First Church of Christ, Scientist

Service for Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012

Subject: Christian Science

Hymn 175

Violet Hay

Lo, He sent His Word and healed them,

Still that Word of God is here.

Still its tender healing message

Speaks to every listening ear.

Truth divine, that overcometh

All the ills that seem to be,

In our hearts Thy Word abiding,

We may know Thee and be free.

Love divine, that faileth never,

Still Thy presence and Thy power

Mighty are to save and heal us,

Guard and guide us every hour.

Life divine, Thy Word proclaimeth

All true being one with Thee.

Sinless, fearless, whole, rejoicing,

Now and through eternity.

The scriptural selection is from I Corinthians.

I Corinthians 12:1,4‑11,13,28‑31

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Silent prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s prayer, with its spiritual interpretation as given in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy

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 221

Margaret Glenn Matters

O Jesus, our dear Master,

Thy works, now understood,

Reveal their full effulgence

Through love and brotherhood.

Today Christ's precious Science

Thy healing power makes plain:

With joy may all obey thee

And cast out sin and pain.

The Christ, eternal manhood,

As God's own Son beloved,

A tender ever‑presence

Within each heart is proved.

O God, our Father‑Mother,

Thy name we see expressed

By man, who in Thy Science

Is perfect, holy, blessed.

O Science, God‑sent message

To tired humanity,

Thou art Love's revelation

Of Truth that makes us free.

Thy kingdom, God, within us

Shows forth Love's sweet control.

God's idea, man, rejoices;

He knows the reign of Soul.

Solo: “He Shall Feed His Flock”

Friends:
The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers. We shall now read Scriptural texts, and their correlative passages from our denominational textbook; these comprise our sermon.

The canonical writings, together with the word of our textbook, corroborating and explaining the Bible texts in their spiritual import and application to all ages, past, present, and future, constitute a sermon undivorced from truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses, and divinely authorized.

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 29

Florence L. Heywood

Breaking through the clouds of darkness,

Black with error, doubt, and fear;

Lighting up each somber shadow,

With a radiance soft and clear;

Filling every heart with gladness,

That its holy power feels,

Comes the Christian Science gospel,

Sin it kills and grief it heals.

Christlike in its benedictions,

Godlike in its strength sublime;

Conquering every subtle error,

With a meekness all divine,

It has gone across the ocean,

It is known in every land,

And our sisters and our brothers

Are united in one band.

"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

Malachi 4:2 unto (to ;)

unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;

Service for Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012

"Calming the Storm"

Hymn 136

Violet Hay

I love Thy way of freedom, Lord,

To serve Thee is my choice,

In Thy clear light of Truth I rise

And, listening for Thy voice,

I hear Thy promise old and new,

That bids all fear to cease:

My presence still shall go with thee

And I will give thee peace.

Though storm or discord cross my path

Thy power is still my stay,

Though human will and woe would check

My upward‑soaring way;

All unafraid I wait, the while

Thy angels bring release,

For still Thy presence is with me,

And Thou dost give me peace.

I climb, with joy, the heights of Mind,

To soar o'er time and space;

I yet shall know as I am known

And see Thee face to face.

Till time and space and fear are naught

My quest shall never cease,

Thy presence ever goes with me

And Thou dost give me peace.

Readings from the Bible.

Psalms 50:1‑4,14,15

The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Psalms 55:1,2,8,16‑18 (to :),22

Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication. Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise;

I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.

As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me:

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Psalms 107:1,8‑10,15,16,23,24

O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.

Isaiah 4:5 the,6

the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

Isaiah 25:4 thou

thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

Nahum 1:3,5‑7

The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

Matthew 8:23‑27 when

when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

Mark 4:33‑41 with

with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples. And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

67:4

When the ocean is stirred by a storm, then the clouds lower, the wind shrieks through the tightened shrouds, and the waves lift themselves into mountains. We ask the helmsman: "Do you know your course? Can you steer safely amid the storm?" He answers bravely, but even the dauntless seaman is not sure of his safety; nautical science is not equal to the Science of Mind. Yet, acting up to his highest understanding, firm at the post of duty, the mariner works on and awaits the issue. Thus should we deport ourselves on the seething ocean of sorrow. Hoping and working, one should stick to the wreck, until an irresistible propulsion precipitates his doom or sunshine gladdens the troubled sea.

