The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

'i]^ ' «l '} 5 i»««itii»t««»««»»itt>. lp^|f^^ Sunday Sclicol â- i^SMg-- Lesson LESSON II PREPARING FOR A LIFE OF SERVICE.â€" Mark 1:1-13 Golden Text â€" Make ye ready the way of the Lord. Mark 1:3. THE LESSON IN ITS SETTING Time. â€" We do not know exactly when John the Baptist began his preaching, but it is generally assign- ed to the summer and fall of A.D. 26, while the baptism of Jesus took place in January, A.D. 27, and was Immediately followed by the tempta- tion. Place. â€" John's preaching took place in Judaea, the southern part of Palestine, which included the city of Jerusalem, though moat of it was probably done on the eastern side of Judaea in the Wilderness near th» Jordan River, where also Christ was baptized, and somewhere near which, possibly on the eastern side of the Jordan River, he was tempted. 1. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This verse is a super- scription or title, not for the first fifteen verses of Mark's Gospel, but for the entire book. All that Mark records, may be considered only as the beginning of the gospel of Christ. â- The word 'gospel" meant . simply "good news." In the phrase "the gos- pel of Jesus Christ" we are to under- stand the preposition "of" to mean "the gospel which concerns the Lord Jesus Christ," the message of good new which men would never have hear !, and which never would have had an existence, except through the life and work of Jesus Christ. In the very title "Jesus Christ" is the ..Dspel deeply embedded, for the fact tiiat there would come One to deliver hi.- people, a prophet speaking for God, all are to be taken as not only -ood news, but the greatest of good news. The Son of God. Mark and the early ( ! ristians knew the Lord Jesus to be the very Son of God, partaking of Gou nature, of his power, of his holini-s'.- of his wisdom, the onfy be- gotten Son of the Father. John the Baptist 2. K\en as it is written in Isaiah the prophet. The two passages here quoted are from Mai. 3:1 and Isi. 40::>. I'rofessor Lenski well reminds us that Mark, by referring only to Isaiali; and indeed the form of this prophet's words makes them most vahiaMe. The words from Malachi and added as of life nature. Behold, I send I y me,^sen<rer before thy face, who shill prepare the way." The Fa- ther is actually speaking"to the Son conceininir the messenger who was to precede him and prepare for his com- ing. ;;. The \oice of one crying in the wil(l.<rnoss. Literally, the wilderness here referred to was Uiat great desert mcludinu: the whole eastern portion of Judaea, and extending on both sides of the Jordan River. "In this very wilderness Elijah made his last appearance. John was a living illus- tration of how little man really needs here below, something we are prone to forget." Make ye ready the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Jose- phu.«!, when describing a march of Vespasian, says that with the van- guard of an Oriental procession were 'such .--s were to make the road even and straight, and, if it were anywhere rough and hard to be passed over, to plane it, and to cut down the woods that hindered their march, that the army n;ight not be tired"."â€" Thomas M. Lind.say. â- i. John came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins. The word "repentance" means "to turn around," "to change one's mind." "to reverse one's attitude and verdict." It is not here said that baptism will secure the remission of sins, but that baptism was a public recognition that the heart had re- pented of sin. Baptism for adults, unless there is repentance and a washing away of sins by the Lord Jesu.'!, is of no value whatever, but really a mockery. 