The Home Council

What is God’s Purpose for You?

Each of us has some intended niche to occupy, some one particular work to do. It may be a task of many years. It may be a single action, a single witness to truth, a single act of duty, done in one particular day, at one hour—nay, in the compass of a few minutes, yet carrying in it all the moral power of a lifetime—and exhausting, by being done, the reasons for which, in the Eternal Mind, life was given to the agent. A martyr may compress into a few minutes of agony all the moral and spiritual work on which a philanthropist expends his time during his fourscore years. A mother may, by bringing up a child in the fear of God, do as much in the eyes of Providence as a great teacher or statesman. The question is, What are we each of us meant to do? And this question can only be answered by a survey of our capacities and our circumstances, which do practically interpret the will of God to each of us.

—Henry P. Liddon.

The Need of Men

God give us men! The time demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith and willing hands.
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking.

For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, Lo! Freedom weeps!
Wrong rules the land, and waiting justice sleeps!

—J. G. Holland.

Alternate Reading: Hebrews 12: 1-13.

Jesus at Work

Jesus went round all the towns and the villages, teaching in their Synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

But, when he saw the crowds, his heart was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and harassed, “like sheep without a shepherd”; and he said to his disciples:

“The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray to the Owner of the harvest to send laborers to gather in his harvest.”

Calling his twelve Disciples to him, Jesus gave them authority over foul spirits, so that they could drive them out, as well as the power of curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

—Matthew.

Finding Life and God

That low man seeks a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it:
This high man, with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,
His hundreds soon hit:
This high man, aiming at a million,
Misses an unit.
That, has the world here—should he need the next,
Let the world mind him!
This, throws himself on God, and unperplexed
Seeking shall find Him.

—Robert Browning.

Fellowship with Christ in Service

O Master, let me walk with Thee
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me Thy secret, help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.

Teach me Thy patience; still with
Thee In closer, dearer company,
In work that keeps faith sweet and strong,
In trust that triumphs over wrong.

—Washington Gladden.

The Meaning of Pain

A sower went forth to sow,
His eyes were wild with woe;
He crushed the flowers beneath his feet,
Nor smelt the perfume warm and sweet,
That prayed for pity everywhere.
He came to a field that was harried
By iron, and to heaven laid bare:
He shook the seed that he carried
O’er that brown and bladeless place.
He shook it as God shakes hail
Over a doomed land.
When lightnings interlace
The sky and earth, and His wand
Of love is a thunder-flail.
Thus did that sower sow;
His seed was human blood,
And tears of women and men.
And I, who near him stood,
Said: When the crop comes, then
There will be sobbing and sighing,
Weeping and wailing and crying,
And a woe that is worse than woe.

It was an autumn day
When next I went that way.
And what, think you, did I see?
What was it that I heard?
The song of a sweet-voiced bird?
Nay—but the songs of many,
Thrilled through with praising prayer.
Of all those voices not any
Were sad of memory:
And a sea of sunlight flowed,
And a golden harvest glowed.
On my face I fell down there;

I hid my weeping eyes,
I said: O God, Thou art wise!
And I thank Thee, again and again,
For the sower whose name is Pain.

—Richard Watson Gilder.

Business with God

We and God have business with each other; and in opening ourselves to His influence our deepest destiny is fulfilled.

—William James.

Alternate Reading: Hebrews 4: 11-16.

The Good Time Coming

For God will be thy everlasting light. And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.

—Isaiah.

There’s a good time coming, boys,
A good time coming:
We may not live to see the day,
But earth shall glisten in the ray
Of the good time coming.
Cannon-balls may aid the truth,
But thought’s a weapon stronger;
Well win our battle by its aid;
— Wait a little longer.

There’s a good time coming, boys,
A good time coming:
War in all men’s eyes shall be
A monster of iniquity
In the good time coming:
Nations shall not quarrel then
To prove which is the stronger;
Nor slaughter men for glory’s sake;
— Wait a little longer.

There’s a good time coming, boys,
A good time coming:
Hateful rivalries of creed
Shall not make their martyrs bleed
In the good time coming.
Religion shall be shorn of pride,
And flourish all the stronger;
And charity shall trim her lamp;
— Wait a little longer.

There’s a good time coming, boys,
A good time coming:
Let us aid it all we can,
Every woman, every man,
The good time coming.
Smallest helps, if rightly given,
Make the impulse stronger;
Twill be strong enough one day;—
Wait a little longer.

—Charles Mackay.

Alternate Reading: II Timothy 4: 1-8.

Jesus Again Preaches in His Home Town

On leaving that place, Jesus, followed by his disciples, went to his own part of the country. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the Synagogue; and the people, as they listened, were deeply impressed.

“Where did he get this?” they said, “and what is this wisdom that has been given him? and these miracles which he is doing? Is not he the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? And are not his sisters, too, living here among us?”

