The Topeka state journal., 1909-03-13
RY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.

The International Sunday-School Lessor
for March Il is, 'Eneas and Dorcas.
Acts 3: 1-43.
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
Here we have a story without vllllan
Everybody acts handsomely and helpful
ly. The background is peace ana prog
seen at their best. There has been tur-
mon and excitement in most OF the pasi
no time been lacking. Now the quarter
closes with a peaceful, quiet, conStrucuNe
the healing of Eneas. who had been pal
sled for eight years, and the raising 70
life: also by. Peter, of Dorcas, the woman
deeds which she did
The lesson of the lesson is twofold. and
1T lies the surface: The GoSpel OF
Jesus is attested by its power to trans
form feebleness into strength and death
hand is the immemorial result of accept
ing Christ as Lord. These two teach.
ings are for today In other fashion, put %
none the less truly, the Gospel is at the
present time lifting up the broken IN body
joicing, as witnesses to the supernatural
power which still resides in Christianity
When Cities Are Stirred.
The cities of Richmond and Boston have
lately been stirred to their depths py the
Chapman evangelistic meetings. Especial
" in the conservative old New England
Thousands of persons clamored in vain
for admittance to Gospel meetings al
all walks. of life publicly confessed that
they had been made new creatures by TINS
old-fashioned Gospel. To them, and TO
their friends, 1t seemed as if they had
passed from death unto life.
How. the city,s many tongues wagged
over these wonders of conversion. Even
so the talk ran at LYDIA, where Peter
healed the pnFaly6c ara ~ and at 9E9bppa Eb Ta9fs
were signs s''-nlirac cles-attestation of
the divine power which inheres in Chris
tianty- Made-over men and women are
the final and irrefutabie argument for the
he n
he is over converted sinners who testify
to the power that made them whole
sets community by the ears and turns
mems hearts to their Maker. The COM
Borcas" T " were ' early members m r has as been i-i
steadily increasing one ever since.
The Healing Church.
,iso,f Dr Robert a Hgame a q tnda ~ as, calls
boys, by the power of the Lord Jesus"
In other words. he is a missionary. As
greeted on every hand by natives of all
has been done. not by the books ne has
written, or by the sermons he has preach
ing a friendly, helpful neighbor in the OF
binary relationship of life. He is touch
helping, healing touch of Jesus. I am
satisfied to accept him, and ten thou
in the apostolic succession because he dis
plays an apostolic character and does
T.
sionary tour. would have found many a
modern missionary congenial compan-
ion.
The conception of ministry which the
early Church held SO strongly is again
taking strong hold of the mind, Of the
ment, and various notifications thereof.
is permeating all denominations and all
sections of the country. The ministry is
Jesus. the healer. is looming large n the
Christian thought of our day. OF course
this fascinating theme often evokes ILL
balanced views and it is fraught with |
fciaL None @ E the less. % through the i science
church may do for the afflicted what
ing ali over the non-Christian world are
pel's power
a Woman's Career.
The name of Dorcas has been adopted
by thousands of organizations of help
mediate upon in this day when there is
such widespread discussion of woman's IS
see that woman is made the sOt,of comrionest EST
say, say Ian and the lecture; Re- The sign is not a |
to regard woman as a curious and COM
ple1 social enigma and try to analyize |
the old-fashioned Difference which we like |
70 regard as her unquestioned right. The |
ton the surer she win be to fulfill her
natural destiny. If this Sunday-schcol |
lesson leads older students to recall and +
reasSert the primary place of woman in /
the social organization it will have done !
a service entirely germane to it's original !
purpose.
Oid-fashioned indeed was Dorcas. She
had no other thought of a career for her |
self than to be helpful up to the limit of |
her powers She was not a famous /
church worker" nor had she the gift /
of prophecy. Her office was the simple, !
lowly one of helping the needy in humble,
ways. Nobody called her |
genius" but the poor blessed her upon /
every remembrance of her name. She
could not teach to edification perhaps. but {
she could demonstrate her faith by her
works. Many were the new babies whose
first wardrobes came from her. deft fin
gers. And even the praiseful lips of the
friends who gathered about her bier could
and poor whom she had clothed. All the
while. doubtless, Dorcas looked with ad
upon such superior" women as
Mary OF Bethany Little did she dream
that her swift needle was stitching her
own name in letters of fadeleSs gold up
on the worlds brief roll of immortals
The SOlVers of the Social Problem
Echoing in the wailing of those East
ern women gathered about the bier of
Dorcas-I have heard that weird sound
more than once, and never want to hear
It again-is one solution OF the social
problem. These weeping friends seem not