-Jittt< Children Cl\upci\ of- 1 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. "£Vk3 5 %t|t, ©ojujrtjfyt Ifo. Shelf, (L±3,(a UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Little Children in the Church of Christ BY REV. CHARLES ROADS President of the Pennsylvania C. E. Union Author of " Christ Enthroned in the Industrial World * unity BOSTON D. LOTHROP COMPANY 1893 h= 3^1 Copyright, 1893, BY D. Lothrop Company. All rights reserved. The Library of Congress ty&SIUlISGTOI!* HfcMtatrir TO THE JUNIOR CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR SOCIETIES OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA "And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did and the children crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say ? Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise ? " — Matt. xxi. 16. CONTENTS Chapter I. Shall We Have a Religious Meeting for the Little Children ? . II. The Children's Five-Minute Sermon III. Some Impressible Points in the Child Mind IV. Essentials of a Profitable Talk to Children V. Objects for Religious Lessons. VI. The Blackboard VII. Object and Blackboard Combined . VIII. The Programme for Meetings . Page Sketches of Sermons. Hooking the Children Away The Fruits of the Spirit Don't Be a Sponge, Be a Water Lily . The Two Ways The Money Sermon .... The Fence Rails not to be Taken Down Hearts and Their Tenants . Honor thy Father and thy Mother '44 47 5° 5- 57 59 6 1 CONTENTS. Sketches of Sermons. The Altar Sermon Arch of Character Fourth of July .... The Vulture Changed into the Lark How the Sermon is Received Don't Be a Toadstool, Be a Vine . Roofing the House Common and Pressed Brick . Our Declaration of Independence Railroad from Heart to Heaven . Record of My Life for 1893 . The Life of Jesus .... The Ship of Life .... The Icy Pavement of a Bad Example Missionary Lights over the World Sin Building a Hornet's Nest The Strongest Drink . The Clock Sermon Jacob's Ladder .... Hearts and Lives of Love and of Sin Missionary Battle for the World . The Sweetest Perfume on the Altar The Resurrection of the Body Training the Tree .... My Sling against Present-Day Giants Planting the Christmas-Tree in the Heart The Ten Commandments The Hands' Sermon Your Crown . Building My Altar To-day Thanksgiving Day The Cup Sermon . What Comes from the Beer Glass ? Easter .... What Training Will Do CONTENTS. Sketches of Sermons. Companionship in Home or Saloon Faith and Works . Ready for Either Altar or Yoke Old Rags made White as Snow Building the Lighthouse That Wonderful Wire, Faith How to Make it Rain . The Demon Hand of Intemperance Three Strange Preachers to Peter Solid Shot and Cartridge Box How to Hit the Greatest Happiness The Manly Boy and the Putty Boy Let Me Feel Your Pulse The Christian in the Army . Is Your Hatchet Nicked or Well Sharpened The Christian Soldier . The Worst Wasp's Nest — the Saloon Show Me Your Tongue ! Seeds Topics for Original Work . 164 168 170 l 7Z i75 177 i79 1S1 183 185 187 190 192 J94 197 199 202 205 208 LITTLE CHILDREN IN THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. I. SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING FOR THE LITTLE CHILDREN ? CHRIST'S offer of salvation is really to every creature. During his visible so- journ among men, he showed the sincerity of this offer by graciously receiving every sort of man who came, every woman, even the vilest, with tender love, and by his extraordinary wel- come to the children. Those who stood in the way of the approaching child greatly displeased him. He thus made Christianity unique, as also the religion for the child. The child not simply to be one of its subjects, but the typical subject. All souls must come to Christ as the little child comes. This Gospel concerning children has now so thoroughly permeated human thoughts and feelings that unusual imagination is required 2 SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING? to put ourselves for the moment into the atti- tude of some ancient nations regarding the child. Yet for a more just appreciation of the Gospel let us make the effort. We go to an- cient Sparta, the land of Lycurgus and Leoni- das, and how we are horrified to find along the roadside, or in a clump of bushes, an abandoned infant ; another, a little farther on it may be, pitifully moaning out its spark of life. No one is concerned about it ; and if some one is an- noyed, and dashes out the little life, it is as if you killed a limping chick on the farm. Pos- sibly another is brought while you stand re- flecting, and is cast into the same place. Why this barbarism in a people otherwise really far advanced ? You are told it is the custom and law of their civilization that all delicate or de- fective infants shall be cast out to perish, to be devoured by wild beasts, or to be reared, by any one who will, to a life of shame. But you say it must be better at Athens. Sparta is proverbially cruel, and under a stern military system. Athens surely has more hu- manity and tenderness. You proceed to the city of the greatest intellects of all time, and the same heartless practice of " exposure " of cer- tain classes of infants prevails. There is a great " chasm," according to Plutarch, into which the SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING? 3 condemned innocents are cast. Herod slew a few children in Bethlehem, and the world has wept with Rachel for eighteen hundred years. But Athenian customs out-Herod Herod. Worst of all, Plato, in his ideal republic, could conceive of nothing better than such a disposi- tion of unpromising offspring. And Aristotle advocated it. " Let it be the law," he said, "that nothing imperfect or maimed shall be brought up." Plato's ideal was the entire sun- dering of the family tie, and the herding together of children under official nurses. This was Greece in her loftiest civilization. When we go to the Brahmanism of India, what horrors of infanticide in the name of religion meet us. Rachel weeps at Bethlehem, but the gods steel the hearts of Hindu mothers. The sacred Ganges has buried more children than all the cemeteries of America. The Old Testa- ment makes us familiar with Moloch, that hor- rible idol into whose iron arms, made red-hot, little children were laid in sacrifice, while deaf- ening drums drowned their pitiful cries. Girl babies in all heathen lands, how unfortunate ! Unwelcome when they come, if not murdered at birth, how rough and thorny their way ! Who does not praise God for the teachings of Christ concerning children ? But let us beware 4 SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING? lest we fail to get his full loving purpose con- cerning them. The Christian world is yet far from looking upon children with the eyes of Christ. Writing for those who are learning, though late, thus to see somewhat with the eyes of Christ, we feel the need of a Children's Meeting supplementary to the Sunday-school. We have nothing but praise for the enthusiastic and effective labors of the faithful teachers, now the rule in our Sabbath-schools ; and the love for Bible study they have patiently developed is largely the cause of the present extraordinary interest in all Biblical discussions. But the Sunday-school is ever a school, with a school atmosphere necessarily, and properly, in view of the importance of Bible knowledge, and can- not, therefore, satisfy the religious needs of the child any more fully than those of the adult. The Christian father and mother want a prayer meeting, a testimony meeting, and preaching ; and the peculiar spiritual help which these sup- ply, in addition to the best possible Sunday- school, is also needed by the child. And as an easy transition to church fellow- ship, the Children's Meeting has an important place. The Catechumen Class of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches leading to a decision SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING? fj to become Christians and to unite with the church, is such a meeting, but something like it for much younger children is required. The Pastoral Lectures given in courses by many Presbyterian and Baptist ministers, which are evangelistic meetings for the salvation of young people, are similar, but also fail to reach down far enough. Children under ten years, under six years of age — indeed, at two or three, as we know by many actual cases — are deeply inter- ested in religious instruction, and ought to have the very best that our day can furnish. And meetings for children ought to be continuous, not falling into the mistake so justly criticised in Methodist winter revival meetings, that of caring little or nothing to save souls the rest of the year. The Methodist Episcopal Church has prob- ably the most advanced provision for children of any Protestant church. Though growing out of infant baptism, it is not dependent upon that, and churches not practicing such baptism might adopt its Children's Meeting, as leading up to baptism instead of following it. In fact, provision is made that children unbaptized shall also be admitted. They have equal rights in it with the others, and a meeting of this kind in a Methodist Church might be held with not a 6 SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING? baptized child in it, if such a Methodist Church could be found. We give the substance of the Methodist law on this subject : * "We hold that all children, by virtue of the unconditional benefits of the Atonement, are members of the kingdom of God, and therefore graciously entitled to baptism ; but as infant baptism contemplates a course of religious in- struction and discipline, it is expected of all parents or guardians who present their children for baptism that they will use all diligence in bringing them up in conformity to the word of God ; and they should be solemnly admonished of this obligation, and earnestly exhorted to faithfulness therein. " We regard all children who have been bap- tized as placed in visible covenant relation to God, and under the special care and supervision of the church. " The preacher in charge shall organize the baptized children of the church, at the age of ten years or younger, into classes, and appoint suitable leaders (male or female), whose duty it shall be to meet them in class once a week and instruct them in the nature, design, and obliga- tions of baptism, and the truths of religion nec- * Methodist Discipline, pp. 37"4 2 - SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING i J essary to make them wise unto salvation ; urge them to give regular attendance upon the means of grace ; advise, exhort and encourage them to an immediate consecration of their hearts and lives to God, and inquire into the state of their religious experience ; provided, that children unbaptized are not to be excluded from these classes. " Whenever baptized children shall have at- tained an age sufficient to understand the obli- gations of religion, and shall give evidence of piety, they may be admitted into full member- ship in the church, on the recommendation of a leader, with whom they have met at least six months in class, by publicly assenting before the church to the baptismal covenant, and also to the usual questions on doctrine and discipline. " Whenever a baptized child shall, by orphan- age or otherwise, become deprived of Christian guardianship, the preacher in charge shall ascer- tain, and report to the leaders' and stewards' meeting the facts in the case ; and such provi- sion shall be made for the Christian training of the child as the circumstances of the case ad- mit and require." This is an admirable care of the children in the church. The class, or Children's Meetings provided by it, may be held in towns and villages 8 SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING? on Saturday afternoon ; in country places before the morning service, and in cities, a forty-min- ute service on some week-day, in the church after school hours. Indeed, with a due sense of the necessity of more direct and systematic work for the conver- sion and training of children, some time will always be found for the little company to gather. The general church is coming profoundly to believe in the reality and power of a child's conversion, and in the clearness and joy of his salvation. The Children's Meeting is to deal specially with this young religious life, and to bring the child into actual church fellowship by easy stages. The Christian Endeavor and other young people's societies are no more useful than such a spiritual meeting for the little ones may become. Under ten years of age life-long impressions are unquestionably made. Every adult has personal experience of some such impression. Shall we not then surround the child with the sunniest and most powerful spiritual influence ? Moral and mental habits are begun and in build- ing. Up with our scaffolding, and see that the soul is erected after heavenly drawings and plans. Church history teems with the incalculable SHALL WE HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING? 9 value of early conversion and intelligent Chris- tian training. In a few families this is given by the parents, but we must extend the same opportunities to all the children under the influence of the church. Let this instruction be worthy of a place be- side the public school training, and the physical culture now being advocated. This, at least; it ought to be better, if possible. What saith the Lord ? " Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God." " Lovest thou Me ? " . . . •" Feed my lambs." The Junior Christian Endeavor Society and the junior departments of denominational young people's societies, like the Epworth League, the Baptist Young People's Union and others, are rapidly and enthusiastically organizing religious work among the children. Constitutions, plans, programmes and all necessary helps are so easily obtainable, that we will not take space here even to outline the highly commendable features of this new Christian movement. The sermons of this book will serve as the religious talk for these meetings, to be given by the leader or the pastor, if possible. We suggest elsewhere series of Bible lessons which ought to be inculcated with all the skill, perseverance, 10 SHALL WE -HAVE A RELIGIOUS MEETING? and expectation of the results of the best public school teachers, and with far greater enthusiasm and impressiveness. Practical Christian work, to an extent surprising to the uninformed, has already been undertaken and successfully ac- complished by very small children. Great inter- est is aroused by reports of such work called for in the meeting and presented by them. II. THE CHILDREN S FIVE-MINUTE SERMON. FEW Christian parents now require their children to attend church services regu- larly with them. Here and there, only, is an entire family on Sunday morning facing the man of God with his message. Many influences have combined to relax parental rule over chil- dren's religious habits, and it is sadly significant that many ask whether, were it possible, it would be wise to urge parents generally to compel the presence of their children at the church services. It were better not to make it necessary to compel them, because the special provisions for children's instruction drew them. But even in the absence of these talks to the children, or the general attractiveness of the preacher to them, it will, in the judgment of the best Christian observers, be a sad mistake not ii 12 THE CHILDREN S FIVE-MINUTE SERMON. to take the child very early in life to the House of God, and to enact in every Christian house- hold the unchangeable law that old and young, down to the baby, must go to church every Sabbath morning. What an inspiration would be whole families at church regularly ! Do you say this was the case not many years ago ? Yes ; but then the services were really interesting to the chil- dren without extra provision for them. But now glance outside at the attractions for the child- mind ; at schools, from the enchanted ground of the kindergarten to the wonderful public schools, with drawing, sewing, calisthenics, manual training, cooking lessons, flowers, pict- ures ; everything winsome, enthusiastic, inspir- ing ; see the stores, with children's departments having a bewildering array of dolls, toys, me- chanical, ingenious, beautiful. Any doll will not do for the little girl of to-day ; she discrimi- nates, and revolves in her mind the respective merits of the doll which is double-jointed and can stand, of the doll which can cry and say " mamma," or the sailor boy, or black Topsy. Think of satisfying her with a painted corn-cob or a stuffed rag doll ! The boy, her brother, even in a home of ordinary comforts, has his steam engine, his box of tools, his bicycle, or, with THE CHILDREN S FIVE-MINUTE SERMON. 1 3 different tastes, a most remarkable boy's mu- seum of curios. Then see the children's magazines, papers, books ~— a marvelously entertaining and instruct- ive child literature flooding the land. The en- tire home is the home of children more than ever was dreamed of by the little boys and girls who, fifty years ago, went demurely to the fam- ily pew in the loved church. Their grandchil- dren ought to go as faithfully. But turning to the duty of the church in the matter, is it not imperative that the church provide as well for the children, as the world does ? Coming from special attentions received everywhere else, will not our boys and girls greatly feel the lack if the church forgets their needs ? We cannot return to the old days in church alone. We must wipe out toy stores, child literature, schools, amusements as they exist to-day, to accomplish it. But who would desire to pay such a price, to say nothing of its impossibility ? There is no alternative, if we would have children voluntarily in our preaching services, but to provide for them ; and to do it as nearly as may be with the masterly skill and wisdom which characterizes other attractions for them. If we love Christ we must show it by feeding his lambs, and if the care of the bodies and 14 THE CHILDREN S FIVE-MINUTE SERMON. the minds of children has become so advanced, let us rejoice, and determine that spiritual care shall be even better. We offer the five-minute sermon Sunday morning as a suggestive experiment. It will commend itself in actual practice. " But the transition to the sermon ? " If the sermon it- self be above the children, even at the worst they will have five minutes, where otherwise they would have nothing. And many older persons will have five minutes of helpful service, instead of, to them, strange depths and heights and wanderings. Even the preacher needs these Five Minutes of special clearness, directness and freedom. It will soon open a highway for all the children into his learned sermons — and they cannot be too learned, if clear — and give them sympathy with his cultured breadth of view, which, again, cannot be too comprehensive or philosophical if directly bearing upon present needs and per- plexities. But if he is determined to go on discoursing immature thought in learned tech- nicalities, the older people will fall asleep, but the bright boys and girls will sound his depths and find him out. What a blessed change to brightness, simplicity, power of vivid illustra- tion and general wide awakeness, comes often THE CHILDREN S FIVE-MINUTE SERMON. 1 5 from the five-minute sermon to the children, which many of our friends already practice. The lambs must be fed with the great truths of the Gospel of Christ, in striking form and beauty. Literary finish and grace to some ex- tent, historical and scientific allusions of the simplest kind only, unless time for detailed explanation be found. Anecdotes have been the staple of talk to children, and are important always ; but fresh anecdotes only are thoroughly impressive, or old ones very brightly related, and not repeated in other lessons. Anecdotal preaching is wearisome to any real thinker. There are thinkers among the children who would rather have argument, definition of great truths which solve their perplexities, or plain statement of great duties of life. I have seen children, from six years up, held for half an hour by a talk with not an anecdote in it, but whose characteristic was the plain and bright setting forth of Christian doctrine and duty. Beware of anecdotes which are like a large bowl of thin soup, with a little piece of a moral swimming somewhere in it. Give the children the little bit of meat, and just a sip or two of the soup. A parable is better than an anecdote, and we may freely construct modern parables ; and if 1 6 THE CHILDREN^ FIVE-MINUTE SERMON. anecdotes are scarce, suppose cases which can then be manufactured to be full of the lesson you would teach. However, a fresh and apt anecdote is a prize to be treasured. Five minutes is long enough to make a pow- erful impression. Teach with intense earnest- ness and affectionate interest, but not in a childish manner. The five-minute sermon will be interesting to old as well as young, and your most mature and intellectual business men will object most strongly to their discontinu- ance. We are all helped by illustrative teach- ing. It was the great Teacher's method who out-of-doors had the sower, the vine, the sheep- fold, the birds and flowers to point to as he spoke. The preaching of the future to all will have to be more intense, vivid, immediately impres- sive. We must flood mind through eyes and ears at once, as Christ did, and a good begin- ning to make is with the children's sermon. It will be more like the Saviour's own preaching than any other we give. III. SOME IMPRESSIBLE POINTS IN THE CHILD MIND. A CHILD is the easiest of all intelligent beings to impress, and the quickest to learn up to his full capacity. He is the soul most thoroughly alive, and it is a strange idea that children are hard to teach religious truth, or difficult to interest in it. Of course, they do not become enthusiastic over what is Greek to them, but they go more patiently to hear Greek than they will at any later period in life. My aim in the present chapter is to indicate some of the impressible points in the child mind. Our limits, however, preclude any attempt at exhaustive study of juvenile psychology. I can offer simply a series of suggestions. i. What is the healthy, typical child? He is a being with unbounded delight in his per- ceptive faculties, especially in seeing ; and there *7 1 8 SOME IMPRESSIBLE POINTS. is no door of his mind so gladly opened, and that very wide, as his eyes. If we show him spiritual truths in familiar objects, we increase his natural delight, and turn it to permanent profit. We train him to look beneath the sur- face for the deep things of good and bad. Our conventional methods of preaching and teach- ing scarcely touch this open door, and seldom make any use of these inviting avenues for great truths to the tender soul. That the im- pressions from sight are to a child more power- ful than those from hearing, is probable, but we need not stop to discuss this ; we now simply point out an additional access to the child. To me, the call is imperative to use it. How can it be otherwise ? 2. The perceptive faculties are all intensely active. Let all be kept busy carrying truth in spiritual lessons. Let the child feel softness, hardness, sharpness, dullness, solidity, etc. ; let him both see and hear the brightest, most beau- tiful, most charming truths and stories of the Bible, of Christian life, of working for Christ ; let him both see and hear the pathetic, the sad warnings, the terrible results of sins ; all the great truths of the wonderful Gospel, in terms plain and vivid, but never childish. Let them physically feel the good illustration of the truth, SOME IMPRESSIBLE POINTS. 1 9 and their hearts will feel the truth itself might- ily. They will not forget what they greatly enjoyed seeing. Even perfumes were used in that wonderful school of object teaching under Moses and Aaron — the Tabernacle ceremonial services — and may be used in many lessons to-day. Thus taste, smell, sight, hearing and feeling may be flooded with truth by the wise teacher. Will the truth be any too well im- pressed with all these? Dare we confine our- selves to hearing, and bury the other four? 3. The child's vivid imagination. Suggest a point or two of a picture, and almost any child fills it out. Give a surprising fact in barest skeleton, and the children clothe it in flesh and fullest detail of garments before they reach mother. The exaggerations in statement, and the many pure inventions of childhood, which trouble innocent parents so much, are not in- tentional lies. They are the exuberance of a lively imagination, and the wise parent will try neither to break a child's will, nor to extinguish a child's fancy. He had really better break the child's back, and put out its eyes. We can get truth-telling, not by whipping the bewildered little being, but by calling it more accurately to perceive. " Are you sure there are a hundred cats in 20 SOME IMPRESSIBLE POINTS. the yard ? Did you really hear a noise like thunder ? Look again ; think ; try to remem- ber exactly." We must save imagination and use it for spiritual good. Here is the value of variety of suggestiveness in object lessons. The children will take the bones and fill out the sermon. 4. What child does not love beauty ? What open eyes for it, what unbounded pleasure ! Use this sensibility to convey the deep lessons of purity, like the lily and the snow, love like the rose, truth like the blue heavens, faith like the baby running to mamma, hope like the beautiful morning. And the sense of ugliness to depict sin. Make letters of serpents, thorns, black stumps, chains, dark repulsive pictures stirring the aversions of the soul. 5. Children are not childish in their own estimation. They feel themselves to be little men and women. The girls play, you say, but work, in their own mind, at housekeeping, tak- ing care of their children (dolls), teaching school, making fashionable calls, etc. All in sober earnest, with womanly manners and feel- ing. The boys are manly in their thoughts, and it is important discriminatingly to recog- nize this child feeling. A dignified manner of speech to children, while continuing perfectly SOME IMPRESSIBLE POINTS. 21 plain, a loving, genuine courtliness will increase the right kind of self-respect among them, and give your words great weight. They observe how you address men and women, and will resent any coming down to "babyisms," when turning to them. You are talking to very earnest little men and women, but to children none the less, and your manner must skillfully meet this complex requirement. 6. The consciences of children are pecu- liarly tender and responsive. Lessons to them may be ethical, hortatory, advisory, to a degree which might become tiresome to older minds ; but if given in bright style, with familiar illus- trations, will arouse great interest. However, it is doubtful whether ethical subjects are as dull to the average man as preachers usually think. The sermon on duty may be dull, as it may be on any subject, but from a man who is in touch with the problems of modern life, who has studied the perplexities of good people in daily life, who has some knowledge of human nature, and himself a keen conscience, so that he can helpfully solve practical difficulties, a discourse on ethics will always have closest attention. Let there be more just appreciation of the perplexities of true Christian living, which are as many and as great as any doctrinal 22 SOME IMPRESSIBLE POINTS. difficulties can be, and let them be philosophi- cally studied, and the sermons following will have no lack of hearers, young and old. Sermons to children ought to present ethical problems, and have the children decide them. Give ex- ercise to conscience. 7. There is intense pleasure and immense value in the opportunity for free self-decision by the child. Over-instruction in duties, giving every matter ready to the child's hand, is like over-cultivation of plants. Teach the sense of moral responsibility to God, and remember that character is built up by this free moral activity. 8. Meet the restless activity of the child by jumping from point to point in your lesson, by surprises of thought, by many details. Touch suggestively rather than exhaustively. Intense mental activity during your teaching by many things, but all logically bearing upon the one truth you are seeking to impress. 9. The attractiveness of novel things to children is well known. Occasionally an object altogether foreign to the child's experience will be useful, especially if the child is likely to have to do with it in after life. The explana- tion or description of the new thing will im- press your thought all the more. 10. The child's enthusiasm ought to be SOME IMPRESSIBLE POINTS. 23 constantly utilized. The child nature is deep, true and earnest. Frivolity is educated into children, often very early. But naturally there is enthusiasm for great and serious concerns of life. Not to put old heads on young shoulders, for this is done when frivolous, shallow old heads of foolish parents are imparted, to th% exclusion of the frank and deeper young soul'; not to sadden the young life, but to turn into it streams of perpetual joy ; not to cloud its clear sky, but to bring the Sun of Righteous- ness into it forever. Earnestness and enthusi- asm are essential to the joy of a child at play, and we only increase his joy when we skillfully turn these into the stream of his great duties. 11. Refreshing frankness is a trait of child- hood. Keep in harmony with this by calling a spade a spade, a lie a lie, a mean act mean. The words "naughty," " telling stories," or "fibs," " taking things," are but a minifying of evil actions. Children delight in vigorous, direct, ringing, plain English, and to use the terms adults employ about life and character. Namby-pamby utterances in moral instruction disgust the manly boy, who, too often, by pen- dulous reaction, swings to the supposed power of oaths and curses. Give that boy pure, strong Anglo-Saxon, which expresses intense feeling 24 SOME IMPRESSIBLE POINTS. against evil, yet is reverent and courteous, and he will not be so likely to swear. Be frank with the children. 12. Voracious memory. Everything about the child is grasping to possess. The memory is most active and acquisitive now. Use the well-known helps to memory : alliteration, repe- tition, rhyming. 13. But how impressible the child's heart! That which presently the folly of parents, incul- cating the pettiness of conventional society, will render flippant and affected, is at earliest con- sciousness tender and responsive to affection's touch; the child heart is hungry for love, and quick to recognize it. Take to it the precious love of Christ very early. 14. Other avenues to the child nature, such as the manufacturing instinct, the delight in talking, the mother nature in girls and the soldier in the boys, may often be appealed to. The kindergarten system of teaching, by the genius of Froebel, has suggested much also very useful to the teacher of spiritual truths. Let us do not merely good work, but the best possible work, in young souls for Christ's sake. For the lambs of Christ ought to have the most "tender" grass in the greenest pastures into which the flock is led. IV. ESSENTIALS OF A PROFITABLE TALK TO CHILDREN. THE suggestive outline sermons which make up the body of our little manual, will probably be more helpful than ten times as much theorizing or description. Yet a few points may be important to note here. i. Originate your own outlines and talks. There is danger of running into servile imita- tion of the merely curious and ingenious objects, which will rather confuse the child mind. Look about for new objects with which to impress the Gospel. One original lesson is worth many gotten up by another. Be very free with the lessons herein given. Add new points, or modify any of the schemes. Combine two or more in one, or divide lessons. Not to be fan- tastic, but to be fresh, and to secure that hearty 25 26 ESSENTIALS OF A PROFITABLE TALK. enthusiasm in yourself which comes from orig- inal work. 2. The object or the blackboard illustration used, and the address upon it, should be the direct and simple teaching of a really great truth. Use all the variety, beauty, color and surprises which will clearly help to enforce the truth, and no others. Far-fetched, complicated, abstruse additions should be avoided as so much foreign matter stirred into the milk of the Word. Great truths will stand without props ornamental, and they will also produce the best impression when they are earnestly and clearly converged to a point. Discriminate here. No beauty is superfluous, no surprises or novelty to be unused which will open the child mind and move the child heart, but all not for their own sake, but for Christ's and the truth's sake. 3. Be very reverent in tone and subject matter. Let there be no approach to undue familiarizing of the deep mysteries of our reli- gion. It seems easy to some minds to find natural analogies to the Trinity, to cleansing by the blood in chemistry, and so on; but it is of very doubtful propriety, even with adults, and with children, already too prone to irrev- erence, it is very harmful. No analogies on ESSENTIALS OF A PROFITABLE TALK. 27 these profound subjects are ever hinted at in the Scriptures, and the entire Jewish cere- monialism was deeply reverent. Let us follow its spirit closely in our choice of subjects and methods. 4. Lessons to children ought to be chiefly in the realms of duty, privilege, warning ; ethi- cal, not speculative ; spiritual rather than theo- logical. 5. Dignify by spiritual impressiveness. This is not solemnity, nor austerity. It is possible to be bright without flippancy, humorous with- out unkindness or irreverence, and to thoroughly attract and hold children with lessons of the spiritual life in Christ. 6. Aim to reach the boys as well as the girls. Our conventional church methods do not only fail to reach the men, but they are fast losing the boys from us. Be manly, vigorous ; have boys' lessons stirring and inspiring. 7. Have artistic harmony of color and plan. Let bright colors set forth the good, dark colors the evil. No fanciful mixing of colors in a single word, but a simple, appropriate body color, and a tasteful shade, if you shade the letters. 8. Become a boy again, or a girl again, in 28 ESSENTIALS OF A PROFITABLE TALK. your views of truth. Draw on memory to real- ize how you felt and thought then, and begin there. Then add a man's or a woman's clearer and broader knowledge to the boy's, and your lesson will not need to be taught twice to at least some of your little auditors. OBJECTS FOR RELIGIOUS LESSONS. THE teaching of Christ was largely out door work, and in the immediate pres- ence of the many objects He uses in parable and simile. He could point to the sower walk- ing literally over the field when He uttered that remarkable characterization of different classes of hearers; to the woman bending over the three measures of meal in some courtyard, and stirring in the leaven; to the gentle Eastern shepherd leading out his flock ; to the great vine and branches, probably still bearing grapes like those the spies brought to Moses. He possessed pre-eminently what has been called the "homiletical instinct for spiritual analo- gies," and in his travels in Palestine He laid everything in that simple agricultural commu- nity under contribution for religious impression. 29 30 OBJECTS FOR RELIGIOUS LESSONS. Think of what He could gather for spiritual illumination from our present marvelously diver- sified life, employments, activities, customs and environments of every kind. What truths He would discover in the new and mighty forces of nature now serving us, so suggestive even to dull minds ! What riches of parable He would again construct ! To his keen spiritual discern- ment everything now, as eighteen hundred years ago, would speak of Gospel truth. Things dumb to us would have voices so charming ; things altogether dark would shine with glorious truth, and every new discovery would not only add to our material conveniences, but would be at once eloquent of spiritual secrets of the Gospel, or re-emphasize the truths well-known. No books of illustrations will compensate the preacher to children, especially for the lack of this " homiletical instinct," or live spiritual perception of analogies. But this may be ac- quired to a sufficient degree for excellent work by patient cultivation. Believe, therefore, that everything good con- tains a spiritual lesson of good. Not too often upon the surface, but to be found by earnest searching. Get something so good and helpful out of objects around you, that they will perpetu- ally remind the children how the recent discov- OBJECTS FOR RELIGIOUS LESSONS. 3 1 eries in electricity, natural gas and other forces await the touch of some master who can trans- mute them into imperishable religious parables. Use all the old and familiar objects: the heart, hand, armor, anchor, crown, sword, seed, and so on. Cut pictures out of advertising hand-bills, out of children's books ; gather material when- ever opportunity offers. If you cannot draw upon the blackboard, pin an object closely cut out on it instead. Search the Bible for materials. Keep a little note-book into which enter every object men- tioned in the Bible for illustration. Study the Bible also for methods and proprieties in object teaching. Avoid every appearance of irrever- ence. The Trinity, the blood-cleansing and other deep mysteries are to be simply declared ; it is irreverent to analyze and experiment here. Original, ingenious and elaborate objects are proper, if they aid to simplify the truth. And they can frequently be made to do so. Let your object justify itself by the vividness, force and directness with which it enforces the truth. It is a means to a high end. Let it be beauti- ful, but for no other purpose than to exhibit the beauty of truth. Let it be new and origi- nal, only to give new and original light upon the Gospel it embodies. VI. THE BLACKBOARD. EVERYBODY can make a mark on the blackboard. A dot after a line made while talking of the end of life, speaks power- fully to a child who knows that the punctuation mark called " period " is a full stop. A straight line is a life of honesty, truth and push. A crooked line shows the vacillation, waste and ugliness of sin. A lot of little upright lines will do to represent a group of children : some of them are blue — true and faithful ; others are red — earnest and brave ; some white — pure and loving. Another group are green — fool- ish; or dark brown — full, of sin. Put the bright ones upon a line running diagonally upward and they are on the way to Heaven ; put the others upon the dark way downward, and what child will not understand it ? 32 THE BLACKBOARD. 33 You can draw a heart. That is enough for a series of lessons. Here is a great heart covering the whole board. It is filled with grand thoughts of good, with pure desires. Room for father, mother, brothers and sisters, for the poor, for sinners, for all the world ! And Jesus wonder- fully fills it. But here is a narrow, dried-up little heart of a selfish, worldly man. Draw it. So there are twenty lessons about hearts you can teach if you can draw one heart. Can you draw hands ? No ? Well, put your hand on the board and draw around it. Now, look at the inside lines of your hand and put them into your outline. Good and evil deeds may be taught from this hand. Make some of the fingers very long, and talk about stealing and its direful end. Let the children imagine the hand closed as a brutal fist, or hanging down in laziness. Or in good hands speak of the busy, skillful, pure, honest, helpful, gentle hands. Speak of Christ's hands touching the leper, but uncontaminated ; opening blind eyes, raising the daughter of Jairus — but finally nailed to the cross. In a similar way you can begin to use the cross, the shield, anchor, sword ; then the more difficult crown, leaves, fruit, star, etc. Now about lettering. Depend upon free- 34 THE BLACKBOARD. hand, and train your eye to be ruler and spacer. Draw letters in plain capitals at first, and little by little attempt ornamental letters and shad- ing. You will always know how to shade if you remember one principle : put your sun or light at some definite spot above to right or left. Then shade whatever part of each letter would cast a shadow from the light shining at the spot selected. Use colors with taste. To crayon one letter of a word yellow, another letter green, another blue or red is fantastic. Have all the letters of one word the same color. If the word is sug- gestive of good or bright things, always use bright and attractive colors ; if of sin or dark^ ness, use somber, dark and forbidding shades of crayon. Do not take too much time to prepare your blackboard work. Do all rapidly, else time which belongs to some other duty will be re- quired, and the reaction will come when you can give less to blackboard; and then having set up an impracticable standard of elaborate drawings, you will be discouraged and resign as children's meeting leader. Do what you can as a busy man ; make no apologies (how can we ever abol- ish the folly of apologies ?) and stay at your post. " Lovest thou Me ? Feed my lambs." THE BLACKBOARD. 35 For the suggestive sermons we give it is best to have a blackboard ; not of slate, but of wood covered with liquid slating. Tacks can be driven into this with only slight injury to it, easily repaired by another application of the liquid. I use my boards very freely, and they have lasted for years without re-slating. Let no tenderness for the blackboard stand in the way of the best putting of Gospel truth. A thousand blackboards are a small price to pay for saving a boy or girl. VII. OBJECT AND BLACKBOARD COMBINED. TACK a money-purse, open, to the center of the blackboard. Draw three lines to- ward it from the right, ending in the open purse. One line, straight and white, is the honest way to roll money into the pocketbook. Another is crooked and green — the questionable way; the third is zigzag and dark — a thieving and dis- honest way. Take a silver dollar and roll it along each way while you dwell upon the many important ethical questions of money getting. The questionable way is only doubtful to loose or immature consciences; to all really good peo- ple it is wrong. Would it not be surprising and beautiful to have lighted candles on blackboard pictures ? You can easily have them by folding a stiff piece of paper V-shaped, and holding it open OBJECT AND BLACKBOARD COMBINED. 37 end against the board with the front up, so as to form a little shelf when tacked above and be- low. Soften the bottom of the candle over a light and it will adhere to the paper support. The lighted candles represent good people or children, and here is a most fruitful field for developing a score of lessons. This combination of objects with crayon work on the blackboard is of immense value in chil- dren's sermons. All your objects can again be used, deepening former lessons. Some ingenuity will have to be exercised in neatly getting certain objects into place; but if you lack this ingenuity, do as I did ; call in some bright mechanic to help you. Tell him what you want done ; get suggestions. I am under great obligations to my ingenious friend, not a mechanic, but a genius in overcoming mechanical difficulties, Mr. William A. Fisher, of Bryn Mavvr. The sermons following will illustrate the value of the suggestions here made. VIII. THE PROGRAMME FOR MEETINGS. THE teacher, always, in large measure, is the school. So the leader of our chil- dren's religious meetings must be the unfailing and abundant spring of interest and helpfulness. By much prayer, by industrious accumulation and working up of material, and by a Christ- like view of childhood which sincerely loves it, he or she must prepare. With such an ideal of good work as there ought to be the leader will often be discouraged, but far better thus than to be too easily satisfied. For when most discouraged, if the leader yet keeps on with spirit, the best work probably is being done. The programme for the meetings must have variety, but should avoid being confusing. Some general order of exercises is desirable, 33 THE PROGRAMME FOR MEETINGS. 39 and we furnish here some suggestions of mate- rial. Every earnest leader will be able to gather more than is needed along these and similar lines. 1. Singing ought to be well provided for, using an organ and other helps. Many children like the grand old church hymns, like " Jesus, Lover of my Soul," " Rock of Ages," "Nearer, my God, to Thee ! " and if you give them the choice they will frequently call for them. But children's sacred songs and hymns are very abundant, and the best should be taught. " Action" songs, with hand clapping, pointing upward and other gestures, are of never-failing interest. Old-fashioned lining of hymns, with all books closed ; the first word of the line sung by the leader, the rest by the children ; the re- sponsive singing by dividing the meeting into two parts : solo, semi-chorus and chorus; very loud singing if jubilant, very low if pathetic ; a hymn prayer sung on their knees ; a monthly closing hymn. These are a few of the many variations to be adopted when interest flags. 2. Prayer. — The children need very explicit and detailed instruction in prayer. Tell them why you kneel, if you do, or stand, or bow the head ; show them the advantage of clasped hands and closed eyes. These are the shell of prayer; 40 THE PROGRAMME FOR MEETINGS. what is the rich kernel ? A heart engaged. So let knees, clasped hands and closed eyes all pray. Get them to frame original petitions or sentences in prayer, giving them such suggestions as, "O, God, our Father ! we come to praise thee. We give thanks for all thy blessings. We thank thee for good homes, kind friends, for schools and books, for food and clothing, and for thy church. We thank thee that Jesus came into this world as a little child. That He went about doing good, and died for us. We cannot name all we thank thee for. We pray thee to forgive us our sins, and wash our hearts clean. Help us to be good, obedient and loving. Bless our meeting, all our friends, and all men. For Jesus' sake ;" then, with the leader, let all pray the Lord's prayer. Teach the children to pray at home in the morning. Very few children do this, and we have no popular morning prayer like that world- wide evening verse, " Now I lay me down to sleep." I venture to give a morning counterpart : Now I rise to work and play, I pray Thee, bless me all this day ; To keep from sin, to do some good, To love and serve Thee as I should. For Jesus' sake. Amen. THE PROGRAMME FOR MEETINGS. 