl's religious nature, because its service is adapted to the religious and devotional needs. It is the graded public school idea applied to the church ser- vice. No educator would think of putting a boy of ten in a class of graduates at the university. Yet religious educators have sometimes come suspiciously near placing a kindergartner in the same service with the saintly, gray- haired Christian, whose long life of worship and service gives him a totally different religious background from that which the boy or girl possesses. The pure life of a child thrives on quite different spirit- 20 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION ual food from that which the more mature life needs, and it requires that this nourishment be prepared and pre- sented in quite a different way. To get the best results in Christian character and life, the boy or girl should have religious food that he or she can digest. The Junior Church gives opportunity for the expres- sion of this devotional spirit in a way that is perfectly natural. To see twelve-year-old boys and girls offering the morning prayer, leading in the reading of the psalter or the scripture lesson, making the announcements, or giving minute-man speeches on missionary subjects is a sight that means much for the church of to-morrow. Boys and girls are interested, as are adults, in that in which they participate. Just as the Junior League, the Junior Mis- sionary Societies, the departmentalized Sunday School and the graded public school meet the educational needs of boys and girls by adapting the subject matter and the method of presentation to those needs, just so the Junior Church performs a similar service for them in their church worship. Not least among the advantages of the Junior Church is the training in Christian service which it affords. This training is not of a scattering and promiscuous nature, but is directly along the lines of definite church work. At a time when the instinct for organization is rapidly developing in boys and girls, their activities in the Junior Church service and organization teach them the ways of the church in which they will soon take their places. "I'm a member of the Junior Church Official Board," one youthful enthusiast told her mother. As a training ground for effective, devoted members of the Christian Church of the future, the Junior Church has not an equal. THE JUNIOR CHURCH 21 One of the by-products of the Junior Church, gratify- ing both to the pulpit and the pew, is that more parents are brought into the church. Every minister, more often than is pleasing, has heard the very real objection from mothers, "I would just love to come to church, and I do miss it so much, but I have no place to leave the children. They are so mischievous that I feel humiliated when they disturb others during the sermon." Although frequently an excuse, this is doubtless one of the prevalent causes for the absence of many parents from church. The Junior Church is not and never should be a nursery or a kinder- garten, — a mere place where children may be left. The nursery for the babies and the kindergarten for the tiny kiddies are no more a part of the Junior Church than they are of the Sunday School. Parents are just human enough to want to listen unin- terruptedly to the sermon, and those of the congregation who have no children are fully as human. Many of the churches having Junior Church services state that parents with children have frequently been brought back to reg- ular church attendance because of a convenient and profit- able place where their children may go during the service. And many cases have been noted where the interest of the boy or girl in the Junior Church has brought the parents to the regular service and into the church. The surest way to the heart of every parent is through the boy or the girl. The Junior Church is constantly and rapidly growing in favor and usefulness throughout the country. The following chapters will indicate the way to start a Junior Church, the service, the organization and the activities to the many who have been enquiring regarding these phases of the Junior Church work. CHAPTER II HOW TO START A JUNIOR CHURCH "How shall we start a Junior Church?" and "Where shall we begin?" are questions that arise immediately. The methods outlined have been chosen from among those which many Junior Churches have found to be most suc- cessful. From the plans of this chapter any pastor or worker can secure enough material to launch satisfactorily a junior service and organization. 1. The whole Junior Church idea should be thought through thoroughly, and all plans carefully laid before any announcement is made. The place and the time of holding the service, the leadership, the order of service, and other items that will suggest themselves must be set- tled upon beforehand, if the greatest smoothness and success are to be attained. 2. Many pastors have found that to give a five-minute sermonet at each morning service for perhaps a month or more before the first junior service popularizes the plan among the parents and secures their cooperation. The training of the person selected for the leadership of the junior congregation is not least among the advantages of such an arrangement. 3. General announcement of the first service should be made two weeks before it opens, and special announcement on the Sunday preceding the first service, in the Sunday School, the church services, and in the Junior League. 22 HOW TO START A JUNIOR CHURCH 23 Enlist the interest of the Sunday School teachers, asking them to announce it in their classes. 4. An attractive poster placed in the vestibule of the church will attract many. 5. During the week before the first service, postcards should be sent to all boys and girls in the congregation or Sunday School, inviting them to the first service. One or two dollars invested here will bring the most liberal returns. The receipt of a postcard or letter is an impor- tant event in the life of a boy or girl, and the sender shall in no wise lose his reward. A return postcard form, which secured seventy-six re- plies from one hundred and two cards mailed, is as fol- lows: THE JUNIOR CHURCH, CENTRAL METHODIST CHURCH Dear : Next Sunday we start the Junior Church, an in- teresting church service for boys and girls. I need you to help make it a success. You will like the sermonets on subjects like, "If I Were a Millionaire/' and "How a Shepherd Boy Became King." Some- times we will have lantern slides and pictures. Of course you will want to come and have the honor of being one of the charter or first members. Write your name on this return postal card at once, and drop it in the post office for me. I shall look forward to seeing you next Sunday at the regular church service. Our motto is "every boy and girl a member." Your good friend, Weldon F. Crossland. 24 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION (On the message side of the self-addressed return postal was the following:) Dear Mr. Crossland : I wish that you would put my name on the roll of charter or first members of the Junior Church of Central Methodist Church. I promise that I will attend just as often as I possibly can. Your friend, Name Address 6. For each of the next four or five Sundays have some attractive feature planned, as for example any of the following: (a.) The signing of the charter by all the boys and the girls — a very impressive ceremony. Form and ceremony appeal strongly to boys and girls. (b.) The choosing of the choir, whether that be a quartet, a sextet or an octet, (c.) The selection and consecration of the Official Board. (d.) Announce the Junior Jolly for the following Saturday — a lively social affair of the Junior Church. (e.) The institution of the envelope system for offer- ing. (f.) The appointment of the ushers for the offering and for the distribution of the books. HOW TO START A JUNIOR CHURCH 25 (g.) The awarding of a prize for the best essay brought on the subject of the previous Sun- day's sermonet. To say that the success or failure of the Junior Church depends on the leadership is not to overstate the situation. Is not the same true of any organization ? The best leader in the church is none too good for the junior congrega- tion. There is an idea, as prevalent as it is erroneous, that almost any one will do to take charge of boys and girls. The truth of the matter, however, is that the talented person in this phase of public speaking is even more rare than the able speaker to adults. The answer to the question, "Who lead the Junior Churches of the country?" shows that a suitable person to take charge of the Junior Church may be found in almost every church. "One of my consecrated school teachers leads our Junior Church," says one pastor. Another replies, "A good and competent woman." "My wife. She has one or two of the most spiritual people to assist," says Rev. L. M. Blakeley of River Rouge Methodist Church, who has one of the most successful Junior Churches in the coun- try. "The Associate Pastor," says another. "The Church House Director," "The Assistant Pastor," "The Deaconess," "My best Sunday School teacher," are among the many other replies. A church member that loves boys and girls and is loved by them ; one who understands them and who talks inter- estingly to them ; one who has a real religious experience and a deep love for the church — such a one can make the Junior Church THE force in the religious life of the boys and girls of any church. 26 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION Can every church have a Junior Church? Yes, or something that will be the next best thing. The lack of a separate room is the only difficulty that should stand be- tween any church and the Junior Church. The adequate leadership is there, and it is only a question of interesting and securing the right person. The larger churches, those of more than several hun- dred members, may easily have a Junior Church that -O BOX « « ~i © c-*** o ©2 © ~ .5 ° ? <» © * jS 2Eg *- o >. zs S*©^-- **o ©«r •? © = = ■= *3^ . ^- a. = S-OrtS S 1*1 Mil O E ©£ ««fc »>- — © ©oco -=0Q6 .2©*- ®i2© *** a* •o * © C 0"0 *c§ a" CO © a, a. ■© « c ©•- a© ci BOYS AND GIRLS Come and have a GOOD TIME with us at Central's Junior Church Every Sunday morning at 10:30 COME NEXT SUNDAY Central Methodist Church Corner Woodward and Grand Circu* Park Two of these cards, carefully given to each member of the Junior Church on the promise that they will be given to two boys or girls with an invitation to attend, increased attendance sixty percent. has an attendance of from seventy-five to three hundred. That proportion of boys and girls attend Sunday School. The problem is to secure their attendance at the Junior Church service — a problem that has been found to be very easy of solution by a great many churches. The Garland Street Methodist Junior Church, Flint, under the leader- ship of LeRoy Schnell, had an attendance of well over three hundred. Many of the more enterprising Junior Churches have profitably divided the boys and girls who attend church HOW TO START A JUNIOR CHURCH 27 into three groups, the Junior Church (boys and girls from six to fourteen or sixteen), the Kindergarten (ages three to five years) and the Nursery (all under two or three). The Kindergarten seeks to do for the very young boys and girls just what the Junior Church does for the older ones. The lessons are taught by means of the sand- pile, scissor work and other kindergarten material. One enterprising Kindergarten supervisor sent several dozen very interesting scrap-books that her boys and girls had made to the soldiers at Camp Custer. While neither the kindergarten nor the nursery are a part of the Junior Church, they have performed real service to both churches and parents, as well as affording an avenue of activity for some of the older Junior Church girls. Those churches which do not find it possible to main- tain a Junior congregation will still find it possible to use the sermonets at the morning service. A five-minute talk entirely to boys and girls as they sit with their parents will stimulate attendance. Dr. G. F. Shepherd of Asbury Church, Watertown, N. Y., says, "My second hymn Sun- day mornings is always for the children." The hundreds of pastors of all denominations who deliver short ser- monets to the junior members of their congregations often find that the adults enjoy these short discourses equally with the boys and girls. Practically all the Junior Churches are held at the hour of the regular morning worship. Between the two differ- ent times of holding the service, the minister wishing to start the Junior Church will of course choose for himself. In the former case, the boys and girls come into the regular service, stay for the hymns, the prayer, the Scripture reading, the offering and the anthem, pass- ing out quietly to their own service during the singing of 28 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION the hymn just before the sermon. This leaves thirty- five or forty minutes for their service. According to the other arrangement, the two services are contemporaneous, the boys and girls going directly to their own service, which opens at the same hour as the regular church service. The advantages claimed for the former type, which is perhaps the more prevalent, are : (i) It does not break up the family as a unit in Christian worship. (2) It leaves the boys and girls in the regular church service during that portion of the service from which they derive the greatest value — the hymns, the Bible reading, etc. (3) It ties the Junior Church to the regular church ser- vice, so that the transition from the Junior Church to the church service at the age of thirteen, fourteen or fifteen — in some churches later — is natural and easy. This plan is used in Central Church, Detroit. The advantages claimed for the other type of service are: (1) The entire service is adapted to the religious and devotional needs and capacities of the boys and girls. (2) Much more time is afforded for doing the special training that is desired. (3) The boys and girls feel that it is really their own service. The Wesley Methodist Church, Detroit, and many others have found the latter service to be unusually successful. CHAPTER III THE JUNIOR CHURCH SERVICE Those Junior Church services have been most success- ful that have followed as closely as possible the spirit and the order of the regular church service. By all means the junior service should have the denominational tone, for better Presbyterians, better Methodists or better Bap- tists are better Christians. To have a marked similarity between the Junior service and the regular service makes much easier the step from the one into the other. The elaborateness of the service will, of course, be determined by the length of the time at the leader's dis- posal. The following order of service, used by a number of the larger churches, with slight variations may be sug- gestive. i. The Doxology. (All the members standing.) 2. Invocation or short prayer. (All remaining standing.) 3. Hymn. (Led by the Junior Church Choir, a member of the regular church choir conduct- ing if one can be secured.) 4. Memory Work. (The Ten Commandments, or the Beatitudes, or the Thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians, etc.) 5. Hymn. 6. Responsive Lesson. (Led by a boy or girl.) 29 30 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION 7. Prayer, closing with the Lord's Prayer. (Led either by the leader or by one or two boys or girls in voluntary prayers.) 8. The Scripture Lesson. (Occasionally read by a boy or girl.) 9. The Announcements. 10. The Offering, with prayer either before or after the offering is taken. Anthem or special music during the offering. 11. The First Sermonet. (Seven or eight minutes long, on some Bible subject.) 12. A Hymn. (The congregation standing.) NO SLACKERS IN OUR ICE BOX During the month of July and August some churches have a vacation, but we, "The Junior Church of Garland Street," do not slack one bit; and we sure do get some busy. Everybody on their toes trying to get the young people out to our 9-week Chautauqua. A different speaker each Sunday. When people say if s too hot, this is what we tell them — Come to our ice box (the Junior church room) ; it's 3 feet in the ground and the coolest place in town. The refreshments we serve every Sunday morning are free. And the musical program — it's great ; our speakers bring a special message of inter- est to boys and girls. Just watch for our program each Sunday and you'll know what's going on in the Biggest, Best and Busiest place for boys and girls in Flint — The Junior Church of Garland Street. THE JUNIOR CHURCH SERVICE 31 13. The Second Sermonet. (Seven or eight minutes long, on some general religious or inspira- tional topic. Missionary stories are always enthusiastically received. ) 14. The Closing Hymn. 15. Benediction, "The Lord watch between thee and me, while we are absent, one from another.' ' One of the fine features of the Junior service is the part taken in it by the boys and girls. To use them in the service whenever possible creates in them both an interest and a loyalty. For their own good as well as that of the service, they should participate whenever possible and desirable. They will, of course, constitute the choir, whether that be a quartet, a sextet or an octet. The pianist and the violinist or any other orchestral accompaniment the talents of the members may make possible will also be made up of boys and girls. Though most memory work should be conducted by the leader, the Apostles' Creed, the Twenty-third and the First Psalms and other familiar passages may well be led by one of the older boys or girls. The reading of the Psalter or the responsive les- sons and the offering of prayer have been found especially helpful in developing the religious and devotional spirit. The boys and girls will be enthusiastic over the giving of Junior Minute Man speeches on some missionary topic or over the preparation of essays on some phase of church or missionary work. The ushers will, of course, be chosen from among the boys and girls. In the Junior Church everybody sings. A Junior serv- ice in every church would mean that the congregational singing of to-morrow would be the highest order in volume and quality. The boys and girls love the best of 32 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION those hymns of the hymnal like "Onward, Christian Soldiers," "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus," "A Charge to Keep I Have," and scores of others. These hymns never grow old, though, of course, the thoughtful leader avoids letting the boys or girls wear out any song