Service for Sunday, June 10, 2012

Subject: God the Preserver of Man

 Hymn 278

 P. M. – Adapted

 Pilgrim on earth, home and heaven are within thee,

   Heir of the ages and child of the day.

 Cared for, watched over, beloved and protected,

   Walk thou with courage each step of the way.

 Truthful and steadfast though trials betide thee,

   Ever one thing do thou ask of thy Lord,

 Grace to go forward, wherever He guide thee,

   Gladly obeying the call of His word.

 Healed is thy hardness, His love hath dissolved it,

   Full is the promise, the blessing how kind;

 So shall His tenderness teach thee compassion,

   So all the merciful, mercy shall find.

The scriptural selections are from Isaiah.

Isaiah 49:8‑13

Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves.  They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.  They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.  And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted.  Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.  #Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

Isaiah 58:6‑11

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?  #Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.  Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

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 115

 John M. Neale – Adapted

 Holy Father, Thou hast taught us

   We should live to Thee alone;

 Year by year, Thy hand hath brought us

   On through dangers oft unknown.

 When we wandered, Thou hast found us;

   When we doubted, sent us light;

 Still Thine arm has been around us,

   All our paths were in Thy sight.

 We would trust in Thy protecting,

   Wholly rest upon Thine arm,

 Follow wholly Thy directing,

   Thou our only guard from harm.

 Keep us from our own undoing,

   Help us turn to Thee when tried,

 Still our strength in Thee renewing,

   Keep us ever at Thy side.

Solo: “Dear Lord and Father”                  

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 213 

 Isaac Watts*

 O God, our help in ages past,

   Our hope for time to come,

 Our shelter from the stormy blast,

   And our eternal home.

 Before the hills in order stood,

   Or earth received her frame,

 From everlasting Thou art God,

   To endless years the same.

 A thousand ages in Thy sight

   Are like an evening gone,

 Short as the watch that ends the night

   Before the rising sun.

 O God, our help in ages past,

   Our hope for time to come,

 Thou art our guard while ages last,

   And our eternal home.

"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 31:3 thou

thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.