41 Here is a verse which I have given to hun- dreds of little children to use at the table : We thank Thee for our daily bread, And all the blessings on us shed; We pray Thee, fill us with Thy love, And guide us to our home above. For Jesus' sake. Amen. Another exercise in prayer is the children's " union prayer." Write the four topics, Thanks- giving, Confession, Petitions for Others, Peti- tions for Myself, on the blackboard. Talk about these until you have suggested a large number of sentences for each. Then kneel or bow, and let all who will voluntarily utter a sentence one after another, yourself commencing and closing. 3. — A Few Scripture Lessons. (1.) Bible History seen from interesting homes. The Home in Eden. Who were the parents ? What can you tell about the two boys ? The third son ? What strange events occurred ? The Home in the Ark. Who was its head ? Name the rest of the family. What wonderful experiences had they ? The Homes in Tents, Abraham's, Isaac's, Jacob's. Tell three things about each. The Passover Home. The three children, Moses, Aaron, Miriam, what did they accomplish ? The Home in the Temple. What old man was there, and what dear little boy ? The Palace Home. David's, with its wise boy, and very bad boy. 42 THE PROGRAMME FOR MEETINGS. The Babylonian Home of Four Young Men — Daniel and the three others. What did they do ? The Nazareth Home. What was the business of the father ? Tell about the wonderful Son. Each of these will do for a lesson. (2.) The history of God's people down to the present. Do not let children imagine that God ceased to care for or guide his people after Bible times. Trace the story of Providence down to the date of your lesson. We use Usher's chronology. a. The Beginnings — Adam to Enoch — 1,000 years. b. The Punishments — Enoch to Abraham — 1,00 years. c. The Jewish Church — Abraham to Solomon — 1,000 years. d. The Prophetic Outlook for Jesus — Solomon to Christ — 1,000 years. e. Jesus in the Flesh — 33 years. f. Apostles continue His work — to 100 A. D. [Round Nos. g. The Pure Primitive Church — to 300 A. d. h. The Corrupt Romish Church — to 1500 a. d. i. The Reformation under Luther — to 1750 A. d. / The Revival under Wesley — to 1850 a. d. k. The most wonderful of all — to the present day. (3.) The subjects of the Bible : God — Man — Sin — Salvation — The Future. (4) The kind of full and rounded character we are build- ing in the children. A whole alphabet and more of Be's. Be active Be examples of good Be brave Be yoked to Christ Be careful Be zealous Be dutiful Be accommodating Be earnest Be generous Be faithful Be prayerful Be good Be hopeful THE PROGRAMME FOR MEETINGS. 43 Be honest Be industrious Be just Be kind Be loving Be manly Be noble Be obedient Be pure Be quick Be ready Be sincere Be truthful Be useful Be virtuous Be wise Be devout Be humble Be gentle Be content Be patient Be unselfish Be forgiving Be grateful Be upright Be steady Be enthusiastic Be thoughtful Be sympathetic Be strict Be genial Be Christlike (5.) The practical work for children. Take flowers to the sick. Find out the poor. Take delicacies to the suffering. Look out for children outside of all Sunday-schools. Stand up for Christ on the playground, at school and at home. Earn a little money to give to every good cause. Protect animals and birds from cruelty. In winter time take baskets to the poor. At Christmas time distribute presents to those who other- wise would get none. And very much more. Call for reports upon these and other lines of practical work. If you can, appoint the most active to special charge of departments. HOOKING THE CHILDREN AWAY. @0$m Mkw DRAW the words "Children — Jesus," on blackboard, leaving considerable space at left. From that end of board have a number of heavy dark lines to represent long poles with the interrogation mark (?) as a hook on top at end of each. So there are people in our churches who do not come near enough to children to understand them ; who by long hooks of questions raised by prejudices pull them away from Christ. They have such hooks as these: How can children understand the 44 HOOKING THE CHILDREN AWAY. 45 deep truths about God ? But this would pull us all away, for none of us fully understand these profound mysteries. Or they say, chil- dren by their faults and sins bring reproach upon Christ. Now, put down your pole a mo- ment and be honest ; if you are without fault in this respect, then cast stones at the dear children. But like the former Pharisees, the brother has gone and there lies his long, cruel pole. Good for firewood. But another hook : Will it last in the child ? This is like asking whether the baby in the arms of that brother's wife would live if laid out on the doorstep, given sour milk occasionally, and left to be frightened and bitten by dogs ; whether it is worth while to do anything for that baby when it has measles or mumps or chicken-pox, etc. That baby will live if it is taken care of, in all proba- bility. So will the young Christian continue if intelligently nurtured. Don't cast him out if he should take something like measles spiritually ; all babes in Christ even when born at sixty years of age are likely to have them. Or, if the young Christian should go astray so far as to have scarlet fever religiously, get the best doc- tor possible. Here are some hooks on the other side : When is the lamb so young that it had better be outside than in the fold ? When is 4-6 HOOKING THE CHILDREN AWAY. the child too young to go to heaven if he dies ? When too young to love ? Or to obey ? Hook these questions, dear brethren with the long poles, into your ugly prejudices and pull them out where the light and air will make them crumble into pieces. " Suffer the children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of heaven." If " kingdom of heaven " means the church of Jesus on earth as well as in glory — and this is unquestionably its meaning — away with the sharp hooks, and come as a child yourself. THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. DRAW an immense bunch of grapes cover- ing the entire blackboard. Tell the ac- count of the two spies bringing the great cluster from Eshcol to Moses. We may have a more wonderful cluster for ourselves when we are saved and have the Holy Spirit abiding in our hearts. Now, see our fine cluster ! (Have tags of different colors to pin on to grapes.) Here is a large grape on which I put this pink tag and 47 48 THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. call it Love. Who does not like this grape ? Let us cultivate it carefully and permit no harm to come to it. Insects would sting it, but let us cover the cluster as the vinedresser does with a large muslin bag, and call it the Church. Here is a grape called Faith ; I put a white tag on it. How sweet and nourishing it is ! Here is Truth, with a blue tag for it. Nice to look at as the beautiful heavens above. For the grape Earnestness, I have a scarlet tag, and for Steadfastness, evergreen. For Courage, here is a tag of gold. Now, what does the pink tag point out ? The blue, etc. ? This cluster must grow on a branch joined to the Vine, Jesus. The fruits of the Spirit named in Galatians v. 22, 23, or the virtues in Second Peter 1. 5-7 may be used. An interesting New Testament lesson is made by taking these two lists, and the precepts of Romans xn. 9-21 expressed in a word, and making three parallel columns on the other side of your blackboard or on large white paper. Check off with a bright word of comment duplicates of first list in the other two, duplicates in third of the second ; then have tags for all the different fruits of the Spirit named in the three lists. A little reflection THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 49 will select suggestive colors for tags to repre- sent all these. A large number of the good fruits is desirable, because it will make a most valuable and lasting impression of the great variety and breadth of Christian activities. DON'T BE A SPONGE, BE A WATER LILY. THIS is the sermon on the one talent im- proved or unimproved. Read the part of the parable relating to it. (Have a lot of sponges, large and small, of different grades. Three will do if you cannot get more. One, indeed, will impress the lesson, but if you have more you can name the sponges, and show that though looking different, one coarse, dirty, small, the other, of fine texture, rich and clean, they are all alike in the one thing we here con- demn. Have pitcher of water near.) See these sponges ? Here is Jerry Bruiser, rough-looking and dirty ; here is Dan Sourface, swearing and drinking ; here is Mr. Augustus Dudins, clean-looking, but just as really a sponge as the others. And so on, characterizing all you have. All of them agree in taking in lots of water, 50 DON T BE A SPONGE, BE A WATER LILY. 5 1 but they make no use of it. They take the one talent and hide it without improving it at all. See how greedily they take it ! (Pour a little water upon them dry.) And if I squeeze out the clean water they would take foul water just as greedily. Now they have the clean water, and when the Master comes in judgment and squeezes out their talent it is just as he gave it — no increase, no profit to the world nor to the sponge. Don't be a sponge going to church and Sunday school and simply taking in good things without using them in forming beautiful character or doing good. Let us turn to the water lily and see how dif- ferently she uses the one talent, water. (If you cannot get a water lily, use picture of it, or draw on blackboard.) The lily stands right in the water and uses all she can. But she trans- forms it into beauty, fragrance, purity, life, like a good character who uses the Water of Life to become like Christ. Be like the lily in wanting much. Be like her in purity and fragrance, making men to ad- mire goodness. And like her in having life, which constantly uses all good things it can secure and grows more and more. THE TWO WAYS. THE plan is to construct, by tacking strips of cardboard folded properly on black- board, a way upward that will hold little candles so that they can be lighted, and also a way downward with candles, but not lighted. How is this way made ? Take long strips of white cardboard, eighteen inches or longer, by two inches wide. Fold over lengthwise in middle of width, and then by turning upper edge out about quarter inch wide, you will have a ledge 52 THE TWO WAYS. 53 to tack on. A few very small tacks in this nar- row edge and a few below will hold your way firm. The road downward of dark brown card- board is made in the same way, and these two ways come together near the center of the blackboard to the left. Here they join a way to left end of blackboard straight from where the two diverge. A little ingenuity will cut a gate out of cardboard, and attach it at opening of good way upward. The upward way ought to reach the right hand upper corner, where you can print the word " Heaven " very attractively with light radiating. The downward way to lower right hand corner with the word "Lost ! " in dark colors. Complete blackboard design by drawing outline of home and church on way of childhood leading to the gate of salvation, and a saloon on the downward way. How do we attach the candles ? By soften- ing the bottom over a light, and holding to cardboard until they harden and adhere. Now, boys and girls, we are going to see a " Pilgrim's Progress.'' I mean the starting of some children and older people on the good way you see here. Some are already on it, away up, this beautiful white candle near heaven. Here are blue ones, soldiers true and brave. Here are pink, loving and kind ; and here is one of 54 THE TWO WAYS. gold (yellow), so useful and good. Now (light these) see how their, lives shine ! What a glori- ous way they are traveling! Don't you wish you could go with them ? Well, here is a little blue candle for this boy, a pink one for the girl. They are here at the home and are going to church. Now they decide. Here they are at the gate of repentance and faith, and now they are through. We will set them on the good way, along with the many Christians already there. But there is another way of living. And here is a little candle (green) deciding not to go the upward way and so turning down the dark road. W T hy, see — he is green ! Yes ; very green and very foolish. Another dark red is soon to follow, and here are crooked candles, dirty ones, broken ones already on the way. How sad ! Some of them in front of the saloon and others inside, I suppose. But not one of them is lighted. All dark, and the way full of fears and troubled consciences. This is the way Cain walked, and Absalom and Judas, and all who do not love Christ. But let us try to save some of these on the downward way. Here is one just started. Tell him about Jesus, pray for him, invite him to church and Sunday-school. Now he is coming, THE TWO WAYS. 55 But he is sinful, dark (or green as may be) and Christ must give him a new heart. The Saviour will change him into a pure white candle like this, so we put away forever the old life. Now he is on the way with the others. Here is one poor sinner far down the road. He is a drunk- ard, a blasphemer, cruel to his wife and children when drunk. But he remembers his mother and the old Sunday-school. Tell him about them and about Jesus. Now he is weeping and he goes with you. Jesus changed him, too, into a beautiful white candle. How happy his wife and children ! Here they come too, to enter the shining way. Here is one on the bad way near the end. Another step and he will be lost ! Oh ! will not somebody run to save him ? They run for the minister or some good Christian man or woman. They pray, and, like the dying thief, the poor fellow turns back and gets upon the heavenly way. But there are many wicked people who die instantly or do not care even in death to come to the Saviour. These are a few of many such applications of truth possible through this object lesson. Talk familiarly and enter into the feelings and life of the children. Can such a lesson be given in -five minutes? Yes; for if you have only 56 THE TWO WAYS. five minutes you need only suggest. The pict- ure will aid the lively imaginations instantly to fill out more than you could describe in half an hour. But a half-hour can be spent upon it and every little mind kept in eager attention to the last. THE MONEY SERMON. FASTEN a large purse in center of black- board, with mouth open. Run three lines into it from the left ; the upper, white and straight, represents honest getting of money by fairly earning it, by equitable sale of goods or property, or by inheritance of honest money. Inheriting dishonest money is not a righteous way of getting it. The second line has a great interrogation mark before it, and is dark and wavy like a snake. It represents doubtful or question- able ways of getting money, like growing or selling tobacco in any shape, buying or sell- ing on Sunday, speculating, etc. Some people say these are all right, but better people of tender conscience say, "Wrong." We want to live like the best people on the clearest track. The third way is still darker and zigzag like 57 58 THE MONEY SERMON. a lightning bolt, or one escaping from a police- man. It is the thievish way. Now take silver dollars and notes and little lanterns, red, blue, white; or little railroad flags bright red, blue, and white, and as you roll a dollar along the white way, set up your white flag, or hang white light on board. And so with blue lantern or flag. Wave red lantern or flag vigorously when the dollar goes along the zigzag way. After all, there are but two ways, yet every practical teacher will see the impor- tance of some clear instruction upon disputed points, so that I would set forth the three ways, but urging the avoidance of all doubtful busi- ness. It is safe to regard it all as wrons;. As a close to this lesson, or in another if thought best, the right, the questionable and the sinful ways of spending money may be taught. No instruction is more important, none so generally neglected as the ethics of business transactions. This blackboard illustration gives basis for many valuable talks. THE FENCE RAILS NOT TO BE TAKEN DOWN. w DRAW a long four rail fence upon the board, running it straight across, or out in per- spective over landscape. Complete landscape, if you can, by representing one side of fence as green field, etc., the other barren and stony. One length of rails is to be erased, and rails made of white cardboard substituted. Cut them narrow as your chalk rails, and drive tacks or staples at crayon posts which will hold them. 59 60 FENCE RAILS NOT TO BE TAKEN DOWN. These rails divide the evil from the good and must never be taken down. Let us name the rails : ist, or upper rail, is " Thoughts about evil." When this is taken down, then vile pictures are looked at, bad books read and foul language listened to. 2d rail keeps out " Desires for evil." This follows soon after first rail. But keep it in resolutely. Never let yourself want anything or desire to do anything which is sinful. 3d rail keeps the "Will." Take this down and your mind is made up to do wrong, and then only one low rail, the 4th, keeps out the "Evil deed." Now if you have taken down a single rail of this fence put it back into place and nail them fast. (Take eight tacks and fasten at each end of rail with a few blows of the hammer.) This hammer is the brave, true heart, and these nails are good resolutions carried out. The true Christian has this fence securely nailed from the first day of his Christian life. HEARTS AND THEIR TENANTS. CUT out of cardboard two hearts about fif- teen inches across. They are now white and innocent, but evil spirits a*e pressing for- ward to enter. Have pictures cut out of toy- books as required, and paste or pin into heart as you proceed. Here comes the hog spirit wanting every- thing. This is in when children are selfish and greedy. (Pin hog near bottom.) Then comes the bear, cross, growling. (Pin bear on left side.) Next the tiger spirit, which is cruel and loves to stone cats, pull wings off flies, kill birds and tease little children to make them cry. (Put tiger on right.) Then the dress is flounced right and left, the lips are set, the head is thrown back haughtily, because the peacock spirit has entered. (This, middle above.) But another spirit wants to enter, a sly, cunning fox. He will cret the boys and sdrls to tell lies, 61 62 HEARTS AND THEIR TENANTS. to deceive, to hide what they ought to talk over with mamma. (Pin fox in center.) Now see what a sad condition of heart ! What can be done? The boy or girl with this heart goes to Sunday-school, but up to this time resists the call of Jesus. Here is another inno- cent heart. The hog, bear, fox, tiger, peacock, are all refused admission, and then the dove, the lamb, the patient and industrious ox come in. It is full of light and love. Jesus (write in large letters across or print it in) fills this heart. Now the good heart pities the other, and talks so gently and wisely about being good. It is always helping the other and doing little acts of kindness. The wicked heart is moved, the ani- mals are beginning to feel alarmed. They are ordered out by one whom they must obey — Jesus. Then it is clean, and soon all good fills it. HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. Pt*tX^ht THIS is a children's sermon on the Fifth Commandment. Draw the two tables of the law in the midst of mountain scenery on the blackboard. The Fifth Commandment is the first on the second table. Cut large card- board resembling the part of the second table the Fifth Commandment occupies, and write the command upon this. Have two other pieces of cardboard about twelve inches by six inches, to represent two families of little candles. Set t>3 64 HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. larger candles at each end and two smaller ones on each side of the two cards. Now, boys and girls, we see the Ten Com- mandments God gave to Moses on the Mount. We take the first on the second table to-day. What is it ? (Repeat.) Here we have it sepa- rately, but we must not forget it is one of the great laws given on the Mount. (Take separate card.) It is different from eight of the others which tell us what not to do. They are really prohi- bitions. This and the Fourth Commandment (what is it ?) tell us of positive duties. The others point out sins to avoid, these tell us of virtues to follow. They say "do," not "don't." And this is the commandment with promise. A promise of long life at home ; and long life probably means a happy and prosperous life. What a great promise ! Does this law tell us to obey father and mother in every case and as long as we live ? No ; it commands us to honor. What does honor mean ? The word Moses used in his language, and the one Jesus used in another lan- guage when he repeated this law, both mean to do that which will make father and mother honorable or bring them honor from others. We are to act toward them always so that other HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. 6$ people will respect them, and this means that when they are good and tell us to be good we must promptly and fully obey them. We can not make them honorable before others if we do not show our regard by soldierlike obedience. When you are quite small and know so little as you do of the life before you, your parents must guide you wholly. You may not under- stand why they want you to go to bed at eight o'clock, why they don't allow you to run with Tom Streetwalker or Miss Saucytongue, etc. ; but you must obey, and as you grow older you will see right and wrong more clearly, and not need so much of your mother's " don't," or your father's sharper word. Then they will let you decide matters more and more, until at twenty-one you are to do all the deciding, with only advice from your parents. But still you honor them by asking their advice and follow- ing it whenever you can conscientiously do so. Suppose you have a father who is bad, who drinks, swears or steals and wants you to steal or do other wickedness. You do not honor him by obeying such a wicked order. You must disobey him by obeying God. But gently, so that you may win him if possible. Here is a family with good father and mother. How brightly they shine ! The four children are 66 HONOR THY FATHER AND THY MOTHER. safe in obeying such parents. (Show card with large candles lit.) Here is another family. See this dark crooked candle of a father ! No light of good in him ; he swears and orders the boy to steal ; but the shining boy will not obey and the sister also refuses. How the father, so wicked, swears and whips them ! But they obey God, and the bad father thinks over it, becomes penitent, the children pray for him and he is saved. Honor the good father by obeying ; honor the bad father by obeying God ! And the mother also is specially mentioned. Since the patriarchal father, or the father in Moses' time, was also a ruler and then their priest, this law teaches also to be loyal to church rules and to the laws of the land. THE ALTAR SERMON. J m THE object used is a large cross made of six equal squares of heavy cardboard. The squares may be six by six inches, and are joined together four in a line and one on each side joined to second square of this line, so as to form a cross. Join by heavy strips of linen glued on, but forming hinges. When the lower squares are lifted up and sides and top brought together, a cubical box is formed, which is to be crayoned outside into large stones to look like an altar. If the lowest square of cross is cut out with 67 68 THE ALTAR SERMON. projecting horns below, these will come into place as front horns on the altar. Now, open into cross and tack securely upon blackboard by the middle square, leaving the other squares free. Print the word Jesus in attractive colors across the arms of the cross. Now fold into altar and fasten with pins stuck in wherever needed. Complete design by draw- ing mountain with rocks and trees under the altar. It will extend out, of course, but the mountain can be drawn so as to appear all right from this front. To make the Ark of the Cov- enant out of this altar get gilt paper which will hang to horns of the altar and cover it front and part way on sides. Paste little strips on side to hold the covered gilt poles which you can then put in and complete the appearance of the sacred ark. Draw flames above ark as it stands. Leave gilt off until you come to speak of the Ark of the Covenant. Show board with altar of stones. Here, boys and girls, is, such an altar as Abel used when he came to God to pray. He knew something, but we cannot tell just how much, of Jesus who was to come into the world as the Saviour. But he knew there must be sacrifice of life to save from sin, so he brought a lamb and laid it upon his altar confessing his sins to THE ALTAR SERMON. 