by singing it every other Sunday, as they will be inclined to do. The teaching of new hymns is one of the commend- able features of many of the services. Where the Junior service occupies the sermon hour, a member of the regular church choir will be happy to lead in the Junior Church singing, even to direct some of the special music, such as the anthem by the choir, solos or duets. The music can be made one of the truly delightful and helpful phases of the Junior service. The time of youth is richest in its possibilities for form- ing religious habits and beliefs. Although increased knowledge and the critical attitude may alter them later, the great fundamental truths that have been implanted in the boy's mind will often enable him to weather the storms of doubt that later assail him. The Junior service pro- vides for this training through the special memory work and other special features of the service. "At Maple Avenue M. E. Church, Terre Haute, we had the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, the Twenty- third Psalm, the First Psalm, the Books of the Old and New Testaments, the Names of the Prophets and disciples, the Apostles' Creed, a few of the great hymns and other features as part of our memory work," says A. E. Monger, now of the First Methodist Church of Sidney, Ohio. The stereopticon lantern, using slides now pro- vided by the mission boards of nearly all denominations, are popular among many junior workers for use in con- nection with the missionary sermonet. "I ask questions THE JUNIOR CHURCH SERVICE 33 on the sermonet of the previous Sunday," says Dr. F. H. Butler, of Zoar M. E. Church, Philadelphia, Pa. "We have often dramatized some of the Bible Stories after the manner of the Passion Play. The Prodigal Son/ 'The Good Samaritan' and 'The Meeting of Livingstone and Stanley' are among the more successful. The boys and girls learn the great truths of the Bible in this way as they do in few others," says LeRoy Schnell while at the Wesley Methodist Church, Detroit. For over four months the Central Methodist Junior Church enjoyed two excellent speeches each Sunday, one from a boy, the other from a girl, in connection with the Centenary drive for one hundred and five million dollars for missions. Special patriotic days, Easter and Christmas of the Christian Year, Boy Scout Day, when all Scouts are invited to come and sit as a unit, and other days of local or national in- terest have been found to be profitable. The fine worshipful spirit that should characterize all church services may be readily secured in the Junior Ser- vice, if especial attention is given to the devotional atti- tude of the boys and girls. The Junior service is no more of an entertainment than is the regular service. It is possible to have either the helpful and inspiring atmos- phere of some of the greater churches or the cheap and common spirit of the streets. The bowed head, the closed eyes and in many Junior Churches, the kneeling during prayer are of the greatest help in the cultivation of the devotional spirit in the service. One hundred boys and girls and excellent order during the service are two factors difficult for some minds to associate. But to have a hundred and fifty or two hun- dred, and to have the order as good as that of the regular church service is attainable if expected and insisted upon. 34 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION It depends on the leader and on the pleasant firmness with which he requires the best of order. In our church work we have been too much afraid of discipline. We have feared offending some boy or girl by speaking to him or by sending him out of the service, while we have per- mitted him to spoil the service for a number of others and generally to lower the tone of the meeting. The offending boy or girl will have more respect for the church if he cannot treat it like a gymnasium, and he will have more respect for those who do the work of the church if he finds that he cannot "run over" or take advantage of them. An excellent method for maintaining order, suggested by one Junior Church, is to have the members vote that no whispering or other disturbance be permitted. In case this rule is infringed upon, stop in the middle of the sen- tence you are speaking and look in his direction. The silence is awful, and more so to the offender than any one else. Try it. Some speakers to boys and girls make the mistake of trying to "talk down" the boy by talking louder. It can't be done. Excellent order can be easily attained if required and insisted upon^ CHAPTER IV THE SERMONETS Let no one think that it is an easy thing to talk to boys and girls. The idea entertained by some that the mere telling of a story or the giving of an extemporaneous talk "gets across" with them is entirely erroneous. Boys and girls are even more difficult to hold in a speech than adults partly because their power of attention is not so highly developed. It is as much a grievous fault to appear before them without proper preparation as it is to appear before the adult congregation without adequate prepara- tion. These same rules of helpfulness, interest and attendance that obtain in the adult congregation hold for the boys and girls. The range of subjects for sermonets is almost as wide as that for sermons. Those same great themes that Christians have loved for twenty centuries, are absorbing in their interest to boys and girls, if presented so that they can understand them. God, His goodness and His love; Jesus, His work, His mission and His teaching, the work and value of the Church, Missions at home and abroad, the problems of morals that concern them and many other great topics have been used with the greatest profit. These the boys and girls love as they do not the shallow or superficial talks that are so often offered as more attractive substitutes for the deeply religious ser- monets. The only posible way to hold their interest and 35 36 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION secure their regular attendance is to give them something from the religion of Jesus Christ in every talk. The more general inspirational talks, which should always have a strong religious coloring or application, may be found in the games the girls and boys play, the duties they perform, and in God's out-of-doors. Jesus used the illustration of the farmer sowing wheat, the woman seeking the lost coin, the boy leaving home, the shepherd and his sheep and others equally homely that were more than familiar to his hearers. He picked up His sermon subjects and illustrations from the things of everyday life, and His method has not been improved upon. The traffic sign, "Keep to the Right," will have in it the possibilities of an excellent sermon for the Junior; Church speaker who uses the Masters method. As boys and girls think concretely instead of abstractly, the illustration is even more important to the sermonet than it is to the sermon. They are habitually thinking in pictures, and while they may forget the precept or general truth, they will long remember the example or illustration. An able discourse on goodness and helpful- ness will not be as productive of altruism as the mere reading of the story of the Good Samaritan. They can understand what you mean by a good man helping another who is hurt; they may understand what you mean when you speak of goodness and helpfulness. In no book is there a richer store of illustrations of loyal, generous, kind, brave, loving and daring people than in the Bible. Those examples from the Bible have the advantage of having the religious background, as illustrations from history do not often have. They love to hear, too, of the great heroes of which they know, both in national and church history. A vast wealth of THE SERMONETS 37 Illustrative material is available through a little thought and effort. Doubtless those sermonets are remembered longest that have an object or some material to illustrate them. "An Unfortunate Piece of Cement" was used to illustrate a sermonet by Dr. I. B. Schreckengast, formerly of the First Methodist Church of University Place, now Chancellor of the Nebraska Wesley an University, who used an irregular, useless piece of cement that had the misfortune of getting wet during a night rain. He used it to illus- trate the danger of boys and girls being left out at night. One easily forgets the advice often given in talks on this subject, but one cannot forget the helpful lesson of that ugly piece of cement. The chief value of these objects is that when the boy or girl sees them again, he or she will frequently associate the lesson of the sermonet with the object. And in many cases they will seek their own and suggest them to their pastor, as one nine-year-old newsboy did a sermonet on "Safety First." The stereopticon lantern, in those churches that have them are unexcelled for sermonets on missions. The pic- ture stays after the precept fades. The language used in talking to boys and girls should be both simple and direct. One does not need "to talk down" to them as some are inclined to do. A great and equally prevalent danger is that of talking over their heads. All the great religious ideas can be and always should be expressed simply, as Jesus expressed them. One reason the children loved Him was that they could easily understand Him. They understand verbs and nouns rather than adverbs. Few statements prove a point to them as do familiar quotations from the Bible. On nearly every question, boys and girls are essentially open minded 38 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION with the result that belief and faith are easily created in their lives. The use of "boys and girls" instead of "children" when talking to them is eminently desirable both for the sake of the service and the boys and girls. If the Junior Church is called a Children's Church or if the impression is given out that "children" attend it, there will be few boys and girls attending of the ages of twelve and upward. The words "boys and girls" carry with them an older meaning that is equally applicable to the younger members of the junior congregation. To speak effectively to boys and girls one must forget that he or she is fifteen or twenty years older than most of the audience. Placing one's self in their place is an exceedingly difficult task, but a most refreshing one. Watch the boys and girls, note the words they use, and speak to them as if you were just one of them. The strong personal note should characterize the presen- tation of the sermonet. A directness and an intimate touch is possible here that the conventions of the regular service do not permit. Boys and girls like to be talked with, not merely talked to. Ask them many questions, not the rhetorical type that are used to create persuasion in the minds of one's hearers, but direct type that expects an answer. The boys and girls will put up their hands and answer, and those answers will be refreshing, some- times startling and occasionally astounding, both in what they reveal and in what they conceal. Boys and girls like to talk, as do other folks, and you have their interest in a moment if you ask them a question. The thoughtful leader will insist that those answers be to the point and definite, for in the majority of cases they will at first be true but colorless. In reply to the question, THE SERMONETS 39 "What did Jesus do while he was here that we also should do?" the usual answer would be, "He did good." That same boy or girl should be asked, "Well, how did He do good?" "By helping other people." "What other people did He help ?" "A blind man." "So you know the story of how He helped one blind man?" etc. The So- cratic method achieves the desired results. In the boy's and girl's religious expression there is a certain indefinite- ness that is not found on the playground. This is neither necessary nor desirable. Questions clarify the boy's ideas on religion, teach him to think on religious questions and are especially valuable to the speaker in showing him the adequacies and the inadequacies of the religious lives of those whom he serves. The question is a very excellent means of religious diagnosis. One or two of the brighter members of the junior con- gregation will desire to monopolize the conversation, a condition which of course will be avoided. The length of the sermonet is limited by the duration of attention of the boys and girls, the ability of the speaker to speak interestingly to them and the time at his disposal. They range all the way from six to twenty minutes, with good success. Many Junior Church workers feel that two short sermonets, each eight or ten minutes in length, are better than one long one, both because of the attention of the boys and girls and the added opportunity for pre- senting an additional subject. Local conditions will, of course, determine which method produces the better re- sults. CHAPTER V ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN SERMONET SUBJECTS The hearty response from the many ministers through- out the country to the question, "Would you kindly give the titles of four or five of your best sermonets, with the central thought of each," has made possible the following liberal list of sermonet titles. They come from Washing- ton and Florida, Texas and Maine and many points be- tween. The arrangement into ' 'General Inspirational," "Old Testament," "New Testament," and "Church His- tory" has made impossible the giving of credit to those who suggested them. None of them, so far as known, is copyrighted, so any that are helpful may be used. As some of the titles were accompanied by no explanation, the reader can frame an excellent one for himself. GENERAL INSPIRATIONAL 1. Youth's Capital. 2. Pay Your way. — Beauty, comfort, goodness, re- sult of effort of mind and body. 3. Odds and Ends. 4. Good and Bad Trades. 5. The Talking Stars. — Based on the Church Service Flag, suggesting unselfish living. 6. The Magnet.— Christ's Holding Power. 7. Little Foxes — the Bane of Small Sins. 40 SERMONET SUBJECTS 41 8. Who Won the War? Prayer Life of great lead- ers in the World War and stories of boys who made the Supreme Sacrifice. 9. Drafted for Service. 10. The Alarm Clock of Conscience. II a A Very Poor Rich Man and a Very Rich Poor Man. Midas and Lazarus. 12. Be Prepared. Preparing for the work we have to do. 13. The Game of Tag. We are tagged "Pleasant," "Honest," "A Good Christian," by other folks. 14. Follow the Leader. Following Jesus. 15. Indelible Ink. The lasting effect of everything we do and think. 16. A Good Shot. Effect of cigarette on the nerves, eyesight, etc., of a marksman. 17. How Near God Is. In nature, in conscience, etc. 18. What Are We Worth. In money, in influence, to other folks. 19. A Gold Brick. Getting what seems to be best for what is the best. 20. Obeying the Law. The need and reward of obeying God's laws. 21. Danger Signals. The warning of parents, the teaching of the Bible, the voice of conscience. 22. The Unfortunate Piece of Cement. 23. Christians Are Patriots. 24. Rolling Stones. 25. The Work of an Engineer. 26. I-Can-and-I-Will Folks. 2J. Doing Your Duty. 28. Team Work. 42 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION 29. How to Grow in Body, Mind and Soul. 30. Good Soldiers of Jesus Christ. 31. Doing the Right Thing in the Right Way. 32. How Shall I Care for God's Temple. Sermonet on the care of the body. 33. Heart Rooms. 34. The Fruitful Life. 35. Satan's Chain Gang. 36. Spending Money for That Which Is Not Bread. (Bread with articles hid in it.) 37. Two Bears. — Bear and Forbear. 38. Cracked Prayers. — A cracked shell with the Lord's Prayer on it. 39. A Worm and a Butterfly. God's way of bring- ing beauty out of ugliness. 40. The Echo — reaction of conduct and spirit. 41. Scattered Feathers. — Effect of our words. 42. What is That to Me? The claim of need upon us. 43. The Two Countries. Fitting for the Land of Happiness. 44. Doing My Best, Sir. 45. Growing Straight. 46. Do It Now — Obedience. 47. The Biggest Thing. Fear God and keep His Commandments. 48. The Fountain of Youth. Ponce de Leon. "The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." 49. Rally Round the Flag. Loyalty to our country. 50. God in the War* SERMONET SUBJECTS 43 51. Why We Are Here. To serve God and to live as Jesus did. 52. Planting a Garden. Only that which we plant will grow. 53. Going With the Crowd. The danger of doing things that are wrong because others do them. 54. How a Great Fire Started. The Chicago Fire. 55. Our Business is Moving; 56. A New Start. Every morning begins a new day in which to do God's will. 57. The Unsinkable Ship. Unsinkable lives. 58. The Chinese Idol. "I will do, see, speak no evil." Christ says "I will do good." 59. "I Will Sometime" Folks. Folks who put off doing right and being Christians. 60. Diving for Pearls. 61. Losers and Winners. 62. A Clean Plate. 63. "Acres of Diamonds." 64. Up-HillWork. OLD TESTAMENT 1. How God Speaks to Us Through the Bible. Some of God's messages through the inspired men of the Bible. 2. Gideon Ironsides. — Stories of Gideon's band, the possibilities under proper leadership. 3. God's Care for Those Who Love Him. — How He Led the Children of Israel. 4. The Shepherd Boy Who Became King. — David. 5. How a Great King Lost His Crown. — Saul. 44 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION 6. The Man Who Ran Away from His Duty (Jonah). 7. The Girl Who Helped Naaman. 8. The Wisest Man of the Old Testament- Solomon. 9. The Man Whom the Ravens Fed — Elijah. 10. The Herdsman Who Became a Preacher — Amos. 11. The Patience of Job. 12. The Strong Man Who Was Weak — the tragic story of Samson. 13. How a Great Jew Saved His Country — Isaiah. 14. Oh, King, Live Forever. — Daniel's stand for the Right. 15. How a Woman Saved Her Country (Deborah). 16. Absalom, an Ungrateful Son. 17. Returning Good for Evil — Joseph and His Brothers. 18. Jeremiah, the Prophet of Tears. 19. The Brave Queen Esther. 20. "Good Friends." David and Jonathan. 21. The George Washington of the Jews. — Moses. THE NEW TESTAMENT 1. The Boy with the Lunch Basket. (Feeding of the Five Thousand. How God can use small things to bless many people.) 2. Vine and Branches. (Use a grape vine as an illustration. ) 3. The Unselfishness of Jesus. 4. Lights of the World. Story of Jesus, also using different kinds of candles for different kinds of people. SERMONET SUBJECTS 45 5. My Hero — Stories of Heroes culminating with Jesus. 6. Peter, the Defender of the Faith. 7. A Dream and Christian Missions. (Paul's re- sponse to the appeal, "Come over into Mace- donia and help us.") 8. The Roman Roads. 9. The Story of Shipwreck. (Paul's journey to Rome and how God saved him from death. ) 10. A Runaway Slave. (Book of Philemon.) 