Service for Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012


Theme: Harmony (Order)

 Hymn 236 
 Irving C. Tomlinson

 O peace of the world, O hope in each breast,
 O Bethlehem star that ages have blest,
 A day of fresh promise breaks over the land,
 Gaunt warfare is doomed, and God's kingdom at hand!

 From cannon and sword shape tillers of soil,
 No more let dire hate man's spirit despoil,
 Let Truth be proclaimed, let God's love be retold,
 That men of good will may their brethren uphold.

 As stars in their courses never contend,
 As blossoms their hues in harmony blend,
 As bird voices mingle in joyful refrain,
 So God's loving children in concord remain.

 Our God is one Mind, the Mind we adore;
 Ineffable joy His love doth outpour;
 Let nations be one in a union of love,
 God's bountiful peace, all earth's treasures above.

Readings from the Bible.

II Kings 20:1‑6
In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.  Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.  And it came to pass, afore Isaiah
was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.  And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver
thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.


Psalms 40:1‑6
I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.  He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.  And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.  Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.  Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us‑ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 

Psalms 119:129‑135
Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore doth my soul keep them.  The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.  I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments.  Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.  Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.  Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.  Make
thy face to shine upon thy servant; and teach me thy statutes.

Ecclesiastes 12:8,9
#Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.  And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

I Corinthians14:40
Let all things be done decently and in order.

Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.vii:1,27

  To those leaning on the sustaining infinite, to‑day is big with blessings.  The wakeful shepherd beholds the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance of a risen day.  So shone the pale star to the prophet‑shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to benighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morning beams and shine the guiding star of being.  The Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony. 

  Since the author's discovery of the might of Truth in the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live in obedience to its divine Principle.  To develop the full might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even
as the science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet concord to sound. 

2:15
  Prayer cannot change the Science of being, but it tends to bring us into harmony with it.
Goodness attains the demonstration of Truth.  A request that God will save us is not all that is required.  The mere habit of pleading with the divine Mind, as one pleads with a human being, perpetuates the belief in God as humanly circumscribed,‑‑an error which impedes spiritual growth. 

6:11‑22
  To cause suffering as the result of sin, is the means of destroying sin.  Every supposed pleasure in sin will furnish more than its equivalent of pain, until belief in material life and sin is destroyed.  To reach heaven, the harmony of being, we must understand the divine Principle of being. 
  "God is Love."  More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go.  To suppose that God forgives or punishes sin according as His mercy is sought or unsought, is to misunderstand Love and to make prayer the safety‑valve for wrong‑doing. 

76:22‑29
  The sinless joy,‑‑the perfect harmony and immortality of Life, possessing unlimited divine beauty and goodness without a single bodily pleasure or pain,‑‑constitutes the only veritable, indestructible man, whose being is spiritual.  This state of existence is scientific and intact,‑‑a perfection discernible only by those who have the final understanding of Christ in divine Science.

96:4
  Love will finally mark the hour of harmony, and spiritualization will follow, for Love is Spirit.
Before error is wholly destroyed, there will be interruptions of the general material routine.  Earth will become dreary and desolate, but summer and winter, seedtime and harvest (though in changed forms), will continue unto the end,‑‑until the final spiritualization of all things.  "The darkest hour precedes the dawn."

130:7
  It is vain to speak dishonestly of divine Science, which destroys all discord, when you can demonstrate the actuality of Science.  It is unwise to doubt if reality is in perfect harmony with God, divine Principle, ‑‑if Science, when understood and demonstrated, will destroy all discord,‑‑since you admit that God is omnipotent; for from this premise it follows that good and its sweet concords have all‑power. 

134:21
  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. 

162:4
  Christian Science brings to the body the sunlight of Truth, which invigorates and purifies.
Christian Science acts as an alterative, neutralizing error with Truth.  It changes the secretions, expels humors, dissolves tumors, relaxes rigid muscles, restores carious bones to soundness.  The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind. 

 208:20
Let us learn of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of Spirit, the kingdom of heaven,‑‑the reign and rule of universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain forever unseen. 

228:11
  The enslavement of man is not legitimate.  It will cease when man enters into his heritage of freedom, his God‑given dominion over the material senses.  Mortals will some day assert their freedom in the name of Almighty God.  Then they will control their own bodies through the understanding of divine Science.  Dropping their present beliefs, they will recognize harmony as the spiritual reality and discord as the material unreality. 

242:9
  There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way.  It is to know no other reality‑‑to have no other consciousness of life‑‑than good, God and His reflection, and to rise superior to the so‑called pain and pleasure of the senses. 

253:9
  I hope, dear reader, I am leading you into the understanding of your divine rights, your heaven‑bestowed harmony,‑‑that, as you read, you see there is no cause (outside of erring, mortal, material sense which is not power) able to make you sick or sinful; and I hope that you are conquering this false sense.  Knowing the falsity of so‑called material sense, you can assert your
prerogative to overcome the belief in sin, disease, or death. 

276:25
  Material beliefs and spiritual understanding never mingle.  The latter destroys the former.
Discord is the nothingness named error.  Harmony is the somethingness named Truth. 

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

 Hymn 263 
 From the Swedish of J. O. Wallin

 Only God can bring us gladness,
   Only God can give us peace;
 Joys are vain that end in sadness,
   Joy divine shall never cease.
 Mid the shade of want and sorrow
   Undisturbed, our hearts rejoice;
 Patient, wait the brighter morrow;
   Faithful, heed the Father's voice.

 As the stars in order going,
   All harmonious, He doth move;
 Heavenly calm and comfort showing,
   Comes the healing word of Love.
 Who the word of wisdom heareth
   Feels the Father Love within,
 Where as dawn the shadow cleareth,
   Love outshines the night of sin.

 So we find the true atonement,
   Know in God the perfect Friend;
 For in Love is our at‑one‑ment,
   Where all hearts in Him may blend.
 Here from prisoning pain and sorrow
   Have we all a sure release,
 Only God can bring us gladness,
   Only God can give us peace.

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

 Hymn 371 
 Margaret Morrison

 We lift our hearts in praise,
   O God of Life, to Thee,
 And would reflect in all our ways
   Thy purity.
 Thy thoughts our lives enfold,
   And free us from all fear;
 All strife is stilled, all grief consoled,
   For Thou art here.

 We lift our hearts in praise,
   O God of Truth, to Thee,
 And find within Thy perfect law
   Our liberty.
 We bless Thy mighty name
   In this exalted hour,
 And to the world in faith proclaim
   Thy healing power.

 We lift our hearts in praise,
   O God of Love, to Thee,
 With joy to find through darkened days
   Thy harmony.
 O Father‑Mother Love,
   We triumph 'neath Thy rod,
 We glory in Thy light, and prove
   That Thou art God.



No comments: