網頁圖片
PDF
ePub 版
[graphic]

CLOT

reltes

DDIN Drawing

ery Me

re Wood

from

Lista in

[ocr errors]

FEED MY LAMBS

SCRIPTURE LESSON SCHEME, 1886.

NEW SERIES LESSON SHEETS, 2s. per 100; per Post, 2s. 3d.

THE Lessons for 1886 are a continuation of the present Series; and the Scripture passages chosen are of the most interesting and fundamental character. They are grouped into sets of two months for Review purposes, -a method which has given general satisfac. tion. A Column with Psalms and Paraphrases has been added to the Sheet for 1886, as a Memory Exercise. With very few exceptions, this Lesson Scheme is used in all the Schools in Glasgow and Suburbs, and also very extensively throughout the country-the circulation for 1885 being 180,000 copies.

SPECIMENS ON APPLICATION.

JOHN M'CALLUM & CO.,

177 to 181 BUCHANAN STREET, GLASGOW.

TRAINING CLASS FOR TEACHERS.

THIS Class meets on Saturday Afternoons, in the Large Hall of the CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE, 70 Bothwell Street, from 5.10 till 6.10 o'clock. The Lessons of the Union's Scheme will be taken up as under :

[merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Teachers who attend this Class, and who may be in the neighbourhood on Saturday afternoons, will find the Union's Library Room, (No. 7,) which is open from 4 till 9 p.m., an excellent place of resort.

TEACHERS' LOCAL EXAMINATIONS.-March, 1886.

THE Committee beg to intimate that the next Examinations will take place in March, 1886, and will be held in the following order :

BRANCH A.-SCRIPTURE HISTORY AND DOCTRINE.-Friday, 5th March. Subject: The Bible Lessons in the Glasgow Sabbath School Union's Scheme for 1885, from May to December, both inclusive. BRANCH B.-THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY.-Friday, 12th March. Text-books -Nos. 1 and 3 of Present Day Tracts, by the Rev. Principal Cairns, D. D., entitled, "Christianity and Miracles," and "Christ the Central Evidence of Christianity." 4d. each.

BRANCH C.-THE PRINCIPLES AND METHODS OF TEACHING.-Friday, 19th March. Text-book-"Sabbath School Teachers' Manual," by W. H. Groser, (2/6.) Chapters I. to VIII., both inclusive.

Certificates, Diplomas, and Prizes will be given to successful Candidates. For the convenience of intending Candidates residing at such a distance as to make it impossible for them to attend the Examinations in Glasgow, arrangements will be made for their being examined in their own localities, on their intimating their wish to that effect. Full particulars regarding the Examinations may be obtained on application to the Secretaries of the Union, 70 Bothwell Street, Glasgow.

ANNUAL COLLECTION-December, 1885.

THE DIRECTORS of the GLASGOW SABBATH SCHOOL UNION have resolved to recommend to the various Societies of the Union that the Charity Collection this year be made on behalf of THE EAST PARK COTTAGE HOMES; but that £50 of it be given to THE SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.

While it is considered desirable that, as far as possible, the Collection be made in all the Schools on the same evening,-viz., Sabbath, 6th December,-still it is left with each Society, if found more convenient, to arrange for a different evening, or to extend the Collection over a longer period than one night's offering. Copies of the appeal, for distribu namong the scholars, will be sent in due course to the Secretaries of Societies.

THE

Sabbath School Magazine.

NO. XI.]

NOVEMBER, 1885.

[VOL. XXXVII.

[ocr errors]

Helping Their Helpers;

OR

HOW MAY MINISTERS ADD TO THE POWER OF THE SABBATH SCHOOL
AS A TEACHING AND SAVING AGENCY ?*

By REV. E. J. BRAILSFORD, Wesleyan Methodist Minister, Blairgowrie.

IF what the Talmud tells us be true, that "the world can only be saved by the breath of the school children," then those who are engaged in educating the young have a sublime vocation, and a solemn responsibility.

In full consciousness of possessing both, the Scottish National Sabbath School Convention begins its annual conference. The first inquiry placed upon its programme breathes an earnest spirit, and indicates three things:-A conviction of the supreme importance of the work assigned to the Sabbath school agency; a conscious possession of some power to perform the same; and a willingness to have its strength augmented from any source whatever.

How may Ministers add to the power of the Sabbath school as a teaching and saving agency? is surely a most important question, alike to the school stretching out its hands for aid, and to the ministers who should be always ready to stretch out their hands to help in any worthy service. It is well that the mission of the Sabbath school should thus be clearly stated, Teaching in order to save.

All teaching is but a means unto an end. If it be classical, a profession is in prospect; if it be commercial, the counting-house or

* A paper read at the Eighteenth Scottish National Sabbath School Convention.

L

shop is in view; or should it be technical, the chemist's laboratory or the machinist's factory will be the ulitimate goal.