11. The Policeman Who Was Converted. (Paul's jailer. 12. The First Martyr. (Stephen.) 13. The Bravery of Jesus. (Money changers in the Temple.) 14. Jesus, the Good Citizen. 15. Luke, a Christian Doctor. 16. What Love Is. (I Corinthians 13.) 17. Jesus' Idea of Money Grabbing. (Lay not up for yourselves treasures. ) 18. Occupations of New Testament Men, the Chris- tian Business Man. 19. The Beauty of the Lilies. (Easter story.) CHURCH HISTORY 1. A Series of Church Heroes. 2. Augustine, the Saint. 3. The Founder of Our Church. 4. Luther, the Pioneer. 5. The Work of John Huss. 6. John Calvin. 7. Savonarola. CHAPTER VI THE JUNIOR CHURCH ORGANIZATION All Junior Church organization has wisely been and should be along denominational lines. The members are being trained for service in some particular church and the lines of organization and activity should follow the denominational plan as closely as is possible. They need not be so elaborate, in fact the desirable method of pro- cedure is to begin simply, and to add plans as they are needed or as the development of the abilities and activities of the boys and girls demands. One part should, of course, be well started and working smoothly before another is launched. That boys and girls will take responsibility to a sur- prising degree in the Junior Church is the experience of all Junior Church workers. "I let the boys and girls plan the features, giving them the proper direction/ ' says one successful junior pastor. The office-holding instinct is strong in them from the age of ten to sixteen, and both for the love of their church and the pride in themselves, they will take their duties quite as seriously and often as effectively as do the members of the adult congregation. Often their willingness is refreshing. The successful worker lets them know that they are expected to do the work, and they will do it. In one Junior Church, during the months of January, February, March and April, two Junior Church "minute men" (of both sexes) appeared 46 THE JUNIOR CHURCH ORGANIZATION 47 each Sunday according to a fixed schedule. Only two during the four months failed to appear, one because of sickness and the other because he had lost the notes for; his speech. Their places were taken by substitutes, whom the efficient Minute Man chairman, a girl of thirteen, kept in readiness. To hold an official office either as a member of the Board of Trustees, of the Board of Stewards, or Presby- ters in the Junior Church is an honor of which the boys and girls elected are always justly proud. The Zoar M. E„ Junior Church of Philadelphia has both trustees and stewards and find the plan excellent in training boys and girls who will sometime ho!3 official positions in the regu- lar church organization. Rev. L. M. Blakely of the River Rouge Methodist Church, Michigan, says: "In our Junior Church we have junior stewards who are members in good standing of the Official Board. To this body they bring their reports. We have a treasurer, and a treasurer of benevolences, with a financial secretary of current ex- penses and also a secretary of benevolences." The junior officials transact all Junior Church business, as do the adults, discuss the questions that come before them, make suggestions, and make and pass motions on matters that to them are just as important as any could be to the regular official board. Though their service for the kingdom may be of the proportions of the widow's mite, it is done for their Lord and Master, and in no way loses its reward. The regular committees, the Social, Membership and Attendance, Music, Service and Finance, afford the best possible training ground for those who will contribute their talent to The Greater Church of To- morrow. Those Junior Churches that plan to have junior mis- 48 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION sionary societies after the manner of the Woman's Home Missionary Society and the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, cannot do better than to use those junior organi- zations already established, the Home Guards and the King's Heralds for the older boys and girls, or the Mothers' Jewels and the Little Light Bearers for the younger ones. The fact that they are affiliated with a national organization will make their work of a higher order and of a more permanent character. The Wesley Methodist Junior Church of Detroit boasts of a Junior Church Guild that did considerable sewing for the Red Cross, as was done by so many of the public schools throughout the country. The Christian Church with an almost unwise altruism has permitted many other organi- zations to capitalize that spirit of generosity and helpful- ness which she has had such a large part in creating. A stronger church and a more lasting loyalty to the church would be the result of directing more of that spirit of helpfulness along church service lines. The grouping of the boys and girls into sections with leaders or captains — the old Methodist Class Meeting Idea — has been found exceedingly helpful to the Wesley Methodist Church. It has both increased the attendance and improved the service. The captains, elected by each of the groups, report the percentage of their groups there, and at the following Sunday service either produce the absent member or give an acceptable excuse for his ab- sence. Frequently these groups present a dramatization of some of the Bible Stories, or have charge of a portion of the Junior service. Boys and girls love to give to the church, and will give exceedingly liberally if they know for what their money is to be spent and if a workable plan is devised to make THE JUNIOR CHURCH ORGANIZATION 49 their giving systematic. In one Junior Church, some of the regular contributors among the boys and girls are giving more money per Sunday than some of the regular contributors among the adults. The penny offering should be largely dispensed with, in a few cases it should be doubled, but in the large majority of the cases should be supplanted by the nickel or the dime offering. That is certainly not too much to expect, for many boys and girls spend an average of a nickel a day for candy, ice cream and the motion pictures. The habit and practice of tithing should be started in the Junior Church. The boy's and girl's interest in the church will in most cases be com- mensurate with what he or she invests there. For a Junior Church to raise one hundred dollars for home missions in four months seems a rather unusual achievement. Yet the boys and girls of the Central Methodist Junior Church paid in that full amount for Italian mission work in Detroit. The plan was, "A dime for every year we've lived. It's worth it," and after the boys and girls had finished paying the eight, ten or twelve weekly offerings of a dime each, they had so formed the habit that they continued to place in their weekly envelopes their customary offering. They had grown to enjoy giv- ing to the Lord for His work. Boys and girls like mottoes, emblems and badges. The more badges or buttons a boy has on the lapel of his coat, the more pleased and proud he is. A neat Junior Church pin or badge may be designed and procured for a very moderate price. It represents one of the best pieces of publicity the Junior Church has. Every boy and girl in the church will want to wear one. A motto that was sug- gested is, "For Christ and Church." A Junior Church banner to stand beside the Stars and Stripes makes 50 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION more definite the Junior Church idea in the minds of the newer boys and girls. Many Junior Churches have chosen "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" as their official hymn, while others have as their favorite, "Onward, Christian Soldiers." As boys and girls like to yell, and usually have school yells, one for the Junior Church is not at all out of place — to be used at the Junior Jolly or on a sleigh ride — never, of course, at the church service. THE JUNIOR CHURCH ORGANIZATION 51 THE GARLAND STREET METHODIST JUNIOR CHURCH BULLETIN Sermon to-day — "Planting the Seed." Mr. Schnell's sermon for next Sunday will be "Wild Animals I Have Met." Attendance last Sunday 340; collection $58.74. Not bad for a rainy Sunday. The new train crew sure did hit 'em up some. Transue with his $8.35 collection looked good. There will be no meeting of the Boys' Brotherhood and the Girls' Aid Society this afternoon. And still that choir leads the girls in collection. What do you think of little Bixby with a collection of $6.40? Mr. Schnell would like to have all the Boys and Girls stop in the office some time this week — any evening after school. We are still selling fresh country eggs at market prices. Last week we sold 400 dozen; one boy alone sold over a 100 dozen. He sure was going some. We will organize our different sections into the Brotherhood and Aid Society this week, and then we will be ready to have some "hikes." The older boys and girls have been organized for the past 4 weeks. Box social Monday evening from 4 to 6 p. m. For Mary Rich's, Louise Booth's, John Toomey's and Ronald Buck's sections. The girls will bring small boxes with light lunch. The boys will bring 10 cents. We are getting ready for our winter picnic as we think our train and boat contest will be over to-day. The picnic will be given in four sections — the smaller folks after school and the larger folks in the evening. Here is something funny. See if you can explain it. The girls say they will win the contest to-day because the train ran into an ©pen switch and was wrecked and the Boys say they will win be- cause the Boat was submarined. Who is right? Listen to this — The largest yet. Boys' collection: Pailthorp's, $1.26; Bixby's, $6.40; Toomey's, $2.80; Buck's, 51c; Transue's, $8.35; Garner's, $3.00;' Dimond's, $2.16; Richard's, $5.30. Total, $29.78. Girls' collection: Ryan's, $1.00; Moore's, $3.00; Rich's, $6.47; Booth's, $7.50; Latham's, 53c; Wilson's, $1.36; Frazier's, $5.00; Bisbing's, $348. Total, $28.86. This bulletin is printed on page four of the regular weekly calendar. 52 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION While only the larger churches may find it possible to issue a newspaper for the Junior Church, entitled "The Junior News," the publication itself has an unusual value in stimulating interests and in increasing attendance. Dr. William L. Stidger, pastor of St. Mark's Methodist Epis- copal Church, Detroit, while in charge of the First Metho- dist Church, San Jose, California, assisted his Junior Church in issuing a monthly newspaper. The cost is not at all prohibitive, for by using a mimeograph or a multi- graph, two hundred copies could be run off at a cost of less than a dollar* CHAPTER VII THE JUNIOR CHURCH ACTIVITIES To preach service as a Christian privilege and obliga- tion and not to provide the opportunity or direction for that service is to do a somewhat unreasonable thing. A great deal of this has been done among boys and girls as well as among men and women. The value of serving to the religious life of boys and girls especially is hardly to be overestimated, for except perhaps for singing, it is the most natural expression of that happy generous spirit that characterizes their religious life. The rich teaching they have received through their Sunday School and home is made definite and is crystallized by the work, however unimportant, for their Lord and Master. "In the Junior Church, we always do what we are asked, if we are able," easily becomes a rule to be gladly obeyed among the boys and girls. The doing of things is instinctive with boys and girls, whether that be the keeping of store, playing at soldier- ing or the doing of work for the church. No better foun- dation for the life service appeal may be laid than is laid through the preaching and the serving activities of the Junior Church. To enlist in work for the church they have been so happily serving is the natural and the easy thing for them to do. In one Junior Church four of the older boys and three of the older girls have definitely de- cided to go into Christian work 53 54 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION The activities in which Junior Church members may engage are as numerous and varied as the work of the church. Church attendance is always equally important with church membership. The Attendance and Member- ship Contest has always had excellent results when prop- erly conducted and adequately followed up. The contest idea strongly appeals to boys and girls, who will work dili- gently to bring in their friends. From the Methodist Book Concern may be secured buttons, red and blue, which have "Brought One" printed on them. These have greatly BR0UGHt , l fBR^HT one A Lone IS THE RED-AND-BLUE CONTEST OBSOLETE? Junior Church boys and girls say "NO!" Every youngster likes to wear a button, and will work long hours inviting his friends for the sake of beating "the other side" as well as the reward of a lapel covered with buttons. stimulated several Junior Church contests, each boy or girl being awarded one for having brought a new member. Another Junior pastor makes an excellent suggestion. He asks each boy or girl to give him the name and address of one of his best boy or girl friends, who does not attend Junior Church or Sunday School. The pastor promises to send a postcard or letter of invitation to that prospective member, provided the boy or girl will invite that friend during the coming week and call at his home for him the following Sunday morning. To have the new members stand, with those who brought them, and to give them a THE JUNIOR CHURCH ACTIVITIES 5s hand-clasp makes them feel that the welcome they have received is more cordial. Dr. A. A. Brooks of the First Methodist Church, Fort Dodge, Iowa, says, "We keep up our attendance and se- cure new members by visitation and invitation." "By various forms of publicity, contests, but mostly by per- sonal work," says Dr. A. E. Monger of First Church, Sidney, Ohio. Rev. J. Randolph Sasnett, associate pastor 1 to the Garland St JUNIOR tCH I was there- it's great JUNIOR CHURCH TAG DAY Three hundred of these Junior Church Tags increased the at- tendance of the Garland Street Junior Church fifty percent of First Church, Seattle, Washington, whose Junior Church has an average attendance of one hundred and fifty, speaks from experience when he says, "By making every service interesting and worth while. It is a service the boys and girls are glad to attend. Rewards and con- tests are used also. Sporadic efforts and contests calcu- lated to result in an anti-climax are studiously avoided." While boys and girls are not especially fond of writing essays, they will willingly do so on the sermonet of any $6 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION given Sunday, especially if they know that a prize is to be awarded. They like the idea of a contest, as well as the possibility of securing the prize. While some of the literary gems are not exactly verbatim reports of what the pastor said, they will show to quite an extent what the boys and girls received from his talk. The prizes may well be a pocket Testament or a book like one of the series of "The King's Highway." Mr. Schnell, while at Wesley Methodist Church, worked the church and community service ideas among the Junior Church members as thoroughly as perhaps any one in the country. He appointed a captain over each block within a half a mile of the church, and not a new family moves into the community of which captain does not know. He reports it immediately to Mr. Schnell. The distribution of 6,000 pieces of literature during a week, and the continuance of that record for a period of seven or eight weeks is another accomplishment of his boys and girls. He urges them strongly to bring their parents to service with them. Preparing Christmas baskets for the needy of the com- munity, the taking of a special offering occasionally for some special cause, and cooperating with the city in all movements like the Red Cross, are other ways of Chris- tian service, which boys and girls enjoy. The coming generation will know much more about missions than does the present one. In part at least this will be the case, because, in addition to hearing more about missions, they will have the opportunity of doing some definite service for missions. Like their elders, they will give something for missions, but will give twice as much for a definite individual missionary undertaking. "For Little Italy in Detroit," the boys and girls of the Junior THE JUNIOR CHURCH ACTIVITIES 57 THE JUNIOR CHURCH ITALIAN THERHONETER * F~ Little ITALY In Detroit v e T H E T o -P B Y X s Watch It Go '95 '75 '*5I r 3i> *Z5\ '/S\ F 100 1^90 [30 20 w H s feo o p i Holp A DIME FOR EVERY YEAR WE'VE UVED THE ITALIAN THERMOMETER A successful experiment in juvenile missionary giving. Over one hundred dollars was the total gift of the Central Junior Church members during a period of four months. 58 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION Church gave over one hundred dollars. Each member gave ten cents for each year he or she had lived, and made the contribution each Sunday until the amount was paid. The money was spent for work among the boys and girls of one of the Italian sections of Detroit. To support an orphan in some Methodist Children's Home ; to equip a room there or to support a missionary, or to maintain a scholarship for some Chinese boy or girl, appeals irresistibly to the generous impulses of all boys and girls. The church is rapidly realizing an unused asset of the greatest value in the social instincts of the individual and of the community. That play and recreation can be used for the glory of God and the building of His Kingdom has been the unanimous experience of institutional churches. In boys and girls especially is this play instinct highly developed. The Junior Jolly, the monthly social affair of the Junior Church, satisfies and directs that in- stinct in an unusually gratifying way, bringing together as a unit most of the boys and girls of the congregation. "Our Junior Jollies are carefully planned, with some- thing doing every minute," is as good a recipe for a suc- cessful junior social affair as can be found. The Junior Churches of the country have auto rides, house parties, truck rides, lawn parties, hikes, social hours in the church, motion picture entertainments, stereopticon slides, out- ings, story telling at the informal gatherings, boat rides. The first Saturday of every month is the regular date set by some churches for their Junior Jollies. Others have their affairs coincide with the great days of the year, a New Year's party, one on Washington's Birthday, on April Fool's Day, on May Day and Decoration Day, on the Fourth of July, and other occasions that will readily THE JUNIOR CHURCH ACTIVITIES 59 suggest themselves. To have a program appropriate to the day adds attractiveness to the affair and avoids the sameness which is liable to characterize the regular pro- grams. To have the program composed entirely of numbers by the boys and girls both enlists their interest and trains them. The piano solos, the readings, the solos, and the playlets by the Boy Scouts or the Campfire Girls have Jsr girl 14 years of e games, motion lurch Tarty, next anuary 26 Pi CROSSLAND. ' PASTOR BOYS AND GIRLS!! GAMES i1 £ Free Movies and a Treat g 1: iy boy 01 d, to th Junior CI i» p. in. 1 ELDON 1 SSISTANl For YOU on next Saturday, January IS? at 2.30 P. ML 3S U * 5 < If you do not go to any other Sunday School, the boys and «s □ *S€« . gfris of Central's Junior Church invite you to their Junior Jolly S 2 3 Party next Saturday afternoon. You will have heaps of fun «»i /..