6. .And John was clothed with cam- el's hair. This probably means that John v.ore a long, loose robe woven from camel's hair, a garment of coarse texture often worn by the e.x- tiemc poor. .And had a leathern girdle about his loins. "The girdle kept the robe from flapping apart, and enabled \i to be tucked up for rapid v.alking." S. .And did eat locusts and wild honey. "The law permitted the use, for food, of locusts ;;nd ccitain large kinds of grasshopper." "There Cometh Aftsr Me" 7. .And he preached, saying. There Cometh after me he that is mightier thar.i I. John here implies that he too is strong, the divine strength of the word having been given to him. The latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. In :ut Oriental household it was the task of the slave to stoop do-i, and unloose the thongs which bound the â- andals of a guest or the slave's mas- ter to their feet, and John here ack- Bo*\'ledges that there is such an in- iiaite difference between Christ in all 9t his glory and perfectness and hlH- sfclf in all of his human limitations that, though he is gladly the servant of Christ, it is only by the grace of God that he is su:h, for in himself he is not worthy e\en to perform a r..e- nial task for the Lord Jesus Chrioi. 8. I baptized you in water; but he shall baptize you in the Holy Sphl;. The contrast between the work of tiv; Baptist and thr.t of the Messiah amounts to this, that the mightier One who is to follow John will do the real work of which the Ba;)ti.n is able to perform only the sign. Water cleanses only the body. But the Holy Spirit is the element in which man is cleansed inwardly an . really, and it is this real baptisn which the coming One was to per- form." Jetus Baptized 9. And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. Nazareth was located midway between the Lake of Galilee and the Mediterranean Sea. And was baptized of John in the Jordan. "Jesus recognizes that the office of John was of divine appointment. Though he had no personal need of baptism, by refusing or neglecting it he would (if he had not been baptiz- ed) have cast discredit upon the work of John." Furthermore, our I.;Ord formally identified himself with the human race in its sin and degra- dation. 10. .And straightway. Coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him. The appear- ance of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove is indicative of the gentle- ness and pureness of the One upon whom the Holy Spirit rested. 1 '. -And a voice came out of the hea'-ens. Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased. This is the first of three declarations heard from heaven; the second being at the transfiguration and the third being just before the passion of our Lord. There can be no question that the voice here heard was the voice of noi.e other than God the Father. Of no other person in all history were these words spoken from heav- en, or could they be literally true. And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth into the wilderness. The strong urge of the Spirit met the con- sent of Jesus. He did not go into this temptation against his will. Yet Je- sus did not throw himself into this temptation of his own accord. Jesus was brought into it by his Father's own Spirit. This means that his temptation had to be, and at this very time . It was God's will to have his Son's ministry begin with this mighty battle against Satan and with the resultant victory. 13. .And he was in the wilderness forty days. Forty is almost always in the Scriptures used as a symbol of testing, of trial, of suffering, of pun- ishment. Christ could not be tempt- ed in his divine nature, for God can never be tempted to evil. The temp- tation relates only to the human na- ture of the Lord Jesus. And he was with the wild beasts. By inserting this phrase Mark probably intends only to emphasize the loneliness and the wildness of the environment in which Jesus was tempted. And the angels ministered unto him. A Modem-Style Santa Drops Down From the Clouds An .Austrian, asking for divorce, said :"My wife's skirts are far too short. She doesn't seem to mind how much of her legs she shows when the wind blows." She produced evidence that she was merely being fashion- able. Case dismissed. A â€" C To the Indian, success wouK a return nearer "Dinetah" â€" th cred, immemorial homelan Navajo in North Central CO. To n-.any a white '" ' would mean a cha' lands on which h drought, bitter cou all the pioneering vil The immediate goal o. association of Indian and p passage in Coagi-ess of the . boundary bill. The measur add approximately 250,000 the Navajo reservation- "checkevboarjed" in a'' of public domain, he and Indian holdinijs. Sentenced L'sir^ ...t;, a niotiern L.