You can close this lesson by asking a group of children to come to the platform and ask them to hold a candlestick with a lighted candle and sing together, "Brighten the Corner Where You Are."
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THE POSTAGE-STAMP AS A PREACHER
OBJECTS: A Collection of Foreign and Domestic
Postage-stamps
Hold up a letter with a plain two-cent postage-stamp upon it. "Let me introduce to you the Preacher of the hour! He is clothed in his white robe (the envelope) and is ready to be a preacher to us all."
1. This stamp is more than a common piece of paper. It has on it the stamp of the Government; therein is its value. It has the O.K. of the authorities of Washington. So we must have stamped on our life the image of the Good Father to make us worth anything in this old world. We must bear the mark of our Owner before we can be backed by the kingdom of heaven.
2. If the stamp was made by ourselves it would have no power. The letter bearing the stamp would be returned. So we can do nothing of ourselves. There is no good in us. When I was a little boy I was a stamp-collector, and when we could not find a stamp of the desired nation, there was issued what is called a "facsimile" of the original. It was a "make-believe" stamp. It looked all right in our stamp-book, but it was out of place and worthless on an envelope. It was only a pretender so we must not be contented with appearances only. That is the way hypocrites are made.
3. The stamp in the stamp box is always ready for service, just waiting to start on its journey. It has the mark of approval on it which the Government has given it. It has the sticking power which man has given it, and is just waiting to be called into service. Paul said, "I am now ready" not only to die but to live. He who is ready to die, is best prepared to live. Always ready for service, like a postage-stamp, is to be ready to go anywhere for the Master.
4. The postage-stamp is a good missionary. It will work anywhere. It will go to any part of the homeland or any part of the world, just as it is directed. No dividing-line between home or abroad, It will go to any part of the world. It just goes where it is sent. It is like a pair of bifocal glasses. It can see home needs as well as the far-away needs. It sees both clearly. That is the plan of Jesus, Jerusalem and the uttermost parts —both are alike to him as far as concerns their need of salvation.