\5 playing games with us in the gymnasium. You will like the i=-l funny movies and the refreshments (ice cream) too. A picture ^« «E ^**1 of all the boys and girls present will be taken. Be sure to come ^* * z 1 sT 1 and have a good time with us. Come in yotrr school clothes. P I 5 2^1 Your friends. is 8 |ll| THE 150 BOYS AND C1RLS OP THE *- u JUNIOR CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL S 9 | 5 |1 CENTRAL METHODIST CHURCH WOODWARD AND ADAMS IENTRANCE 3 ADAMS EAST) EVERYBODY LIKES AX INVITATION! been very creditably done by juniors themselves. Where funds are available for advertising or the printing of tickets, the attendance can be almost doubled. The Junior Jolly, as all other social affairs, should never be considered as an end in itself. As a means of recruit- ing for the Junior Church and Sunday School, it has been found to be unusually effective. Each boy or girl will promise to bring another boy or girl, and some of them will bring half a dozen. The Junior Jolly has often been 60 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION a door of entrance to Sunday School and church mem- bership. SLEIGH RIDE FOR BOYS AND GIRLS Any boy or girl attending the Garland Street Junior Church Sunday morning and who will bring this card with them, will have it punched for the sleigh ride Monday evening. The sleigh will leave the Garland Street Church every hour. 3 130 You ride at the hour 4 -.30 punched 5:30 7:30 6:30 BRING THIS CARD AND 5C MONDAY EVENING So rapidly have Junior Churches sprung up throughout the whole country, and so effective have they become in doing for boys and girls what the regular service and organization do for the adults, that one would not need to be a prophet to predict that sometime the Junior Church will be a part of the regular church organization and have its place in church economy. TWENTY SERMONETS PART TWO GOOD ROADS Text: "The Way of the Transgressor is Hard." Proverbs XIII, IS. Illustrative Material: A Good Roads Automobile Map. Did you ever see a monument that was three thousand three hundred and twelve miles long? You know the one that was erected in honor of George Washington is very tall, five hundred and fifty-five feet — nearly two blocks long. It is very beautiful, but it's not so useful as the one I have in mind. I'm thinking of The Lincoln Highway, which stretches from New York City to San Francisco. Hundreds of thousands of automobiles use it every month, and although some parts of it are still pretty rough, it is the best long road in the world. Don't you think it was a fine thing to build that kind of a monu- ment to a man who had built the good road of freedom for two and one-half million slaves ? I do. You have all been riding in an automobile over rough roads, haven't you? You bounced and jolted and when the car hit a hard bump you had to hang on to keep from hitting your head on the top of the car. It wasn't a bit of fun, was it? You have also ridden over the smooth pavement of the city and enjoyed the ride. For a road to be called good, it must be smooth and free from ruts. It must be safe, too, for a road that has big holes at the side or has its bridges washed out would not be a good one. 63 64 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION Did you know that our Church is building good roads ? Oh, no, not the kind your father uses when he drives his car, but the roads along which folks walk as they live. There used to be a road that had this sign on it, "To Slavery." Not many white folks took that road, because they did not like it. But millions of black men and women were driven into that road that was so hard and rough. Because of the long hours they worked and the hot sun, many of them could not walk along the slavery road for more than four or five years. But Christian people saw the slavery of the Negro and said, "This sin must stop/' and to-day a "Road Closed" sign hangs on the slavery road. Lately the Church has helped to close another danger- ous road which caused more sorrow and death than did even the Slavery Road. That road had on its sign-post, "To the Saloon." It looked very pleasant at the beginning, because there were lights and many well-dressed folks at the entrance. But those who went a little further on that Saloon Road found that they became poorer, that they lost most of their good name, that all of their true friends were no longer with them. Further down that road they found that they neglected their homes, that they took the money they should have spent for food and clothing for their children and used it for drink, and that further still the road began to run down hill, and that they could hardly stop themselves, and that all those who had gone before them had fallen and lay still as death. Many, many millions of men and women have gone that Saloon Road, and none of them has ever been happy as long as they traveled it. The Church of Jesus Christ said, "This awful sin must stop," and to-day we have a "Road Closed" sign hung over the saloon. GOOD ROADS 65 "The Cigarette Road" will some day be closed, as will other roads that are harming people who travel them. The church in which we are to-day is the greatest good road builder in the world. We have built a road even to the center of Africa, another to West China, another to Alaska, another to India, and to all parts of the world. How happy are those people when we bring them the good news of God and of His Son, Jesus. We take them the Bible, the school book and some medicine, for they know very little about any of those things before our missionaries come to them. The natives of Central Africa used to go on the war path or the war road. Where they once held their cannibal feasts they now attend Church services or have their Sunday Schools or day schools. They are learning to be doctors and teachers and preach- ers; in other words, good road builders. Throughout all the world, wherever the good news of Jesus has been preached, folks have been made better, women and chil- dren have been made happier and good roads for folks to walk along have been built. I could tell you of a great many other good roads that the Christians of the world have built to make it as hard as possible for folks to go wrong and as easy as possible for them to go the right road. Jesus Christ is our great guide on the road we should travel. The Bible is the great Guide Book or Good Road Map, which will keep us from going wrong, if we follow it. The Christian Way of living is the Great Good Road. Those who follow it are happy in serving God. The Christian Church is the great body of good folks who are following the Great Leader on the Great Good Road. They are all with songs of gladness going toward that Holy City, where they will 66 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION always be with God and serve Him after they leave this world. Prayer. Dear Lord, help us to keep off the bad roads that lead away from Thee and to keep on the good roads that lead to Thee and to Heaven, for Jesus' sake. Amen. II IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS Text: "What Shall it Profit a Man if He Gain the Whole World and Lose His Own Soul." Mark VIII, 36. Illustrative Material: A Dollar Bill. Would you like to be a millionaire, to have a million dollars? Of course you would. I would, too. Well, what would you do with that much money? That's a question that is somewhat more difficult to answer, isn't it ? I want to know what you would spend it for or what you would do with it. "Buy an automobile." What kind ? "A Cadillac.' , "I would put it in a bank." "I would build a hospital." "Give a lot to Central Church." "Help the missionaries in China." "Found other Junior Churches." "Buy a new suit." "Take a ride in an aeroplane." "Go on a long trip on the train." Those are all very fine and pleasant things for which to spend money, but you couldn't spend it all that way, could you? You can't eat more than three meals a day, for if you do, you have indigestion. You can't wear more than one suit of clothes at a time, so you couldn't spend much more than a couple of thousand dollars on clothes. You can't ride in more than one automobile at a time, and perhaps three or four cars would be quite enough. You would still have nine-tenths of your money left. Your trip in the aeroplane would cost perhaps fifty dollars and your long railroad journey would not 67 68 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION cost more than a thousand or two. What would you do with the rest ? I am asking this question because some day some of you boys and girls are going to be millionaires. Don't smile, for John D. Rockefeller at one time clerked in a small grocery store and Andrew Carnegie worked in the steel mills. You see, I want you to think of what you will do with your money before you earn it, whether you have a million dollars or a hundred thousand or only one thousand. If more men thought of what they would do with their money before they earned it, they would use it in a far better way once they got it. Now I will tell you what I would do with a million dollars. First of all, I would put one-twentieth of it in a bank to keep me when I grew old. Don't you think that would be a good plan ? All the rest I would use to help other folks very much in the ways some of you boys and girls have already suggested. That's what money is for — \ to use to help other people. God gave it to us to use helpfully, not to keep selfishly. I would be very careful where my money went, for I would want it to do the very greatest good. Before I gave my money to a mountain school of Tennessee, I would find out w T ho had charge of the school, how the money the school already had received was spent, how many boys and girls attended, and how many more could attend if my money was placed there. I would be sure that the pupils learned of God and Jesus, as well as of geography and arithmetic. Then I would give a certain sum of money in a way that would last the longest and do the most good. I think I would spend some, too, among the boys and girls of the downtown section of the city, there they have IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS 69 only the alleys and the streets in which to play. I would start a club for them, and I would have that club open all day and each evening until nine o'clock — a club for boys near some good church and a club for girls near some other church. They would have games and books and magazines and manual training tools, and everything else that boys and girls like. I would get a fine Christian leader to take charge of each of them to help do the good work of making boys and girls better and happier. I would found a hospital in Korea and another in Singapore, big ones with a great many doctors and nurses., I would build a dozen churches in West China, each with a Sunday School and a day school. I would build and support a fine school and college for those bright Indian lads of India. I would send twenty-five missionaries into North Africa where the religion of Mahomet has made folks' lives so unhappy — especially the lives of the girls and the women. Oh, there are so many good causes which we would all like to help, that I am afraid that a million dollars would not go very far toward doing all that I would like to do. I would have to have a hundred mil- lion or a billion to do even a small part of the great work God wants done. Did you ever put Mentholatum on your finger, when you had a cut there? Well, it's made in a big factory either in Buffalo, New York, or in Wichita, Kansas, by a man named Mr. A. A. Hyde, who has thousands of men to help him. He makes hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, but he doesn't keep it all. He sets aside only a small sum for his own living expenses, and gives all the rest of his profits to help other people through the hos- pitals and schools he has built. I wish every successful 7 o THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION business man would use the money; God lets him earn as well as Mr. Hyde does. We can all be millionaires — yes, every one of us. I am one myself. No, I haven't a million dollars in money, but I have a million dollar s' worth of happiness and health that God gave me, and I wouldn't sell it for all the money in the world. God meant all of us to be millionaires in happiness for others. This is the wealth that no man can steal from us. By being the kind of boys and girls God wants us to be, we are all millionaires all the time. Oh, Lord, whether we have a million dollars or a hun- dred dollars or only a few cents, may we use them for Thy work of helping other folks, for Jesus' sake. Amen. Ill KEEP TO THE RIGHT Text: "The Statutes of the Lord are Right, Rejoicing the Heart." Ps. XIX, 8. Illustrative Material: A Traffic Sign, "Keep to the Right," or a Cardboard Copy of One. A certain very wise man once said that there is music in running brooks and sermons in stones. If he were in Chicago or Detroit or New York, I am sure that he would add to-day, "And sermonets in traffic signs." Have you ever seen a sign that brought you more good advice than those red and white safety first ones that say, "Keep to the Right" ? They are not large, but they doubt- less save many lives every year, and prevent dozens of accidents. Through rain and sunshine, day and night, they stand on the street to warn autoists that they must not cut the corners too close, that they must not drive carelessly, and that they must always stay on their own side of the road. In England every one drives on the left side of the road. Do you know why ? Some one has given this rea- son. In the days before the railroads were built, the English people traveled in stage coaches. These large coaches were drawn by four or six horses, and were often driven by some rich man who did that just for the fun of it. The whip that he used would, of course, have to be very long to reach the leaders or the first team of horses, and in swinging that whip the driver would often 7i 72 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION strike some one on the sidewalk instead of the lazy horses. In order to have most of the street in which to swing their long whips, the drivers began driving on the left. In France every one drives to the right, as we do here in America. Why do we keep to the right in driving? In order to avoid accidents, by knowing on which side of the street the other fellow is going to drive. We also drive to the right to make more speed, for if we had to dodge cars that w T ere coming up the w r rong side of the street, we would probably be late in getting down to the office or to the train. If I began driving my car down the left side of the street, what would happen? "You would have a wreck." "You would be arrested/' Yes, one of those two things would probably happen, perhaps both of them. The policeman would say, "Where did you learn to drive? Do you think you own the whole street? Come along with me to the police station." Of course I would go. And the Judge would say, "Mr. Crossland, for the sake of protecting other folks, I am not going to let you drive your automobile any more this year. You are fined twenty-five dollars for reckless driving." And after pay- ing my fine, I would have to ride the street cars or walk the rest of the year. If we always keep to the right, we will keep out of a great deal of trouble. I don't know of a better motto for us to take for our lives than just this one, "Keep to the Right." If you do not have a motto, or if you have one that you think isn't quite so good, you take this one. Say it over often, "Keep to the Right." When some of your friends, who are planning to do something that is not right, and are trying to get you to help, you say to yourself and to them, "Keep KEEP TO THE RIGHT 73 to the Right.' ' They may laugh at you at the time, but they will like you better for it. When you do keep to the right, you are not only doing what other folks would have you do, but you are also doing what God would have you do. God has given us quite a number of traffic rules for our lives. You all know many of them — the Ten Com- mandments and the sayings of Jesus. They are really not hard to observe, if we just get into the habit of following them. Like driving an auto, they become very easy with a little practice, and we enjoy living according to them much more than we care for breaking them. How we all wish that every one "kept to the right" by living up to those traffic rules that God gave us for our lives. No one in all this world would be hungry or poor or cold or unhappy. There is money and food and cloth- ing and happiness enough to go round for everybody, if only some folks did not get and selfishly keep a great deal more than is their share. We Christians are glad when folks make money, for we ourselves enjoy having the things that money can buy. But we are sorry when we see folks keep all that money — so much more than they can use — for themselves. We will always "Keep to the Right" in the way we act toward other folks. We will obey God's traffic rules of life gladly and do everything we can to get others to obey them, too. Then we will free the whole world from sin and help to bring God's happiness to everybody every- where. Dear Lord, help us always to keep to the right, as Thou dost wish us. And by getting others to attend Church and Sunday School, may we teach them how to obey Thy laws, for Jesus' sake. Amen. IV A GOOD START Text: "Let Us Run with Patience the Race That Is Set before Us." Hebrews XII, i. How many of you have ever been in a race? Did you all win? You all had fun, anyway, didn't you? Have some of you been in a race where it was almost a tie? If you could have had just a little better start you might have won the jack knife or the medal. You have seen the runners get set on their mark and at the word "Go" they are off like the wind. A good start in any kind of a race gives us a head start, a few feet ahead of the other fellow. It should encourage us, though sometimes people slow up a little because they think they have a little time or distance to spare. All of you boys and girls are now in a race. It's a race that will last for about fifty or sixty years more, all through your life. You all have a good start, for God gave you healthy, strong bodies to use in that race. He also gave you only good habits that make it easier for you to do things for Him. And your parents sent you to school where you could learn how to read and write and learn of History and to Sunday School where you could learn how to live a good life. Why, in this race you are way ahead of millions of boys and girls who do not have a fair chance. 