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  document.writeln("<span class=\"body\"><b><span class=\"headings2\"><span class=\"actsititle\">Class Dismissed</span></span></b><br>");
  document.writeln("<span class=\"actsilinks\"><a href=\"#\" onclick=\"window.print()\">Print this page</a></span>");document.writeln("<br><div id='actsartcl1'>");document.writeln("<p class=\"myparagraph\" align=\"left\">Y</p>");
document.writeln("<p class=\"body\"><br>ears");
document.writeln(" ago, R. G. Lee told a powerful story about a mountain school that had a");
document.writeln(" hard time keeping a teacher. It seems there was a group of big, rough ");
document.writeln("boys who took pride in running the teacher off. The biggest and roughest");
document.writeln(" of them all was named Tom.</p>");
document.writeln("<p><span class=\"body\">\"A new young teacher won over the ");
document.writeln("boys, however, by letting them write the rules for the school\'€&#8221;which were");
document.writeln(" very strictly enforced with a rod. For example, cheating would be ");
document.writeln("punished with five strokes of the rod, and stealing with ten strokes, ");
document.writeln("both to be given with the offender\'s coat off. </span></p>");
document.writeln("<p><span class=\"body\">\"Everything went ");
document.writeln("well until one day Tom\'s lunch was stolen. A frail little boy in ");
document.writeln("hand-me-down clothes that were too big for him admitted his guilt. The ");
document.writeln("school rules demanded that he be whipped. When the teacher called the ");
document.writeln("little fellow up front, he came whimpering and begging to leave his coat");
document.writeln(" on. The pupils insisted he obey the rules and take off his coat. When ");
document.writeln("he did, a deathly silence settled over the room, for he had no shirt on ");
document.writeln("and his emaciated body looked like skin stretched over bones. The ");
document.writeln("teacher gasped and dropped the rod. He knew he could never whip that ");
document.writeln("little boy. </span></p>");
document.writeln("<p><span class=\"body\">\"Suddenly, big Tom strode up and stood between the ");
document.writeln("two. \'I\'ll take it for him, Teacher, for after all it was my lunch he ");
document.writeln("stole.\' He shrugged out of his coat. </span></p>");
document.writeln("<p><span class=\"body\">\"At the third blow the switch broke, and the teacher threw it in the corner and said, \'That\'s all, school dismissed.\' </span></p>");
document.writeln("<p><span class=\"body\">\"The frail little boy laid his hand on big Tom\'s arm and through his tears said, \'Thank you, Tom, it would have killed me.\'\"<sup>1</sup></span></p>");
document.writeln("<p><span class=\"body\">And");
document.writeln(" that\'s exactly what Jesus did for you and me when he died on the cross ");
document.writeln("on Good Friday some 2000 years ago\'€&#8221;he took your and my punishment for ");
document.writeln("all our sins so we could be freely forgiven and given God\'s gift of ");
document.writeln("eternal life. </span></p>");
document.writeln("<p><span class=\"body\">\"For God so loved the world that he gave his one ");
document.writeln("and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have ");
document.writeln("eternal life.\" Do you believe that Jesus died for your sins and, if so, ");
document.writeln("have you accepted God\'s full and free pardon? You can do that right now ");
document.writeln("by clicking on the God\'s Invitation link at the bottom of the page.</span></p>");
document.writeln("<p><span class=\"body\"><font size=\"2\">1. Cited on <a href=\"http://www.sermons.com/\" target=\"blank\">www.sermons.com</a> </font>");
document.writeln("</span></p>");
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  document.writeln("<p style=\"font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 10pt;\">This and other articles by Richard (Dick) Innes <a href=\"http://www.actsweb.org/articles/\" target=\"_blank\">can be read online</a>.<br><br>Copyright &copy; 1990 - 2025<br /><a href=\"http://www.actsweb.org/\" target=\"_blank\">ACTS International</a></p>");
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