-.n-;» (_!a.;s ti:ids thi< :ev tii. •â-  er p!ai;e adequate n making his annual visit Trying to Return Land lo Indians Wectry He rnesra^cfers in "Dust Bo'.vl" Area Are Willing to SeU Out Around Tlie Dial From Holiy.w . a >..,.^..i word tu.;t J.iickey Mouse, with Minnie, and oth- ers of his famous gan.?. is starting a s. ries of programs on Sundays from til'.' Mickey House Thoairc of the .\!r. v.hich is aired over the cou.;t-to-coast Ni^r-Red Network from 5:30 to 6:00 p.n. It's a little over six years, now, that Mickey has been brin,'int smiles anil hearty laughs to mo". iu patrons and devotees of the comic strips, but !'rw he comes In voice uir tly into the homes of radio listener; u ei:!ivfa their S-nday afternoons. UoUind the voices of Mickey and his gang will b.> the mujic of Felix Mills. uhjU Hoiiy- wood musician. Bringinz Mickey to lire radio is another U'af in V.alt Di.s- aey's c"Own of Uurel. .Already, the antics of the lovable comics have brought fame and fortune to their creator. .A native of Chicago, Disney found the study of art a troublesome problem in his youth, and It was not until h(> left his native city and set- tled in Kansas City that Mickey was born. It was there that the first Mick- ey Mouse movie was creat'vi. The workiuK start" of the Disney stii-ilu:; at that time was Walt aud his biothor, Rol. Today, the Disney studios em- ploy six hundred persons. « • * Piano Team's Double Wedding The two piaiio team of Lou Snyd(>r aud Murray Ro.«s. playing under the name of "The Sophisticates of the Piano," over CBC and the Mutual Net- works, is perhaps the most popular piano team in Canada. We uiulerstand that a double wedding is being planned by these boys at some date in Febru- ary, and this should be quite a novel feature In itself. Both Murray and Lou are very much attached to their respective young ladies, who are, by the way. non-professional. • • • Community Sing-Song We dropped in last Sunday to see the Community Sing-Song out at the Century theatre. Stan Francis, the genial M.C. of the program, turned in nuite a nice performance. The little surprises that come In about the mid- dle of the program are somewhat original. Vince Boyd, the man behind the piano. Is quite a favorite with the audience in the theatre, and turns in a sparkling piece of solo work dur- ing the program. The tickets are free, and all are welcome. R.4DI0 HE.*OLINERS OF -^HE WEEK It is a little Icuowu facr that •Iiose fuur !).).vs known as t'ue li:K;-amuitiiis, liearJ every Monday uighi at 10:00 o'clock, siarted their career in a cel- lar. Tho boys scrimpod and saved to buy iu.;irumenis. and v.ha: were too expensive for them ihey made them- selves. Ectweeu them they n!ay two clarinets, two guitars, a bass liddle, and a collection of pots, pans, wash- Uoardo and tin horns, and believe me. thjy make music out of it. On ton cf .Til tlri.i, George Boyd, the tin h<rn ex- port, irjitatcs a trumpet and does a cholc- bit of singi.is. To say nothins of the vcciil trios and c.uariets that the bo.^s have arranged. Harvey Tem- plar. .Airy Enning and Tommy Ell- wcll, constitute thr? remaining mem- bers of the organization. .About a year and a half ago the boys were taken in tow by Wally .Armour, conductor of ti!o Pond's program, and after much work he has produced a smart musi- L il band wi-h just these four boyi. • • • Aired Six Thousand Amateurs The Good Humor .Amateur Show, heard every Srnday a' 12::>0 over an eastern network, is Ijlazing ahead, bringing to the microphone new voices aud new novelties. It is now about one year since Gooii Humor started the amateur coutfsis. and in that time approximat'ly six thoasand n;nateurs have beou auditioneil. and appro.\i- mately three hundred ha'o teeu pre- sented to radio listeners. In the next few weeks the Good Humor people will conduct the final contests, the winner of which will be sent to Holly- wood for screen and voic:" tests. From what we have seen of this talent, we feel that the lucky one to be sent I'.own. will make a goo.! stab at suc- cess in the glamor city of the world. There still may be an opportuuiiy for you to take part, Just send your ap- plication for an audition to Good Hrmor. In care of CFRB or CKCL. Toronto. The smallest English inn consi.