74 A GOOD START 75 To win you must run as fast as you can, and then a little faster right at the end. Wouldn't you think a run- ner foolish, if he stopped to pick up a heavy stone when he was a third of the way toward the goal? And you would say he was almost crazy if he picked up a rope a little farther on and left 'it dangling about his feet. He would soon trip and fall, getting the cinders of the track in his hands, his elbows and his knees. You wouldn't pick him for a winner, would you ? So many boys and girls, who start out the race we are all running, stop and pick up a stone — or a bad habit — and then pick up another and another and another, until they begin to slow down. They lose speed, and drop be- hind those who lead. Do you know of any stones of this kind that boys and girls and men and women pick up? (The answers from the boys and girls were, "Drinking/ ' "Cigarettes," "Lying" and "Not coming to Sunday School!") Yes, those are some of them, and there are many others. You boys and girls do not drink, and you probably never will, for your fathers and mothers have voted the saloon out of the United States. You boys and girls will help them keep it out. And may you never pick up that very heavy stone, the cigarette. It makes your throat unhealthy, it harms and weakens your lungs, it makes your heart beat ever so much faster than it should to get rid of the poison, it makes you very nervous, and it destroys a part of your brain. One reason many smokers die when they become very ill with pneumonia or influ- enza is that they have so weakened their lungs and heart that they cannot do extra work, work overtime when they are 6ick. And the sad part about this stone, this habit, as 76 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION with all other bad ones, is that it is very, very hard to drop it. Lying is another habit that keeps us from running as good a race as we should. Cheating in school is another, for it is stealing from some one else and lying to the teacher, who thinks the answer is your own. Doing things in a careless, don't-care way; being quick-tempered or cross, quitting school before you graduate, thinking of evil things, listening to bad stories, not obeying your father or mother, and a dozen other things may easily rob us of the prize. How many of you want to be losers? Of course you don't. How many of you want to be winners ? Of course you do. And I'm going to tell you how to be. You must train. You must practice, just as the football or baseball players do. You must have a clean, strong body and must keep it clean. It is God's holy temple here on earth, worth much more to Him than this church building. He is ex- ceedingly sorry when he sees anyone take into it anything that harms it. He wants it always to be just as He made it, fine and strong for His Work. You must also have a clean strong mind. You can train your mind to do wonderful things, just as an acrobat in a circus trains his body to do wonderful things. A little training, say until the eighth grade in school, helps a little, but not enough. More training until the twelfth grade helps a great deal more. But to go on to some good college for four years more makes your mind ever so much stronger. You must have, too, a clean, strong conscience or soul, that will help you to do right and keep you from doing wrong. It is at home, and especially in the Sunday School and Junior Church that your conscience gets its training A GOOD START 77 or practice. There we learn of God and of what He wants us to do. We learn how to treat other folks, how to do good deeds for them, how to make the world better and how to live right. In our home and in our school and in our church we learn how to be the best possible runners in this race. I'm glad that God helps us Christians in this race. When we get tired, He helps us along. He keeps us from picking up any stones or ropes during the race. If some folks do pick them up, God will help them get rid of them, if they will just ask Him. I want all you boys and girls to be WINNERS, as St. Paul was. I want you to have great success in your work for God. I want you to have the great prize of being with Him in Heaven that is to be the reward for all who run the race well. Prayer. Oh, Lord Jesus, we thank Thee for the good start we have had. May we run a good race for Thee, and get others to run that good race, too, for Jesus' sake. Amen. DO YOU OWN YOUR FACE? Text : "A Merry Heart Maketh a Cheerful Countenance." Proverbs XV, 13. Illustrative Material: A Mirror. Do you own your face? Think carefully before you answer. Do you? There are many things we call "our own" or "our very own," when we are real sure we own it. They may be the jack knife and marbles or the rabbits or the hair ribbons or rings or dolls. We can sell them if we wish or we say we can trade them to some of our boy or girl friends, if we can find any one who will trade. Sometimes we are glad over our trades, and sometimes we are not. But there are some things you have that you can't trade and really don't own. Your face is one of them. I see your brown or blue eyes, your straight or pug noses, your rosy cheeks, but you don't own them. Why? Because they belong to other people. They are the ones that have to look at your face, aren't they? Wouldn't it be grand if they might always look as happy and smiling and pleas- ant as they do now. Are they always that way ? Or do you sometimes look cross when your mother or father asks you to stop your play for a few minutes to do something for them ? Per- haps the corners of your mouth turn down, and your forehead wrinkles, your teeth set, a cloud comes over your face, and you look as if you had lost your last friend. 78 DO YOU OWN YOUR FACE? 79 My, but you're a sight. You make every one about you unhappy by looking so much like a storm, and then, too, you make yourself more and more unhappy. I wish that we might always have a mirror in front of our faces, just like that. We would always be happy* and I'll tell you why. We would become awfully tired of looking at ourselves if we weren't looking pleasant. Just try this the next time you begin to get cross. Go right over and look in the mirror. Do you know what will happen? I do, for I've tried it. You'll first lose the frown, then begin to smile a little, then grin and then burst into a loud and happy laugh. You simply can't keep your face straight. And then the other person in the mirror will laugh back at you. You'll just trade your cross face for a jolly sunshiny one, and you'll wear a smile that will not come off for quite a while. Would you like to see a smile over twenty- four thou- sand miles long? One could be that long if every one would help. You begin smiling and the person next to you begins to smile, and then some one else sees both of you happy and he begins to smile, and then more and more other folks begin to smile, and at last the chain of happy smiles reaches around the world. Laugh, and the world laughs with you. That's what God wants — a twenty-four-thousand-mile smile. He wants every one in this whole world to be happy. He has placed so many delightful and beautiful things here and has given us so many good friends, that we would be truly ungrateful if we did not smile and be happy. Our faces show to others just the kind of folks that we are, and let them know quite a bit of what we are thinking. There was once a very famous detective, who could catch 80 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION robbers and law breakers when the other detectives failed. Some one asked him one time just how he was able to do such clever work. He said, "When I am told to find a man, I get his picture, and a mirror, and try to look as much like him as possible. Then I try to think of the things and the places of which he would think. It's easy, for you see I try to look like him. Then I go where I think he would go, and usually I catch him." By keeping our faces bright and happy we can do God's work here ever so much better. He wants us to be just the happiest possible, for He is glad, too, when we are. Let's always wear that bright, happy face, that shows others that we know God and that He loves us. Dear Lord, may we ever be boys and girls and men and women of the Happy Face, so that we can serve Thee better, for Jesus' sake. Amen. VI THE LAUGHTER OF JESUS Text: "Rejoice and Be Exceeding Glad." Matthew V, 12. Have you ever thought of Jesus as laughing or smil- ing? Nearly all the pictures of Him you have seen have shown Him as sad and pale and very sober. Many of the greatest painters thought of Him as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Jesus had a great deal of sad- ness in His life, as when His friends forsook Him, when the people to whom He had come would not listen to Him, when the religious leaders of His nation tried to kill Him, and when at last He was betrayed by one of His dis- ciples. But at least one of the great painters, Hoffman, painted many pictures of Jesus as He was serving folks, and, of course, in those pictures Jesus' face is very happy. No one can be unhappy while doing kind deeds to other people. In the Beatitudes, where Jesus described the kind of people that belong to His Kingdom, he used the word "Blessed" of them. That means "happy" or "contented" or "fortunate." "Blessed are the meek and the peace- makers and the pure in heart." "Rejoice and be exceed- ing glad, for great is your reward in Heaven," Jesus said, and we know that He always practiced what He preached. Of all people on earth, Jesus wanted Christians to be most happy. Early in His ministry, Jesus attended a wedding at 81 82 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION Cana in Galilee. In Jesus' day these were very happy affairs, and I know that Jesus was as truly happy there as any one. He loved to see people enjoying pure pleasures and wholesome fun. If you and I had lived in Jesus' time, I know we would have been among the great crowds that followed Him. Why, sometimes those crowds numbered six or seven thousand people. Do you think that if Jesus had been sad and gloomy that folks would have wished to listen to Him and would have followed Him out into the desert ? I don't, for it is a happy person that people love. Folks have quite enough sadness of their own without borrowing any more from any one else. They loved Jesus because He made their lives happier, because He helped them en- dure their sorrows, and because He lived the happy life that they wished so much to live. I am sure that He must have given a smile to each man or woman He healed, and that folks' hearts were made glad just by looking on Jesus' divine face. You boys and girls love Jesus more because He loved and loves boys and girls like you. They loved Him, too, while He was doing His work in Palestine. He always had time to pat a child on the head, and to talk with them. Do you remember reading about how displeased He was when His disciples told some of the mothers not to bring their children to Him? He said, "Of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." Jesus won the confidence of both mothers and children, not by a long face, but rather by His sweet smile. "Rejoice and be exceeding glad," or "Be just as glad and happy as you possibly can," are Jesus' words to each and every Christian. We should always be the happiest people in the world, for we have God for our Heavenly THE LAUGHTER OF JESUS 83 Father, and Jesus Christ for our Older Brother. We are God's specially loved children, and over us He watches day and night. We are serving Him by serving other people, and great is our reward both here and in Heaven. [We have so many friends, so many joys and pleasures, so much of happiness, that I wonder how we can ever be unhappy. Let's always be happy — not necessarily laughing and cutting up all the time — but just happy, in order that we may be able to make other folks happier. And when folks ask, "What makes you so happy all the time?" just reply, "It is because I am a Christian, it is because Jesus is watching over me all the time." Dear Lord, we thank Thee for the laughter of Jesus, for His happy service for others. May we become more and more like Him, for Jesus' sake. Amen. VII HOW GREAT GOD IS Text : "When I Consider Thy Heavens, the Work of Thy Fingers, the Moon and Stars, Which Thou Hast Made, What is Man, that Thou Art Mindful of Him, or the Son of Man that Thou Visitest Him ?" Psalms VIII, 3, 4. Would you like to take a trip among the stars, a visit to one of the other worlds that we see hanging above us in the evening sky? I should like to take a trip to the moon, though the men who study the sky tell us that we would need the warmest overcoat we have if we went there. I should enjoy paying a visit to Mars, one of the stars that is nearest the earth — only 35,000,000 miles away — to see if any people live there, and to find out what those canal-like marks on Mars are, which we can see through the largest telescopes. The North Star is another I would like to visit, and the stars of the Great Dipper. You know the Milky Way is made up of thousands of stars, that we can see with just our eyes, and many more thousands we can see with a powerful telescope, and many, many thousands more that only the eye of the kodak can see. By taking pictures of one part of the sky, and then enlarging the picture we can make out a great many stars that we couldn't see in any other way. All of them are so far away that you and I can't even imagine how far they are. And I suppose that even beyond all those that we can see with our eyes and the telescope and the kodak 84 HOW GREAT GOD IS 85 are millions and millions that we perhaps never can see, because they are so far away. God made all of those worlds, and keeps them moving in their courses. Isn't it all wonderful? He keeps our own earth moving around the sun. We can't know how He does it, but we know that it is He who planned this wonderful world in which we live. Some men have wondered how God could be interested in this world, when He has so many others. I think it is because we, His children, live here. We Christians know that "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." He must have loved this world a lot to have sent His only Son into it. Jesus came to show us what God was and is like, that He loves us one and all, that He wishes us to help Him in the work of building His Kingdom of Goodness and Purity and Happiness here. Before Jesus came, most folks thought that God was like a great king, who was sometimes rather cruel and strict. Jesus showed us that God is our Heavenly Father, who hates the sin but loves the sinner that repents, who forgives us when we are truly sorry, and who watches over us wherever we are. Though God is so great, He speaks to us through our consciences and through all the great prophets and saints, who have walked and talked with Him. Through our prayers we can ask Him about any matter that is impor- tant to us, and although He is ever so great and ever so busy, He is never too great or too busy to hear us and to answer. As we read His messages to Isaiah and Jere- miah and Paul and John, we learn how kind is His loving heart toward all His children. He sees all that we do, as He watches over us. Some- 86 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION times He is pleased with the kindnesses we do, and the thanks that we give Him, and He smiles and is glad At other times, He is sorry and displeased with those who are spiteful and sinful. His great heart longs to help everybody, if they will only ask Him to do so. Though God is so great, I am glad that He takes us Christians into partnership with Him, We are laborers together with God in His field, which is this world. W e can work with Him in the greatest job of the whole uni- verse — that of making this world better. We add our littleness to His greatness, and together, we can do won- derful things. Dear Lord, we are glad that Thou didst send Thy Son, Jesus Christ, to us to make us know that even in Thy greatness, Thou dost love us. Help us in the work we are trying to do for Thee, for Jesus' sake. Amen. ; VIII SOLDIERS OF THE KING Text: "Put on the Whole Armour of God." Ephesians VI, n. Illustrative Material: A Picture of Jesus and a Picture of Gen* eral Pershing. I like to see a real soldier, don't you? He is so trim and neat and straight that when we pass him, we, too, straighten up and put a little more spring into our walk. And when we see a hundred or five hundred of them marching together on Decoration Day, all in step, to the music of a military band, they are a fine sight. In the Great War they were Soldiers of Democracy and Right, and nobly did they fight to make the world safe for de- mocracy. They did not fight for more land or for more money, but they did fight with all their might for the right and for the weaker nation. They wanted all nations of the earth to have the same blessings of liberty and freedom that we ourselves have. They fought under a great leader, for a great cause, and we admire them for doing so. Every boy and every girl may be a soldier from this moment on. You may fight in a Greater War for a Greater Cause under a Greater Leader. You may all be Soldiers of the King. The King? Yes, King Jesus. Don't we sing, "On- ward, Christian Soldiers" and "Glory, praise and honor, unto Christ the King" ? Of course we do, and we mean it. In India the greatest missionary movement in the 87 88 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION world is to-day going on. It is the Mass Movement, and it seeks to bring the sixty million outcaste Indians to Jesus Christ. The high caste Indian will not even touch one of these outcastes or help him in any way. These poor people are looked on as even less valuable