Covenanter Witness Vol. 86 - Rparchives.org

petition of any God or man for thirty days,save of thee, 0 king, he shall be cast intothe den of lions." King Darius, withoutthinking, signed the decree.8: Christians Should Continue theirChristian Practices even under Threat ofDeath.This was what Daniel did and thiswas what Peter and John did when theywere threatened. They said to their accusers,"Whether it be rightin the sight ofGod to hearken unto you more than untoGod, judge ye. For we cannot but speakthe things which we have seen and heard.Daniel continued to pray to God threetimes a day with his window openedtoward Jerusalem.9: God Intervened to Save Daniel'sLife.He said to the king early in themorning, "My God hath sent His angel,and shut the lions' mouths.""Lesson based on International Sunday SchoolLessons: the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching, copyrighted 1967 by the Divisionof Christian Education, National Council of Churchesof Christ in the U.S.A."Junior TopicFor July 18,1971NATURE'S MYSTERIESby Mrs. Robert McElroyMemory Psalm: Psalm 148.Memory Verse: John 3:8.Scripture: Psalm 139:15-17; Eccl. 11:5; Mark4:26,27; John 3:8.Before we begin our study tonight,let us review what we have learned so farabout God's gift of nature. We recall thelessons we are taught through and bynature. We cannot help but remember thebeauty of nature as we look around us atthe creations of God's hands. Finally, weread that all God's creatures in heaven andon earth are to praise God. Tonight we arethinking about "Nature's Mysteries."Do you enjoy reading mysteries?Most children do. Some are so exciting youcannot put the book down until you havefound out for yourself the answer to theproblem. As we consider nature, it seemsto me to be filled with mysteries. OurScripture for tonight brings to mindmysteries which we, as ordinary people,are not able to understand.What is a mystery? Is a mystery thesame as a secret? No, I don't think they arethe same. First of all, a mystery is a hiddenor unknown fact about something we don'tunderstand. We may not understandbecause we haven't correctly put the cluestogether or we may not be ready to understand.A secret is just somethingunknown to others.Many of the workings of nature aremysteries to us. We know what we expect12to happen but we don't know why they do.We depend on nature to act and re-act incertain ways. For example, a farmer Tcnowshe should plant most of his crops in thespring when danger of frost is past. Whenthe seeds are planted, he depends on theseed to sprout and push up through thesoil. He waits for rain and sunlight toprovide the seed with the things it needs.But why does the seed sprout? Whydo some seeds push themselves upthrough the crust of the soil and otherspush up new sprouts? This is one ofnature's mysteries. Read Mark 4:27.When a seed is planted it seems to be lostand buried but it soon makes its presenceknown. A field may be brown and lifelessone day and tinted with green the next. Atime lapse camera could take pictures ofthis happening so we could see it, but wewould still not know howit worked. Thisnoiseless change continues until the plantreaches maturity.In our lives we may be lost andburied in our daily work. But when theseed of the gospel enters our heart achange takes place. Christians are likegrowing plants: when we study our Biblesand pray we give the gospel seed the foodand strengthit needs to grow. As we growin our spiritual lives it is possible for othersto see the change in us.Another of the mysteries of nature isyou. When you were very small perhapsyou learned the finger play:"God made the green, green, grass.God made the sky so blue,God made the birds that sing,And (name) God made you."Our bodies are marvelous creations. Yourbody can grow;it can turn food into fuel; itcan repair or mend a broken part. Noengine or computer scientists have beenable to make can compare with thecomplex machine of the human body. Justas an inventor knows and is able to explainthe working of his invention so is ourCreator. Yet it remains a mystery to usbecause God has not revealed the mysteryto us. Just as the farmer depended on theseed to sprout, so we depend on our bodiesto grow and develop in a given pattern.The first question in the Children'sCatechism is "Who made you?"and the third is "Why did God make youand all things?" Yes, God did make us andHe did so for His own glory. God made youfor a purpose. It was part of His plan thatyou were born. Yet God gave each of ussomething else that made us different fromother animals. He gave us souls. We knowwe have souls because we can think aboutGod and the world to come. But we don'tknow how the soul enters our body or howit operates. Eccl. 11:5,6. Even as theworking of our body is a mystery evenmore so is the working of our soul. Weknow we are the work of God and we mustdepend on Him.Our last Scripture is John 3:8.Christine Rose^Ui wrote a poem you mayhave learned at school that began?"Who has seen the wind?Neither you nor I.But when the trees hang down theirheadsThe wind is passing by.It is true we can't see the wind but we cansee what it does. A farmer may depend onthe strength of the wind to turn the millthat raises water from below the groundlevel. Or a sailor may depend on the windtofill the sails and move his boat. Or youmay depend on the sea breezes to coolyour home. The Spirit of God is similar tothe wind. We are unable to see the windbut we are able to see what it can do. TheSpirit of God is powerful but the way Heworks is a mystery to us.These are only three of the mysteriesof nature—the sprouting and growth of theplants, the creation of human beings withsouls, and the ways of the wind. There aremany others. What causes a lowlycaterpillar to turn into a beautiful monarchbutterfly? Why can birds fly? Why doducks know how to swim without everbeing taught?These are only mysteries to us. ToGod who made everything, there is nomystery and, perhaps, when we are readyto understnd, God will reveal the unknownto us.Questions:1. What do you think is nature'sgreatest mystery? Why?2. How can we ready ourselves tounderstand these mysteries? (See n Tim.2:15)Activity:For our Bible study tonight we aregoing to see how many different kinds oftrees are mentioned in the Bible. Whatkind of seeds do trees grow from? Can youthink of any seeds of trees you eat? Howabout coconuts or (Numbers 17:8)? Psalm52:8? II Sam. 5:23? How many more canyou find? Prov. 7:17;I Kings 4:33; Gen.35:4; Isa. 41:19; Jud. 9:10; Job. 40:22.Prayer MeetingTopicfor!uly21,1971PRAYER FOR THEIRISH REFORMEDPRESBYTERIAN CHURCHBy Rev. I. Renwick Wright, D.D.Suggested Psalms: 50:1-6, p. 127; 85:4-8,207; 110:1-3, p. 275.Scripture Readings: Isaiah 49:1-12; Acts1:1-11.TheCOVENANTER WITNESSChurch in Ireland has forty