Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1894-12-06

end Froas.x
Lea0n for Dec. O.
Goiden IextTsThe seed IL the word or
God."-Luke 81.
The lesson thfweek is found in Luke
.: 4,io' ana ny be entitled "Christ
Ieacning ey rabies" The parable Of
tne Sower 10 one ! the most popular and
familiar OF All ouHavior's published ut
worldwide and hekadeen. Evarvwhs.
seed are Deing sowtnd plants are grow
ins, ana 20 every Sere this lesson n
speaking. EverywhS hearts . "a ono, =.
Influences, good and nd. which tall o..
eternity, and 20 everyhere the searcn-
ing teachings of IL Gcr,ntura hsv.
weight and potency. n onIv naadsS
that the word be expoued IN he c.n.hx
up and be received as verv tv,th -
God and nature cverywle what ,
need Is a right interpretef God;s c..sa
Tess paraoies. Unrist hiAlf Is that in
through this timely lesson the end -
the earth, carrying like tn, WIN n;erc-
ing like the dart.
much people gathered tooath..
Whence came they? The vsr.s =.
the chapter tells. Christ 4. coin
abroad throughout every Gland v,s.
lage, preaching and strewinEa ~,aT
tidings of the kingdom of God Is no.
the heart of man still yearning. "vioT
tidings" They "were to conn., h;r,
out Of every city," 1t is wort ot;n~
that he had previously himself no -
them throughout every city 4 vi,
lage." One is reminded of the IT,
"A house-going pastor makes d.
going people," Are the people com -
us from all houses and hamlets? 1t s,t
be well to inquire further, how we 3D.
houses and hamlets after them?
spoke by a parable" The word paR
clearing up by comparison or illustrate
"A sower went out to sow his seed
An epitome of life. Every man Is
sower Of seed, good or bad, good and bad
With the beginning of his intelligent ca
reer he goes forth as sower of seed. Ha
does not see where the seeds fall, he does
not even know, at times, that he IL SOW
ing; but God knows, and hence he bids us
to walk carefully, to go through life cir
cumspectly. Every man Is a sower. In
particular and large sense the teacher
and preacher is sower of seed. He In
such deliberately and purposely, in a de-
gree, professionally. Sunday is a great
sowing day. God only sees the harvests
that come from it. But there are other
times of sowing. Throughout the week,
in chance meetings by business integrity.
professional faithfulness. in home temper
and dcmeanor the seed Is being sown,
albeit we are not always aware. The
Christian is called to be a ceaseless sowcr
of the seed which is the word of truth.
II Wayside-hearers. We have them in our
| classes and our congregations and our ac-
| quaintanceship The little birds of va
grant fancy . innocent-appearing, but de-
structive to good impressions, are flying
everywhere. Emissaries of the devil
Jesus calls them. Beware of them, pre-
pare for them, make allowance for them
and SOW accordingly. We may also add,
receive accordingly, for the responsibility
is double one. Take heed, also, how ye
hear. Stony ground hearers. They are
| all about us. There is some rocky soil in
every heart. Be on guard. Mere flashes
| of interest on emotion-what do they
amount to? Root work means hard work;
| it has to do with sweat of brow, in
! side and out. instruction that abides be-
| cause of rootage, means painstaking and
watchfulness on the part of both giver
and receiver. Temptations are every
where. Dig deep. Turn out the stones,
get down to the soil, plant the seed well.
Hints and Illustrations.
Christ taught by parallels. He is doing
so STILL Nature is full of these picture
lessons. The nineteenth Psalm C'the
heavens declare the glory of God') makes
mention of this fact. Springtime, sum-
mer, and winter are, as it were, different
chapter headings in the serial books of
Gods praise. 1t is well to call attention
to this, and to let the recurring season
but re-echo the word of gospel truth.
Every time pertinent illustration from
nature is given the longevity of the lesson
| is insured Wherever the object reap
pears, the pictured truth comes back
with It. Here let Christ, the great
teacher of teachers, instruct us. Use
parallels and illustrations.
Pre-empt the ground for God. Some
one was inquiring, inidel-wise, for free
thought and a mind unprejudiced for
good. He was taken to the garden and
saw two patches; one of strawberries, the
other of weeds The Strawberries were
the fruits of "prejudiced," the weeds of
unprecedented soil. Some one, on being
asked a remedy for temptation, responded
keep yourself so full of Christ that sin
can find no crevice in which to breed mis-
chief"
We are sowing seed oftener and more
than we think. At the close of a series Of
meetings two ministers who had been
laboring together for souls, parted from
each other, one accompanying the other q
short distance upon the way. Just before
they said good-by, they knelt in little
grove and prayed. They did not know
that any one saw them. But man in
the field had observed 1t all. 1t set him to
thinking. The seed terminated. He saw
what sinner he was, and he came to the
church to make public confession OF
Christ.
"Sow in the morn thy seed,
At eve hold not thine hand;
To doubt and fear give thou no heed,
Broadcast 1t DER the land.
Thou canst not toll in vain;
Cold, heat, and moist and dry,
Shall foster and mature the grain
For gamers in the sky"
Next Lesson--"The Twelve Sent Forth. "
Matt. 10: GIG.
This and That
| TNy 1000 Nau york Citv had AK C2(