One Cow

On a very cold, snowy Sunday in February, only the pastor and one farmer arrived at the village church. The pastor said, 'Well, I guess we won't have a service today.' The farmer replied: 'Pastor, even if only one cow shows up at feeding time, I feed it.'

I found the above short story on a site of amusing Christian stories. Once, not too long ago, I thought I had only one of my Sunday school students show up. I was thinking about what to do--perhaps send him to another class or what? The "problem" was solved when two more students arrived that day. But after reading the above, it really touched me that even if I have just the one on any given Lord's Day, I should do all the Lord allows to give to that one young soul all God has for him or her at that particular time. What a lesson for not only pastors, but Sunday school teachers as well.

Effectual Atonement

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Romans 5:6-11

Atonement: 1. reconciliation; becoming friends again with someone who had been an enemy; 2. being forgiven for our sins through a sacrifice acceptable to God. This was done through the shedding of blood--in the OT, animals were sacrificed, and in the NT, Jesus was the complete and final sacrifice to take away the sins of mankind.

Basic Bible Dictionary, the Standard Publishing Company, 1983.

Yesterday, I took the day off from teaching Sunday School (thank the Lord for my sub Sara), and was treated to a video presentation in the adult class on the doctrines of grace. The speaker was great, and while the primary focus was on the various doctrines distinctive to Baptists in particular and evangelicals in general, the doctrine of "effectual atonement" caught my thoughts and heart the most. Too much to write down here, but let me sum it all up by asking if you have any idea of the scope of the benefits which are ours by virtue of the atonement which we have received through the work of Christ Jesus. This atonement may be limited to only its beneficiaries, but unlimited in its blessings to these beneficiaries. Sound like double talk? Well it's not!

The Usurper

Today's Sunday school class was quite interesting to say the least. Every two years or so I teach this same particular lesson to a different group of third and fourth graders and each time it comes out differently. You may know the story: It's the one about the little boy Joash who became king at the age of seven. You know, the one whose grandmother killed all of her other grandchildren when her son, the king, was murdered by Jehu. Quite an involved and complicated family situation as everyone would agree after reading it in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. I even made up a chart for each of the kids, drawing a bunch of little stick figures, some with crowns on their heads; some with skirts, some on the northern kingdom side of the page and the rest on the southern side; some with frowns on their faces to show they were evil, etc. etc. Well, let me say that by the end of the lesson, I think my young group was more than a little confused about what they had just learned and I'm not so sure whether my little "chart" was a help or hindrance! At any rate, I decided to extend this lesson for another week as there are some important applications that are yet to be made, particularly concerning Joash who only followed the Lord as long as his uncle, Jehoida the priest, was alive. After his uncle died, his true "colors" became evident and we see that He did not love God for himself. You can imagine where I'm going with that.

For some weird (perhaps twisted) reason, I always have been captivated by this story, particularly byAthaliah, the grandmother. Now that I'm a nanna, the fact that any woman who holds such a status could do any kind of harm to such beloved ones so that she could gain the crown really boggles my mind. But obviously, in her case, they were not beloved. And also obviously, there was nothing or no one more important to her than that crown. But this time, I thought about something else concerning Athaliah: she was a usurper. You see, God had intended that only David's descendants would rule in the southern kingdom. Athaliah was a foreigner, not of the royal line of David. I think the fact that for the seven years that she reigned, Judah had a monarch who was a ursurper really hit me. Perhaps it's because of some issues going on right now in our own country with respect to the constitution and the presidency, that I thought about this. THAT I will not discuss here; you may or may not know about it, but it did make me think about that. Wow. Judah had this usurper on the throne, but the best part of the story is that eventually she was dethroned and a legal king was crowned.

SO, the key to that is there were a handful of people who kept the faith and purposed to do what was right. And one little girl in the class salvaged this weeks lesson with her closing prayer. In her prayer she told God that even though different people may be reigning at different times, HE is the one who is really on the throne! Now, is that ever a wealth of truth coming from the mouth of a nine year old! So it was a good lesson after all!

Thou Didst Reign on High

This Christmas song says it all. It tells of the great humility of our King who reigned on high, yet willingly adorned Himself in human flesh and humbled Himself to not only be born in the poorest of circumstances, but to live a lowly life, and die the cruel death at Calvary's cross. It also tells of a victorious conqueror who has returned to His throne on high but will return again to claim His own. Do we not have a Savior worthy of praise? Can we not sing these wonderful words with thankfulness? All may be crumbling around us, but can we not know the truth of the lyrics penned by Emily Elliott over a century ago and know they are just as applicable today?

Emily was a woman after my own heart because of her love for children and teaching them the truths of Scripture. I read that her life was filled with benevolent activities in rescue missions and in the Sunday school movement of her time. Now that's a life worth living! Teach this precious hymn to your children and grandchildren, dear ones. I intend to.

Thou dost reign on high with a kingly crown,
Yet thou camest to earth for me,
And in Bethlehem's home was there found no room
For thy holy nativity:
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee.

