Image provided by: Silverton Country Historical Society; Silverton, OR
About Torch of reason. (Silverton, Oregon) 1896-1903 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 24, 1896)
THE TORCH OF REASON, SILVERTON, OREGON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1896. A Comparison. O rthodox 8. S. L esson . The Birth of Christ. - L i ke 2:8- 20. Christinas Lesson. R E V ISE D VERSION. And there was shepherds in the same country abiding ili the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid . . the . angel . said unto them. Be .» And not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall he to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this is the sign unto you; Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multi tude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest. And on earth peace among men in whom he is well pleased. And it came to pass, when the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that it come to pass, which the Lord lias made known unto us. . , they came with ;,i haste, and And glory, and not gone to see the babe in the manger? If you seek for Jesus you have God’s promise that von shall find him. And when you have found him bow down in worship, as did the wise men; then give unto him gifts, as ,.they did. The Savior is God’s great gift to the world. What will you give him this day? He is plead- ¡ng with you, saying, ‘“Give me thine heart.” Can you refuse the gift? When you have found him, meditate, as did Marv, upon . 1 the , wonderful things that G od reveals, and publish, as did the shepherds, the good tidings o f a Savior come to redeem man, repeating the song of the angels, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Q uestions . What curse was inflicted on the serpent for his share in man’s sin? Between whom was there to be en mity? What should the woman’s seed do to the serpent? What should the serpeut do to the wom an’s seed? What was inflicted upon the ground for man’s sin? What does the earth bring forth? How must man earn his bread? Unto what return? From what wr.s man driven? What have the people in darkness seen? What shall the wonderful child he called? How long ™ shall he reign? What K good tidings are brought? Who has found both Mary and Joseph and , i i • ; in e the , the babe lying manger. comforted his . people? 1 1 , i .i -.4 .1 A nd w h en th e y saw it, th ey m ad e known concerning the saving which was sp< ’ i e“ * " «1«. ..i....4 4i..^ child. And all that heard it won dered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them. G olden T ext .—Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy.— Luke 2:10- T opio —Angels rejoice in the salvation of men. P ersons .—The shepherds, the an gels, Mary, Joseph, the babe Jesus. A C hristmas T alk . Nearly nineteen hundred years have passed since the song of the angels echoed over the field of Bethlehem; and still it is ringing over the world to-dav. As each Christmas season draws near, more of those for whom Christ died have heard of his love for them, and more hearts have bowed to him as their Master ami Lord. You have heard the message which the angles proclaimed, “on earth peace, good will toward men.” You know the beautiful story of the gospel. But have you ever obeyed the message which God sends his servants to tell? Have you ever sought the Christ? Sup pose the shepherds had spent tl e night in talking of the wonderful said of the visage of th e s W hat is se rv a n t? What were shepherds doing? Who came upon them? What shone around them? How did they feel? What did the angel bring them? Who was horn that day? How should they know the babe? What did the multitude of the heavenly host say? Whither did the angels then go? Where did the shepherds go? Whom did they find? Wl.at did they make known? What was the feeling of those who heard the good news? What did Mary do? SECULAR s . s . lesson . Two Christmas Eve Pictures.— T he F irst P icture .—A large room lit with bright electric lights; car peted with a rich carpet that looks like moss; tilled with plush-covered furniture; curtained with silks and laces. In the center of the room stands a large evergreen tree whose branches are loaded down with all the good things a boy or girl could wish lor, from candies, fruits and toys to warm mittens, hoods and 1 u rs. Dancing around .he tree, laugh- ing aud Binging with joy, are two well-dressed, rosy-cheeked, curly- headed children, a boy aud a girl, The happy parents of the chil- dren are seated on soft-cushioned divans enjoying the delight of their darlings. I he S econd P icture .