  CREATION OF THE WORLD. FIRST READING.
IN the Bible we are told God made the earth we live on. Sunday is the earth's birthday, for on the first day of the week the Creation began. The world was one mass—dark, empty, and shapeless—till God made the light by His Word, and saw the light was good. Without light we could not live: even the very trees and flowers would die. When we have been in the dark how glad we are to see light come back, even if it be only one grey line beginning in the sky! This shows how blessed is this gift. It was good, too, that we should have quiet dark night for rest and stillness. The second great change enclosed the earth in an outer ball of air, which we call the sky or firmament. That is the deep blue The third great change was, that water filled the deep hollows of the earth, while the hills rose up dry above them, with rivers and streams running down their slopes into the deep seas below. God did not leave the land bare and stony: He clothed it with green fresh plants and herbs, with leaves and flowers, and trees to give us their fruit and wood, and filled even the sea with plants that can live under water. THE EARTH GLADDENED BY THE SUN. Next, God caused the rays of the sun to gladden the earth, and let it see the moon lighted up by the sun, as well as the stars far beyond our firmament. We count the months by the changes in the moon; and our earth's journey around the sun marks our years and seasons. We all rejoice in a bright sunny day, though the sun is too bright and glorious for us to bear to gaze at him; and how lovely the moon looks, either as a young crescent, or a beautiful full moon! The waters began to be full of live things, that swam, or crept, or flew: fishes, and birds, and insects. By that time this world was nearly as we see it, and a beautiful home for us to live in. Then God made the four-footed beasts—sheep and cows, horses, dogs, cats, elephants, lions—all that we use or admire; and, last of all, when He had made this earth a happy, healthy place, He planted the Garden of Eden, and put in it the first man and woman, the best of all that He had made; for though their bodies were of dust, like those of the beasts, yet their souls came from the Breath of God. They could think, speak, pray, and heed what is unseen as well as what is seen. There are many many lessons to be learnt from this wonderful story. Let us try to take home one of them. Let us ask our Father that the ground below, the light above, the sky and sea, the sun and moon, the trees and flowers, the birds and beasts, and His holy day of rest, may remind us that they came from Him, and that we may be very thankful to Him for having given us such good things. QUESTIONS.
SECOND READING.
IN the Bible God tells us that He made the world, and everything in it: land and water, and grass, flowers and trees, insects, birds and beasts, and last of all He made the first man and woman. The man was made by God out of the dust of the ground, and then God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and gave him a living soul. And the woman was made by God out of the man's side. They were called Adam and Eve, and they were to be the first father and mother of everyone who was to be born into the world. The good God gave them a beautiful home. It was a garden, with a clear river of water flowing through it, and all kinds of delicious fruit-trees and beautiful flowers growing in it. Nothing could hurt or vex them there. They did not know what pain was, That was the way they lived, always good and always happy, whilst they obeyed what God had told them. In the midst of the garden grew two trees: one was the Tree of Life, and the other was the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. God told them that if they ate the fruit of this Tree of Knowledge they would die. We do not know what those trees were like, but sometime or other I hope we shall see the Tree of Life, for it is growing in heaven, close by the river that flows by the Throne of God; and when we see it, and taste of its fruit, we shall live for ever, and be happier than Adam and Eve were. We shall never be as happy as they were while we are living in this world; but if we will try to obey God, and live holy lives, He will take us to heaven, and that will be still better than the Garden of Eden. QUESTIONS.
THIRD READING.
WHAT glorious and wonderful things God has made! Did you ever see the sea? There it is—a great vast space, all water, looking green near us, but blue further off—always heaving up and down. The waves rise, and then ripple along, and burst with a white edge of bubbles of foam. A great space that had been left dry gets covered up with water again, and where you were walking just now is quite deep water. What is this called? The tide. Well, what will the tide do in proper time? Will it come rolling in over the beach, and cover up the land? No; presently each will turn. Each wave will be a little less high than the last, till it will have gone back again and left the beach uncovered as before. Why does the tide do this? It is because God so wonderfully contrived this earth and sea, that the waters should rise and go back. He made the sand the bound of the sea, and said, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed." So, you know, we sing in the Psalm every Sunday— "The sea is His, and He made it: His hands prepared the dry land." QUESTIONS.
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