69 God. He trusted in God's mercy and had faith in Christ, as far as he knew about him. Cain was proud and brought thank-offering, but noth- ing to show he felt himself a sinner. Cain, wicked as he was, thought himself good enough. Noah offered upon such an altar after he came out of the ark. What a wonderful feeling he must have had ! Abraham offered often, but once God asked him to lay Isaac upon the altar in death and burning. He obeyed promptly, but God saved Isaac. Tell this story graphically. Then we come to Moses and the tabernacle sacrifices, burnt-offerings, peace-offerings, thank- offerings and others. In the tabernacle was a room called the Holy of Holies, and there was a golden altar called the Ark of the Covenant. Here God dwelt between golden cherubim above the Ark. The top of the Ark was called the mercy seat. In the Ark at one time there were the Tables of Stone of the Ten Commandments, a pot of manna and the rod which budded and bore almonds and that settled the question that Aaron was God's chosen High Priest. Two golden rods were used to carry the Ark. This is full of Gospel meaning. We take this gold off and again have the common altar. Think of Solomon offering upon yO THE ALTAR SERMON. it, and of Elijah's great contest upon Mt. Carmel ! But we have the last and best altar with the Lamb of God upon it. (Open to cross, pin top and sides fast to board if necessary.) Let us come in His name and trusting in Him for salvation. God offered up his Son for us as Abraham was willing to do, but no one could stay God's hand, and Jesus died in great shame and agony. Let us come to Him con- fessing our sins to-day ! ARCH OF CHARACTER. I WOULD not teach this lesson of the ele- ments of true Christian character without having: blocks cut out to form stones of the arch. Our character is to be " Godlike," with a stone to represent each letter, seven in all, including the keystone. Get some Christian carpenter in- terested in it. It will help that wonderful Car- penter of Nazareth now in His building up souls. So much good will this lesson, brightly and earnestly taught to little children, do for them, that to have granite blocks actually cut J2 ARCH OF CHARACTER. at great expense would hardly be money thrown away. If you can also draw arch upon black- board, have it support railroad with turbulent stream flowing through. But wooden blocks neatly fitting together will do without black- board. The foundations must be repentance on one side, faith on the other. Then upon the left you build G — Gentleness. We must get all roughness, rudeness, haughtiness out of our manner and be courteous in love, gentlemen and ladies, as Christ and Paul and Mary were. And with this we put upon the other side E — Earnestness. With zeal never wearying, with our heart all stirred to work day and night for the good of men. Our gentleness fired with earnestness, our earnestness directed by gentle- ness. The hand of steel in the velvet glove. Then on G we lay O — Obedience, like that of a soldier. Prompt, unflinching, brave, full and without asking any questions. On E we lay K — Knowledge. We must study the Bible to know God's will ; we must study his works to become wise and thought- ful ; we must seek salvation until we know our sins are forgiven. All knowledge possible of all good things, and that knowledge by spiritual experience of Christ. Lay this stone securely. Next, on the O we put D — Devoutness. We ARCH OF CHARACTER. 73 must be respectful or reverent, as we say, in God's house. We must handle the Bible de- voutly, be devout in time of prayer and in reference to every sacred object or service. Not long-faced or gloomy, but just as we are with friends whom we esteem highly, very cheer- fully respectful. We may be joyfully reverent in God's house. They — that is, people gen- erally — tell us boys and girls of to-day are no- tably irreverent ; that they talk during prayer, and some even laugh ; that they run into the church or Sunday-school rudely ; handle the Bible roughly, sit on it or even stand upon it to reach something they want, and so on. How is it ? Have you this most beautiful stone well laid in your arch ? On the other side, over the K put / — Im- proving ; that is, growing better all the time. This arch we see is made of blocks that cannot improve or grow better, but the arch of your character is constructed of virtues which are full of life and may grow into higher power and beauty as long as life lasts. You ought to im- prove upon last year's living, upon last month's, last week's, and even yesterday's. You are writing a new line in life's copy-book ; look at the headlirre and make this the best you ever wrote. 74 ARCH OF CHARACTER. Now we are up to the keystone L, and you can all guess what it is to represent. " Love ! " Yes ; without love the arch falls to pieces and all the other stones will not stand ; we cannot have true gentleness, nor long continue in earn- estness ; we will not fully obey without it, nor learn much of God ; nor be anything but owl- ishly reverent without love to God, and we will not improve much. Love holds good character together, and adds a new and wonderful power of its own. Read First Corinthians xiii. and see also how Jesus loved. And we will then be Godlike. Just as God would be if he lived in a body like ours and in a world like ours. Did God ever thus live ? Yes ; in Jesus, when he went up and down in Palestine. So our character will imitate that of Christ, who said, " Follow me ! " The arch is the strongest building and the most beautiful. Great trains run over it safely ; all men admire. So with " Godlike " character. It is both strong and beautiful, most attractive and most useful at the same time. FOURTH OF JULY. q DKLARaTiO»4 or jrtptpENDENcr DRAW scroll entitled " Declaration of Inde- pendence " on blackboard, with John Hancock's fac-simile signature. Also, bell with well-known crack. A flag over the board will add to your picture. What an inspiring story is that of American Independence — throwing off the yoke of a tyrannical king and beginning a career of most wonderful prosperity and power. The 75 ?6 FOURTH OF JULY. Declaration was related to the War of Revolu- tion in an instructive way. i. There was much fighting and actual war for fifteen months before the Declaration was adopted. But that fighting was aimless, and accomplished very little except to prepare for independence. So there are many who fight sin without declaring independence of it, who make compromises and love sin more or less while refusing to yield everything to it. They try to be good without becoming Christians, but this is not enough. 2. The colonists found the Declaration nec- essary. So will everybody find, who tries to be pure and useful, that he must renounce sin. See what terrible things sin has done, just as our forefathers made a list of the wrongs King George inflicted. Jesus has declared independ- ence for us and for the world. Let us agree to it now and bravely as Hancock did. 3. Fight as brave soldiers to maintain our independence and to make it real and lasting. There was a long war after the Declaration of Independence before the country was really free. Ours will be lifelong, but we have a greater Captain than Washington, and we need not lose a single battle. 4. " If the Son shall make you free, ye shall FOURTH OF JULY. J*] be free indeed." "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (slave) of sin." This we know is true, terribly true, when men are drunkards, thieves, and have angry passions. And it is just as true of sins of the heart. If you in- dulge in spite, you soon become a slave to your own spitefulness, and when you want to expel it from your heart, it holds you like a tyrant. So with envy, jealousy, the unforgiving or re- vengeful spirit. Each of these evil spirits holds many people in galling bondage. Christ saves with power into a glad sense of freedom. And we serve him, not of com- pulsion, nor in fear, but in the glorious liberty of a heart full of love. Then we are free from fear of man, or evil spirits, or life, or death, or anything whatsoever. THE VULTURE CHANGED INTO THE LARK. THE plan of this object sermon is to draw . on one side of white bristol, or cardboard, a large vulture, fifteen or eighteen inches high, and cut out closely. Crayon or color on this one side only, the wings and body a repulsive brown shade, the head a dirty pink. On the other side draw as follows : an American sky- lark within outline of vulture ; begin tip of lark's bill at lowest point of vulture's bared throat, and run up with proper curves to top of 78 THE VULTURE CHANGED INTO THE LARK. 79 lark's head at back of neck of vulture ; the line describing the lark's back to tip of tail again corning to edge at proper place. Let bottom outline of lark start with bill at throat, and run gracefully down and out to edge just above vul- ture's tail, divided by lark's feet. Cutting care- fully along this lark outline, four pieces will come off; the head, breast, feet and tail, and back of vulture. After coloring the lark now on your card with wings a beautiful light brown, breast pinkish white, tail brown and white (see description in scientific works), turn card over, and, taking the pieces cut off, restore the vul- ture. Paste as many strips of thin paper as may be needed to hold all securely together, and color these strips in harmony with the rest. At the proper time you can tear off these pieces at the strips, and by quickly turning your object, the vulture is transformed into the lark. Now, boys and girls, see this ugly vulture, a filthy, carrion-eating, greedy, lazy bird. He waits until some dead animal is thrown out of camp, or lies along the road, and then pounces upon it, devouring the nasty flesh so greedily, and so fills himself with it, that sometimes he can hardly stagger away. He represents the sad condition to which sin will bring a boy or girl who follows it eagerly. To drink the dirty 80 THE VULTURE CHANGED INTO THE LARK. slops called lager beer ; to chew tobacco ; to enjoy vile scenes and amusements ; to eat like gluttons, and soon to look bloated and repul- sive. They become vulture men and women. Every letter of this word tells us some horrible trait of their sinful character. V — voracious, U — unclean, L — lazy, T — treacherous, U — ugly, R — ruffianly, E — execrable. Let me explain these long words which describe the wicked vulture men so well with Bible stories and every-day people. What can we do with the vulture? We can not now teach him better, for his nature is bad, altogether bad. He must be converted, made into a new bird with a better nature. The bad head torn off (do so), the dirty feet and tail, and the repulsive, clumsy wings. Now see what we have ! A beautiful lark. The vulture himself could not change into this, but I helped him. So God must change the bad nature of man. Look at the lark. How clean and bright and active ! Rising early in the morning, drinking of the clear brook, eating nice grains or fruit, and- loving her young most devotedly. How the farmer loves the beautiful and sweet sing- ing lark ! So does everybody love the true Christian boy or girl. With pure heart, useful life, cheerful temper, singing nearly all the THE VULTURE CHANGED INTO THE LARK. 8 1 time — who is not glad when the young Chris- tian comes ? He is the lark among the people he lives with, and is the L — lowly, A — aspiring, R — rejoicing, K — knowing child, at home and in school. Have you anything of the vulture nature ? Get it torn off by the Saviour and become like the beautiful and lowly bird of the morning sons:. HOW THE SERMON IS RECEIVED. The Parable of the Sower — Matt. 13. PRINT upon strip of white cardboard, " Come to Jesus to-day." This is your text ; you are to illustrate how it is received by different hearts. First, the looking-glass heart. Cut heart out of dark cardboard, fasten mirror as large as may be in it by strings or pasting strip around it. The text is held before this heart, and the immediate impression is good, but as soon as " out of sight, out of mind." The impression is on the surface, though it looks deep, and the next thing coming drives all out. So the way- side hearer ; so the heart hardened by the troops of evil thoughts and influences which have thronged over it. Next, the slate heart. Construct this of an old school slate, by pasting strips of white paper 82 HOW THE SERMON IS RECEIVED. 83 around the outside of outline of heart on the slate, so as to leave bare a heart of slate. Now write with chalk, " Come to Jesus to-day." A better impression than the looking-glass heart, but how easily erased ! Here comes the rubber of strong temptation, of opportunity for worldly honor or enjoyment, and the impression is gone. This is the shallow heart, made so by frivolities and worldliness. The third is the preoccupied heart. Already full of selfishness, stubbornness, malice, revenge, envy, jealousy, or other heart sins. Take heart of white cardboard and write it full of evil, as above. Where can our text find place ? Now take a large white heart, cleared of all thoughts of evil. With pen and ink write in it your text. Here it abides ! Now draw heart garden on the blackboard, if you can — green pastures, still waters, fruitful trees ; or develop the good heart further on the card. DON'T BE A TOADSTOOL, BE A VINE. DRAW grape-vine on right of blackboard, with trellis, leaves, tendrils. Draw large bunch of grapes on separate card, and cut it out closely. This is to be pinned to vine later in your talk. Now, if you can, get half a dozen or more toadstools of different sizes, some ungainly and large, others pretty, others very small. Give to them names, and let them represent lives of selfishness and sin — satisfied with present character and attainments, not reaching out for 84 don't be a toadstool, be a vine. 85 anything better or higher. If you cannot get the toadstools themselves, draw picture of one on the board, and by a little more effort make the impression of the self-conceit, narrowness and indifference of a sinful life. The toadstool has no leaves to take in the invigorating air and rain, no roots to draw strength from the soil, no tendrils reaching out for support for any progress higher. The sinful life does not get good from God's wonderful works around, and good influences so abundant ; it does not grow upon the deep truths of the Bible; it does not reach out its hands to hold fast to God. But how different the vine ! All aspiration, all reaching out. Its whole nature grows con- stantly, and its many leaves, all its faculties and senses, are open to every good impression and influence. Its roots strike down into the depths of experience and truth and power, and its ten- drils constantly reach out for still higher things. Then see the rich fruit it bears (pin grapes on vine). It is a branch of the true Vine, which grew out of heaven for all men to graft into. ROOFING THE HOUSE a i i DRAW outline of a two-story house without roof, but filling in as elaborately as you wish. The outline, though very plain, will teach our lesson's important truth. Draw lines irregu- larly over the open top to represent pieces of lumber lying loosely about. Cut mansard roof of right size out of white bristol board, to fit on this house. Crease the edges between front and the side of the house and around lines of top. It will appear embossed, and make a better finish. This roof is put on by a few 86 ROOFING THE HOUSE. 87 tacks or pins, at the proper place in the dis- course. Here we have a fine two-story house left in a strange condition ; the lower part well fin- ished, but no roof on the house. How risky, and what great damage may occur by storms, rain, sun's heat, and even robbers getting in that way. So there are many people with strong physi- cal natures in the lower story of their house, good health, vigor and beauty of person ; and with good minds, well educated and able. But they are not Christians. Their souls are un- saved ; they have made no provision against the fierce storms of temptation, the heavy rains of trials and other perils to an exposed house. No carpenter, in building a house of wood or stone, would be so foolish. He hurries his building until it is roofed, and then takes time for more elaborate work. So let us get the roof on first. (Fasten on roof.) Now we have the third story, a saved soul, and we need not fear. Let the three windows in the roof represent faith, hope and love. Illustrate and enforce. " Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." COMMON AND PRESSED BRICK. GET a half-dozen of each kind. Of the com mon kind get some very light and soft.. We are to see to-day the difference between being tolerably good and being very good and just right. Here are twelve bricks, which we call two large families or Sunday-school classes. I take three of each, and these fine, sharp-edged, smooth, beautifully-colored bricks I call Samuel, Daniel, Mary. These other three, easily broken, v/ith pieces out at edge and light-colored, I call Jacob, Nicodemus, Martha. Now all these are good. They were taken out of the old bed of clay, ground and cleaned of stones ; they were molded, dried, burned. So all of the persons I named are good. All have been taught and helped and saved by the Spirit. They have all been molded after good examples. But Jacob, Nicodemus and Martha have not yielded to be pressed into close like- 88 COMMON AND PRESSED BRICK. 89 ness to Christ. They do not give full room to his Spirit in their hearts, but have a little sel- fishness, a little fear of men, and some jealousy left. Good in some respects, but with such faults as worldly people always stumble at. How sad ! But Samuel, Daniel and Mary are different. No pieces out at the edge, no roughness, no warping ; straight, square-cornered and just right. Put yourself into the mold of Christ's example and spirit, and become a pressed brick. Now how used ? Common brick back and inside of wall, pressed brick in front and con- spicuous. And all must be laid carefully united in what bricklayers call binding (show how it is done), and then joined by the cement of love into a solid and beautiful wall of the spiritual temple. The six bricks not named may now be used to impress upon those present, by using familiar names among them, the same great lesson. Urge them to be thoroughly good. Sincere means {sine, without, ccra. wax ; that is, honey without wax) without mixing of wrong. So be sincerely good. OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPEND- ENCE. rK JPROniSE ABSTAIN MAKE this a stirring and impressive ser- mon. Draw on the board, using a fourth of its surface from the right end, a large bottle and jug side by side labeled respectively " rum " and " beer." From a tack above suspend two strings with stoppers at end. On the other three fourths of the board draw an immense sledge hammer upraised. Cut two pieces of white paper (get at printer's), each large enough to cover this three fourths of the blackboard, but not hiding bottle and jug. On one of these print in large letters attractively arranged, "God 90 OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 91 helping me, I promise to abstain." Tack this first over the hammer. On the other sheet print "Our Declaration of Independence," put- ting John Hancock's fac-simile signature below, and adding, either in fac-simile or in your own hand, Robert Morris, John Adams, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Thomas Jefferson, John Witherspoon, Stephen Hopkins, Richard Henry Lee. These names will illustrate important points. Now we lift our Declaration and show you, "God helping me, I promise to abstain," and beneath it the great hammer of Prohibition, by which we will enforce it for ourselves and others. But first let the Declaration with these great names teach us some lessons for temperance work. On July 4, 1776, John Hancock alone signed it ; August 2 fifty-four others gave their names to it, and in November of that year Mat- thew Thornton, just elected, asked the privilege of putting his name to it, and then signed. We urge every boy and girl to sign the pledge as John Hancock did. See his bold brave name. He wished he could make it large enough for tyrannical King George in England to read it. We must have temperance boys and men, and women full of courage. It will require hard and long fighting to drive out alcoholic liquors, so 92 OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. let every one have the spirit of grand old John Hancock. Charles Carroll is another brave name. He first wrote it Charles Carroll, and then some- body said there were several of that name, and he would be all right, for the cruel king would not know which of them it was. " But he shall know," said the brave patriot, and immediately added "of Carrollton," where he lived, so that there would be no mistake about who signed. Stephen Hopkins was an old man, whose sig- nature is trembling and wavy. But it was from palsy and not from fear he trembled. Holding his right hand, it is said, with his left, he wrote the name boldly. Oh ! for a large company of grand old men like Stephen Hopkins for the temperance fight — men who fear no loss to business, no ridicule or persecution, but have the courage of Hancock and Carroll and Hop- kins to overthrow rum and beer, the great tyrants of America to-day. Richard Henry Lee made the motion to de- clare independence, and Thomas Jefferson wrote the paper they signed. So we have great leaders to-day, like Miss Willard, Neal Dow, Theodore L. Cuyler, George W. Bain, John P. St. John. John Witherspoon is another great man who signed. He was very learned and earnest. He OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 93 did not believe in waiting any longer, as some people tell us to wait to-day. He said, "The country is not only ripe for it, it is rotting for it." Benjamin Franklin knew how terrible the struggle for liberty would be, but he was cheer- ful and full of hope. He even cracked a joke about it. When they crowded up to the table to sign, he said, " Now we must all hang to- gether," repeating what another man had just said, "or we shall all have to hang separately." That is, the King of England would execute every man of the signers if they did not win in the Revolution. Robert Morris gave not only his name, but all his money to the good cause. The temperance cause must have our money, or it will never succeed. John Adams made a grand speech during the discussions, showing how he would give all his heart and even his life for the good cause of freedom. Now let us all sign our Declaration. This puts the stopper into the bottle and the jug. But the dangerous stuff is still there, and some one else will be tempted if we allow it to re- main. Let us lift the sledge hammer of Prohi- bition, and as they do in Maine, Kansas, Iowa, 94 OUR DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. the Dakotas, and in many counties in the South, break the bottles and jugs and barrels to pieces. Then will there be greater joy than that of the blue-eyed boy in 1776 who told his father to " Ring ! ring ! " the Independence bell. RAILROAD FROM HEART TO HEAVEN. DRAW a railroad chart with side track, switches, bridge over rushing stream, cut through hills. i. Building the railroad from Heart to Heaven. Some people have to cut through mountains of evil habits, fill up valleys of neg- lected duties, tunnel through doubts. But boys and girls have no such obstacles to begin with. 95 96 RAILROAD FROM HEART TO HEAVEN. It is a level country from their hearts to Heaven. And Jesus has bridged the great chasm there was left by sin in the world. 