This proved a hindrance to their believing in him; on which Jesus said:

“A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his own relations, and in his own home.”

And he could not work any miracle there, beyond placing his hands upon a few infirm persons, and curing them; and he wondered at the want of faith shown by the people.

The Mission of the Twelve Apostles

Jesus went round the villages, one after another, teaching. He called the Twelve to him, and began to send them out as his Messengers, two and two, and gave them authority over foul spirits. He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey—not even bread, or a bag, or pence in their purse; but they were to wear sandals, and not to put on a second coat.

“Whenever you go to stay at a house,” he said, “remain there till you leave that place; and if a place does not welcome you, or listen to you, as you go out of it shake off the dust that is on the soles of your feet, as a protest against them.” So they set out, and proclaimed the need of repentance. They drove out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were infirm, and cured them.

—Mark.

Nothing of worth or weight can be achieved with half a mind, with a faint heart, and with a lame endeavor.

—Isaac Barrow.

A Letter from a Brother of Jesus

My Brothers, whatever may be the temptations that beset you from time to time, always regard them as a reason for rejoicing, knowing, as you do, that the testing of your faith develops endurance. And let endurance do its work perfectly, so that you may be altogether perfect, and in no respect deficient.

If one of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask wisdom from the God who gives freely to every one without reproaches, and it will be given to him. But let him ask with confidence, never doubting; for the man who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven hither and thither at the mercy of the wind—such a man must not expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, vacillating as he is, irresolute at every turn. Let a Brother in humble circumstances be proud of his exalted position, but a rich Brother of his humiliation; for the rich man will pass away “like the flower of the grass.” As the sun rises, and the hot wind blows, “the grass withers, its flower fades,” and all its beauty is gone. So it is with the rich man. In the midst of his pursuits he will come to an untimely end.

Blessed is the man who remains firm under temptation, for, when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of Life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Let no one say, when he is tempted, “It is God who is tempting me!” For God, who cannot be tempted to do wrong, does not himself tempt any one. A man is in every case tempted by his own passions— allured and enticed by them. Then Passion conceives and gives birth to Sin, and Sin, on reaching maturity, brings forth Death. Do not be deceived, my dear Brothers. Every good thing given us, and every perfect gift, is from above, and comes down to us from the Maker of the lights in the heavens, who is himself never subject to change or to eclipse. Because he so willed, he gave us Life, through the Message of the Truth, so that we should be, as it were, an earnest of still further creations.

—James, a Brother of Jesus.

Bother not with dogma and doubt, but ever cherish the one essential thing in God’s universe for you—a clean, sweet soul.

Jesus Befriends the Blind and Dumb

As Jesus was passing on from there, he was followed by two blind men, who kept calling out:

“Take pity on us, Son of David!”

When he had gone indoors, the blind men came up to him; and Jesus asked them:

“Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

“Yes, Master!” they answered.

Upon that he touched their eyes, and said:

“It shall be according to your faith.”

Then their eyes were opened. Jesus sternly cautioned them. “See that no one knows of it,” he said. But the men went out, and spread the news about him through all that part of the country.

Cure of a Dumb Man

Just as they were going out, some people brought up to Jesus a dumb man who was possessed by a demon; and, as soon as the demon had been driven out, the dumb man spoke. The people were astonished at this, and exclaimed:

“Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel!” But the Pharisees said:

“He drives out the demons by the help of the chief of demons.”

—Matthew.

The Supreme Art

The supreme art life above all other arts is the art of living together justly and charitably. There is no other thing that is so taxing, requiring so much education, so much wisdom, so much practice, as the how to live with our fellow-men. In importance this art exceeds all productive industries which we teach our children. All skill and knowledge aside from that is as nothing. The real education of life is to learn bow to live brotherly and the real business of life is to help our fellow-men to be brotherly.

—Henry Ward Beecher.

I Shall Not Pass Again This Way

(The author of this poem was proprietor and editor of The Youth’s Companion, and after his death, the poem, much worn, was found in his desk.)

The bread that giveth strength I want to give;
The water pure that bids the thirsty live;
I want to help the fainting day by day—
I’m sure I shall not pass again this way.

I want to give the oil of joy for tears,
The faith to conquer cruel doubts and fears.
Beauty for ashes may I give alway—
I’m sure I shall not pass again this way.

I want to give good measure running o’er,
And into angry hearts I want to pour
The answer soft that turneth wrath away—
I’m sure I shall not pass again this way.

I want to give to others hope and faith;
I want to do all that* the Master saith;
I want to live aright from day to day—
I’m sure I shall not pass again this way.

—Daniel S. Ford.

The Need for Workers

Jesus went round all the towns and the villages, teaching in their Synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom, and curing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

But, when he saw the crowds, his heart was moved with compassion for them, because they were distressed and harassed, “like sheep without a shepherd”; and he said to his disciples:

“The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray to the Owner of the harvest to send laborers to gather in his harvest.”

—Luke.