—A small room lit with a dim tallow candle; a bare, dirty floor; only a few pieces of broken furniture scattered about; only one little square window light and that uncurtained. In the center of the room on a dry goods box stands a small twig of evergreen with two sticks of candy, and two cheap, bright-col- ored, cotton handkerchiefs tied to it. Standing near this mimic tree, shivering with cold and hunger, are two pale, hollow’ eyed, ragged chil- dren, a boy and a girl. . As the children stand thus, look- . . . . . ing at the tree that their poor mother has tried to prepare for them, a drunken growl is heard and their beastly father enters the room. the mother stands weep- ing and the frightened children creep into a corner. Jesus Christ, whose birthday is celebrated by the rich, is said to be the saviour of the world. Has he saved it? If so, from what? From crime, from poverty, from suffering, from misery, from degradation? A thousand times NO. After nine teen hundred years the world is far from being saved. Shall we trust in Gods any longer, or shall we awaken from the spell that has been cast over us by wily priests and save ourselves? QUESTIONS ON T H E LESSON. What kind of people do you think lived in the first room des cribed? Do you think it easy for such people to be happy and good? wbY you think so? What is deec,ibed in the second picture? Do you think U eaKy for such P«»- pie to he happy and good? Give your reasons for thinking so? Are we al1 saved from sin> Poverty and suffering? Will believing anything save us? W hat alone will save us? ca” You do t° bring about better conditions? Gem of Thought: I his is a true saying and worthy of all accepta- l*on’ that human effort alone can save the world. and immediately knew the reason when we learned the above. Mrs. Van Hoeter aud babv •r Eunice have just returned from their trip East. Several members of our Sunday school have been invited to partic- ipat-C-ir the. COtiC“"* hall on New Year’s eve. It would have done you lots of good to have seen the Lord Cham berlain blow the Giant over last Sunday night. The part was well acted aud sustained by Miss Pearl Peters. Six Sm iles. Little drops of reason Little grains of sense Makes a man progressive, Not straddle of the fence. Little drops of humbug, Aud of faith a grain, Makes a poor fanatic Who is apt to go insane. Wife.—Why did you stand and talk so long with that Turkish ped dler? Husband.—I was trying to con vert him. “Hull! Great missionary, you would he. What did you teH him?” “I told him a Christian was not obliged to have more than one wife.”—Great Divide. “ That apple Adam and Eve ate must have been green.” “ What makes you think so?” “ Well, as near as I can ligure it out, they doubled up and went to housekeeping shortly after eating it.” —Times. Aunt Dorothy—How many com mandments are there, Johnny? Johnny (glibly)—Ten. Aunt Dorothy—Aud now, sup pose you were to break one of them ? Johnny (tentatively)— Then ther’d he nine.—Amusing Journal. She—I am so afraid of you news paper men! New s from Portland. He—Why. Are we so bad. No; hut there’s no telling when The entertainment given last Sun day evening, was a success every you are going to press.—Hartford way. Yes, financially. We have T i m e s . _______ enough now in the treasury to give W anted .—A good Secularist a respectable Christmas entertain compositor who is willing to sacri ment, but there will not be much fice for the cause by working one left. year for board and lodging and a Misses Ethel Bailey and Bertha little pocket money now and then. D-wev, were at their Best, last No one with bad habits need night in their new song, “As a good apply. Address T orch of R eason . little girl should do” receiving We give the T orch of R eason thunders of applause and have been and the Truth Seeker for one year »«ked .o repeat it at the Marquam to new subscribers, for $3. The Gra,,d °Pera hm,SW- «‘h- T orch of R eason and Free Thought Our Sunday School mourns the Magazine for one year to new loss of the presence of little Sophia subseritiers for $1.75. Dilg. she having gone to Seattle to live. In addition to the addresses by Mr. Fick announced the arrival members of the Liberal University of a new “Freethinker” at his resi- faculty, the Silverton Mariue hand dence yesterday, a boy, weight, 8 will give a grand concert at Lib pounds. We wondered what caused eral hall, Sunday evening, Jan. the Lordly appearance of Mr. Fick, 3rd.