2. Laying the rails. God lays the one all the way — his righteous will; the other rail is my will. These are held together by sills of faith, hope and love at every step, and made parallel all the way. There must be no crook, no spreading, no rail on our side missing, or great disaster results. We must obey God all the way. 3. Watch the switches. There is one at the point of deciding for God just when we begin laying the rails. That opens to a track leading- downward to destruction. Here is one to a side track, here another to bad companionship, to questionable business, to vile reading. Open the track straight, and lock the switches. 4. Right of way must be given to Christ and his cause. Side-track business and pleasure when necessary. 5. Trains of precious and eternal interests are on the way. Keep the road in good repair. Have the signals right. Be on schedule time all the way. RECORD OF MY LIFE FOR 1893. GET half a dozen large white sheets of heavy printing paper. Fold in the middle to form a large book, and tack securely at this fold to the blackboard. Draw around this book heavy colored lines to form cover of the book, and tack the outer leaves at edges to look like inside of cover. A little skill will make it all look like a very heavy book with real cover. Now for the Record, which can be used for 97 g8 RECORD OF MY LIFE FOR 1893. general birthday lesson, for New Year's, or Quarterly Review, or Anniversary address. Cut two little hands out of white paper, one white and pure, the other spotted. Paste these to the top of the first page of your Record. Then in two columns suggest the many good deeds and the many bad deeds of the time cov- ered by the Record. If one bad deed only was done every hour how many are now recorded in the book of God against you for 1893 ? To the next page attach white and black feet at the bottom of the page, and in two columns suggest first the good places visited, and the sinful or dangerous resorts. Elaborate these vividly and earnestly : " The saloon, bad com- pany ; the church, Sunday-school." Then have a head on the top of another page. Cut out a large and beautiful child's head and paste it on. Speak of the bad and good words spoken, the good and bad words listened to, the things seen, and the thoughts of the brain. Another page for the heart record which God also keeps : affections, desires, motives and all. Now have three or four blank pages for the record to come. Here for the hands — good deeds or bad? For the feet — good places or bad ? For the head and heart ? Oh ! let us watch, and be true to God. THE LIFE OF JESUS. Candle Sermon. DRAW outline, topographical map or bird's- eye view of Palestine, with the Mediter- ranean Sea in front, marking only the important places Jesus visited during his life. To repre- sent his birthplace, take a cardboard three by three inches, and draw rude outline of manger ; attach to it so as to seem part of manger a support just large enough for smallest candle (Christmas-tree tapers). Make this of stiff 99 IOO THE LIFE OF JESUS. paper V-shaped, half-inch wide, bend out ends of V and glue these on securely. Have another card three by three with three crosses on it, and fasten a similar candle shelf on one of the crosses, so that when the little candle is lit it will represent the penitent thief. Another such card will represent the open sepulcher, leaving an inch space below which can be bent out and stone drawn upon this projection for little can- dle, to indicate the angel announcing the Res- urrection. These cards are to be tacked on blackboard at proper time by small tacks, so as to be easily removed. Two candle rests on blackboard, one at Nazareth and one at Jerusa- lem, complete the object picture. Our sermon to-day is on the Life of Jesus in Palestine — those wonderful three years of preaching and wonder-working, of suffering and blessed example, and the thirty years of his life before. (Tack manger card on Bethlehem upon black- board with little white candle, which now light.) Here we have Jesus in the manger, where he began his wonderful life on earth. See the lit- tle light shining ! The shepherds have heard of him, and soon will come to worship, and then go back rejoicing. The Wise Men from the East are on the way following the star, but it THE LIFE OF JESUS. IOI will be several months before they arrive, and then the babe Jesus will be in some house near by. How Mary rejoiced in her wonderful boy, who was also her Lord. What gifts the Wise Men brought ! Now we see Him at Nazareth until twelve years of age. (Take off manger card and light candle set at Nazareth.) Here He lived for thirty years a poor boy and hard-working young man, busy at the carpenter's trade, yet study- ing his Old Testament — which was all of the Bible then written — very diligently, and learn- ing all He could in that little town. At twelve years of age He visited Jerusalem. (Blow out candle at Nazareth, and light that at Jerusalem.) Relate story of finding Him in the Temple. Then He returned. (Candle at Jerusalem out and removed, that at Nazareth again lighted.) Eighteen silent years at Nazareth ! (Now get large white candle and light.) Now we have Him at thirty years of age. He goes down to the Jordan to be baptized by John, and then shortly after begins his ministry. Now move the larsre lighted candle back and forth upon the map, stopping at places, while you go into more or less detail of the journeys of Christ. A full account of each year may be given by using this object lesson for three or 102 THE LIFE OF JESUS. more lectures, or a few incidents selected as time permits. Here is the end of the wonderful life in the flesh. (Tack on card with three crosses.) Tell the story of Gethsemane, of the several trials, of the crucifixion. One thief was saved be- cause he turned to Jesus in penitence and faith. (Light candle on thief's cross ; blow out large candle, and tack on, below, the sepulcher card.) Tell the story of the Resurrection. Here is the shining angel on the stone telling the women. After forty days Jesus ascended into Heaven, where he now prays for us at God's right hand. But in the spirit he is really here, and will be with those who love him to the end, THE SHIP OF LIFE. I CONSTRUCTED my own ship with such exercise of ingenuity as I could command. I used a paper box of proper shape, and by cut- ting down I got it into a tolerably good ship, with anchor, masts, etc., complete. It was worth to me ten times the cost of time and patience required. But you can buy a full- rigged ship of sufficient size for a small sum, so I will not further describe mine. Let the hull represent the heart, which will look like a heart by a little addition of scallop to stern. Xow how shall we load our ship of life? We want first a little Testament, a Catechism, the photographs of father and mother, pastor and Sunday-school teacher ; and Jesus waits to enter, but we cannot represent him by anything. The world cannot see him enter, but we know very well when he is on the ship. What a lous cargo we now have. See it again. 104 THE SHIP 0F LIFE. Let the sails represent your faith, which must take in all the offered blessings, and have every promise, like every single sail, filled. Name- the sails by some well-known promises. Let the anchor stand for hope. We let it down in the storm, and are kept from being wrecked in despair. Everything seems to go wrong, but we anchor in hope, and fear not. Oh ! the power and inspiration of hope. But to-day our ship ought to have steam. We are living after Pentecost, when new and wondrous power is at hand. We must no longer depend only upon slow sails. We must be the best Christians that ever lived. Let the rudder of a disciplined will be guided by conscience, the pilot. And after awhile the ship will reach the haven, and bring a great cargo from this present life to promote eternal happiness. THE ICY PAVEMENT OF A BAD EXAMPLE. AN appropriate object for this talk will be a thin cake of ice on a tin waiter, and tiny dolls to show the difficulty and danger of walk- ing on it. A good talk for a sleety winter day. The icy pavement is made by neglect to re- move the slush left by bad weather, and its freezing afterward ; just as bad examples are made by neglect to remove unclean and danger- ous thoughts, desires and plans acquired from the world until another chilling wave of evil influences settles and fixes them. The icy pavement is on" the shaded side of the street. On the sunny side the danger of it is largely overcome. So bad examples are most hurtful when we live away from Christ in the shadows of questionable pursuits. Let us go over to the sunny side and we will not slip so 105 106 THE ICY PAVEMENT. frequently, and we can find a place where we may walk securely. The icy pavement is worst where many per- sons have already slipped, and right in front of that man's house who has allowed a thin fall of snow to hide it. Look out ! The bad exam- ple of a man otherwise good is the most danger- ous. A church member who drinks beer leads more people to ruin than twenty drunkards. The professing Christian who goes to dances and theaters is the one who sweeps snow over the most slippery places on his pavement. There people become careless, and get the hardest falls. The ashes of good advice will make the icy pavement a little safer. But we want the sharp shovel of thorough repentance and the hot water of Bible truth to clean it completely. Until that is done by the man with bad ex- ample, let us stay away from his influence. Let us walk on the sunny side where the ice is all swept off. Here we are safe. MISSIONARY LIGHTS OVER THE WORLD. Candle Sermon. DRAW hemisphere maps side by side on your blackboard, in detail only as re- quired by the number of fields your time will permit you to visit. Bend stiff paper into sup- ports for candles, and tack on board where needed. Strip of cardboard made V-shaped, and turned over with bottom out, and tacked above and below lightly, will hold one or two Christmas tapers, according to width. Soften bottom of candles over lamp, and they will ad- here to the supports. Since Jesus, the Light of the World, ascended into Heaven, he sends out the smaller lights, his people, to drive away the darkness which sin brought. These are to be set upon candle- sticks in every part of the whole world, and to 107 108 MISSIONARY LIGHTS OVER THE WORLD. shine with his light everywhere. This is the great missionary enterprise, the grandest work ever undertaken by man. And it has been wonderfully prospered by God's blessing. Let us visit these mission lights to-day. Four great lands stand out as the brightest spots in the darkness. Iceland, which in the year iooo established Christianity as the only religion, and where religion and education are more general than in any other land; Feejee, where James Calvert found all the people heathens and cannibals, and left all of them, with few exceptions, earnest Christians. What a bright light is there ! Madagascar, where the Gospel was first preached in 1818, and had won- derful success. Then came horrible persecu- tions, with many martyrs. Now again Christ's work in steady progress. Burmah, where Bap- tist missions had marvelous success. But we must also put bright candles into India, into Japan, China, Africa, where William Carey, William Butler, Dr. Duff, Dr. Morrison, Livingstone, Bishop Taylor, and many other heroes, carried the glorious light. Heathen customs which cast babes into the Ganges, burned the widow with the dead body of her husband, and ran the murderous car of Jugger- naut over a long line of human beings, have MISSIONARY LIGHTS OVER THE WORLD. I09 been overthrown, and thousands of these people live in the love of Jesus. The Bible has been made to speak the language of these nations, and shines where every eye can see it. Hospi- tals, orphanages and schools are rising every- where, with Christian doctors, nurses and teachers. Great revivals, even, are coming into heathen lands gathering the multitudes in, as in Japan, India, and in some villages in China. Several brief sermons may be given from these maps with lighted candles, going into de- tailed history of each great mission field. Our children ought to be familiar with the great missionary heroes and their achievements under Christ. The influence of America and Protes- tant Europe in missions may be set forth by lighthouses of manilla paper, blocked out, in place. SIN BUILDING A HORNET'S NEST. THE boy or girl who begins a life of sin is building a hornet's nest, out of which will come, in the future, those terrible insects, to sting and destroy. Let us look at this nest. It may be some of you have commenced it. Hornets build on old rotten posts, or hide away from the light under the eaves of dwell- ings or stables, and on trees. So are sinful lives founded on rotten places, or in darkness. Here SIN BUILDING A HORNETS NEST. Ill on the blackboard is one hanging to three old posts, with a scantling nailed on top. The first post is S — selfishness, or saloon, in some cases ; the second / — indifference ; so full of the world and questionable pursuits and pleasures that he cares nothing for good ; the third N — neglect; saying to Christ " Not now," staying away from church, neglecting prayer and salvation. These three, SIN, as we have named them just now (repeat), are where the hornets' nests are built. Now look at the hornets' nest of sin. In the first place a hornet's nest never has any honey. Hornets make no honey ; they steal from the bees for their living. So the real pleasures of sinners are those which they get from good people ; from the love of good people, their kindness, and the joys of Christian civilization. If all men were selfish sinners there would be no honey anywhere, and all would be miserable indeed. Sin never brings anything good or happy. When sinners have happiness it is be- cause they live among good people, just as hor- nets get honey from the bees. Next lesson. Hornets seldom survive one winter. Out of one hundred and fifty — which is the usual number in a nest — only a very few are alive in the spring. They die early. So do sinners "not live out half their days." 112 SIN BUILDING A HORNETS NEST. Wickedness undermines the health, troubles bring on disease, and bad men die early. But see the terrible hornets themselves. They are now large, with poisonous stings, very fierce and numerous. (Draw a number of hornets in different places on the blackboard. The hornet's nest is heart-shaped, without upper curves of heart, and looks as if covered with thin large paper scales. For a hornet it will be enough to draw a cross with arms equal, like plus sign (+), and add curved lines for wings above and below the horizontal arm ; or a very thin capital B with a straight line dividing it in the middle.) What are some of these hornets which come out of sinful hearts ? (Add double upper curve to hornet's nest so as to complete heart shape, and by long curve from tip to tip of wings make D's out of several little hornets.) They are dark D's — Delusion, Danger, Despotism. The sin- ner is deceived ; he fools himself, and Satan tells him lies. He is in dreadful danger all the time of losing his soul; he is under a galling despo- tism, a slave to evil desires, habits and feelings. Here is another swarm of hornets, dark D's — Doubt, Dread, Despair. No sure footing anywhere for the sinful traveler ; all is doubt and darkness ; he is full of fears, dreading loss SIN BUILDING A HORNETS NEST. II3 of money, dreading disease, afraid of death ; he dreads the frown and ridicule of men, and thoughts of God make him quake for dread ; almost in despair now, and forever without hope if he dies in his sins. Oh ! how these terrible hornets sting the soul. But here is a swarm still worse — Dwarfing, Defilement, Disgrace. Stuns: while he was growing, his soul was dwarfed, and now in many things still a child, weak and deformed ; defiled by the poison of the fierce insects, how bloated he looks from strong drink and other wicked- ness ; and now in disgrace, a criminal on his way to the penitentiary. Oh! keep these hor- nets out of your heart. And the worst swarm is Death, darkness eternal. Remember it is a very difficult thing to clean out a hornet's nest. A boy or girl attempting it alone would probably be stung to death. I have heard of men stung to death by infuri- ated hornets whose nest they only accidentally disturbed. But Christ can clean out the hornet's nest of a sinful heart. He can kill all the thieving, quarrelsome, deadly insects. He can change it into a bee-hive full of sweetest honey. Will you ask him now to do it for you ? 114 SIN BUILDING A HORNETS NEST. Remember, the hornet's nest is deceptive in appearance. It really looks beautiful without. You would want to play with it. But inside steadily the fierce insects are building cell after cell, constantly enlarging the outside, but always keeping up the good appearance. So on until winter comes. How much like the sinful heart ! THE STRONGEST DRINK. "«-v1^*^ D RAW a stream of water flowing through green fields ending in foreground with falls. Do not shrink from attempting to draw this and other lessons. A suggestion with a few bold lines of white, tinted bluish, will give the idea of a stream, or fresh-water brook. This is the strongest drink. It is strength- giving, not strength-taking. Alcoholic drinks give no vigor, but they whip up in unhealthy stimulation the flagging powers, only to leave "5 Il6 THE STRONGEST DRINK. the whole system exhausted afterward, and diseased. It is this drink that gives the lion strength. (Have picture of lion cut out of toy books and pinned on board in green field. Tell some stories of the strength of the lion.) It gives the elephant his tremendous power to carry. And the tiger's terrible leap, and the deer's remarkable speed are not due to alcohol, but come from water, the strongest drink. (Have pictures of all these animals, and fasten in ap- propriate place selected beforehand on board. The artistic effect of the pictures when pinned on ought to be regarded before the lesson.) Who does not like fine horses ? What beau- tiful, strong, swift, intelligent servants of man ! And they drink no wine to get this beauty, or intelligence, or strength. See, I have several kinds of fine horses, the dray, the farm horse, the full-blooded carriage horse, but all are water- drinkers. So are the beautiful singing birds, the sweet flowers, the great trees. And men who want to do something unusual requiring strength and endurance must take to water. Athletes, racers, wrestlers, Arctic travelers, and all who require clear heads, tough muscles and steady nerves, drink nothing but water. What clear eyes, rosy cheeks, abounding health it gives ! THE CLOCK SERMON. d TO make the clock, get a paper box about thirty inches by twelve inches, and cut down to less than an inch in depth. Cut off upper twelve inches of lid, and hinge lower part with linen glued to box. Cut out and fasten to box an octagon frame for clock face, and have the face itself on separate cardboard a little larger than the circular opening, so as to stand inside. Hands can be cut out of paper, and a long tack through them into a cork stopper on 117 Il8 THE CLOCK SERMON. other side of clock face will wedge both clock face and hands in place. Draw. large heart in- side of box below, and paste large beautiful face of a child inside of upper part of clock back of clock face. Tack the whole "clock" to black- board from inside* below securely, and with crayon ornament it tastefully. Draw Bible near clock with wire from the skies regulating. This o o is the regulator for the clock of life. Here is one kind of clock which Dr. Holmes says might well represent a human life. "The angel of life winds it up for seventy years, and then gives the key into the hand of the angel of the Resurrection." There are many kinds of clocks which may represent different kinds of human nature ; the fussy little clock ticking so fast and nervously, the solemn old corner clock so slowly, the cheap nickel plate clock on street cars, the beautiful cathedral chime clock, the dignified official town clock — all sorts, all sizes, in cheap frames, in most expensive adornments. Go into a watch- maker shop and hear the rows of clocks tick. How fast this little one ! How seriously that ! Hear them strike ! Harsh, sharp, or sweet and charming in cathedral tone. So with people, their manner of moving about or working so dif- ferent ; their manner of talking so very unlike. THE CLOCK SERMON. I IO, But all clocks belong to one of only two classes ; the clocks which keep good time, or those which do not ; the good and reliable clocks or the bad clocks. So do all people be- long to one or the other of only two classes ; the people who regulate their lives by God's will, and those who do not. Other differences are of little account. The beautiful clock in the parlor is unreliable ; that cheap thing in the kitchen keeps excellent time. That is the one most looked at and respected. Now, how shall we make our clock keep time ? Can we do it by simply moving the hands back or forth to be right ? No ; for this will have to be done every hour. This is outward reforma- tion. The works are wrong, and it is simply a superficial change to turn the hands. There will not be much gained by it, and unless we have a good clock near by, we shall never know what is correct time. The works inside must be repaired and set right. So must human lives be set right from the heart. (Open the lower door and show the heart with " Love " in it.) Then it does not matter how plain the outside, nor how large nor small the clock may be, it will keep exact time. A train full of people came into a large sta- tion the other day. Right in front of them was 120 THE CLOCK SERMON. the large clock which regulated the running of trains. As the men passed almost every one pulled out his watch to see whether it was right by that clock or not. So Jesus is the regulator for human lives. Let us stand before him and see whether we possess his spirit and follow his footsteps. The Bible is the clock face for us which is always right. Set your heart and life by it. (Now remove the clock face and show the child face.) Here is the little clock we love to look at. It is bright in the morning, full of love and smiles during the day. When we speak it turns very attentively, and out of those lips always comes the exact truth. Why ? See down below ! The works (the heart in lower part) are all right. What kind of a clock are you ? I don't care whether very ornamental or not, unless you keep good time, though it is nice to be bright- looking and good at the same time. But we want good clocks first of all. JACOB'S LADDER. Candle Sermon. LTSE blackboard lengthwise up and down. ' Cut bristol board (white) at least two and a half feet long by one and a half feet wide, narrowing equally from both sides to three inches wide at top, like pyramid. Begin to fold into steps from small end with half-inch first fold, increasing the least trifle to about an inch for the last fold. Be careful to °;et each 122 JACOB S LADDER. fold even across. This will form the stairs when tacked at each riser to blackboard. Leave a foot or more space below. Upon this we draw at one end of stairs a suggestion of a manger, at other side, the sepulcher. Fasten little sup- ports for candles (inverted V-shaped stiff paper half-inch wide tacked on board above and be- low) at manger and on stone in front of sepul- cher. Soften bottom of little candles over light and hold them until they adhere to these sup- ports, and upon the stairs use as many as will not look overcrowded. Use white, blue, pink, yellow. If you can draw, outline topographical map of Palestine, even barest outline, or sug- gestion of it ; the interest will be increased. The earthly support of the glorious ladder is the life of Jesus among men. I have a picture of an Eastern traveler which I pin on first at foot of ladder, while I tell the story of Jacob's dream. I then remove it, and call the ladder the way to Heaven. The foun- dations of it were laid in the Manger and along the whole life of Jesus down to the Sepulcher. (Light the candles at manger and sepulcher.) By his divine nature he made the way reach to God. Now see the good people upon it. Light the many candles on the way. It will be a most beautiful sight. JACOB S LADDER. 