Anderson University - Echoes Yearbook (Anderson, IN)

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most suited to the occasion. The pastor who is in close touch with the needs of his people will find enough things that they need to he taught. If he is also in close touch with his Lord and his Bible he will Hnd enough truth to meet these needs. Should it occur for some reason that the pastor finds it difficult to have sufficient fresh messages for his people, it is likely that he may find happy relief in expository preaching. Let him look into the Scriptures to see what message they may have for him and his people. For instance, let him study the Sermon on the Mount. A pastor of moderate ingenuity will be able so to develop this sermon that he can prepare from it a series of messages suflicient to continue for six months. He will also have the happy consciousness that he is presenting the direct teachings of the Mfaster rather than developing a topic of his own selection. Let the pastor teach his people the great principles of true religion. HC slhould not seek to carry each thought to the fine points of its applications. Let him leave a little for the people to think out for themselves. Nor should he be disappointed if they differ in some details of their thinking. The teacher who can cause men to think independently in right channels accomplishes more than one who molds all minds after the pattern of his own. Let him direct the hearts of his people in the right channels and give little attention to mere opinions, even his own. Let him avoid matters likely to cause controversy unless some important principle is involved. He who is particular to preach only the Bifmle may preach it forcefully and he will have the united support of his people. The pastor who would teach successfully must have due regard for the feelings and opinions of his people. It is well for a man always to know he is right, but not necessary that he always assert this knowledge. He who listens patiently to the complaints, the fears, and the sorrows of his people is always wiser 'for doing so. He can then better help them, and may receive something that will be helpful for himself. The successful teacher is not overly assertive. It is not for the pastor to demand that all accept what he says upon his hare assertion. His duty is to make all men see but not to compel them to accept what they do not see. If his people do not agree with him it is not for him to chide them 'but rather to feel that he has failed to make the truth sufficiently convincing. Let him pray that he may make the truth so plain that all can see, and that he may present it in a spirit so Christ- like that all will desire to accept it. The work of a pastor is not well done until he has taught his people to know God for themselves. lt is inevitable that they will receive much from his per- sonality though he seeks to impress, not his own image, hut that of Christ upon them. I-Ie gives his life to develop a church that will glorify his Master. If his work is well done there is likely to come from the ranks of those he has taught some one who will excel him in usefulness for the Master. Thus he lives on in the lives of those he has taught as does the great Teacher whose servant he is. PAGE TYVENTY-ONE

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The Pastor' a Teacher A. E Gray To the one who feels the weight of a pastors responsibilities, the conscious- ness of weakness and the sense of dependence on God arc always present. Years of service tend to increase rather than to diminish such feelings. Into the pastor's hands are committed the care of priceless souls and the training of lives for useful service. A feeling of utter helplessness is averted only by a steadfast faith in God. It is through looking to Him who is the chief Shepherd and the Bishop of our souls that the pastor receives the courage to attempt so great a task. He is con- strained to fall at the feet of the One he calls Rabbi and Master, even Him whem every pastor seeks to imitate, and in some measure reproduce His work. It is by a contemplation of Him that thc pastor is changed from glory to glory into His image. Preemincntly, Christ is the Teacher. XVould a pastor succeed he must imitate Him. He must pattern after His mcekncss of spirit, His patience of method, the clearness of His message, and the gentlcncss of His manner. He must bring the same sublime message that is fitted to the needs of all, and that is helpful to all. To be able to do this one must first sit patiently at the feet of thc Master and learn of him. lVhat one has received in the centers of learning, what he has gained in the school of experience become of greatest value to him, only after being touched and vitalized by the hand of Him who is thc Power of G-od and the YV'isdom of God. The chief work of the pastor is teaching. ln addition to his sermons. there is much need of private instruction. There is a constant care over the souls of thc Hock and a constant watchfulncss seeking to behold proper development. The teaching must correspond to the needs of the people and be such as they can com- prehend. A flock that includes a variety of Christian experiences and'pcoplc in various stages of Christian development, as most congregations do, presents a com- plicated problem. Could the pastor divide his flock into groups of babes and men, weak and strong, and feed each accordingly, his problem would be somewhat sim- plifiedg since this is impracticablc and most pastors must teach a mixed group of people it is for the pastor to present a message that will apply to all and that all will be able to receive. Should one think this an impossible task let him read again the messages of Christ. The great Teacher presented his message so clothed that children were interested and could understandg yet these messages were truths so sublime that the greatest of philosophers have not yet fathomed their depths. Let the pastor remain well within the range of spiritual truth and he will find material suited to all ages and to all classes. The pastor may bc confronted with the problem of what to preach. This is most likely due to the difficulty -of deciding what is most needful for his people or . - ' . 5 I ' . PAGE TVVFINTY

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1 l l l In the Footsteps of the Qreat Teacher Grace A. Phelps Teachers the world over, acknowledge Jesusias a g1'eat teacher, but not all acknowledge him as the greatest teacher who ever lived, He was not A great teacher, but THE great teacher, the greatest who ever uttered words. VVherein lay his perfection? He had the wonderful faculty of leading men and women to higher planes of thought and living, using langtiage and objects within their understanding. Not once was a question put to him, not once did a situation arise but that Jesus had a story to fit the case, wan object lesson, an argument or a project, that was apt to a perfect degree. l He told stories by the lakeside that led tl le people into the kingdom of heaven. VVhen the disciples asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, he set a little child in the midst, so teaching a great truth by object lesson. At other times the Saddueees and Pharisees came questioning his authority, the conduct of his disciples, and the iineaning of the law, but Jesus was ready for them with a1'gument, and with stinging rebuke, silenced their wicked tongues. He had the project method at his command when he sent the ten cleansed lepe1's to show themselves to the priests, and when he sent the seventy forth to preach and heal the sick. He used marvelous sagacity in his talks with the woman and her friends at Jacob's well in Samaria. Many a great teacher has come and gO11C since, but the greatest of these have been thoseq who, like Jesus, walked and talked with men on their own ground, and who led them on, as Jesus invariably did, to higher thoughts and lives, using language Zllld objects within the everyday experiences of their auditors. His principles of teaching are as applicable today as they were nineteen centuries ago. What has all this to do with us-students and alumni of A.B.S.S.? .lust this! VVhile a few of our number will becof e evangelists and will stir the hearts of men and women to action by their won erful speech, yet the majority of us will be pastors, teachers of youth, and le ,ders in various capacities. It will be our task to lead onward in the Christian' life, those who have been won to Christ by the cvangelists. It will be our task to win men and women, and even little children, to Christ through teaching- selling', the message of Christ to them through teaching. i Now we all want to achieve the greatest success possible as teachers, and we all feel that the first requisite is study and tijaining, so we have studied the A l me .gf I yi. w,,,-up 1 1' PAGE TYVENTY-TXYQ