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.
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