Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-05

! suited 10 the ltilH country district, WIN le
| half-doZen families IL brings the Christian
| worker into direct personal contact with the
| scholars, and thts utilities the mighty force
| OF personal influence, personal interest and
| affection. Its methods attract, awaken and
enthuNe young and old Without eNaggera-
! tion, we can say that the children cry for
! It," Its bright music, variety OF exercises,
books, ric.arcs, papers, social intercourse,
| appeal at once to their nature, and open a
! ready door for tie entrance of the word into
| their hearts. II carries all through that
| personal element which is so important In
| leading to decision, and which Is so often
! lacking In the formal preaching of the gospel
! to the masses gathered In the great congre-
cation, II requires no impossible conditions
In the way of buildings, appliances, uniform
qualifications of workers, and formaliucS oil
worship 1t will work In the great, model
building. planned with class-rooms, foun-
tains flowers and all the modern improve
mente and it will settle down comfortably
under the shelter OF "A shady tree, or In the
corner of a barn or backsmith's shop. 1t
can use judge of the supreme court for
superintendent, and 1t is just as glad to
employ the tact and love OF some godly
mother, whose other hours are all busted
with the cares of home. 1t has the value oil
adaptation.
ACTION AND ECONOMY
II. 1t has the value of action. 1t is prompt
and loses no time. The great demand of our
farmers is for a harvester that Will gather
the crop quickly, when 1t is ripe. The old
sickle would do IL you had small crop, or
ages of time at command. But here Is a
work that demands immediate action. My
observation teaches me that great deal
of time may be lest in planting church
in a needy locality, and establishing the
formal preaching of the gospel there.
committee or two to visit the field; re-
port to Presbytery: a petition from the peo-
pie for an organization and minister; some
more red tape, and perhaps six months IL
have known it to be two years. before the
work is really under way. But the Sunday
School missionary comes along, secs the need
and the opportunity, and he goes to work
the same hour. The first Sabbath day there
is meeting, the school is organized and
begins its blessed work at once. Here is
an instrument that saves time and best OF
all saves the perishing. 1t has the value Of
action.
III. 1t has the value of economy. Our en-
gineers want the locomotive that can do the
most work with the least fuel, at the least
cost. EvangeliZaton costs How can we
make the means at command go furth6st and
accomplish most? If there is a way to reach
more people at the right time with the gos-
pei and at less expense than by this Sab
bath school movement l have failed to find
it. Most of the work is freely given-the
willing Offering of Christian love for souls
the fruit of honest desire to do good few
dollars cover the necessary outlay for books
and place of meeting, and your school thrives
and does its work where no other form OF
Christian activity could be supported. You
can take your Sabbath school to a thousand
places where it would be impossible to take
the regular church organization. Compare
the cost of this work of saving a boy by the
gospel with the cost of taking care of lost
boy by the courts. careful inquiry was
made by a well known Sabbath school mis-
sionary into the expense of the trial and
execution of man after his arrest for the
crime for which he was finally hanged When
he had gathered all the items together he
found their sum was equal to the cost of
organizing forty new Sabbath schools in
frontier neighborhoods, or 1t would have sup
ported an average school of 100 scholars Tor
twenty-five years Friends, If we want to
get good value for our money, let us put
1t into Sabbath school missionary work!
". This work has the supreme value
of the highest efficiency. This harvester
saves the grain This tree bears fruit! The
work done by our board during the past
few years is matter of record. and l need
not take up the time repeating the Won
derful story But let a feature or two
stand out Just now to impress the facts
| know one of our missionaries who has
organized ten new schools in eight months
There have been ninoty-four profossed CON
versions in connection with these schools,
and or tnCSe S1Nty-Cut udNt uHlttu WIN
the Presbyterian church and twelve with
other churches. In the few years our board
has been doing this work seven schools, on
the average. have been organized every three
days. or $3.50 in all, and 81, ,223 scholars
have been gathered in. Thousands have
been hopefully converted to Christ ard the
seeds of heavenly truth planted where, In
multiplied thousands of cases, the fruit shall
yet be unto eternal life.
Look at another fact. Since we began
this movement eight years ago there have
baen 1899 new Presbyterian churches or
ganzed. including these reported from for
eign mission fields. OF this total AIS, or
26 per cent. have grown out of our Sabbath
school mission work. Brethren, this tree
is a fruit bearer, it bears precious fruit.
much fruit. and herein is God glorihed.
In this Sabbath school movement, then,
there is the value of perfect adaptation TO
a most important part of the work OF evan
gelizaticn. of untrammeled quickness of ac-
ton. of unsurpassed economy, and OF mar
velous fruitfulness. If we have not under
stood it before. it is time that we now
awake to the fact that In this movement
we have one of the most important and
valuable OF all the agencies OF the church for
the evangelization of our land. one in which
talents of every degree may be utilized for
God and where the desire OF every true
Christian heart for service finds an open
door. j. c. M'CLlNToCk'