The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1919-08-07
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
Especially Prepared For Readers o
The Republican.
SUNDAY. AUGUST 10th.

Winning Others to Christ. Acts 16:9-
IS; James SIG, 20.
Ye shall be my witnesses both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Sa-
maria. and unto the uttermost part of
the earth. Acts 3.
U. S. WRIGHT.
THE WEDDING.
Weddings are always great DAYS in
the home. All the hopes of the years
have come to the uniting of member
of the family with one from the outside
who shall share the life and destinies of
the group into which he or she comes.
JOY shines through tears but is always
the ruling note in the great day of home
enlargement and enrichment. The same
feelings characterize the day of union
in the house of the Spirit that we have
been following thru its varying symbols
in these lessons that have taken one
from the outside into the living room
where under the witchery of the
warmth and glow of the fire the deep
est things of life have been opened to
the touch of Christ's tenderness. Now
a child of that group is to bring another
into its mystic fellowship in response
to the wooing that has won another
heart to a holier loyalty. Every re-
ception into the church Is the wedding
day of souls. Not driven into an ALI
ance of convenience but won by the
winsomeness of the appeal the joy of
new union shines in the dewy eyes that
watch their coming. Hands are reach
ed out in affections greeting. Love
calls to love and right royalty the well
come is given. This is the high priYi-
lege and design of the church, Gods
building for housing the family of God.
1t is meant to reproduce itself in an
ever increasing number of duplicates
until all have been united in its relation
ships. Failure here is the ultimate ex-
tinction of the family. Children are
born in the home and there is constant
growth thru their coming but if they
fail in adding others there can be but
the one result. Failure to be soul
winners defeats and deadens the very
purpose of the life.
The PASSION.
Into every life there comes the pas
sion for a mate and the conscious or un-
conscious putting on of winsomeness.
1t is the abnormal that refuses the in
ner impulse its expression. Just as
naturally does the soul winning passion
come into the being of every child of
the Father. To refuse to exercise it is
to court death and the extinction of a
family line that.is worth propagatlng.
There is always double consciousness
of the imperative need that is faced by
the other and the worth of the life to
which one belongs. There is the subtle
heresy of these days that something
else beside living union with Christ
will save. With many it is unthinksble
that a soldier dying in battle should be
lost vet this is Mohammedanism pure
and simple. Jesus saW men all about
Him lost and gave blood to save
Every follower feels something of the
same thing. Paul was driven by a per-
feet passion of realized need on the
part of all men and was willing to go to
any limit in order that the good news
might reach the last one. This sense
of utter poverty of others rests upon
the knowledge of the riches of the life in
Christ. Paul counted his racial pride,
his Pharisaic purity and all things else
as refuse so that he might win Christ
and be found in Him. Seeing eyes pro-
vide for the blind, strong limbed ones
build asylums for the manned, the well
erect hospitals for the sick, purity opens
Doors of Hope for girls in scarlet and
always there is born out of the sense of
possession the passion that would bring
others to that same condition.
The PLAN.
Paul, driven by his desire to carry
Christ forward. came to Troas and
doubtless because he was sick called in
DR.. Luke and kept him with him thru
much of his later life Here came the
vision of the Macedonian calling for
his coming and waking his thought of
their need. Europe was reckoning.
The future of the world was stretching
out its hands and Paul was intensely
sensitive to the suggestions of the Spirit
30 straightway they set sail and the
march of the Kingdom entered a new
stage. Entering Philippi they met no
other welcome than the seen need.
Seeking any opportunity they sought
the river bank where a few Jews or
proselytes met upon the Sabbath for
worship. These were far more promis-
ing than uninstructed Greeks. They
chose to go first to those most easily in
iuenced. Christ sent his Disciples first
of all to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel because they themselves were
Jews. This is always the plan-ap-
Il