Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

me."again."men.". .Instead,men.'. . . This. .voice calling him. He thought it wasEli. He ran to Eli and said, "Heream I; for thou calledst Eli toldme."him to go back and lie down becausehe had not called. Samuel did as hewas told. Then Samuel heard the voiceagain, and again Samuel ran to Eliand said, "Here am I; for thou didstcall Eli me."answered, "I called not,my son, lie down This happenedthe third time. Eli knew now that theLord had called Samuel. He told himthat if he heard the voice again tosay, "Speak, Lord; for thy servantheareth."The voice came to Samuel again. Hedid as Eli had commanded. He said,heareth.""Speak, Lord, for thy servantGod told Samuel that he was going topunish Eli because he had allowed histwo sons to become wicked men.Samuel lay verystill until morning.He got up and performed his duties asusual but he was afraid to tell Eliwhat God had told him.Eli called Samuel to him and said,"What is the thing that the Lord hathsaid unto thee? I pray thee hide it notfromSamuel told him the wholemessage. Eli said, "It is the Lord;good."let him do what seemeth himGod appeared to Samuel and spoketo him often. All of Israel knew thatSamuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.This is the story of our topic, GodSpeaks. Now let us see what lessonswe can leam.First, Samuel was FAITHFUL. Hisduty was to serve Eli and he evidently did that very well. Even in thenight he waswilling to awake andanswer the call. We should all befaithful in whatever we have to do. Thatmeans in our every day life and inour spiritual life, too. My dictionarysays that faithful means trustworthy,truthful and honest. If we have tasksto perform and fulfill each of the requirements above, we will indeed befaithful.How can we be faithful in our spiritual life? What about prayer? Have wenot learned that we must look to Godoften for the direction we need? Letus remember that prayer is notonlyasking. It is also a means whereby wemay thank God for His many blessingsand also a time to confess our sins andask forgiveness for them.Will you read the parable ofthetalents in Matthew 25? What is saidto the faithful servant? You could alsoread Luke 16:10.Another lesson we may learn is thatof OBEDIENCE. Samuel obeyed Eli.Why was Eli punished by God? It wasbecause he had allowed his two sonsto become wicked men. What were their380names? If you go back to the first chapter of 1st Samuel, you will find thattheir names were Hophni and Phineas.It is important to learn the lesson ofobedience early in life. You shouldlearn to obey both your parents andyour heavenly Father. Read Ephesians6:1, 2, 3. Which one of the Ten Commandments tells you that you shouldhonor your parents? Can you repeatit from memory?A third lesson to learn is that ofREADINESS. Samuel was ready to hearthe call of Eli, even in the middle ofthe night, because it was his duty toserve Eli. It is our duty to serve God.We do not know the day nor the hourwhen He may call us. We have manyconsecrated ministers, missionaries andChristian workers in our church. Theywere not sleeping when God's call cameto them. They were ready to hear himand follow Him. How may we live tobe worthy to be called by God?The fourth lesson is BRAVERY. Doyou not believe that it took couragefor Samuel to tell Eli the message Godhad given him? It takes courage todayto be true Christians. It takes courageto withstand temptations that we meet.It is only by being FAITHFUL toGod every day, by being OBEDIENTto every command God has given us,by being READY to serve Him and bybeing BRAVE enough to stand forright that we may becomestrongerChristians and be ready to hear when"God Speaks."Note Book Work:I. Write these questions in your notebook:Am I faithful in prayer?Am I obedient to God's commands?Am I ready to hear God call me?Am I brave enough to dare to do right?Do not answer these questions bywriting "Yes" or "No" with your pencil. Answer them in your heart becauseonly YOU know the answers.II. Make a list of missionaries of ourchurch. Write the days of the week.Promise yourself that you will be faithful in prayer. Check the days of theweek as you pray for each by name.SABBATH SCHOOL LESSONDecember 25, 1955Rev. W. J. McBurney(Lessons based on International Sunday SchoolLessons : the International Bible Lessons forChristian Teaching, copyriehted by InternationalCouncil of Kelisrious Education.)SONGS OF THE SAVIOUR'S BHtTHLuke 1:32, 33, 46-50, 66-69; 2:29-32Memory: Luke 2:14. "Glory to God inthe highest,toand on earth peace, goodwillThree months ago, at the beginningof a six months studyin the Life ofChrist, we had as our lesson the historyof Christ's Birth. Now in the middle ofthe course, Sabbath falls on the day thatlexicographers define as "Christmas,December 25, the dayinChrist."or season observedcommemoration of the Birth ofOur forefathers did not approve ofthe profane name and institution ofChristmas. For that reason, they avoidedany public commemoration of the Birthof Christ other than what might appearin the regular preaching service. In thedevelopment of the Sabbath School,there has come the midwinter SabbathSchool Entertainment. In this somephase of the Beautiful story of The Nativity is featured in Scripture reading,Psalms, Carols, Recitations, Pageantsor Dialogues. The subject offers a widefield for a beautiful and reverent entertainment. Maywe never forget themarvelous and beautiful lessons presented at such exercises.Like all times of special blessing, thishas its special temptations and pitfalls.During this month, we have seen in almost every periodical, religious or secular, some plea for the reform of Christmas practices. This revolt against theprofane use of this sacred event, is increasing in recent years. A very interesting example, is the News Story thatwas featured by a four column headingin the Pittsburgh Press, December 8,1954. I wish there were space to quotethe whole article. Here it is in brief;In the city of Hastings, Michigan, the14 churches, the Chamber of Commerce,and the merchants united on a plan totake the commercial and profane out ofChristmas. Quoted :"This community of6,400 will turn off its gaudy Christmaslights Saturday night, put away its Paper Santa .Clauses, everyone will try to remember Bethlehem .an old. old message of 'Peace on earth,good-will towardis onenight when there will be no place in ourtown for Santa Clause." On Saturdayevening, all commercial houses were tobe closed, all Christmas display removedfrom the windows, and a religious display substituted. The 14 churches wereeach to have a float depicting somephase of the Christmas story. "As theparade passes along the transformedMain street ... a Baptist Minister willexplain the significance of each float."(The script for this explanation was prepared bya Presbyterian Minister.) Amass Choir was to sing Christmas (?)Carols(Carols of The Nativity). Mr.Schubert, Secretary of the Chamber ofCommerce, is quoted as follows: 'Wenever realized there were so many people who had such an overwhelming desire to do something like this. SantaCOVENANTER WITNESS