The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1938-03-10

Mark 6;37.
PRIMARY ToP1C-When Jesus Fed
Hungry Crowd.
JUNIOR TOPIC-A Boys Part in Great
Miracle.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOPIC
Sharing What We Have.
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOPIC
Providing for the Needs of All.
''My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19). Such
is the assurance of Gods Word.
Countless Christians have proved it
to be true that they may trust God
to supply every need-temporal or
spiritual.
The lesson for today first presents
the disciples as they had come back
from their preaching expedition and
presented to the Lord Jesus a re-
port of their stewardship in minis
tering the bread of life to the spir-
itually needy. He invites them to
place apart from the busy walks
of daily life for a time of COM
munion and rest. The multitude
would not be denied, however, and
follow our Lord to the desert place.
Having taught them, Jesus has OPP
portunity to instruct His disciples
in the important ministry of supply
ing for those in need the bread for
their bodies.
I. The Ministry of the Bread of
Life.
Reports of accomplishments in
the field of Christian work (al-
though sometimes an earnest ac-
counting of stewardship of service
and money! are all too often pre-
pared for the purpose of impressing
men and seeking their financial as
sistance. The real report is the
one which disciples make to their
Lord. 1t concerns two vital points.
1. "What they had done ". 3O).
One of the temptations which face
the preacher and teacher of Chris
tian truth is to avoid unpleasant
and difficult problems by simply
proclaiming the truth and doing
nothing about the outworking of that
truth in daily living. 1t sounds very
pious to say that we will present
the Word and let it do its own work,
but the Christian worker who
evades his duty to deal at close
grips with sin and disorder in the
church and community has not dis
charged his responsibility to Christ.
2. What they had taught" ". 3O).
The second temptation of the
preacher is to follow the specious
reasoning of the modernist who says
that it does not matter what a man
believes, it is what he does that
counts. The foundation of Christian
character is Christian doctrine,
therefore the disciple of Christ must
know what to teach, and give ac-
count to the Lord for his teaching.
Teaching and doing the command
ments Of God go hand in hand.
ii. The Ministry of Daily Bread.
Jesus found no rest, for the null
titudes followed Him to the other
side of the lake. Ere long the eve
ming approaches, and the disciples
begin to be concerned about how
this great multitude is to be fed.
They follow the inclinations of the
flesh and decide to solve the prob
lem by asking Jesus to
l. Send them away" ". 36).
The church has followed their ex-
ample in dealing with the social
problems of the people down
Through the years. The result is
that being denied fellowship, COM
fNp+ hn1yN hwy obI1roh ioI,
was too busy building up a vast Or
ganization or a beautiful order of
worship, the common people have
responded to the appeal of political
leaders who have provided a SUBJ
stitute for what the church should
have given them.
Serious thoughts are these. 1t will
not do for us to "send them away"
from the church empty hearted and
empty handed. Our Lord says
2. GIVE we them to eat" ". 80.
Reckoning hastily on what a small
boy had brought for his lunch Crust
an alert boy to be readyD, the dis
ciples soon demonstrate that it is
Impossible to feed this great throng.
AOSlC Is SQCl d OSVdStGl1lIS llllllS
when it operates apart from faith
in God. They were absolutely right
in their reasoning and in their cal
culations, but they had forgotten the
one factor that really counted. Jesus
was there, and Jesus is God, and
God is omnipotent.
3. "He commanded and they
Ill 81 ao4,' (1,1y dON
When God speaks all the limita-
tons of the finite disappear, and the
needs of men are fully met-with
twelve baskets full of fragments"
left over!
Let those who labor in difficult
places with limited resources take
heart-and trust God.
Wisdom
VIZ Al. L.