123 Keep some candles in reserve. All kinds, broken, bent, dirty, green. But they come to Jesus in repentance and faith, and he changes them to white, blue, pink, like these (bring out the perfect candle and substitute for the others). Now these are also going upon the way. Here is one near the end. Hear the shout of victory over death ! So on, elaborate as you have time. HEARTS AXD LIVES OF LOVE AXD OF SIX. IF you have a revolving blackboard draw a heart on each side as large as the board will permit. If your board has only one side draw the two hearts side by side, filling the board. Into one, print in large plain capitals, in darkest brown shade, the word SIN. Sin in the heart, in affections, desires, motives, will soon show itself in the life, in outward acts. So we see it come out in many forms. (Erase the lines of the heart and let only SIN remain.) Here is how we see it, for we cannot look into men's hearts. What is sin ? (Change the 5 into a great serpent by adding dark head and fiery tongue to top of 6* and by lengthening into a coil the tail.) It is a serpent, charming us by its glitter only to destroy. It deceives, it stings, it coils about us in deadly po What else is sin ? (Change / into a sharp 1-4 HEARTS OF LOVE AND OF SIX. 1 25 sword.) Sin means guilty suffering, the sword of Divine justice. (Change Nhy adding thorns along its side.) It puts thorns into life, thorns into other's lives, thorns into a dying pillow. So we spell SIN, serpent, sword, thorn. Xow, take the other heart. Print LOVE into it in large, bright-colored capitals. So again the heart becomes invisible, and the life of Love appears. But Love must be also in the heart if the life is to show it. Let L stand for a little foot (draw it over L) busy in the errands of helpfulness and mercy. Let stand for the face of Love (draw eyes, nose, etc., inside of O) always bright, cheerful, winsome, speaking lov- ing and wise words. Let V be changed to represent arms stretched upward. The heart of love must mean a life of prayer to God. And E represents the hands stretched out to help high and low. (Draw hand over each end of E above and below.) " Out of the heart are the issues of life." MISSIONARY BATTLE FOR THE WORLD. GET a small globe with good maps, and fasten with small staples to center of blackboard. Hands are stretched out from all sides for the possession of the world ; Christian hands from the right, earnest, self-sacrificing and pure ; dark, evil hands to curse it from the left below. Among the dark hands are the rumsellers, the infidels, the greedy lovers of gold. What a struggle between these on every ship, barrels of rum in the hold, a missionary in the cabin. Thousands of volumes of bad books, millions of Bibles, tracts and religious works. Great cannons fire on one side, great cannons on the other. Eager hands reaching out to capture the world. But there are other hands stretched out that we do not see. (Have some black paper of the color of your board and tack this carefully, 126 MISSIONARY BATTLE FOR THE WORLD. 127 making all as nearly invisible as you can over two hands you drew beforehand ; one beautiful, bright, with the nail print in it from above, and the other dark, frightful from below.) See, I lift the end of this paper, and, here from above, is the hand of the Saviour stretched out to save the world for which he suffered. And here be- low is the Demon hand determined to destroy. (Let the paper drop over these hands again.) These are the invisible hands helping on both sides in the great struggle. But let us not fear. Our Lord is mightier than all our foes. He has " all power in heaven and upon earth." In his name we conquer. THE SWEETEST PERFUME 3N THE ALTAR ^ CUT out three sides of an altar in a single long strip of cardboard, fourteen inches by four. Crease at four inches from each end, leaving middle six inches. Cut the end sides : : :.. i : :: :J.'/ ' :.::_; :'::e ':~er ::rr.er "~v. :b is r.ex: to middle s i i e . : : the : positc up per corner. 7;;.: :bis :: : '.: .:'.-::: :..':'. ':" fr:::: be*:~ ini by be:: ilr.^ :~ quarter ::::"- ;:::; :f ei:h sibe :-b :ve. SWEETEST PERFUME ON THE ALTAR. 1 29 After tacking, bend the whole altar somewhat the left, and then complete the side in view by drawing lines on the board. Block out in imitation of stones and cut out a top to fit as the altar stands bent to one side. On this you can place the perfume which represents prayer incense. Con: :th flames and smoke above, and mountain below, on which the altar rests. Your sacrifice is now on the altar and you are before it to pray. Your prayer is sweet incense upon this altar. You bring it in a pure white cup (get gold band cup if you can; and pour it upon this altar. You have a strong, sweet per- fume made of a bouquet of flowers. What flowers shall bring their perfume ? One flower alone will not do. First, we must have the Lily, pure. You must be sincere and pure-hearted when you pray. Illustrate with Daniel's prayers. Second, the Rose, for love and earnestness in prayer; as Elijah and Jacob and the church praying for Peter, Third, the Forget-me-not, for gratitude. Oh ! what blessings we ousrht to be thankful for when we pray as David in the Psa] rf/i, the Morning-glory, early in the morn- is Jesus prayed, and often during day. I30 SWEETEST PERFUME ON THE ALTAR. Fifth, the Violet, for humility ; as the Publican in the Temple. What a sweet incense will the Lily, the Rose, the Forget-me-not, the Morning-glory and the Violet make ! Purity, love, earnestness, thanks- giving, first and last, humility, how God is pleased with it ! Then add great faith, and God will graciously answer. THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. WE do children a great favor when we early give them the Christian view of death. We may help them out of the terrible bondage of the fear of death, which has brought gloom into so many lives, even of Christian peo- ple. But the teacher ought not to attempt the lesson unless his or her own heart has learned how to triumph over this haunting dread of death. Our object is a model of a sepulcher made about ten by fifteen inches and a half-inch thick. 131 132 THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. Make it of a paper box about this size cut down to half-inch, and sew lid fast. Cut circular opening into lid about five inches in diameter, and tack fast to center of blackboard. Crayon to represent dark interior and stone outside. At- tach white little candle to inside of sepulcher, or two if you can without danger of setting fire to it. All this is to be covered with a large sheet of paper, slate color of blackboard, or if not, white paper will do. Upon this draw a grave with headstone, flowers, etc. Now begin with this outer picture. Tell of how sickness, alarming and distressing, comes to the home. How death, strange and irresist- ible, enters. Do not dwell too long or in any way harrowing to the children, but make it very vivid by a few suggestive details. Then the grave, how sad, yet how Love beautifies it with marble, flowers, visits it ! We have love here, may we have faith and glorious hope ? Let us look back of this grave. (Lift the paper.) Here was a grave in which was laid a wonderful body, our Saviour's. Tell of the crucifixion, the burial by Joseph and Nicodemus, the guard of soldiers, the stone, then the Resurrection. Here are two angels left in the tomb to tell the women He rose. (Do not attempt the really irreverent thing of showing how Christ rose, THE RESURRECTION OF THE BODY. 1 33 by a candle, etc.; the child's imagination will see infinitely more and be benefited. But the angels in light add impressiveness and point.) So Jesus left angels in the grave. We ought to see them in every grave. Some time all these bodies will rise in glory if we love Christ. All is light, no gloom, in death. TRAINING THE TREE. DRAW large and mature tree as beautiful as you can on right end of blackboard. On the left draw a thin sapling which is to be trained to become another such fine tree. We will build a tree-box around the sapling to keep it from growing crooked, and to prevent ani- mals from gnawing it. (Drive three very small staples around the front of your sapling on the board, one on each side, one on it in front. Of course the one back must be omitted ; say noth- ing about it. Take three pieces of pine, say half-inch thick by one and a half inches wide and of length appropriate to your drawing. Stick pins into bottom of these and they will be held in place at bottom by inserting into staples which will not be seen a little way off. Set these in one by one while you speak. Hold them together above by a cord loop fastened to little tacks on each side.) i34 TRAINING THE TREE. 1 35 Here is the side board " Home " which I put on first. It keeps our little sapling from grow- ing toward evil habits and bad companions. It keeps him straight a long time. On the other side is " School," a board we now put on and join to " Home " by_ this cord of love. The school and the home must work together — par- ent and teacher both loving the child and under- standing each other. Let us be thankful for the Public Schools. Here in front I put the board " Church of Christ," with its good Sunday school, its preach- ing services and prayer meeting and the help of good people. But back of our little tree we must have a board invisible, representing the care of our Heavenly Father. We do not put this up, we cannot see it, but it holds the sap- ling straight and makes it grow so symmetrical and strong. If you have no such tree-box, what a crooked tree your sapling of character will become ! Or the stock, or a vicious horse will eat it off while it is green and soft. MY SLING AGAINST PRESENT- DAY GIANTS. 8P^ *e? z^^- CONSTRUCT an old-fashioned sling with two strings fastened to ends of elliptical piece of strong leather about five inches by two. For pebbles use loose paper balls covered smoothly with brown paper pasted together. Have five of these pebbles. Or, draw sling and pebbles upon blackboard. David heard of Goliath when he visited the army of Saul, and the Lord gave him courage and faith to go out to fight the giant. (Tell the story in detail vividly.) 136 PRESENT-DAY GIANTS. 1 37 Goliath is dead, but seven sons of his are against children to-day. They take their initials from the letters of his name, GOLIATH. First is Giant Greedy, who makes children cry for the biggest piece of cake, or grab for the best things from brothers and sisters. What a disagreeable giant he is, and how many children he controls ! Next is Giant Overbearing, who makes tyrants of older brothers or sisters, and they order little ones about roughly. Then, Giant Lazy, big, sleepy fellow who takes the life out of children's legs and arms and makes them so slow and tired. And Giant Impudence, sharp-tongued, cross, saucy fellow. What a sad thing for the boy or girl he can command ! Then comes Giant Avarice, love of money to hoard it avyay. Stingy, mean, small-hearted and hard-hearted old giant. Fight him by being liberal for God's cause. Giants Treachery and Hateful are the last of the awful row. You know how men despise them and want their children to kill them. Bring out the pebbles from the clear brook which is the Bible. Here are five : a Promise, " He that overcometh shall sit with me on my throne ; " a Precept, " Resist the devil and he will flee from you ; " a Proverb, " Keep thy heart . . . for out of it are the issues of I38 PRESENT-DAY GIANTS. life ; " a Prophecy, " A little child shall lead them ; " a Parable, " He took a little child and set him in the midst of them." Let one string be Faith, the other Works. Put pebble into sling and cast at that giant who is after you. PLANTING THE CHRISTMAS-TREE IN THE HEART. DRAW heart lying on the ground on black- board. Let Christmas-tree rise from the center of this heart. Have the various ob- jects named below ready to pin on while you speak. First, we must dig a place for our tree by hearty repentance, confessing Jesus, with faith in him. Joining the Church is pressing the earth closely about the roots. Let the roots 139 I4O PLANTING THE CHRISTMAS-TREE. run all over the heart, with every part of it fertile soil. Our Christmas-tree is a living one, ever green and fruitful, too ; no such tree is found in the world. It is watered by the Holy Spirit, and God the Father keeps it pruned of dead branches, wild shoots and cobwebs. Is there candy on it ? Yes ; sweet cheerful- ness and good-will. Won't you taste it ? Is there tinsel on our tree ? Xo ; everything is purest gold, twenty-four carat fine. The joy- is gold, the peace is real, and every jewel is of the highest purity and value. Indeed, there is no price can be set upon them. Is there fruit on the tree ? Yes ; nine manner of fruits grow upon it all the year. Paul found every kind, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gen- tleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Are there bright emblems upon it ? Yes ; here is the anchor of hope, the staff of our Shepherd, the banner of holiness, the sword of the Spirit, the crown of righteousness, and many others. Shall we have lights on it ? (Fold stiff paper half inch wide V-shaped, bend out ends of V, and tack lightly with very small tacks above and below to figure of tree on the board. Have several such candle supports. Soften bottom PLANTING THE CHRISTMAS-TREE. I4I of candle over light and hold it on the support until it adheres.) Yes ; here is one light. See how it shines for home. Another, a white and beautiful one, for the church. Here are others for the school, for good books and papers, etc. Shall we have a stocking on our tree ? Yes ; and we will call it Prayer. A large stocking to show our great faith. If yours is small, get one of grandma's or older brother's, and God will fill it. Now, we ought to have a fence of watchful- ness around the heart to keep the soil of bad thoughts and desires outside. (Draw it if you can or let the children imagine it.) The thoughtful leader will know how to fill out these suggestions with anecdote, Bible story and present application. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. ySr*r% THIS lesson aims first to explain and to apply to child life the Decalogue ; then to show the importance of having them on the heart, and finally to change into having them written in the heart and kept with Christ's Love filling the heart. We take the last first in describing the object to be employed. Cut large heart two feet and a half high, if possible, out of cardboard and cover with pink paper, on which draw, in deeper red lines, the tables of the law, using the upper curves of the heart for the tops of the stones and dividing line through the middle. Number in same red color. Print 142 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. I43 across the heart " Christ's," and below, "Love," first table, "To God," second "To man." Now construct of white bristol board a double table with Roman numbering in black, as large as can be got into the heart, again conforming to upper curves of the heart. Cut off sides of heart extending beyond this carefully, and also the bottoms. Hinge these pieces with strong glue and linen on back so that they will fold in. Use blackboard, nailing the heart in the middle so that flaps can be folded in and easily taken out. Fold in the heart so that nothing but your white tables of the law are seen when you commence. (You can hang this outer card on nail or pin it securely over heart.) Complete blackboard with drawing mountain scenery around the tables of the law. Here among these mountains (if you have mountain scenery) came to Moses from God's own hand, some wonderful rules of right living. We call them the Ten Commandments. Deca- logue is a name often used for them, which we want you to remember, so that you will always know what it means : Deca, ten, logue, from logos, word — ten words of God. These com- mandments or prohibitions — for eight of them tell us rather what not to do — were writ en on two tables of stone bv God's own finsrer. The 144 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. first table contains four commands ; let us look at these a moment. I. " Thou shalt have no other gods before me ; " that is, God must have the first place in our hearts and lives. When you love Sunday- playing better than God, or love bad company or bad books or thoughts better, or indulge in any sin, you break this law. II. " Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, etc." Worship God in spirit and in truth, not in pictures or statues or mere forms. III. " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Swearing and thought- less use of God's name is a sin. IV. " Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy." " I forgot " is no excuse, for the com- mand is to remember. Remember it on Satur- day so that you do all your work and leave the Sunday free. " Keep it holy ; " a day of rest from work so that spiritual things may be at- tended to, not for lounging or idling. The second table has six commands : V. " Honor thy father and thy mother." Honor means obey, love, respect. Both parents are mentioned. And then the father was also the ruler, the priest, so it means obedience and honor to all authority in state, home, church, school. THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. I45 VI., VII., VIII. "Thou shalt not kill — commit adultery — steal." The highest crimes and sins against life, purity and property are mentioned, but all other sins against these are included. To shorten life by neglect or abuse is really killing ; to have vile and filthy thoughts, Jesus said was breaking the command ; to over- charge, to work dishonestly, and to take un- just though legal advantage for gain, are also stealing. IX. "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Lying is forbidden, especially as affecting the reputation or good name of another. X. " Thou shalt not covet." Here is where all sin commences : in a desire to have what belongs to another, unjustly or without paying for it. What great commandments ! How shall we keep them ? We must hang- them upon our hearts. See how I do it ! (open out flaps). Now we love these commandments. Here is C at the side, for conscience — a conscientious heart ; 5, for saved — a conscientious and saved heart full of love must have these upon it. But more than that, we may have them written in our hearts. So we lift off the stone I46 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. tables and now they are engraven deep within. And Christ's love fills our hearts so that we fully keep all his words. The Commandments tell us to do no harm, but with Christ's love we are still better. We not only keep from harming people, but we do them good. The positive blessings of love are scat- tered by our hands. Who, then, will have the Ten Commandments written by the Spirit in his heart ? THE HANDS' SERMON. TWO large hands of cardboard ; one, pure white, the other spotted and dark. A number of little hands of different sizes from baby's up, cut out of white cardboard. Here is one each for you six little children in front. Hold it up ! Look at the large hands I have cut out. Your little hands will become dark, unclean like this, or be made and kept white like the other. Which shall it be ? You work with your hands, and if you do wrong your hand of character becomes spotted ; if you steal, or fight, or are lazy, it blackens. And soap won't wash it clean. Only God in answer to prayer can make it white. What is the black hand like ? Brutal, Lazy, Avaricious, Cowardly, Knavish. What is the white hand ? Willing, Helpful, Industrious, Trusty, Endeavor. Comment upon these characteristics, using H7 I48 THE HANDS' SERMON. blackboard if you have it handy. In all lessons use Bible characters liberally with questions like the following : Who had the brutal hand ? Herod. Lazy ? None I know of in the Bible, for lazy men are never heard of after they die. Avaricious? Judas. Cowardly? Pilate. Knavish ? Absalom, though a prince. Be sure to use modern history as well, for children above all must be helped to realize that God's day and rule in the world did not end with Bible history, and that persons and events to-day have significance in his work no less than in Bible times. Make close application of this lesson to cur- rent society. in the order of the above acrostic ot the black hand the worst who have it are murderers, drunken paupers, misers, cor- rupt politicians, robbers of trust funds ; but those who neglect or abuse wife and children, who will not work, who refuse to give to good causes, who will not always defend the right, and who do anything mean, have many black spots on their hands. "Who shall stand in His holy place ? