Service for Sunday, July 15, 2007

Subject: God

The scriptural selection is from Psalms
Psalms 119:41-48; 73-77,80; 153,154,156,159,160
Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according to thy word. So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word. And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments. So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts. I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved. My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.

Thy hands have made me and fashioned me: give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments. They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. Let, I pray thee, thy merciful kindness be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.

Let my heart be sound in thy statutes; that I be not ashamed.

Consider mine affliction, and deliver me: for I do not forget thy law. Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word.

Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord: quicken me according to thy judgments.

Consider how I love thy precepts: quicken me, O Lord, according to thy lovingkindness. Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

Solo: “He Shall Feed His Flock”

Golden Text: Lam 3:23 great

great is thy faithfulness.

Responsive Readings: Ps 92:1-3 (to ;); 89:1,2,8,11,14,15,52
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery;

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.


I
Ps. 119:89, 90 (to :)
For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations:

Ps. 100:1, 3, 5
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Isa.40:11
He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

Isa. 41:17, 18, 20
When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

Mal. 3:6 (to ;)
For I am the Lord, I change not;

140:25-27
The Christian Science God is universal, eternal, divine Love, which changeth not and causeth no evil, disease, nor death.

12:31
In divine Science, where prayers are mental, all may avail themselves of God as "a very present help in trouble." Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals. It is the open fount which cries, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters."

256:7
Love, the divine Principle, is the Father and Mother of the universe, including man.

275:6-19
The starting-point of divine Science is that God, Spirit, is All-in-all, and that there is no other might nor Mind,--that God is Love, and therefore He is divine Principle.
To grasp the reality and order of being in its Science, you must begin by reckoning God as the divine Principle of all that really is. Spirit, Life, Truth, Love, combine as one,--and are the Scriptural names for God. All substance, intelligence, wisdom, being, immortality, cause, and effect belong to God. These are His attributes, the eternal manifestations of the infinite divine Principle, Love. No wisdom is wise but His wisdom; no truth is true, no love is lovely, no life is Life but the divine; no good is, but the good God bestows.


242:3-5
It is only a question of time when "they shall all know Me [God], from the least of them unto the greatest."


II
Ps. 119:65, 86 (to :)
Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word.

All thy commandments are faithful:

I Kings 8:56-58
Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

Prov. 20:5, 7, 11, 18 (to :)
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.

The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.

Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.

Every purpose is established by counsel:

Deut. 4:35, 36 (to :)
Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the Lord he is God; there is none else beside him. Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee:

Deut.7:9
Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;

184:12-17
Truth, Life, and Love are the only legitimate and eternal demands on man, and they are spiritual lawgivers, enforcing obedience through divine statutes.
Controlled by the divine intelligence, man is harmonious and eternal.

295:5-8
God creates and governs the universe, including man. The universe is filled with spiritual ideas, which He evolves, and they are obedient to the Mind that makes them.

183:23-24
Obedience to Truth gives man power and strength.

62:4, 16
The entire education of children should be such as to form habits of obedience to the moral and spiritual law, with which the child can meet and master the belief in so-called physical laws, a belief which breeds disease.

Children should be allowed to remain children in knowledge, and should become men and women only through growth in the understanding of man's higher nature.

516:19
Man, made in His likeness, possesses and reflects God's dominion over all the earth. Man and woman as coexistent and eternal with God forever reflect, in glorified quality, the infinite Father-Mother God.


III
Hos. 2:19, 20, 23 3rd and I
And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

II Chron. 33:1-4, 10, 12, 13, 15
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.

And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.
Jer. 31:3
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

6:17-18
"God is Love." More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go.

35:30 (only)
The design of Love is to reform the sinner.

574:27-3
The very circumstance, which your suffering sense deems wrathful and afflictive, Love can make an angel entertained unawares. Then thought gently whispers: "Come hither! Arise from your false consciousness into the true sense of Love, and behold the Lamb's wife,--Love wedded to its own spiritual idea."

201:7 Truth, 17-18, 20-5
We cannot build safely on false foundations. Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away and "all things are become new." Passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirit-
uality, and the superabundance of being is on the side of God, good.

205:32
When we fully understand our relation to the Divine, we can have no other Mind but His,--no other Love, wisdom, or Truth, no other sense of Life, and no consciousness of the existence of matter or error.


IV
II Thess. 3:3 the
the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

Gen. 39:2, 4, 6-8, 10-12
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured. And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.

Jude 1:24, 25 (to 1st .)
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever.

106:7
God has endowed man with inalienable rights, among which are self-government, reason, and conscience. Man is properly self-governed only when he is guided rightly and governed by his Maker, divine Truth and Love.

470:16-18, 21
The children of God have but one Mind. How can good lapse into evil, when God, the Mind of man, never sins?