The aim which Sabbath school teachers have in view is the new birth of the children, and their entrance upon the new world which then will open around them, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. This is the object of their study, hope, and prayer; and should this be missed, they cannot but regard their vocation as a partial failure.

But however passionately or impatiently this great end may be desired, it can never be achieved without the means. Salvation may be delayed, but however long it lingers, the teaching which precedes and accelerates the crisis can never be given in vain.

This preparatory service stores the mind with fuel in readiness for the divine spark destined one day to fall; deepens the convictions of the heart, and will furnish a depth of earth to the root of the tender plant, which else must pine and waste away; and it lends stability to the character, ballasting the young soul, launching out upon a vexed and dubious sea, with principles which will prevent its being blown about with every wind of doctrine of man's device. In short, the beauty, strength, and steadfastness of Christian maturity depend upon the teaching of the home and Sabbath school.

Although the nature of the energy by which the Sabbath school becomes a teaching and a saving agency is not stated in the question, it is understood. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts," should be written on every teacher's heart, and chiselled on the porch of every Sabbath school.

You might as well expect those children, when gathered together beneath its roof, to breathe within a vacuum, as to hope for the bloom and fruit of a new life without the living air which comes from the breath of the Holy Ghost. The power is, therefore, supernatural, but it works through natural agencies. It slumbers on the pages of the Word of God, as electricity sleeps unseen upon the forest leaves; it quickens the heart of the child, as sunshine swells the buds of early spring; and it takes possession of the teacher's soul, and moves his intelligence, faith, and love. These are the three great forces which, combined and penetrated by the divine energy, give power to the Sabbath school as a teaching and a saving agency.

Intelligence, which grasps the truth, clothes it in robes of beauty, and presents it to the mind with charms that are irresistible; faith, which has confidence in the divinity of the message, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the capacity of the most degraded to receive the truth as it is in Jesus; and love, without which knowledge and faith are all in vain, for often the seeds of the new life are encased as if within a block of ice -cold, hard, and unrelenting, but sure, at last, to melt before the warmth of love, and drop its treasure into fruitful soil.

And now our inquiry is,-How may a minister add to the power of the Sabbath school to accomplish the supreme end of its being? How can he contribute to the forces that are in operation within it? Leaving out of view for a moment the indispensable supernatural influence referred

to-is it possible for him to make its intelligence brighter, its faith stronger, or to fan the flame of its devoted love?

These are powers that by their very nature admit of indefinite expansion. Any one interested in the Sabbath school can add some small tributary to the stream of its usefulness; but to none is given the privilege of increasing its efficiency to the same extent as to the minister. No one wields so great an influence, and no one can command so many opportunities. These are facts which we all admit, but the question is, How may he add to the power?

The first answer which springs up at the touch of the inquiry is this: By becoming an agent in the regular work of the Sabbath school-as acting superintendent, or teacher, or both. Now, necessity has no law, and there may be circumstances which not only justify, but compel a minister to play many parts, and to assume a monopoly of offices; and it would be well if he were qualified to be his own precentor, doorkeeper, or bellringer on occasion. But ordinarily the gain to the efficiency of the Sabbath school, where the pastor becomes one of its regular staff of agents, is not so great as at first sight it would appear. A gain it may be, but in some instances of small account. A minister may be a successful pastor, but a feeble superintendent; a profound Biblical scholar, but the dullest of teachers. Indeed, the faculty of conveying truth to the minds of the young is as much a gift as it is an art; and it by no means follows that a man who is an earnest evangelist is also a children's apostle. Besides, whatever may be the advantage in one direction, there are losses in another which more than swallow up the gain. The wisest church is that which employs all its available talent and energy. The most successful minister is he who shares his responsibility and multiplies his fellow-workers. Division of labour reduces the personal burden to a minimum, and secures the maximum result. By all means let the minister retain the oversight of the Sabbath school, and have a voice in the nomination of the superintendent and his staff; but let it be his aim to draw forth latent energy, and find a sphere for all who are mentally and morally qualified to teach and train the young. If his presence should not regularly be seen within the walls of the building, his influence will nevertheless be there. The hand is a considerable distance from the heart, but if you want to ascertain if it is throbbing fast or slow, you have only to place your finger on your wrist, and the beating pulse will tell the tale. Even so let him but be alive to God and anxious for the salvation of his flock, and the influence of the minister will make itself apparent, not only in the pew, but at the superintendent's desk, and in the lowest class within the infant school.

There is a general way in which a minister may augment the forces of the Sabbath school. If he rightly apprehends the important relationship which it holds to the congregation and to the Church of Christ at large, he will duly estimate its power, and assign to its agents their proper place as workers together with God. No one should rate the

functions of the Sabbath school more highly than the minister; and no one should be more anxious to intensify its efficiency. To some the importance of its teaching may be a theory, but to him it is a deepening conviction, borne in upon his mind by actual observation and experienc

« 上一頁繼續 »