than many of the ani- mals which you and I eat as food. Under the leadership of King Jesus, our missionaries are bringing them the happy gospel of Jesus, telling them that God loves them and cares for them, even if some of their fellow countrymen do not. They have a favorite song, which in the Indian sounds like an American Indian war song; but in English it simply means, "King Jesus is coming, King Jesus is coming." The truly great leader makes his soldiers like him. Jesus does this with all His followers. He makes us all so much finer and better than we otherwise could be. He goes with us wherever we go, and shares with us every danger. He even gave His life for us, and he urges us to give our lives for other people, to make them happier and nobler, as He made us. Since He died for us, we cer- tainly ought to be happy to live for Him. The Great War lasted only about four years, and then was over. The war against evil, in which all of us Chris- tians are engaged, lasts all our lives and must be fought all the time. It is the royal battle of good against evil, of right against wrong. Already Christians have won many battles against those who would enslave others, against those who would ruin others with strong drink, against those who would take from the poor and the weak all that they have. We Christians always try to be, just as Jesus was, the champions of all folks everywhere who need us, whether they are here in our own city or out in the middle of Africa. We must bring to them the SOLDIERS OF THE KING §9 joys and cleanness of the Christian way of living, that they may become truly children of God. "Go ye into all the world and make disciples of all nations." The biggest battles that we have to fight are not out in India or out in Africa, but right here in our very own lives. Things creep into our lives that God does not want there. Some of those enemies which we must fight against in the great battle for King Jesus are lying and cheating and quarreling and disobedience to parents and laziness in school. He would have us be brave and manly and truthful both to Him and to our parents. In all the great battles in this world for Right, the Christians are always in the very front line trenches. They know what they are fighting for and they know also for whom they are fighting. Under the leadership of King Jesus, we Christians will overcome wrong and establish right in all the world, until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of oui Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Dear Lord, may we as Thy soldiers be brave and true, always at our post of duty, ready to obey Thy commands gladly, for Jesus' sake, Amen. IX MEASURING FOLKS Text: "Till We All Come Unto the Measure of the Stature of the Fulness of Christ." Ephesians IV, 13. Illustrative Material: Three Girls, Three Boys, and a Yard Stick. I want you boys and girls to help me find out to-day what makes a person great. Each of you will of course be very much interested, for each of you wishes to become a well-known or a wealthy or a powerful man or woman. By learning what really makes men great, we can more easily become like them. Of these six Junior Church members, which is the tallest? Yes, that is quite easy to judge. Is Gerald greater than the other three because the yard stick says he is four inches taller than Marian? If he were two miles tall, he wouldn't be a greater person, unless he had something else to go along with his tallness. Which of them weighs the most? Earl? Yes, I would guess that too. And what do you weigh, Clem? "Sixty- four pounds." Is Earl greater just because he weighs sixteen pounds more than Clem? No, mere size doesn't count much when it comes to greatness. How much money does each of you have ? Seven cents, nothing, twelve cents and three cents, one cent, nothing. Is Eleanor a greater person because she has twelve cents and Donald has nothing? Yes, she is richer but perhaps not so great You remember what Jesus said about the go MEASURING FOLKS 91 poor woman who put only two cents into the temple treasury? While the rich folks dropped a great deal of gold and silver into the large box where the money was placed, Jesus said of the poor widow, "She hath given more than all of them." Don't you think that a very poor man, who did something for other folks might be ever so much greater than a rich man who did nothing for anyone except himself? I do, for Jesus was never rich. He was probably poorer than any of you will ever be, but He was the greatest person the people of this world have ever seen. Does only money make one great? Of course not. Let us just suppose for a moment that Elsie becomes President of the United States, for perhaps we will have a lady president some day, and that Landon becomes an inventor even more wonderful than Mr, Edison. The one would occupy the highest position in the United States, but the other might be, as Mr. Edison is, greater than many of the Presidents we have had. No, the posi- tion one has isn't the real way to tell whether a person is great or not. What is it then, that makes a person great? Or how would you set about it to become great? I want your answers. Name some of the great men whom you like and admire. "Lincoln," Why? "Because he freed the slaves." Another. "Washington." Why? "Because he fought for America to protect her." Another. "Liv- ingstone." Why? "Because he was a missionary to the Africans." Another. "Edison." Why? "Because he has invented so many things like the phonograph that make our lives nicer." Now why do you say these men are great? Because they do so much for other folks and because they tried 92 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION to help them all they could. That is just the reason we love and admire Jesus so much, who was greater than them all. He gave His whole life to other folks. He lived just for them. He preached the good news of God to them. He taught them how they should act toward one another. He healed those who were lame. He cured those that were sick. He made those hear who were deaf and those speak who were dumb. He even died on the cross for the whole world. We love Jesus and know He is God's Son, because He did for folks just what God would have done if He had come down to earth. Jesus showed us how good and how loving God is, and as Christians we try to become like Him. When you boys and girls set out to become great, don't try just to get a lot of money or to hold a high position, but just work to make folks better and happier and more like Jesus. If you have money, use it for other folks. It's more fun to spend it for their comfort and happiness than it is to keep it. If you have a high position, use it for other folks, as Jesus did His. Then you will be truly happy, and God will say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Dear Lord, we pray that we may sometime become great men and women for Thee and Thy Work, for Jesus' sake. Amen. X WHAT SHALL I BE? Text: "Lord, What Wilt Thou Have Me to Do?" Acts IX, 6, You boys and girls like to do the same things that grown-ups do. Well, I am going to ask you a very im- portant question, and if you can't answer it, then I want you to think about it. "What are you going to be when you grow up?" If you have a plan, I would like to have you tell me for I want to tell you how you can be success- ful in what you are going to do. (The answers were as follows: A doctor, a nurse, a private secretary, an airman, an engineer, a deaconess, a merchant, a preacher, a lawyer, a missionary, a school teacher and a Sunday School teacher.) Those are some very good answers, and although you may sometime change your mind and decide to be something else, I am glad that you are think- ing about it. But there's a more important question than the one you have just answered. It is "What kind of a lawyer or doctor or preacher or school teacher shall I be?" and your answer I know is, "The best one I can possibly be." There are many poor doctors or lawyers or preachers or school teachers, who do not do their work at all well. I sometimes wonder if they are doing just the work that God wanted them to do. But each of us wishes to be the very best worker pos- sible. You who will be doctors will wish to make folks 93 94 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION well, and to perform wonderful operations, perhaps to have charge of a large hospital, to make lame folks walk and blind folks see and deaf folks hear and dumb folks speak, and to save folks* lives as Jesus did. Those are fine things to do, worthy of any man, and the nurse who watches over the patient is almost as important in making folks well as is the doctor. You boys and girls that expect to be merchants want to have a fine business, to make money, but to make it hon- estly, to give the folks who trade with you their money's worth, and to pay those clerks who work for you a salary large enough for them to live on and still save something for the day when they will become old. You boys who will become preachers or missionaries or you girls who will become deaconesses or missionaries will have what I think is the greatest and the hardest and the finest job in the world. You will tell folks of God and His son, Jesus, you will tell them of how He wants them to live, you will cheer them when they become discouraged, you will make plans for helping folks who have had mis- fortune, you will make bad folks good and good folks better, you will have the fun of working among boys and girls and of teaching them of God. You may never be rich, but you will have much treasure laid up in Heaven. You who will be school teachers will be doing a fine and noble work. You will teach boys and girls those things that will help them be successful in business. Your work will sometimes be hard, but your pupils will love you for what you do for them. The private secretary will have charge of very important matters. The airman will fly among the birds of God's heaven, and will carry our letters to distant places very quickly. The engineer will pilot his train with the hundreds of people on board safely to the WHAT SHALL I BE? 95 place where they wish to go. The lawyer will keep the strong and rich from doing wrong to the poorer man by defending him in court. The Sunday School teacher will have the joy of helping make her pupils good and useful boys and girls. Whatever we decide to become, we will ask God what He wants us to do. We sing, "I'll go where you want me to go, I'll be what you want me to be." We must always ask God if the work we are thinking of is the work He wants us to do. Some of you boys that are thinking of being lawyers will be preachers. That was what happened to me. I asked God where He wanted me, and where I could do the most good for other folks, and He told me, "In the ministry." You boys and girls ask Him in prayer, and then do gladly and happily just the thing He wishes. Oh, no He will not want all of you to be preachers or deaconesses or engineers or lawyers or doctors. Some of you would be a poor preacher but a good doctor. Some of you would be a good missionary but a poor merchant. God has a plan for you. You ask Him what it is, will you? Whatever you may become, God wants you always to be a Christian. Yes, a Christian street sweeper, or a Christian merchant, or a Christian school teacher or a Christian airman. If you become rich, spend that money for other folks. The happy man, the true Christian is one who is always working for God by working for other folks. That's what Jesus did. That's what He wants us to do. And we will do it. Dear Lord, whether we become lawyers or doctors or preachers or nurses or engineers, may we be good ones, Christian ones that work for Thee and for others, for Jesus sake. Amen. XI ARE YOU IN TUNE? Text: "Be Ye Therefore Perfect, Even as Your Father Which Is in Heaven Is Perfect." Matt. V, 48. Illustrative Material: A Junior Church Member with a Violin or Mandolin, to Be Played First in Tune and then Out of Tune. I am glad that our Christian religion is a singing reli- gion. How could we help praising God in song, when He has made us so happy. You remember that even when Paul was thrown into prison, he sang songs and psalms of praise because God had used him to carry the good news of Jesus to so many cities in the Roman Empire. As the early Christian martyrs were driven into the arena to the lions, they sang songs of that other world, Heaven, where they knew they would be much happier than they could ever be here. Christians to-day in hundreds of thousands of churches all around the world are raising their voices in song to Him who has done so much for them. Members of other religions, seeing how happy Chris- tians are, have used our great hymns such as "O, for a thousand tongues to sing My Great Redeemer's praise." The believers in Buddha just change each line of the song in which Christ's name appears so that they may sing "O for a thousand tongues to sing My holy Buddha's praise." 96 ARE YOU IN TUNE? 97 Their priests are trying to bring some of the Christian happiness into that sad religion, that will some day give way before the happy religion of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Everybody who loves good things loves good music. If the piano is out of tune, or if the violin is not in tune, then we don't have music ; we just have noise. Each piece in an orchestra must be in tune with itself and with all the other pieces if we are to have the best music. I want Helen to let down the "D" string and then make the "E" string a little tighter, and try to play ''America." You couldn't sing America's national song to a tune like that, could you ? Some of us have a hard enough time carrying the tune, even when all the instruments are in tune. Some folks are just like a violin that is out of tune. They are out of tune with themselves, and they are out of tune with other people, and they are even out of tune with God. They make the noise of unhappiness in the world instead of the sweet music of happiness. The reason is that they are out of tune with God. Some of them think that they can, without Him, fill the world with beautiful music, but they cannot. When they do not listen to Him, they soon get out of tune with His rules and laws. They do not use their bodies as He would have them used. God intended that their minds should be used to think out the great prob- lems of people's lives, to help others out of the difficulties and hard places in which they are. Indeed, so many of them use their thinking powers only to get more money and position for themselves. He planned that the hands should serve the sick and the needy, that their feet should go on His errands of mercy and love, and that their lips should speak words of comfort and hope to all people 98 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION everywhere, who need them. Oh, how out of tune with God so many of His children are ! Because they are out of tune with Him they are not happy in their own lives, nor are they in tune with others. If they could only see how truly happy they might be if they were in tune with Him, I know that most of them would make an honest effort to put themselves in har- mony with Him. He says, "Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy-ladened, and I will give you rest." ,You and I as Christians are so much more contented and useful when we are obeying His laws and doing His will. Moses put himself in God's hands and became the George Washington of the Jewish nation. Amos, the shepherd, put himself in tune with God, and brought a great message to his nation and to the whole world. Paul placed himself under God's orders and became the great- est missionary this world has yet seen. [Wesley talked with God until He was in tune with Him, and to-day a great church that reaches around the world is the result. If we always keep in tune with God, He will make us great and useful men and women, who with Him will make the world a happier and better place. Dear Lord, keep us close to Thee, that we may always be in tune with Thee in Thy great work, for Jesus' sake. Amen. XII BE STRONG Text: "Be Strong." 