Heaven's arches rang when the angels sang,
Proclaiming thy royal degree;
But of lowly birth didst thou come to earth,
And in great humility:
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee.

The foxes found rest, and the birds their nest,
In the shade of the forest tree;
But thy couch was the sod,
O thou Son of God, in the deserts of Galilee:
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee.

Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word
That should set thy people free;
But with mocking scorn, and with crown of thorn,
They bore thee to Calvary:
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
Thy cross is my only plea.

When heav'n's arches shall ring,
And her choirs shall sing,
At thy coming to victory,
Let thy voice call me home,
Saying, "Yet there is room,
There is room at my side for thee."
And my heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When thou comest and callest for me.

~Emily E.S. Elliott

Sunday Snippet - Primary II Class

Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34

I have a new toy and already it's a blessing. Tuesday will be my birthday and my husband has gifted me with a digital camera! Until recently, I've been afraid to get one because I'm not good at taking pictures but this one has been actually pretty easy to use. I just started using it today and have been enjoying it except for the fact that the very first thing I did was to set the language and somehow I managed to set it at German! Then nobody could help me figure out how to get it to English because we couldn't understand the directions on the screen. Finally my daughter Bev came to the rescue and figured it out.

The above is my Sunday school class, which were the first pictures ever taken with my new camera.(Forgive the shadows--we forgot the flash.) That's me on the back right and the lovely young lady on the back left is my substitute Sara. Below is a closer picture of the four children who make up the class this year. Aren't they cute? Kris, the only boy in the bunch holds up pretty well--I don't think he minds his minority position too much. He's a sweetie and I love having him. I love the little girlies, too, of course. Currently, we're in the book of Judges in our survey of the Old Testament and the kids are learning quite a bit. Today Sara took the class and the lesson was about Gideon.

Next to writing for them, teaching children is one of my greatest joys and blessings on this side of heaven. There have been countless precious moments from my Lord over the years with many children whom I grow to love in a special way during the two years or so they spend in this class. The earlier ones are adults now, and it breaks my heart when I hear of those who have gone astray. But it's cause for thanksgiving hearing of the ones who are walking with the Lord. Last year, sadly, one of them passed on to eternity in a car accident at age nineteen. I can only hope he's with the Savior.

The verse I posted is the class memory verse this week. This is a familiar verse to most of us and is it ever appropriate for the time we're in right now. It's a good one to spur us to pray, wouldn't you agree? Blessings as we begin a new week!

Sunday Snippet - The Greatest Wonder

I am rejoicing in the mercies of my God today. His kindnesses to this poor weary saint have been manifold. A good study with my Sunday school children this morning, two good sermons today, wonderful hymns at each service,the Lord's Supper, and a precious time of prayer tonight have left me ready to face another week. We heard about the "Seven Wonders of God" tonight as Pastor R. finished off with the greatest wonder of all: That God loves us. For those of us who have come to Him through His Son, we can be assured that He loves us. That indeed is a wonder and wonderful. The final words of the sermon:

I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.

Wishing God's blessings to all my fellow pilgrims throughout this week.

He Adored God in Both

"...Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Job 1:21

I didn't admit it verbally, but yesterday morning I was a bit grumbly in the inner man when the teacher for the Sunday school class above mine called me to ask me to take his class, because he had been up sick with a stomach bug during the night. Now, my first thought should have been concern for him and gratefulness for the opportunity to help a fellow saint (and extra children), but I'm sorry to say it wasn't. My first thought was irritation over the fact that the nice little lesson I had planned for the two sweet girls in my third and fourth grade class was being disrupted by these "older" kids, all of whom I'd previously taught. The lesson for the day was from the book of Job, chapters 1, 2 and 42. I had made up a nice little worksheet, specifically designed with my two girls in mind, and now I was also going to have five other students!

Well, need I say that our dear Lord showed me, once again, that He knows exactly what He's doing. Without going into too many details, suffice it to say that I was blessed yesterday. The story of Job once again touched my heart, and I do think it did the hearts of certain of the older students as well. I could tell. And one of my younger girls--I believe there were certain aspects that did hit home with her. I know that this teacher was affected, remembering those lessons from Job once again.

We all learned or relearned two crucial facts from that patriarch: God allows both good and bad things to happen in our lives; like Job, we have to trust in His providential workings in them all. We also learned that God can sovereignly restore blessings after they've been taken away.

I didn't get terribly deep with the children, but Matthew Henry did minister to my heart with his comments about the above verse (the second half is their memory verse this week). Referring to Job's response to the loss of all possessions, including his children, Mr. Henry said:

"He acknowledged the hand of God both in the mercies he had formerly enjoyed and in the afflictions he was now exercised with: 'The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.' The same that gave hath taken away; and may he not do what he will with his own? See how Job looks above instruments, and keeps his eye upon the first Cause.

"He adored God in both. When all was gone he fell down and worshipped..."

Will you and I be able to do the same? And I am thankful for His forgiveness for my initial reaction yesterday morning.