^ts of one room measuring 15 ft. by 11 ft. It is the Smith's .Arms. Godman- stone, near Dorchester, and has just been sold. British housewives buy something like 1,600,000,000 tins of foodstuffs every year. Still At Work on Ruins of Crystal Palace Discouraged, weather-beaten home- steaders of New Mexico proposed to give their land back to the Indians. Several score work-hardened set- tlers met with blanketed Navajo in a big pow-wow at the white man's kiva at Crown Point, N.M., uniting efforts to get the Great White Fa- ther in Washington to buy up the high, wind-blown plateau homestead lands and present them to tiie Navajo. .Nick .^Ie^:ugorac, It', is the yo,;n;rest person to be sentffr.ced to life in> prison iient in Los Angeles, Ca!., in 10 vears. Patients Vote in the First Soviet Election Cc)i ^:ried to ... ;:! .^lo^c^>w, Kussia. Mrs. Z. Khodakova casts her vott in the Mrst general Soviet election. V The Stars And You â-ºJ "J V By A. R. WEIR WHAT THF STARS FORETELL FOR THOSE BORN ON S JANUARY 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 Woil,i;i'i .in- still l)ret<kii..; up the metallic wreckage ot' tlie I'atntd Crystal Falace i:i L>..ti.ioii, l>, gL.nd, IJ inaathi tftw il buiiMd down. If the date of your b.rth is listed above, C.VPKICORNUS is your Zodi- fl ac sign. "This makes the White Onyx and Moo;istone your lucky stones j^ and black or very dark blue your lucky colour. It also suggests that /} you should marry one born between .August 21st and September 20th; V Dec. 21 and January 20 or April 21 to May 20, or one who has the A moon in Caprieornus. Capricornians usually live to a great age and v are zealous and diligent people as a rule. g YOUR OWN BIRTH D.ATE: S J.ANU.ARY 7 â€" Your viewpoint is usually serious. You take life seri- » ot'.sly. You take people ser ously. Y'>u take your troubles much too A seriously. Try to cultivate optimism. This should be a sue cssful and g prosperous year for you â€" there should i,e more stability in your life- fl J.ANU.ARY 8 â€" Y'ou are very affectionate, very loving and very kind g hearted yet no one is aware of th-». You are too quiet, dignified aaid x secret ve about your motions apid even cold and selfish in your manner g towards others. Y'ou sh.'Uld be much more demonstrative. Some very important changes are indicated in your business affairs and all indica- tions are good. J.ANU.ARY 9 â€" Indications are that you have let yourself get into a rut. Why? It is important to success that one should keep pace with progfress. Capricornians usually amass great wealth when they are ambitious aud steadily an:d patiently industrious. An unexpected gain S financially is indicated for you. fi J.VNU.ARY' 10 â€" You are sincere but selfish. Y''ou are zealous and dili- y{ gent but melancholy emd introspective. Do not l.ve so much alone with yourself. The year is good for social atfair* and also for love. Relatives will benefit you. Business affairs should be excellent. J.ANU.ARY 11 â€" Much happiness should come your way this year. If you avj single you may marry. Y'ou do not make frier.ds easily but sli'uUi culti.iite a more friendly attitude toward others. J.ANU.ARY' 12 â€" Y'our finar.c al affairs this year should have a big in- fluence on your later life. It shouK! be a prosperous period. Y'our health will be good and a pleasant holiday is indicated. 6e careful lest your natural thrift becomes meanness. J.',NU.ARY' 13 â€" .A considerable improvev,-.ent is shown in your finam- cial affairs this year also imp. rtant news from a loivg distance. You w 11 also be lucky in love. In businers you have gieal ambitions but liiicially you consider your family all yon require. This is not good. You may allow yourself to get into a rut. If you birth date is not listed above and you wovld like a horoscope for any birth date in the year, or If you would like a complete personal horoscope for any date listed above, send 10c to A. R. Weir, I'i Adelaide St. W., Toronto. I'ioa.'se piir.t your natno, aiidross and birth date plaiuly. V V i* i* V V V V * V V* V V â-º5 V V "J >: •5 V ♦ * V â-ºJ V V â-º5