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart." YOUR CROWN. EVERY child who follows Christ has a crown set apart for him or her. (Draw a crown near top of blackboard at the middle. Provide yourself with a iot of little gilt stars to pin or tack on at the proper time in the lesson. This will be enough, but if you can draw clouds be- low and surrounding the crown, and a landscape below, it will add to its effect.) This crown is more glorious than that of any prince, for often the prince does not deserve the crown, but here it is a crown of righteousness, of purified and matured character. It is a far better crown than the diadem of great generals and con- querors, for theirs often is for killing men, but this is for saving them ; a crown of life in every respect. It is better than the laurel crowns of Greece ; they were for mere success in one effort, but this fades not away and is for a lifetime of right doing. Peter probably saw many faded 149 I50 YOUR CROWN. crowns of laurel, olive, parsley, or pine won at the games, and the brown, brittle leaves sacredly kept. There is a way of making our crowns most wonderful in glory. Every time we bring some one to Christ a star is added to it. (Fasten one.) Here is the crown of one who has brought his father and mother, two sisters and a brother to Jesus. (Put four more on crown.) Think of those like Mr. Charles G. Finney, like Mr. Moody, or Luther, or Wesley, who have thousands of sparkling stars in them. Think of Peter, John and Paul. What crowns they will have ! There was the little maid in Naaman's house who directed her master to God's prophet. What a bright star in her crown ! Read 1 Peter v. 4 ; 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; I Cor. ix. 25 ; James i. 12 ; Rev. ii. 10 ; Rev. iii. n, by giving slips to the children and having them recite or read the beautiful verses. BUILDING MY ALTAR TO-DAY. TAKE twelve blocks of wood about six inches by three inches, and two inches thick. These will build your altar. If four of the blocks are cut oblique at end, the altar will look more tasteful. Take lid of brown paper box about twelve by eight, and by cutting down rim gracefully toward middle of each side, you can leave horns for the altar, and the lid set on top of the " stones " will form a receptacle for the gifts you put upon the altar. These gifts are also objects to be constructed in most cases. Now, we build our altar for God's service to- day. We desire to learn of the past, but also, to face all our new duties and opportunities to- day. This altar has twelve stones, not now representing the twelve tribes of Israel, but let us call this stone, the Missionary Society ; this stone, Temperance ; and so on successively, Church Extension, Freedmen's Aid, Bible T 5* 152 BUILDING MY ALTAR TO-DAY. Society, Sunday-school, Missions, Tract Society, City Missions, Christian Endeavor, Education, Woman's Missionary Society, King's Daugh- ters, etc. (When speaking for any particular society it ought to be emphasized, but always in proper relation to other great church benevo- lences. Nothing is gained permanently for any society which is built up at the expense of other important interests. The reaction from such unwise advocacy will do great damage to your society.) These great interests form the altar before which we stand to make our offerings to- day. They represent the holy altar, Jesus, in his various activities to save men. What shall we lay upon this altar ? First, our hands (lay little white hand of cardboard upon altar), to work in these causes ; to do all we can to forward them. Next, our feet (lay little foot on altar). These movements require much visiting and traveling. People must be called on and argued with, meetings must be at- tended, sometimes long journeys must be made. So we give our feet to Christ's work to-day. And our minds (have little candlestick with lighted little candle), to these various great movements to save men. And our hearts (lay heart of love on altar), to love Christ and all his works. We lay also the crown (a gilt crown) BUILDING MY ALTAR TO-DAY. 1 53 of our best attainments and influence on Christ's altar. Shall we put money upon it ? Yes ; according to our ability, very liberally. Hundreds and thousands of dollars when we can ; smaller amounts when it is impossible to give the larger. The widow's mite and the millionaire's millions must be laid side by side. (Put dollars in silver and some notes on altar.) Shall we put books, papers, good liter- ature, etc. ? Yes ; all we can purchase. And labor specially to lay millions more of precious Bibles on the altar for Christ's sake. How full an altar even by the gifts of a little child ! How great and glorious the work of a thoroughly consecrated child may be ! " I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacri- fice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." THANKSGIVING DAY. CONSTRUCT a large cornucopia and tack it gracefully to the center of the black- board. Complete design, if desired, with sur- rounding landscape sketch, leaving cornucopia larger than the lofty mountains. Fill the " horn of plenty " with United States flag, map of our country, picture of home, portraits of baby, mamma, papa, a bill of daily fare, Bible, star, anchor, cup, crown and other emblems of blessings. See, boys and girls, how bountifully God has blessed us ! His horn of plenty crowds our T 54 THANKSGIVING DAY. I 55 daily life with good things. Let me show you a few. Here is the flag which typifies our good laws and protection of life, liberty and property. How thankful we ought to be that we live under the stars and stripes ! Here is a map of our country which reminds us of our marvelous re- sources of fields, and mines, and manufactures. How can we praise God enough for all these ? But here is home ; who can measure the value of that ? And baby, dear baby ; mamma and papa, brother and sister; here is bill of daily fare, good enough for a king. We thank God before we eat it, and here we thank him again. Here is the Bible, which Queen Victoria said is the secret of England's greatness, and is just as really the light by which we have found liberty and prosperity. Thank God for the Bible, and the cup running over with other blessings, the anchor of hope and the crown promised to us. We look all around, and everywhere reasons to be thankful crowd upon us. The past, with wise leadings of God's hand and blessings all the way ; the present, with its innumerable good things and high privileges, and the future, which will be best of all. Let us be thankful that, unlike the ancient peoples, our best is not in the past, but is yet to come. It is always better farther on. THE CUP SERMON. " My Cup Runneth Over. 91 GET all kinds of cups, china, tin, silver, large, small, odd, broken-handle or nicked, old-fashioned, finely decorated. Let these rep- resent all kinds of human nature we invite to the well of salvation. You can build the well by taking a large bucket and putting it into a larger paper box, using moss or sod around it skillfully to cover part of box, upon which crayon rocks, grass, etc. Let down a beautiful white pitcher with a cord, prayer, into this well. Now form a Sunday-school class of the little cups, using about six. Here is large cup for teacher who wants water of salvation ; here are two scholars who pray for it and are filled. This little one, dirty, nicked, unpromising out- side, is clean within, and now the pitcher fills it also. Here is a fine decorated cup who will not J 5^ THE CUP SERMON. 157 have the clear sweet water from the pitcher, but takes some slops of questionable pleasure. How foolish she .is ! Here is the silver cup following her evil example, and also filled with water unfit to drink. What a time the teacher has to get them to pour out this bad stuff and to pray for the refreshing draught ! But now they come ! Let us praise God. They are first emptied, then cleansed, then filled. (Use moist- ened sponge to clean cups.) Here is a family of cups. Big cups, father and mother ; tin cup for big boy ; pretty little cup for the baby; two cups just alike for the sisters. The parents are Christians, and their cups are running over ; the tin cup has had many indifferent things in it, and some bad ; but see, it is held out for the pure and life- giving water ! So by taking typical cases, by anecdotes, by Bible illustrations, many impressive lessons are in the cups. Have some to represent the drunk- ard, some the poor neglected street boys, etc. Let the grease spots which can only be cleansed by hot water and soap, represent sins. But Jesus can cleanse the worst. WHAT COMES FROM THE BEER GLASS ? FOR this Temperance sermon we need an object resembling an immense beer glass on the blackboard. It can be made of a strip of manilla wrapping paper twelve inches by six inches. Bend this so as to arch outward from the blackboard, and tack ends bent inward to board. Crayon the rest of circular top of glass, and the handle to it, and color all properly. A little paper pushed inside will form bottom. 15S 159 Gather all the newspaper scraps of Rum's terrible doings ; all scientific facts of the harm- fulness of alcoholic drinks. Write on slips of paper the notable men who have been de- stroyed by strong drink. Use statistics, facts of personal observation, Bible denunciations of drunkenness, warnings ; the saddest and most thrilling facts you can gather. Put all these into the cup and draw out while you speak as many as you can use, with lively comment upon each. What a terrible cup — a Pandora's box of hor- rible evils ! W T e can enumerate some of these, but only those who have had clear ones actually enslaved, or in torture from them, can measure them. Often as in the marble group, the La- ocobn, father and sons, are all encoiled by ter- rible serpents, vainly struggling with the power of fiery appetite. Oh ! let us pray for these poor victims, and dash to pieces the cups of demoniac horrors. EASTER. DRAW a large sepulcher on the blackboard with bright light in brilliant colors in- side. On bottom frame fasten two small brack- ets to extreme right and left. Place an egg upon one and a rabbit upon the other. What dark sad days were that Friday and Saturday on which Jesus died and lay in the sepulcher ! There was probably never a sorrow quite so shocking and terrible as that of the disciples. Death came to them in the most awful and horrible form, and took the One who 1 60 EASTER. l6l was All and in all to their hearts and lives. Was there ever a tomb so dark as that tomb on the first Good Friday ? But now what a glorious light is in it ! Two angels are there, and they say : " He is risen ! He is not here ! Come, see the place where He lay." So Jesus left for us in every grave a bright angel of glorious hope. The animals, we are told in a pretty legend, wanted to spread the tidings of the Resurrec- tion, and they deliberated as to what animal would be best fitted to carry the good news. At last they chose the rabbit because he had two of the best qualities, he was so gentle, and he could run so swiftly. Wasn't it a good choice ? The Qgg is a wonderful emblem of the Resur- rection. How like a cold, closed-up grave it is ! And all inside seems dead. But what a stir there is now. Listen ! peep, peep ! in a low voice ; then a hole pecked through, and out comes a little chick or a birdlet — a creature of beauty and song and flight up into the heavens, it may be. WHAT TRAINING WILL DO. DRAW uncultivated thorn rose, with one pale circle of pink corolla, growing at roadside. This at middle of board -near the bottom. Then have two roads run from this, the one to a beautiful rose on the left, the other to an apple-tree loaded with fine fruit on the right. If you cannot draw the tree, an outline apple will do ; and if the rose is beyond your skill, cut one out of a picture, and pin or tack it in place. The objects, a beautiful rose and a 162 WHAT TRAINING WILL DO. 1 63 fine apple, might be held in the hands succes- sively while preaching to the children. The simple little rose may become the mag- nificent flower, in wondrously beautiful color ; so may we grow into glorious character. Faith, courage, purity, love, earnestness, each in many leaves in our heart, will excel the finest rose in any garden in loveliness and sweetness ; but only when we call in the skill and patience of the Heavenly Florist and are willing He shall go ahead with us. The apple, also so luscious and useful, bot- anists tell us, comes from the same stock as the pale little rose. It is a rose in another form. So can we be trained to greatest usefulness. We need not choose between becoming rose or apple, for spiritually our poor flower may at the same time become both. " Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness," COMPANIONSHIP IN SALOON. HOME OR DRAW on the blackboard a home, with front entirely open, showing interior of room having fireplace ; in same way, in darker colors, a saloon, front open, showing bar with two glasses on it, and shelf back, with bottles. Construct of white cardboard a shelf to tack on in front of house, extending the room, on which to place candles representing father, mother, 164 COMPANIONSHIP IN HOME OR SALOON. l6$ children, using different colored little candles. Also, tack shelf to form porch or extension of bar-room in front of saloon. You need also little blocks with figures on one side. The toy stores have boxes of soldier blocks cheap. Here are home and saloon in terrific battle for the possession of the boys of America. Sixteen hundred saloons in Philadelphia, nine thousand in New York, and a corresponding number in other large cities abusing the sacred ties of friendship, playing upon evil appetites, and by every means seeking to make men drink. . Here are a row of young men in front of the bar (put five blocks a short distance apart). The first treats the rest to beer; the second thinks it would be mean not to do the same, and so on, until each poor fellow has five drinks. See the first strike the row until all are down. Then the first rises, and after awhile all are up again. Again the first strikes them with his evil influence, and now one is so near the edge that he falls deep into crime, or meets with accident and dies. How many dark crimes are committed in the first drunken spree ! How many fatal diseases contracted, or accidents met with, in the first debauch ! Dr. Richardson says that the brain probably never entirely regains its subtle balance l66 COMPANIONSHIP IN HOME OR SALOON. after being once thoroughly intoxicated. We would all fear concerning a man who had once been insane, and this is what drunkenness really means. Here are some soldiers who would not go with this drinking company (set a few on the table). See, I bind them together with the pledge (use rubber band around the three or four together), and now the tempter to strong drinks cannot overthrow them. They soon have another stronger bond of fellowship in being Christians in the same church. See them save one and another of the young men who fell into drink, and bind them in the same holy ties ! Now let us turn to the home. The little candles, mother and father, are brightly shining, and some of the boys and girls are good Chris- tians. But father loves beer, and the little jug comes out and soon extinguishes his light. He is now seldom at home, and how earnestly the mother and children pray for him. Here is one of the boys, a green one, following him to the saloon. Poor fellow ! he is breaking his mother's heart. The dear little child here in white went once to the saloon and brought father and brother home. Then they promised to stop drinking, but only in their own strength ; and now to-night COMPANIONSHIP IN HOME OR SALOON. 167 they are in the old dark place again. How sad ! Oh ! how many such homes there are in the world. Let us pray for them now. But their prayers are answered. Father is back, not dark and crooked as he was, but a new creature (get a clean white or blue candle), and the home is so happy again. The poor boy, however, keeps on drinking until he takes very ill ; consumption sets in rapidly, and he dies in a few weeks. The mother has hope that he is saved. The father never ceases to blame him- self for the poor boy's fall, and how earnestly he tries to atone for his terrible sin by trying to save other boys who have commenced drinking. Already he counts nearly a dozen thus saved and doirig well, and he is giving his whole life to this good work. And in every good way he labors to close up every saloon forever. Will you help him and other good people in this battle ? FAITH AND WORKS. DRAW two wings stretched upward a short distance apart ; two oars below them forming open V toward the right. One wing is Faith, another Works. If Faith is crippled, Works flutter and soon come into the dust. If a holy and useful life of works is neglected, like one broken wing, it soon brings Faith down. Only with both these wings can the soul mount toward God. Faith is the left oar, Works the 1 68 FAITH AND WORKS. 1 69 right, and only with both can the boat move forward. The difficulties of doing good among men are a strong current, and without such faith in God as secures power, and such zeal and purity before men as win their respect, the boat will spin round and round, or drift help- lessly downward. What would be thought of the boy who professes great love for his mother, but breaks her heart by his wicked life ? Or the daughter, profuse in caresses, but entirely neglectful in helping the work at home? Such love and faith in mother will soon exist only as a dead skeleton of its former self. Draw faint outline of bird in proper relation to the wings, and now complete it. " Thus mount up with wings as eagles." The two hands are also an excellent illustra- tion. Do not be one-handed, for there is very much in the world that a one-handed man can never do. But stretch the left hand of faith upward to God, and receive fullness of bless- ings ; stretch the right hand tc distribute and help. READY FOR EITHER ALTAR OR YOKE. O^QSC DRAW large altar on left side of blackboard with flames and smoke ascending ; con- struct, or have made, a model of a yoke about eighteen inches wide, with bows, pins, chain and hook. Hang yoke on tacks on right side of blackboard, letting the chain extend down to where you draw front of plow just coming out. Chain can be hooked on here with small tack. READY FOR EITHER ALTAR OR YOKE. I/I Here, boys and girls, is the true Christian spirit, willing, like a brave soldier, to die for Christ, or to live for him in the hardest kind of service. Many people have died for Christ. The roll of martvrs is a long and glorious one, including some dear little children, who chose to die for Christ rather than go back to idolatry ; one, Agnes, aged thirteen, about 310 A. d., Denisa, only sixteen years of age, about 250 a. d., a little boy, Hilarion, 304 A. d., and many still younger, with their Christian parents, in the terrible persecutions of former years. Stephen was the first martyr, then James, and all the Apostles, it is said, but John. Paul was beheaded at Rome. Brave soldiers of Jesus ! But we will live for Jesus if we have no opportunity of dying for him. And it requires as much love and devotion to live as to die for him. Here is his yoke. Jesus says it " is easy," his burden is light. The yoke is for two, one of whom always is Christ. It is our cov- enant bond to him. The bows represent love; the pin on our side, faith ; on Christ's side, precious promises. How great are these; how they cover all our needs ! The love of Jesus, who can measure ? The chain is our consecration ; the hook the will. Now, are you yoked with Christ ? Daniel 172 READY FOR EITHER ALTAR OR YOKE. was thus joined to him, and Paul and all the great servants of God were. Ruth yoked herself to her mother-in-law's God, and was ready to live or die with him. Now, have the hook strong, and hold fast. We want here many beautiful and useful lives for Jesus, the Saviour. OLD RAGS MADE WHITE AS SNOW. OBJECTS needed are a bundle of old rags soiled and torn, and several sheets of large white paper. These old rags represent the old sinful nature of a young man who has gone into bad habits of drinking, swearing, gambling, dishonesty ; or of a girl who has be- come disobedient to her mother, and proud, selfish and peevish. (Put old rags into rude shape of a heart.) See, their hearts are like this old bundle of rags, full of sin spots, torn by evil desires, like wild beasts. How sad this is ! Look at Absalom, at Ahab, or Herod, Gehazi, Judas. Or at many not so terribly wicked, yet having many spots of evil, and torn and vile by envy, spite, jealousy. What can be done with Old Rags ? He can be made white as snow. See, I have what was Old Rags here in this pure white paper. But Old Rags must be willing to be broken up and i73 174 OLD RAGS MADE WHITE AS SNOW. have an outside power to change him. Nothing good in him of fiber and real worth is destroyed ; only the dirt and vileness. So does Christ change those who are willing to permit him to do it. He cleanses sin from the heart, but all good natural traits are made stronger and bet- ter. Oh ! what a change is wrought by salva- tion. The dirt is removed, not covered up. But now the pure white paper must have only the best thoughts upon it. Christ's thoughts, and those helpful to humanity and worthy to be preserved. Copy closely after the top line. Do not imitate your own, but look every time at the heading, which, in Christian life, is Jesus ; otherwise, you may copy a mistake made in your first line down to the bottom. Few peo- ple can write straight without lines. You need lines of help from church, Sunday-school, public school and home. Write on these lines so straight. Look through this white paper and see the " water " lines. This tells who made it from filthy rags. So your life will tell of Christ. BUILDING THE LIGHTHOUSE. WITH brown crayon represent rocks, with light color sand. Upon which shall we build our lighthouse ? (Draw, if you can, ocean with great waves to left of rocks and sand.) Now, with eraser brush away place upon the rocks for our lighthouse. So we dig a deep foundation by repentance and faith. Then draw great stones little by little, to proper height. (Follow a faint outline so that it will be shapely and perpendicular when complete.) With bright red chalk draw lamp and red rays of warning. Here below are the angry waves dashing the careless, the sinful of the world. Oh ! warn them of their peril, of the Judgment Day. Stories of imperiled vessels, narrow escapes from shipwreck through lighthouses ought to be used. Have a beautiful face of a child cut from 175 I76 BUILDING THE LIGHTHOUSE. some chromo large enough to cover the red lan- tern, and pin it right over it on top of light- house building. This is our lighthouse warning and inviting, both. Give an anecdote or two of child saving father or mother. Apply points of lesson : foundation, repentance and faith ; building, character to be well cemented by love, and to be plumb and strong. For there are terrible storms that beat upon it, and if it falls many others may be lost with it. The strains of business life are like the storms which twice destroyed the Eddystone lighthouse, but a builder, Smeaton, was found who erected it in a new and wonderful way, so that it has stood over one hundred years. So can Christ help you to build a character that will stand every storm of business and sinful pleasure. Even while storms are raging, as in the case of the Minot's Ledge lighthouse, you can keep right on through all difficulties, completing your lighthouse. THAT WONDERFUL WIRE, FAITH. DRAW a heart, about eight inches wide, on extreme right of blackboard. A hand with open palm resting on top of an upright cross, the hand reaching out from the heart, but some distance away, and about the center of the board. Connect hand and heart with heavy twisted wire spread into five strands in the heart ; one, with bright rays of light flashing ; the second, power (printed) ; the third, peace ; the fourth, healing ; the fifth, cleansing. This 177 I78 THAT WONDERFUL WIRE, FAITH. wire runs into palm of hand, and there spreads a strand along each finger. The thumb and little finger strands run up beyond the clouds, (print Jesus there ) ; the fore and long fingers to very bright light near by, the Holy Spirit ; and the ring finger runs out into the Bible. Along this wire of Faith come the blessings you see in the heart. By way of the cross of Jesus they must come. Peace and healing come from Jesus. He uses one wire as a telephone and speaks