134:21‑10

The true Logos is demonstrably Christian Science, the natural law of harmony which overcomes discord,‑‑not because this Science is supernatural or preternatural, nor because it is an infraction of divine law, but because it is the immutable law of God, good. Jesus said: "I knew that Thou hearest me always;" and he raised Lazarus from the dead, stilled the tempest, healed the sick, walked on the water. There is divine authority for believing in the superiority of spiritual power over material resistance.

A miracle fulfils God's law, but does not violate that law. This fact at present seems more mysterious than the miracle itself. The Psalmist sang: "What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob." The miracle introduces no disorder, but unfolds the primal order, establishing the Science of God's unchangeable law. Spiritual evolution alone is worthy of the exercise of divine power.

175:26

Damp atmosphere and freezing snow empurpled the plump cheeks of our ancestors, but they never indulged in the refinement of inflamed bronchial tubes. They were as innocent as Adam, before he ate the fruit of false knowledge, of the existence of tubercles and troches, lungs and lozenges.

205:15

Befogged in error (the error of believing that matter can be intelligent for good or evil), we can catch clear glimpses of God only as the mists disperse, or as they melt into such thinness that we perceive the divine image in some word or deed which indicates the true idea,‑‑the supremacy and reality of good, the nothingness and unreality of evil.

254:16‑32

During the sensual ages, absolute Christian Science may not be achieved prior to the change called death, for we have not the power to demonstrate what we do not understand. But the human self must be evangelized. This task God demands us to accept lovingly to‑day, and to abandon so fast as practical the material, and to work out the spiritual which determines the outward and actual.

If you venture upon the quiet surface of error and are in sympathy with error, what is there to disturb the waters? What is there to strip off error's disguise?

If you launch your bark upon the ever‑agitated but healthful waters of truth, you will encounter storms. Your good will be evil spoken of. This is the cross. Take it up and bear it, for through it you win and wear the crown. Pilgrim on earth, thy home is heaven; stranger, thou art the guest of God.

310:11‑2

Day may decline and shadows fall, but darkness flees when the earth has again turned upon its axis. The sun is not affected by the revolution of the earth. So Science reveals Soul as God, untouched by sin and death,‑‑as the central Life and intelligence around which circle harmoniously all things in the systems of Mind. Soul changeth not. We are commonly taught that there is a human soul which sins and is spiritually lost,‑‑that soul may be lost, and yet be immortal. If Soul could sin, Spirit, Soul, would be flesh instead of Spirit. It is the belief of the flesh and of mate‑rial sense which sins. If Soul sinned, Soul would die. Sin is the element of self‑destruction, and spiritual death is oblivion. If there was sin in Soul, the annihilation of Spirit would be inevitable. The only Life is Spirit, and if Spirit should lose Life as God, good, then Spirit, which has no other existence, would be annihilated.

Mind is God, and God is not seen by material sense, because Mind is Spirit, which material sense cannot discern. There is neither growth, maturity, nor decay in Soul. These changes are the mutations of material sense, the varying clouds of mortal belief, which hide the truth of being.

328:28 (only), 30‑20

Jesus' promise is perpetual. The purpose of his great life‑work extends through time and includes universal humanity. Its Principle is infinite, reaching beyond the pale of a single period or of a limited following. As time moves on, the healing elements of pure Christianity will be fairly dealt with; they will be sought and taught, and will glow in all the grandeur of universal goodness.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little understanding of Christian Science proves the truth of all that I say of it. Because you cannot walk on the water and raise the dead, you have no right to question the great might of divine Science in these directions. Be thankful that Jesus, who was the true demonstrator of Science, did these things, and left his example for us. In Science we can use only what we understand. We must prove our faith by demonstration.

One should not tarry in the storm if the body is freezing, nor should he remain in the devouring flames. Until one is able to prevent bad results, he should avoid their occasion. To be discouraged, is to resemble a pupil in addition, who attempts to solve a problem of Euclid, and denies the rule of the problem because he fails in his first effort.

358:9

Christian Science, understood, coincides with the Scriptures, and sustains logically and demonstratively every point it presents. Otherwise it would not be Science, and could not present its proofs. Christian Science is neither made up of contradictory aphorisms nor of the inventions of those who scoff at God. It presents the calm and clear verdict of Truth against error, uttered and illustrated by the prophets, by Jesus, by his apostles, as is recorded throughout the Scriptures.