2 Timothy, II, 1. Illustrative Material: A Picture of Washington. If I could say only two words to you boys and girls to-day, I would say what St. Paul said to his young friend, Timothy, "Be Strong." I would of course mean that I would wish you to be strong not only in your bodies but also in your minds and in your consciences. Everybody likes to be strong in body, to have good health, and a good complexion. You boys like to be strong so that you can win in the contests of running, tennis, football and baseball. God gave you a fairly good supply of strength, and in His plan He laid down the rule that the more you use your strength, the more He gives you. One very general reason for so many folks being weak in body is that they don't exercise, they don't use their muscles enough. Did Paul want Timothy to be strong in body only? I am sure that he did not, for some strong men have used their strength for a very bad purpose. It would have been better for themselves and for others if they had been weak. Samson would have been ever so much more famous and noble had he used his strength always to fight God's battles for His people. To be strong only in body, as Samson was, is to be lopsided. But to have 99 loo THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION Jiealth and strength, the better to do God's work is one of the finest of things. Paul wanted Timothy to be strong in mind also, just as God wants each one of us to be. Would you like to be able to get your lessons more easily, to draw maps, to spell and to do your arithmetic in a shorter time? Haven't you often wished that you were as clever as Robert or Bernice or Marjorie ? They seem to learn with- out trying, while sometimes you have so much trouble with your lessons. Would you like to be as bright as they are? I'll tell you how you can do it. God gave you a very good mind with which to think. He had as a part of His plan that the more you use it the brighter it becomes. The more you study, the stronger your mind grows. Of course to have a strong mind and not to have a strong conscience to go with it is very dangerous. Some of the cleverest thieves of the country have been men who had wonderful minds. The leaders of Germany, who helped bring on the war that destroyed so many million lives and homes, were bright, but they did not love God at all. You know a little of how terrible was the sorrow their cleverness brought. No, I am sure that Paul did not want Timothy to be strong only in mind. » Even more important than being strong in body and mind is being strong in spirit or conscience. Of course God wants us to be strong in all three ways, and I am glad that it is possible for us to be, aren't you? Our consciences must be strong and must be kept in touch with God in order that we may always be able to tell the differ- ence between a deed that is right and one that is wrong. Our hearts must be strong but tender that we may be generous and helpful toward every one. Does that mean toward everybody in the whole world? Yes it does, for BE STRONG 101 since we are all children of our Heavenly Father, we are all brothers and sisters together. We must be strong to fight the many battles against evil, both those in our lives to-day and those we will have when we grow older. We must be strong to fight the battles for the right, that we may do God's will through all our lives. I like to see a boy stand up for a weaker fellow, don't you? Most of us Americans are like that. I like too, to see a boy tell the truth, even if he does deserve and receive a spanking for what he did. It makes a bigger, stronger, finer boy out of him, and that's what we want, isn't it ? I have always admired Washington, because he was so strong in all the three ways I have mentioned. He was strong in body, for he endured with all his soldiers the terrible winter at Valley Forge. He was strong in mind, for as President of the United States he said and did some very noble and brilliant things. And he was strong in spirit and conscience, for he so often prayed to God for help and guidance in the difficult tasks he had to do for his country. To be strong in body and mind and spirit should be the aim of every Christian. Dear Lord, make us strong in all our lives, that we may be able to do Thy work ever so much better, for Jesus' sake. Amen, XIII A BOOK OF RULES Text: "Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet and a Light Unto My Path." Psalms CXIX, 105. Illustrative Material: A Spaulding Book of Football Rules and a Bible. Whenever you play a game you of course have cer- tain rules. If it is a game of marbles, each fellow takes his turn. If it is baseball, tag, or drop-the-handkerchief or blindman's buff you have ways you play each of these games. Anyone who doesn't play according to the rules, doesn't play long. I have here Spaulding's Book of Rules for Football. It is the best book of its kind, it is official, as we say. All the football games of America are played according to its rules. "No player may be off side," is one of those rules. There are many others that make the game more interesting and less dangerous. I am going to tell you of the greatest game on earth and of the Book of Rules that go with that game. Fun? I should say so! It's the game of Living at Your Best, and the Book of Rules is the Bible. Just as Spaulding prints a book on "How To Play Football," just so God has given us a Book on "How To Live." There are many good books in the world, but the best of all is the Bible. It has in it God's best messages and they are for the people of all nations. You know it was not all written by one man, for Moses wrote some parts of it, Isaiah other parts, and Matthew, Mark, Luke and John still other parts. But all the parts have special mes* sages or rules that help folks. 102 A BOOK OF RULES 103 What are some of those rules? "The Ten Command- ments." Just after Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, God gave him these ten rules about how each Israelite should act toward God and toward men. Let's all repeat them. "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not bear false witness," and the seven others are the beginning of most of our good laws to-day. They are good, but they tell us only what not to do in this game of life. When Jesus came he said, "All those rules are good. You must keep them, but a new commandment I give unto you; you shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind and with all thy soul and thy neighbor as thyself." I am glad that Jesus told us what to do, as well as what not to do, aren't you? If all men loved their neighbor as themselves, there would be no stealing, for they would not want their neighbor to steal from them. There would be no lying or killing or wish- ing for something that belongs to someone else, for folks would not want their neighbor to do those things to them. You and I, boys and girls, could do away with all the evil in the world, if we could get all other people to live as Jesus lives, — to follow the book of rules. Then we would need no jails or state prisons or wars for all people every- where would do good to others instead of harming them. We must read that Book of Rules, the Bible, often to see if we are playing the game as we should, and to learn more about the game. How often? At least once a day, in the morning, or tw T ice a day, in the morning or the evening, if possible. We do not need to read several chapters to get God's message to our lives. I start here with the ninth chapter of Matthew and read, "And he entered into a ship and passed over, and came into his own io 4 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION city. And behold they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed; and Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the sick of the palsy;" And then I come to a verse that means something specially to me, "Son, be of good cheer;" That is the lesson God has for me to-day, and as I go about my work I think about it, and practice it. If I learn of how he spoke to the men who wrote the books of the Bible, and if I listen to Him He will also speak to me very clearly. I wish I had money enough to buy a Bible for every boy and girl in the world, — a small one bound in leather that they could carry with them and read often. Of course I would give it to them only if they would promise to read at least two verses in it every day, for if they would not use it, I would want to use the money for something else. Since I can't do that, don't you boys and girls think you could each buy one ? I do. One you could have all for your own, and that you could read regularly in the morning and then sometimes during the day too. On next Sunday I want every boy and girl to bring his or her Bible with him. I want you to carry it all week, if it is not too large, and I want you to read it every day. Will you do it? And on next Sunday morning I want you to give at least one Bible verse that you have learned. By following God's Book of Rules, we become great and good men and women as were Washington, General Booth and General Foch, and Frances Willard, the kind of men and women God wants us to be. Dear Lord, we promise thee that we will often read Thy Great Book of Rules and that we will follow them better than we have for Jesus' sake. Amen. XIV LISTENING TO VOICES Text: "Speak, Lord, for Thy Servant Heareth." i Samuel III, 10. Illustrative Material: A Picture of Joan of Arc. I think that this world has had almost as many great women as great men, don't you? The only difference is that we have heard so much more about the famous men than we have about famous women. That's natural, because the men do more striking things, like winning wars. Then, too, most of the histories have been written by men. But there are many more great women and men than were ever written about in all the histories. They are those men and women, like your father and mother, who in their own homes and their own towns lived and served and loved. Of one of those, a poor French peasant girl, I want to tell you. The French nation is a very old one, and has had some wonderful and talented women. Of all of them Joan of Arc is without doubt the most famous. Why? We shall see. Joan's girlhood was spent out in the province of Champagne, where many of the battles of the Great War have been fought. Her parents were very poor, as have been the parents of so many of the world's great men. Can you name any whose parents were not wealthy? "Lincoln." "Napoleon." Yes, and a great many others. Much of Joan's time was spent in tending her father's sheep, and in doing other tasks about her country home. 105 io6 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION Like David, she had a great deal of time to think about God and her own life, and her duty to other folks. She could hear God speak a great deal more clearly than most of us hear Him amid the noise and bustle of the city. As Joan thought of what she might become, and longed to do something great for her people, she heard voices speaking to her of the service she would sometime do in freeing France from a grasping king who claimed a part of fair France as his own. I don't think myself that those voices were so loud that you or I could have heard them if we had been there. But I do think that Joan's conscience spoke so clearly to her about her duty to France that she could almost hear the voices speaking. I am sure that Joan was a girl who had many day dreams, that is, thoughts and plans of what she might do and be when she became older. I wish that all of us might have more day dreams of greatness and service. We too, then, might hear God's voice speaking to us, telling us what His plan is for our lives. The reason we often cannot hear His voice is that we don't listen. How much greater some men might have been if they had only listened to Him. How much more good each one of us might do, if we only listened at all times to Him. He is calling some boys here to be ministers for Him. He is calling some girls here to be deaconesses or special Christian workers in His Church. Ask God where He wants you to work, and He will tell you. I admire Joan, not only because she heard the call of conscience and duty, but because she obeyed that call. She went to the military leaders and told them that she would defeat the enemies of France. They laughed at her, just as the saloon men laughed at our mothers when they LISTENING TO VOICES 107 taught us the words, 'Tremble, King Alcohol, we shall grow up." God told the Christian leaders that it could be done, and anything that should be done for God and His work here we must do. In spite of the jeers and ridicule of many of her own people, she kept right on until she persuaded one commander to let her lead a com- pany of soldiers to prove her mission. With just a few men she defeated the enemy in a brilliant battle, and when more soldiers were given her, she again and again won battles for her country. She was at last captured and sold to her enemies, who basely accused her of being a witch. She received no justice, as all the witnesses against her told lies. She was of course convicted and then was burned at the stake. To-day France loves and admires her more than any other French woman. She was great because she believed and trusted in God, because she unselfishly worked and fought for others, and because she was willing even to die for what she thought was right. Let us too, listen to God's voice, that we may do some- thing worth while for Him and His Work while we are living on this earth. Dear Lord, may we ever be listening to Thy voice, and be ready to do Thy bidding, as Joan of Arc was, for Jesus' sake. Amen. XV BUILDING AIR-CASTLES Text: "I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes unto the Hills, from Whence Cometh My Help." Psalms CXXI, I. Do you like to dream? Sometimes you do and some- times you don't. Those dreams of parties and of fishing and of baseball are lots of fun, and sometimes you try to go back to sleep again to finish your pleasant dream. But those others of Indians and burglars and fights waken you with a start, and you have very hard work to go back to sleep again. I've a dream game that all of you will enjoy playing. All the great men that have ever lived have played it. It's the game of building air-castles, — building real air- castles. You can play it either in the day time or in the night, without ever getting tired of it. What is an air-castle ? It is a great plan that you have in your mind, which you would like to work out. It's something that you want to do, — something that you have to work for. There are many kinds of air-castles, some ^that are good and others that are not. You of course want to build only the kind that are best. Any air-castle that you build must have a good founda- tion so that it will not fall over just as soon as you have it finished. It must be well planned from the basement to the roof. It must be strongly put together, and it must be good for something. Would you believe that this great 108 BUILDING AIR-CASTLES 10$ church, which does so much good for God and His King- dom, was once just an air-castle ? It was, for just a few men of the Official Board came together and said, "We must have a larger building in which to do God's work, Let us plan one," and that was the beginning of the air- castle. Then they secured an architect, who could work out the plans carefully. He drew a picture of the church as it would look when it was finished, and made a drawing of each floor and of each room in the whole building. The Official Board then looked over these blue prints, made some changes, and then gave the plans to several men who build large churches. The one who promised to do it the cheapest and the best was chosen to do the building. With many men to help him, he digged the basement, laid the foundation, put up the steel frame work, built in the walls, one brick at a time, put on the roof, made the rooms beautiful with many decorations, and then turned the* finished building over to the people of the church to use. So an air-castle, one that would help folks do God's work for hundreds of years to come, was made a real castle, a temple in which we worship God and hear His will for us. Perhaps most of us have already begun to build air- castles. They look very beautiful and good to us, and I hope they all are. Are they the kind that God wants us to build? Have we asked Him about them and are they being planned for His use or for our own? So many folks forget, when they begin to plan and build, that God gives them all the material, and that whatever they build belongs to Him. He gives them the air they breathe while they are planning, He gives them the strength to build, He gives them the sand and stone and wood from no THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION His great hill-sides and forests. Whatever they build really belongs to Him, and He merely lets them have the use of these things for a time. He is glad when they build many of the rooms in their air-castles for other folks, instead of planning them all for themselves. If it is an air-castle of riches or of office or of wisdom that you are planning to build, remember that God always wants you to think of other people when you are building. The true Christian makes every one in the whole world his friend, and does all that he can for all his friends. He gives some of his money to build a hospital for the Chinese; some of his time to make the city where he lives better and happier; and some of his time asking God in prayer to help him build something that will be worth while. It's to folks who build like that that God says, "Well done, thou good and faithful ser- vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." Dear Lord, in all our plans and our building, may we plan and build as Thou wouldst have us, for Thee and for others, for Jesus' sake. Amen. XVI BE A GOOD SCOUT Text: "Be Ye Ready." Matt. XXIV, 44. Illustrative Material: A Boy Scout in Uniform, or a Scout Badge with the Words, "Be Prepared," on It. I suppose that nearly every boy would like to be a Boy Scout. The uniform is about as good looking as any suit a boy could wish to wear. The hikes across the prai- rie and through the woods are lots of fun. The camping, swimming, tracking and outdoor sports appeal to every red-blooded boy. And the Scout meetings, the tests that a Scout must pass in knot tying, fire-building and cook- ing teach a boy much in helping him take care of himself. To become a first-class Scout and perhaps a Scout Master are honors well worth looking for. I want Scout Wallace to give the Scout Oath. "On my honor I will do my best : to do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the scout law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight." That's a promise that any boy or girl could take, isn't it ? God wants us to do our duty always to Him and to our country, and He wants us to be strong, and as wise and as good as it is possible for us to be. Only by doing so can we be able workers for Him. Scout Hill will repeat the Scout Motto. "Be Prepared." While of course there were no Scouts in Jesus' time, it is interesting to see that the boy who helped more people in ii2 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION than any other lad in the New Testament was a boy who was prepared. Do you know who he was ? He was the boy who had in his lunch basket the five barley loaves the two small fishes. The other five thousand folks, who had followed Jesus came without bringing anything to eat with them. They had followed Jesus for miles, asking Him questions and listening to His wonderful teaching. When they became hungry, Jesus with God's blessing, took the loaves and the fishes, which the boy loaned, and fed the whole multitude. Can one small boy be of so much use in the world to-day? He can if he is prepared. And he can best become prepared by study in school and Sunday School and Church. Scout Wright will give the Scout Law: "A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obe- dient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent." Through all Jesus' life He was all these things all the time, and as His followers it is our duty to be as nearly like Him as possible. It is the aim of every Scout to be a good Scout. To be so he must live up to his scout promise and ideals, both when he is in uniform and when he is not. He will be especially careful to avoid everything that might bring disgrace on him, his uniform and the Scout organization. He will carefully remember to do a good turn daily, and if he is a real good Scout he will do as many good turns every day as it is possible for him to do. He will be a loyal Scout and a loyal Christian. I know one reason why the Scouts are as good as they are: a great many over half, — nearly three quarters of the Scout Troops are composed of church boys and are held in churches. How could they help being good ! Have you ever had some one who was trying to get BE A GOOD SCOUT 113 ( you to do something that was not right, say, "Come on, be a good scout and do this." Perhaps it was to lie or to steal or to do some other fellow a dirty turn. What that other person should have said was, "Come on, and be a bad scout and do this/' for no good Scout or Christian will wrong others. The