God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, man, remains perfect. Man is the expression of God's being. If there ever was a moment when man did not express the divine perfection, then there was a moment when man did not express God, and consequently a time when Deity was unexpressed--that is, without entity. If man has lost perfection, then he has lost his perfect Principle, the divine Mind. If man ever existed without this perfect Principle or Mind, then man's existence was a myth.

56:15-3
Infidelity to the marriage covenant is the social scourge of all races, "the pestilence that walketh in darkness, . . . the destruction that wasteth at noonday." The commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," is no less imperative than the one, "Thou shalt not kill."
Chastity is the cement of civilization and progress. Without it there is no stability in society, and without it one cannot attain the Science of Life.

491:12
It is only by acknowledging the supremacy of Spirit, which annuls the claims of matter, that mortals can lay off mortality and find the indissoluble spiritual link which establishes man forever in the divine likeness, inseparable from his creator.

90:24-25
The admission to one's self that man is God's own likeness sets man free to master the infinite idea.


V
Ps. 40:5 (to 1st :), 10
Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward:

I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

Matt. 11:2-6, 27
Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.

All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.

John 3:16, 17
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

I Tim. 2:5 there
there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

315:29-2
Wearing in part a human form (that is, as it seemed to mortal view), being conceived by a human mother, Jesus was the mediator between Spirit and the flesh, between Truth and error. Explaining and demonstrating the way of divine Science, he became the way of salvation to all who accepted his word.

136:2-6
He taught his followers that his religion had a divine Principle, which would cast out error and heal both the sick and the sinning. He claimed no intelligence, action, nor life separate from God.

26:16
His mission was to reveal the Science of celestial being, to prove what God is and what He does for man.

27:1
Jesus sent a message to John the Baptist, which was intended to prove beyond a question that the Christ had come: "Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached." In other words: Tell John what the demonstration of divine power is, and he will at once perceive that God is the power in the Messianic work.
495:1-2
God will heal the sick through man, whenever man is governed by God.


VI
I Cor. 1:9
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.


II Cor. 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:

Eph. 3:14, 16-19
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

I Thess. 5:23 (to ;), 24
And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly;

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

326:16-21
The purpose and motive to live aright can be gained now. This point won, you have started as you should. You have begun at the numeration-table of Christian Science, and nothing but wrong intention can hinder your advancement. Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way.

52:23
The highest earthly representative of God, speaking of human ability to reflect divine power, prophetically said to his disciples, speaking not for their day only but for all time: "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;" and "These signs shall follow them that believe."

454:17-21
Love for God and man is the true incentive in both healing and teaching. Love inspires, illumines, designates, and leads the way. Right motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and action.

276:1
Having one God, one Mind, unfolds the power that heals the sick, and fulfils these sayings of Scripture, "I am the Lord that healeth thee," and "I have found a ransom." When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source, in accordance with the Scriptural command: "Let this Mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Man and his Maker are correlated in divine Science, and real consciousness is cognizant only of the things of God.

103:15-16
The maximum of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All-in-all.




Benediction
Lamentations 3:22
It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

Hymn 53
Based on a hymn by John R. Macduff

Everlasting arms of Love
Are beneath, around, above;
God it is who bears us on,
His the arm we lean upon.

He our ever-present guide
Faithful is, whate'er betide;
Gladly then we journey on,
With His arm to lean upon.

From earth's fears and vain alarms
Safe in His encircling arms,
He will keep us all the way,
God, our refuge, strength and stay.

Hymn 130
Psalm 36 – From Danish Version

How wondrous is Thy mercy, Lord,
How faithful is Thy kindness.
Thou gav'st the treasure of Thy Word;
That Word dispels all blindness.
Thou holdest all things in Thy sight,
For in Thy presence is no night,
And in Thy light shall we see light.

Thy judgments are a mighty deep,
Thy wisdom past all seeking;
Thou watchest when we lie asleep,
We trust us to Thy keeping.
Thy love doth every blessing shower;
It rests alike on man and flower:
The whole creation owns Thy power.

Hymn 153
Luke I:46 – Maria Louise Baum

In Thee, my God and Saviour,
Forevermore the same,
My spirit hath rejoicing,
For holy is Thy name.
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
Sing all in glad accord!
Praise Him who lifts the lowly,
For faithful is His word.
I magnify and bless Thee,
For faithful is Thy word.

Thou who alone art mighty
Hast done to me great things,
Remembrance of Thy mercy
Sure help to Israel brings.
Thy power, O Lord, will I extol,
Who hast redeemed my soul;
I praise Thee, Lord, with gladness,
For Thou hast made me whole.
I magnify and bless Thee,
For Thou hast made me whole.

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