495:14

When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious‑‑as Life eternally is‑‑can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life is not. Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony.

535:29‑16

In the first chapter of Genesis we read: "And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas." In the Apocalypse it is written: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." In St. John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea, as a symbol of tempest‑tossed human concepts advancing and receding, is represented as having passed away. The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other consciousness.

The way of error is awful to contemplate. The illusion of sin is without hope or God. If man's spiritual gravitation and attraction to one Father, in whom we "live, and move, and have our being," should be lost, and if man should be governed by corporeality instead of divine Principle, by body instead of by Soul, man would be annihilated.

548:9

How little light or heat reach our earth when clouds cover the sun's face! So Christian Science can be seen only as the clouds of corporeal sense roll away. Earth has little light or joy for mortals before Life is spiritually learned. Every agony of mortal error helps error to destroy error, and so aids the apprehension of immortal Truth. This is the new birth going on hourly, by which men may entertain angels, the true ideas of God, the spiritual sense of being.

557:18

Divine Science rolls back the clouds of error with the light of Truth, and lifts the curtain on man as never born and as never dying, but as coexistent with his creator.

Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Hymn 161

Satisfied -- With words by Mary Baker Eddy

It matters not what be thy lot,

So Love doth guide;

For storm or shine, pure peace is thine,

Whate'er betide.

And of these stones, or tyrants' thrones,

God able is

To raise up seed‑‑in thought and deed‑‑

To faithful His.

Aye, darkling sense, arise, go hence!

Our God is good.

False fears are foes‑‑truth tatters those,

When understood.

Love looseth thee, and lifteth me,

Ayont hate's thrall:

There Life is light, and wisdom might,

And God is All.

The centuries break, the earth‑bound wake,

God's glorified!

Who doth His will‑‑His likeness still‑‑

Is satisfied.

Sharings of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.

Hymn 148

Anna L. Waring*

In heavenly Love abiding,

No change my heart shall fear;

And safe is such confiding,

For nothing changes here.

The storm may roar without me,

My heart may low be laid;

But God is round about me,

And can I be dismayed?

Wherever He may guide me,

No want shall turn me back;

My Shepherd is beside me,

And nothing can I lack.

His wisdom ever waketh,

His sight is never dim;

He knows the way He taketh,

And I will walk with Him.

Green pastures are before me,

Which yet I have not seen;

Bright skies will soon be o'er me,

Where darkest clouds have been.

My hope I cannot measure,

My path in life is free;

My Father has my treasure,

And He will walk with me.

Service for Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012

Subject: Christ Jesus

Hymn 216

From the German of Georg Neumark

O he who trusts in God's protection

And hopes in Him when fears alarm,

Is sheltered by His lovingkindness,

Delivered by His mighty arm;

If ye God's law can understand,

Ye have not builded on the sand.

O wait on Him with veneration,

Be silent in humility;

He leads you after His own counsel,

His will is done and still shall be;

All good for you His wisdom planned;

O trust in God and understand.

The scriptural selection is from Luke.

Luke 4:14‑22 Jesus,30‑32,37,40,41,44

Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

#And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?

But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.

And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.

#Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.

And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.

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 23

Christmas Morn – With words by Mary Baker Eddy

Blest Christmas morn, though murky clouds

Pursue thy way,

Thy light was born where storm enshrouds

Nor dawn nor day!

Dear Christ, forever here and near,

No cradle song,

No natal hour and mother's tear,

To thee belong.

Thou God‑idea, Life‑encrowned,

The Bethlehem babe‑‑

Beloved, replete, by flesh embound‑‑

Was but thy shade!

Thou gentle beam of living Love,

And deathless Life!

Truth infinite,‑‑so far above

All mortal strife,

Or cruel creed, or earth‑born taint:

Fill us today

With all thou art‑‑be thou our saint,

Our stay, alway.

Solo: "There Upon a Manger Bed"

Hymn 265

Samuel Johnson – Adapted

Onward, Christian, though the region

Where thou art seem drear and lone;

God hath set a guardian legion

Very near thee, press thou on.

By the Christ road, and none other,

Is the mount of vision won;

Tread it with rejoicing, brother:

Jesus trod it, press thou on.

By thy trustful, calm endeavor,

Guiding, cheering, like the sun,

Earth‑bound hearts thou shalt deliver;

O, for their sake, press thou on.