peace to our hearts. He uses another wire as a healing agent ; just as doctors use electricity to heal, so he by our faith heals us from sin and disease. Two wires connect us with the Holy Spirit. One transmits power, the other, as shown in mining operations, sepa- rates the pure gold from the dross. One wire is an electric light from the Bible, as read with the Spirit in our hearts. What a wonderful wire of faith ! How it connects us with light, peace, power, cleansing and healing. Let us have non-conductors in contact with the world, so that none of these blessings be lost to us. But let us be in uninterrupted current with many hearts to share them, and connect many with the great wire. HOW TO MAKE IT RAIN. llii i'im WE want to describe an old and sure way of making it rain. You know of Gen- eral Dyrenfurth's experiments in Texas and elsewhere, and of other experiments. In Mal- achi iii. 10 is our plan. Read it. Read also Second Corinthians, eighth and ninth chapters. Draw on top of blackboard in heavy white, the clouds ; on the left, rain pouring down (white, straight, broken lines, chalked over with light blue). On the right are several balloons 179 ISO HOW TO MAKE IT RAxN. drawn, round white balls with network of cords, ending with a heart as the basket. Tack a purse to the board and draw lines below to heart. Put two little tacks half-inch apart near top of each balloon. These will hold silver dol- lars, half-dollars, quarters, etc. Here is a little balloon for the widow's mite. Stand back, you rich men, you men earning comfortable livings, don't crowd on that balloon. That is only for the widow. Here is a balloon yet anchored to the ground by mean stinginess and selfish pleasures. Now, put money in our balloons for God's good causes. Here is a dollar for this. A five dollar bill there (pin on). Here is the child's fifty cents, or quarter. That baby brother's five cents. Put it on that highest balloon to get to Jesus first. Here is a full purse for good causes ; notes, silver and gold must be in it. It is a very liberal man's offering. Now, the blessings pour down from God just as he promised. It does not rain " pitchforks," but other P's — prosperity, power, plenty, peace. This is not a new and doubtful experiment. It is very old and never fails. Let every boy and girl become a generous giver to every good cause. Don't be stingy, or a grumbling giver. "God loveth a cheerful giver." THE DEMON HAND OF INTEMPER- ANCE. CUT out of dark brown cardboard an im- mense open hand. Old paper boxes will do for material. Make the hand three or four feet high if possible. Fingers to be an inch longer than good proportion, and then cut off close to palm of the hand. Sew strip of card- board over the knuckles so that the fingers may be put into place and easily removed. Have a similar device for the thumb. Sew easel rest back of " Hand " so that it will stand, or tack it on the blackboard and draw great beer vat out of which it is coming. This little finger which I hold up represents the financial waste of strong drink — the money which is spent for it. Twice as much as for bread, or for shoes. What we give for educa- tion is merely a trifle compared to it, and what* we give for missions is shameful to think of, it 1 82 DEMON HAND OF INTEMPERANCE. is so small. The indirect waste is just as great. But this is only the little finger of the dark hand. The ring finger of the Demon represents the wrongs to wife and children, to home, to society. How many homes are darkened, desolated, robbed of their boys and girls by strong drink. How sad. The long finger stands for the harm done to mind. Alcohol goes right to the brain and crazes men. Many great men like Shakespeare, Burns, Webster, Poe, Alexander the Great, Belshazzar and many others have died prema- turely. Who can measure this terrible loss ? The forefinger points to the harm done to the bodies of drunkards. Many diseases are caused or aggravated by it, bloated faces, trembling nerves, early deaths. The thumb stands for the saddest of all — the moral and spiritual injury by strong drink. The blasting of good names, the ruin of char- acter, the loss of the soul forever. What a terrible Demon Hand is reaching out to capture our boys. Here is a great white hand of total abstinence to fight it. Now lend your hands and hearts for the battle. Use the sword of Prohibition and cut it off right at the wrist. THREE STRANGE PREACHERS TO PETER. THREE great lessons were taught to Peter by strange objects. Let us also learn them. (Print on blackboard " Fish-net," on left end. Get little bracket and tack to middle of board ; on this a little toy rooster is to be put ; on right end of board have tack near top over which to let down handkerchief full of " un- clean " animals, from toy Noah's ark.) Now, the lesson of the fish-net. Peter had cast it into the sea, again and again, all night, 183 184 THREE STRANGE PREACHERS TO PETER. and caught nothing. This is working alone without God. But now Jesus is with him, and tells him to cast again. Behold, a net full! This is working with God just according to Christ's word. Here is success, power, plenty. So let us in everything ask help and direction of Jesus. Now, put rooster on little bracket. Peter had gone astray, had denied that he belonged to Jesus. O, weak and wicked Peter ! But listen, a cock crows ! How it sounds through the judgment hall of the High Priest. It brings Peter to feel his sin. So God often uses strange means to bring men back to himself. " Dan'l Quorm " tells of an old clock which convicted him. A little child learned to thank God be- cause the chickens always looked up at every swallow of water they took. The third object lesson to Peter was a sheet full of unclean animals. He was very hungry and was told to eat them. But Peter was particular in his tastes and would not. God told him three times, and thus taught him not to think himself too good to help the Gentiles, the heathen, the wicked people around him. We must not be proud or too particularly afraid to soil our hands or clothes to help people. SOLID SHOT AND CARTRIDGE BOX. Memorial Day Sermon. I USED Gettysburg relics, kindly furnished by a friend, a solid cannon ball and an old cartridge box. Get large American flag to set in conspicuous place. What is a solid shot in the battle against sin ? A pure and earnest Christian life. See how it carries everything before it. No argument stands against it, no excuse is sustained by it. Right into the sinner's heart it carries the Gospel. Another solid shot is the prayer of strong faith. Elijah's prayer was a solid shot when he contended on Mount Carmel. How powerful it is, and what tremendous inroads upon evil it makes. Character is the cannon to fire these solid shots. It may require a long time to get it 185 1 86 SOLID SHOT AND CARTRIDGE BOX. thoroughly ready and in position. Iron ore must be dug out, crushed, smelted, molded, hammered, bored, tested. (Show analogy of character development.) But at last our can- non is in position, as at last the Christian char- acter has gained a great influence. And now a few shots make up for the long previous work and patient preparation. The cartridge box also is full of lessons. What are some of them ? The cartridge box is memory stored with truths of the Bible ready for instant use. Have a great many " rounds " in it all the time or you may be surprised and captured by the enemy. What wonderful verses there are for every need of the Christian life. What promises. What sharp goads for con- science and irresistible logic for the caviler. Many people know so little of Bible truth as not even to have come to an idea of its inex- haustible treasure house. HOW TO HIT THE GREATEST HAPPINESS. Qer-pr^ Happiness ■ J - .T DRAW target for bow and arrows on left end of blackboard, facing a little to the right. Make of three circles, one inclosing another. Put bull's-eye or center of mark in the inner circle, and points to aim at directly above in the other circles. Draw bow and arrows on board to the right. Now, boys and girls, you want to hit the greatest happiness in the world, do you ? Well, that desire is somewhat selfish. I would rather 187 1 88 HOW TO HIT THE GREATEST HAPPINESS. have you want to be the most useful, or the best character possible. But we will not find fault with you now ; we will show you the only way to hit the bull's-eye of greatest happiness. Take your bow and arrows and aim directly to this center of getting the most happiness in life. Aim right at it, and not an inch above, and when you shoot your arrow will stick far below. No one gets real happiness who is all the time bending every energy only for happi- ness. Your arrow strikes far below. The self- seeker is never thoroughly happy. (Illustrate from history and daily life.) But now aim for that point just above, " Doing some good without Christ." It is not high enough, but cover it carefully and shoot. See, your arrow is inside the inner circle, but still far from the center. Doing good even a little brings joy. " It is more blessed to give than to receive." There is, however, a point still higher, which includes doing the most good, and that is " Being good." To be saved from our sins and selfishness ; to be made pure and loving. Aim for that now. (Change bow into heart by draw- ing string down to a point, or using upper out- line of bow for upper outline of heart, and completing properly.) Make the effort with HOW TO HIT THE GREATEST HAPPINESS. 1 89 Christ's love in your heart, and you are useful also, and get the greatest happiness into the bargain. The way to get perfect happiness is to aim far above it, and to be good and loving, as Christ can help us to be. So your mother, who is doing most for everybody in the house, is the happiest of all. So the child, pure, affec- tionate, helpful, is always singing for joy, while the grasping, selfish child is sour-faced, fretful, miserable. Be good and you will be happiest. THE MANLY BOY AND THE PUTTY BOY. A Rightly Cultivated Will. GET some soft putty and a beautiful boy doll that can stand. Shape the putty into a boy as nearly like the doll as you can. Now hold out the putty boy. See him bend every way. No backbone ; no strength to hold out his hands; letting his head drop; knees quaking. It is amusing to see him bend and bow. How well he pictures a boy or girl easily led astray. What a poor fellow is this bending, bowing, boneless boy. He will drink beer if some one asks him strongly. He will steal if he is in company with thieves. And how easily he is frightened into lying or meanness. But see a strong-willed boy — this manly, beautiful little fellow. He holds up his head ; he is not afraid of bad boys' laughter. He will 190 THE MANLY BOY AND THE PUTTY BOY. I9I do right at all costs. He has a will which is determined to obey God. People call him stubborn, but he is conscientious in everything. See his backbone. No bending to any evil ; no cringing to any sinful power : no attention paid to evil threats, no bribing of him. He has a steady, firm hand, and he takes his stand without wavering. This boy can bow to bis mother; he prays humbly to God ; he can stoop to help the needy, but never to anything mean or wicked. Now let us see the lines these boys will travel. Here is a clear, straight one upward ; here is a wavy, zigzag downward. Which boy do you like ? Will any one here ever be like a putty boy ? LET ME FEEL YOUR PULSE. DRAW a heart on left end of blackboard and open hand on the right. Connect with red line. The doctor puts his finger on your wrist to find out whether your heart beats regularly. By the artery the line from heart to hand is direct. Write first in the heart "Feverish." Now the heart beats too fast. The pulse runs up from 70 or 75 to 125, 150. The body is burn- ing and being racked to pieces by the fever. So evil desires are the soul's fever. When men love strong drink, gambling, dancing, money, they have a strange fire in their souls and are living too fast. How quickly they become old. 192 LET ME FEEL YOUR PULSE. I93 Erase " Feverish " and write "Comatose." This means very drowsy or nearly dead. So when selfishness and indifference to Christ is in the heart, the heart is very slow to move and you can hardly feel any pulse. How hard to arouse such souls. But we want to see a morally healthy, good heart. How strong and steady the beat of Paul's heart, never feverish, never drowsy. So was Daniel's and Joshua's. The red line between heart and hand are our thoughts and plans. They come out of the heart and direct the work of the hand. Let them always be pure, wise, loving. But the whole system must be saved to have good pulse, so the soul must be saved if thoughts, plans and outward deeds are to be right. Is your spiritual pulse all right ? THE CHRISTIAN IN THE ARMY. DRAW on the center of the blackboard the outline of a file of soldiers facing up- ward and in full uniform, with drawn swords. To illustrate how the Christian gets into this army, get two pieces of paper, color of your blackboard if you can, but white will also answer, each large enough to cover the soldiers. On one of these sheets of paper draw a boy in ordinary suit of clothes — barest outline will do, facing downward ; on the other draw the same boy now facing upward and uniformed, but 194 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE ARMY. 1 95 alone. This latter is to be tacked first over the line of soldiers, then the boy in common dress on top. Now, boys and girls, you see a boy who has made up his mind to be a Christian soldier. He finds himself facing the wrong way. He knows he will have trials and struggles, but that is what a soldier life means. He is not shrinking from hardships or wounds ; he will not dodge nor run. He has come to his pas- tor or Sunday-school teacher, the recruiting officer of the Lord's army, and asks how to enlist. "Decide, and sign your name to the roll " — which means to accept Jesus, and tell others you belong to him. Now, " right about face " is the first order. So he turns away from sin, and begins to do everything right. (Now remove first picture.) Here he is facing toward Heaven. He is uni- formed now. He has joined the Church, and is being drilled in prayer, singing, Bible truth, work for Jesus, testimony. (Now remove this, and show the line of soldiers.) Here he is in the company. Keeping step with good people, fighting with them against intemperance, Sabbath-breaking, swearing, dis- honesty in business, and every other sin. I96 THE CHRISTIAN IN THE ARMY. He is a fine soldier ; full of courage, so that threats nor laughter in the least move him ; obedient to orders, fully and promptly. Full of enthusiasm, hear him cheer and hurrah for the good ! He is strong in faith in his captain Jesus, and loves him with all his heart. IS YOUR HATCHET NICKED OR WELL SHARPENED? HAVE two hatchets, if possible, one nicked and rusty, the other of bright steel, sharp, straight. Look at the nicked one ! It never got good temper from the skillful applica- tion of the fire ; it never was on the grindstone, and has been hacking rocks and nails. So are some men and women in their training. They never got a proper spirit of zeal, endurance and love ; they never were polished by rough trials, 197 I98 IS YOUR HATCHET NICKED ? nor carefully used. How wretched, how dull their souls. But here is the other hatchet. The spirit is in it, the edge is straight, hard steel. The straight edge represents the result of hammer- ing, by faithful teachers and parents. The grindstone is the Sunday-school, the church and the public schools. Now with the good hatchet you can cut away the thick underbrush of selfishness and the tough trees of great sins. Cut them, root and branch, with the good hatchet. But you must not employ trained powers of mind upon sinful pleasures or dishonest busi- ness. That is hacking at stones and nails. Be careful of the rust of idleness. Be always busy with something good. Your hatchet laid away, will soon be covered with rust spots. Keep near to a good grindstone. You need constantly to sharpen up. By faithful study, by regular attendance upon church and Sabbath- school, by prayer in secret, and family altar, you will always have keen edge, and no growth of evil can stand in your way. How sad that any bright boys and girls should become nicked, dull, rusty old hatchets, good for nothing; but old iron ! THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. THIS is a sermon for children, which, if thoroughly prepared, makes a life-long impression. Take a beautiful doll that will stand, or fix wire support about its body and down its legs, terminating under each foot, in a frame, like the Indian snowshoe, as my friend Mr. Fisher arranged one for me. She stood erect and graceful as a model soldier. Con- struct armor to fit her, after pictures in Bible Dictionary. A helmet of stiff paper experi- mented with until you get the right shape, then sew together and cover with bright silver paper. Paste red letters spelling " Salvation " on its front. A breastplate to fit on the breast closely about the neck and arms, also covered with sil- ver paper, and " Righteousness " on it. A girdle or belt with " Truth " on it. A shield covered with gilt, and word " Faith " in bright red letters. Fasten rubber band on center 199 200 THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. (back) by pasting it on, and another at edge, so that your soldier can hold it on left arm. A small broadsword covered with gilt and held to her right hand by rubber bands. Begin with doll not in armor, but have everything ready to put on while you speak. Boys and girls, we are to see a Christian sol- dier to-day. Here she is ! The boys laugh, do they, at the idea of a girl being a soldier ? But let me tell you that no one is braver than a gentle, loving mother, and many girls have shown that they can suffer for the right, like heroes. And girls may be soldiers for Christ, as well as boys. I am not afraid they will be cowardly or slow to charge. But the soldier has an armor provided for her. We are told of it in a letter Paul once wrote to Ephesus (Ephesians vi. 14-17). Here is the breastplate (fasten with rubber bands). This is " Righteousness," or being converted and made good all through. This will protect our soldier when Satan casts his darts of slanderous words, or tries to overcome her by cunning temptations to sin. Be good and pure and right at all times. Next we put on the girdle of " Truth." How strong and ready is the man who is sincere and true. Our little soldier hates pretensions, or THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER. 201 falsehood, or deceit. Then comes the helmet of " Salvation " for the head. God must come to protect us, and then we are safe. His grace over us, and our eyes are not in danger of being blinded by the enemy, nor our hearing injured or destroyed, and the delicate brain cannot be reached by him. Saved in Jesus, we fight sin without danger of being hurt. Two pieces of armor for the hands and arms. For the left hand and arm the glorious shield of Faith. By skillful covering of the whole per- son, we are perfectly safe from all fiery darts. Believing in Jesus, Ave have wonderful promises of overruling and protection from God. Keep the shield very bright, so that men may see the reflection of Jesus in your faith. For the right hand, the Sword of the Spirit, or the Word of God. Against everything bad, we must use the Bible. Learn its truths, its precious verses, so that we can instantly use them against all evil. We may become skillful in this sword fighting, as soldiers often do, so that no one can stand before us. So Jesus fought the evil spirit. Now, boys, if I had a boy doll, I would put the armor on him. And then thus armed, the soldier must be brave, obedient, enthusiastic and end \i ring-. THE WORST WASP'S NEST — THE SALOON. THE Saloon is a Wasp's Nest in any neigh- borhood. It has all the bad traits of the sneaking, irritable, thievish, fighting and sting- ing wasps, but is far worse in its effects. We want to look at it for a while, so that we may keep everybody away from the dangerous nests until we can get hot water and smoke to destroy them. (Draw a small circular wasp's nest on the left, suspended from above, and a larger one on THE WASPS NEST THE SALOON. 203 the right. In the middle, draw plan of your town or city, or part of it like gridiron, and lo- cate saloons on it as wasps' nests on the streets.) Here are the nests ! We have two thousand of them in Philadelphia, besides many traveling in bottlers' wagons. They have each many cells in which wasps are being grown and nursed, drunkards made. See how black-spotted our city or town is ! Looks as if it had the measles or small-pox. It is spotted with wasps' nests. The wasp is thievish. She makes no honey herself, but takes the hard earnings and work of others, even if she must kill them to get the treasure. Wasps kill the bees and steal their honey. The wasp is very irritable. If you touch her she will sting furiously, and how poisonous her sting is ! So strong drink makes people cross, quick in passion, brutal and quarrelsome. How many dear children have been abused, and wives beaten and murdered, by these human, furious wasps. The wasp is mean and sneaking. In the cold of autumn she slyly crawls into your window, and when you happen to touch her, she stings you. So the liquor seller, having a home in this good land, repays the kindness by stinging and destroying. 204 THE WASP S NEST — THE SALOON. The wasp becomes utterly selfish, fights every- thing good that opposes her, or which she thinks opposes her. The Saloon is Ishmael — with a hand against everybody. (One nest by draw- ing lines down may be changed into rum bottle, the other into beer jug.) Hot water will destroy the natural wasp's nest, but cold water destroys the saloon. A slow fire with suffocating smoke kills the wasps, but it takes a hot fire with a great blaze to an- nihilate the saloons. Let it begin to burn. Help to stir it up, boys and girls. SHOW ME YOUR TONGUE! LanIdlrouS XS — spreading, T — thorny, L — lost, E — eternally. The Wheat stands for hearts, W — wise, H — happy, E — earnest, A — affectionate, T — trustworthy. Oh ! the good these hearts do among men. TOPICS FOR ORIGINAL WORK. 1. The Bee Line, and the Serpent Line of Life. 2. How the Apples rot down in the Barrel. 3. Tekel — The Lord Weighing our Work for the Year — A New Year's Sermon. 4. The Bible a Looking Glass. 5. The Book of One Human Life. 6. "The Hive of B's." Construct Hive out of a piece of brown card- board. Reversing it with a little change upside down, the cardboard forms a heart. See list of B's elsewhere. 7. Flowers for the Heart Garden — lily, rose, forget-me-not, violet, morning-glory. 8. Great Heart, holding everything good ; shriveled heart, narrowing until it only contains elongated I. 9. The Cable which pulls all the Cars. 10. A Soul on Fire ! Sound the Alarm ! 212 TOPICS FOR ORIGINAL WORK. ii. What John learned from his Horse : how to be spirited, strong and obedient. 12. Has the Sun of Righteousness Risen in your Heart ? 13. Some Hardships for Little Soldiers. 14. Digging out the Deeper Rootlets. 15. The Home we Fly to when our Season is over — a Lesson the Swallows taught Mary. . 16. A Five-pointed Bible Star — Faith of Abraham, Courage of Joshua, Steadfastness of Daniel, Love of John, Activity of Paul. 17. Before and after taking the Beer. 18. "Don't feed the Fish," but catch them. 19. A Weed to keep out — Tobacco. 20. Put the Best Dress on your Mind and Soul. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 021 064 170 1