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.