truly good scout always keeps all God's laws, and helps other people at all times. Dear Lord, may we always be good scouts for Thee, for Jesus' sake. Amen. XVII TALKING WITH GOD Text: "God Doth Talk with Man." Deut. V, 24. Do you like to talk with great men and great women? I do, whenever I get the chance. With what famous person would you like to talk, if you had your choice? "General Pershing." "General Foch," 'The President." What would you say to them? You might ask General Pershing about how the American soldiers fought. You might ask Marshal Foch, who had command of all the armies on the western front, about who won the war. He would probably say, "God and a few brave soldiers." When you meet some great person, you of course talk just a little. You ask some questions, but you let that great person do most of the talking, don't you? Isn't it natural and easy to talk with your father or mother? Did you ever think of how many times a day you ask them for things? You talk with them at least twenty-five times a day. You ask them for a nickel or a dime, for something to eat. Of course you always say "Please," first. You ask your mother where your hair ribbon is, or your sling shot, and isn't it wonderful that your mother almost always knows just where those things are? I used to wonder how my mother could remember so many things. I hope that you always say, "Thank you, mother," or "Thank you, dad." Do you? And some- times do you just sit down with them and talk with them 114 TALKING WITH GOD 115 and tell them that you love them for all the good things they have done for you? If you have not told them that lately, just whisper it in their ears to-day, and see how happy you make them. Every day I talk with some one that is ever so much more wonderful than the President or General Pershing or Marshal Foch. Each morning and each evening, and sometimes during the day I talk with God about the things that I am doing. Each morning I ask Him that I may do His will and His work during the whole day, that He will help me and that I may do something for other folks that will really help them. I also thank Him for the refreshing rest that I have had during the night. Often during the day, when I am doing something that is very difficult, I ask Him to help me, and He does. And at night, when the work of the day is over, and I am tired, I thank Him for keeping me safely through the day, for the chances of helping other folks, for the friends I have made, and for all the joy and happiness that He has brought to my life during the day. There are so many things for which folks should thank God that the wonder is that they don't talk with Him of- tener than they do. He gives us good health, the fresh air to breathe, the warm sunshine to waken the grass and the flowers in the Spring-time, the gentle rains to keep them from becoming thirsty, the food to keep us from starving, the materials out of which our homes are made, —oh, God gives us everything that we have or can hope to have. We must thank God often for all these won- derful things that make our lives so happy. We must also ask Him to help us whenever we need Him. Folks ask Him for so many things that they don't need, and for so many things that would harm them if n6 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION they did have them. God gives us always that which is best for us. Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done,' , meaning that if what we ask is best for us, we wish that God would do it for us : if it is not, then we do not want God to do it for us. We want His will for us rather than our own. He is always listening to catch the prayer of the oldest person or that of the youngest child. He never goes away on a journey, as some heathen people think their gods do. God is everywhere, and is listening to us and watch- ing over us wherever we may be, whether on land or on sea, at the North Pole or in the hottest part of Africa. How shall we talk with Him ? With our heads bowed and our eyes closed. We should think of nothing but of Him, and should not let anything disturb us. We should pray, believing that God will give us what is best for us. An American soldier back behind the lines in France once wandered into an old church that had been shattered by many shells. The roof was gone and the beautiful stained glass windows were all broken. As the soldier wandered about the church, looking at everything as we Americans do, he noticed a French officer in one of the few remaining pews in prayer. The Frenchman did not rise for more than ten minutes, and when he did, departed very quietly. The American noticed that the officer was one of the General Staff, and asked the French peasant who the officer might be. "Why, that is Marshal Foch, who comes here every day to pray," said the peasant to the astonished American. General Foch, in his talks with God, received strength and wisdom in the great work he had to do. Just as the prayers of Washington helped save the cause of liberty in the American Revolution, so TALKING WITH GOD 117 the prayers of Foch helped save the cause of liberty in the Great War. Oh, Lord, we thank Thee that we may talk with Thee often. May we not forget to talk with Thee every day, thanking Thee and asking Thy help in all things, for Jesus' sake. Amen. XVIII HOW TO CATCH FISH Text: "I Will Make You Fishers of Men." Mark I, 17. Illustrative Material: A Casting Rod, with a Line, Reel and Artificial Minnow. Do you boys and girls like to fish? I do, even more than I like any other sport. And do you like to catch them? I do too, although that isn't really necessary. Sometimes on my vacation I became so interested in fish- ing that I would forget to go in for my lunch until three or four o'clock, or for my dinner until almost dark. To catch three or four large mouth black bass, and once in a while a long slippery pike, and to have them baked for dinner, — my, I think that is about as much fun as most folks have in one day. To catch fish you of course have to go where they are, and you have to use the right kind of bait at each part of the season, for each kind of fish. The blue-gills and sunfish do not care the least for this Dowagiac game fish minnow, with which I have caught a number of bass. You have to have a line that is strong to hold the fish, and you have to be careful about bringing them up to the side of the boat and landing them. Fishing for big fish isn't easy, and you must be very patient, sometimes wait- ing nearly all morning for a bite or a strike. When you get a good one, it's worth it. As Jesus walked ^by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Peter with his brother Andrew mending their nets, for like so 118 HOW TO CATCH FISH 119 many other people near that inland sea, they were fisher- men. Jesus did not say, "Come with me, I want you to preach the Gospel," but rather spoke to them in words they could best understand. He said, "Come with me, and I will make you fishers of men." Would they rather catch men than catch fish? Of course they would, and at once they left their nets and followed Him. Jesus calls each one of us to become fishers of men. He wants us along with our other work and play to catch folks for Him. Whom shall we fish for? Our friends, of course, first of all, for we would like to have them enjoy the same good things at church and at Junior Church that we enjoy. You can think now of several of your boy or girl friends, who would like to be here, if only you would invite them and tell them something about the Junior Church. Do your mother and father attend the church service? If not, you may catch them, too, for the Lord. How shall we catch them ? Let's think it over together. Everybody likes interesting and happy gatherings, and they like to meet nice folks. When you talk to your friend Harold or Jane or William or Mary don't say, "I want you to come to church and Sunday School next Sunday." Don't you think it would be much better to say something like this : "Harold, we have just the finest Junior Church you ever saw. We sing the happiest songs, and some- times get to sing in the Junior Choir. We have interesting talks by the man who preaches to us about "How a Shepherd Boy Became King," or "Keep to the Right," and we enjoy them ever so much. We have lots of fun too at the Junior Jollies or the Fun Days once a month. Our Sunday School Class is named the "Boosters" and since you are a good booster, I want you to be in it. Our 120 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION teacher tells us such interesting things about the great men of the Bible. I want you to come next Sunday as my special friend, and I'll come over to your house at ten- fifteen and we will go to Junior Church together." Of course your friend will be very much interested, and will be glad to come. You just try this this week, and see. Once you catch them for your Junior Church or Sun- day School, you must hold them, that is, as we say in fishing, you must land them. You must look after them for a while until they get into the habit of coming reg- ularly to church and Sunday School. It's easy, and does not take very much of your time. Next Sunday I want to see every boy and every girl bring some other boy or girl to Junior Church, — some one who has not attended before. Will you do it? Let me see the hands of those who are thinking of one friend whom they will invite this week, and if possible call for next Sunday morning. That's fine, for I know that you can all do it. That's real service for Christ and His Church, and He is glad when you become fishers of men, for Him. Dear Lord, make us fishers of men for Thee, in bring- ing our parents and friends to church and Sunday School to learn of Thee, for Jesus' sake. Amen.. XIX THE MESSAGE OF THE MAGNET Text: "And I, If I Be Lifted Up from the Earth, Will Draw All Men Unto Me." John XII, 32. Illustrative Material : A Magnet, Five Shingle Nails, Two Large Spikes, One Nail Covered with Tallow, a Rusty Nail, Several Matches and a Nail with a Cigarette Package Tied to it. When I was a bit younger than I am now, I often wondered what made tacks and nails stick to the magnet. I would rub it real hard to make sure that there was no glue or syrup on it. I know now, as many of you do, that the magnet can hold things because of a certain power of electricity inside it. For its size, it can lift quite a large load and hold it. While you use the magnet to play with, many of the great factories and steel world make it work. They have what they call an electric crane with a giant magnet attachment that will lift many hundred pounds. The man in the crane car lets the large magnet down until it touches the pile of iron he wishes to move. He then makes the magnet stronger by throwing a current of elec- tricity into it, and all of a sudden the steel or iron near the magnet jump at the magnet and are carried away to the place where they are to be made into automobiles or engines. When the spot is reached where they are needed, the engineer turns off the electricity and the whole load drops. For this magnet to work or to lift a load, there must 121 122 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION be something in the nail or pin that responds to the magnetism. This match will of course not stick, because it is not made of iron, but the tacks and nails seem to enjoy hanging around the magnet. In the same way, God is the great magnet that is pulling us toward Him. He has made each of us in His Own image, that is, like Him, and if we have not changed ourselves, we feel the pull of God's love and Jesus' love on each one of us. All of us feel it strongly, and respond to Him as the iron does to the magnet. Sometimes men and women have been so wicked for so long that they can't hear God's voice, that they can't see God's works, that they can't understand the message of love that He sends to them. May we never be like that, for by coming to Junior Church and Sunday School we will keep our consciences pure and strong, that we may know that He watches over us always and helps us at all times. Do you notice that the magnet picks up the small nails and tacks much more easily than it does the big nails and the spikes? God's magnetism toward us works in just that way. He works on boys and girls ever so much more easily and often with better results than on very much older folks. I am sure that it is because the pure heart and life of a boy or girl answers God's pure and loving heart more quickly than does the life of some one who has been away from Him for years and years. Most folks become Christians before they are sixteen years of age. Jesus loved boys and girls because they were so much like His Heavenly Father, and because they were so willing to do as God wanted them to do. That's why our churches to-day are so much interested in the Sunday School and the Junior Church. There and in THE MESSAGE OF THE MAGNET 123 the home are the usual places where boys and girls meet God. This nail is old and rusty, and this one is covered with tallow. Do you see how hard it is for the magnet to lift them? When men and women become surrounded with so many things like money and high offices and pleasures, they often are hard for God to reach with His love, unless they are using all those things for His work among folks. Or when even a small boy, which we will compare with this nail, has a cigarette package attached to him, it's awfully hard to reach him and hold him. When we cut the string that ties the bad habit to him, then it's easy to win him. As the magnet is pulling all the time, so God reaches out to folks every moment of the day. When He touches folks, as He has John Wesley or "Billy" Sunday or so many of His people here, they become forces to pull other folks to God, just as God has drawn them to Him. Do you see these four nails, which the magnet is holding, though only one of them is touching it? Just so long as we keep in touch with God, we can draw and hold others for Him. He wishes us to do that all through our lives by bring- ing our friends to Him in His church. How fine a thing it would be if on next Sunday each boy and each girl would bring at least one other boy or girl. Let's do it. Dear Lord, we thank Thee that Thou hast held us by Thy love in the way we should go. May we too draw others to Thee, for Jesus' sake. Amen. XX JUST MUD— AND A BULB Text: "Consider the Lilies." Matt. VI, 28. Illustrative Material: An Easter Lily and a Bulb. Some of the finest and best things in this world come from very small and modest beginnings. The soft carpet of grass on which we play or walk was once just a muddy plot of ground. But some tiny grass seed, which you could blow away with your breath, was sown there and grew into something that is both useful and beautiful. The spreading apple tree, from which we get such delicious apples, was once a very thin twig, which you could have broken with two fingers. Just so this Easter lily was once just an ugly brown bulb like the one I have in my hand. More than any other, the lily is the favorite flower of Christians at this time of the year. We love it because it is so pure and so beautiful and so fragrant. But we especially care for it because it reminds us of Jesus* glorious resurrection. It makes us glad to know that we have a Saviour, who died for us, but who is now living. How did the lily become so beautiful? It was not always so. You would never have guessed that so un- sightly a thing as this onion-shaped brown bulb could in a few short weeks have become one of the finest flowers of the earth. It is one of God's miracles that He performs every day. There are a few folks who find it hard to 124 JUST MUD— AND A BULB 125 believe in miracles. I don't, because I see so many of them every day, — all about me. Just because God makes the sun rise each morning, and makes the grass and leaves come to life again each Spring, I can't see that these things are any the less wonderful, can you? So God touches this homely bulb with His sunshine, and sheds upon it His rain drops, and puts new life into it. Although completely smothered in the dirt it did as God planned it should do. How much more beautiful God made it than it could possibly have become by itself ! Don't you wish that all people were as sensible about let- ting God have His way with them as this bulb was? So many of them try to plan their own lives in their own way. Usually they make a mess of it. Sometimes they are rather successful, but their lives are not half so rich and happy and useful as if they had asked God what plan He had for their lives, and then had followed that plan. I guess they don't like to take advice from anyone, not even from Him who gave them life. Later they often wish they had. God could not have used this lily had it not trusted its life to Him. When it began to grow, first putting forth a few roots, then a green shoot, then two leaves, and last of all a bud that became this flower, it of course had no idea that sometime a very great honor would come to it. That it should be taken to the church altar on Easter Morning and have a place of honor among the flowers, and there remind folks of Jesus' life and death and resur- rection was beyond the hope of most flowers, if flowers could hope. That however was the good fortune of this lily. It added what little it had to the much that God had, and together they made one of the world's most beautiful 126 THE JUNIOR CHURCH IN ACTION flowers. You and I haven't much to give to other folks ; very little money and perhaps not a great deal of talent or ability. L We may sometimes get discouraged and think that what we have is so little that nothing can be done with it. Alone we can do little with it, but with God's help we can do wonders. Do you remember the lad who helped Jesus feed the five thousand? Do you remember the little girl who told Naaman of the wonderful prophet, who could cure leprosy? Even the little that you have can be quite enough to do the work God has for you, if you add it to what He has. Give yourselves in service for others as the greatest gift you have. Give of your time to help others bear their heavy burdens. Give of your smiles to cheer the sad hearts of other folks. And like the lily God will bring you out into the large place of usefulness and happiness and beauty that He has for you. Dear Lord, we thank Thee that Thy Son, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead, and that He is now living. May we, like the lily, place ourselves in Thy hands and do Thy holy will, for Jesus' sake. Amen. THE END. Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Sept. 2005 PreservationTechnoIogies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township. PA 1606$ f724> 779-21 1 1