Fifty-Two Story Talks to Boys and GirlsChidley, Howard J. (Howard James)
Religion
Fifty-Two Story Talks to Boys and Girls
Chidley, Howard J. (Howard James)
Children's sermons
That was many hundreds of years ago, and kings are no longer made in
that way. But the story has a meaning still for every boy. There is
still a king hid in the stuff that goes to make up every boy. A great
many things about a boy in which he hides his kingship seem no better
than the worthless stuff in which Saul hid. There are mistakes,
outbursts of temper, laziness, selfishness, impatience, deceit, and
cruelty. But hidden beneath all that, God would have you remember that
there is still a king hid in the stuff.
A story is told of the son of Louis XVI of France, whose father and
mother were put to death by the people. He was thus left an orphan, and
was sent to live with a wicked man and woman who tried to teach him all
manner of wrongdoing. But when they tried to persuade him to do wrong,
he would refuse, and say that he was a king's son, and would some day be
king himself, therefore he could not stoop so low.
I wish every boy, when he is tempted to do some unmanly thing, would
remember his kingship, too. You are not the son of an earthly king, but
you are each the son of a Heavenly King, and you, too, have the making
of a king in you. You are too great to do mean things. There is an old
hymn which runs like this:
"My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands;
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold
He has gone to prepare us a mansion untold.
I'm the child of a King, the child of a King,
With Jesus my Saviour, I'm the child of a King."
And when you would do a mean thing, ask yourself if that is worthy of
your kingship. Remember also that only those who live Kingly lives are
worthy to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
BREAD AND WINE
This is Communion Sunday, when the Church celebrates what is known as
"the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper." You remember that on the night
before Christ was crucified He gathered His twelve disciples together
that He might have a quiet meal and talk with them. And it is that Last
Supper, as it is known, which we call to mind when we observe Communion
Sunday.
The first Christians did not have communion on Sunday. They used to have
a common meal together on weekdays, and at a neighbour's house. At these
meals they would recall the sayings of Jesus and His loving deeds.
But Christ not only had the Last Supper with His disciples, and taught
them to remember Him in the breaking of the bread: He also gave them the
lesson about the bread and the wine by which to remember Him.
You know how bread is made. Grains of wheat are put in the ground by the
farmer, and these grains give up their lives in order that other grains
may grow on the stalk at harvest-time. Then these grains are gathered
in, and finally ground into flour. Christ also gave up His life just as
those first grains of wheat in the ground. And He meant to tell us by
the bread at communion that if we are to help other people we must be
willing to give up our own selfish desires for their sake.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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