Service for Sunday, July 17, 2011

Subject: Life

 Hymn 58 
 Elizabeth C. Adams

 Father, we Thy loving children
   Lift our hearts in joy today,
 Knowing well that Thou wilt keep us
   Ever in Thy blessed way.
 Thou art Love and Thou art wisdom,
   Thou art Life and Thou art All;
 In Thy Spirit living, moving,
   We shall neither faint nor fall.

 Come we daily then, dear Father,
   Open hearts and willing hands,
 Eager ears, expectant, joyful,
   Ready for Thy right commands.
 We would hear no other voices,
   We would heed no other call;
 Thou alone art good and gracious,
   Thou our Mind and Thou our All.

 In Thy house securely dwelling,
   Where Thy children live to bless,
 Seeing only Thy creation,
   We can share Thy happiness,
 Share Thy joy and spend it freely.
   Loyal hearts can feel no fear;
 We Thy children know Thee, Father,
   Love and Life forever near.

The scriptural selections are from Psalms.
Psalms 30:1‑5,7,10‑12
I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.  O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.  O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.  Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.  For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 

Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. 
Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.  Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. 

Psalms 51:1,7,8,10‑12
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 

Silent prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s prayer, with its spiritual interpretation as given in the Christian Science textbook.

Our Father which art in heaven,
Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Adorable One.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Enable us to know – as in heaven, so on earth
God is omnipotent, supreme.
Give us this day our daily bread;
Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections;
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And Love is reflected in love;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.


 Hymn 208
 Mother's Evening Prayer – Mary Baker Eddy

 O gentle presence, peace and joy and power;
   O Life divine, that owns each waiting hour,
 Thou Love that guards the nestling's faltering flight!
   Keep Thou my child on upward wing tonight.

 Love is our refuge; only with mine eye
   Can I behold the snare, the pit, the fall:
 His habitation high is here, and nigh,
   His arm encircles me, and mine, and all.

 O make me glad for every scalding tear,
   For hope deferred, ingratitude, disdain!
 Wait, and love more for every hate, and fear
   No ill,‑‑since God is good, and loss is gain.

 Beneath the shadow of His mighty wing;
   In that sweet secret of the narrow way,
 Seeking and finding, with the angels sing:
   "Lo, I am with you alway,"‑‑watch and pray.

 No snare, no fowler, pestilence or pain;
   No night drops down upon the troubled breast,
 When heaven's aftersmile earth's tear‑drops gain,
   And mother finds her home and heav'nly rest.

Solo: “Brother James’Air”

The lesson-sermon from the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, read by the First and Second Readers.

The content of the Lesson Sermon may be found in the Christian Science Quarterly. You may also read the Lesson-Sermon for this week online by clicking here.



 Hymn 342 
 Laura Lee Randall

 This is the day the Lord hath made;
   Be glad, give thanks, rejoice;
 Stand in His presence, unafraid,
   In praise lift up your voice.
 All perfect gifts are from above,
   And all our blessings show
 The amplitude of God's dear love
   Which every heart may know.

 The Lord will hear before we call,
   And every need supply;
 Good things are freely given to all
   Who on His word rely.
 We come today to bring Him praise
   Not for such gifts alone,
 But for the higher, deeper ways
   In which His love is shown.

 For sin destroyed, for sorrow healed,
   For health and peace restored;
 For Life and Love by Truth revealed,
   We thank and bless the Lord.
 This is the day the Lord hath made,
   In praise lift up your voice.
 In shining robes of joy arrayed,
   Be glad, give thanks, rejoice.

"The Scientific Statement of Being" (S&H p. 468} and the correlative scripture according to I John 3:1-3.
There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p.468

1John.3
[1] Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
[2] Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
[3] And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Benediction

Psalms 32:11
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. 

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