Theme: Secure
Hymn 104
Duncan Sinclair
Help us, O Lord, to bear the cross,
The cross our Master bore;
To brave the senses' angry shock,
Our faith secure upon the rock
Of Christ, forevermore.
Grant us, O Love, the strength to drink
Thy cup on earth below,
The inspiration that it brings,
The hope serene that from it springs
To lighten every woe.
Give us, O Truth, Thou light of men,
Thy benediction rare,
That courage may sustain our way
Out of the darkness into day,
Thy day, celestial, fair.
Thus shall our Spirit, Mind divine,
Lead us to heaven's bowers:
The cross laid down; the victory won
O'er sense and self; revealed the Son;
The crown forever ours.
Readings from the Bible.
Leviticus 25:18 ye,19
ye shall do my statutes, and keep my
judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye
shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
Deuteronomy 33:12 The
The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety
by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell
between his shoulders.
Job 11:7‑9,15‑19 (to ;)
Canst thou by searching find
out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do?
deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.
For then shalt thou lift up
thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: Because
thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: And
thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt
be as the morning. And thou shalt be
secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt
take thy rest in safety. Also thou shalt
lie down, and none shall make thee afraid;
Psalms 4:8
I will both lay me down in
peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
Psalms 33:1‑9,11‑15,17‑22
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with
the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right; and all
his works are done in truth. He loveth
righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together
as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
The counsel of the Lord
standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord:
and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance. The Lord looketh from heaven; he beholdeth
all the sons of men. From the place of
his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. He fashioneth their hearts alike; he
considereth all their works.
An horse is a vain thing for
safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that
fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive in famine. Our
soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because
we have trusted in his holy name. Let
thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Isaiah 58:6‑8,11
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.
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.
John 8:32 ye
ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free.
Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
19:17
Every pang of repentance and suffering, every
effort for reform, every good thought and deed, will help us to understand
Jesus' atonement for sin and aid its efficacy; but if the sinner continues to
pray and repent, sin and be sorry, he has little part in the atonement,‑‑in the
at‑one‑ment with God,‑‑for he lacks
the practical repentance, which reforms the heart and enables man to do the
will of wisdom. Those who cannot
demonstrate, at least in part, the divine Principle of the teachings and
practice of our Master have no part in God.
If living in disobedience to Him, we ought to feel no security, although
God is good.
39:18
"Now,"
cried the apostle, "is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,"‑‑meaning, not that now men must
prepare for a future‑world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in
which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is the time for so‑called material pains
and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in
Science. To break this earthly spell,
mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists
and governs the universe harmoniously.
This thought is apprehended slowly, and the interval before its
attainment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as triumphs.
60:29
Soul has infinite resources with which to
bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more
secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul.
Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man. We cannot circumscribe happiness within the
limits of personal sense. The senses
confer no real enjoyment.
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.
68:27‑10
Christian Science presents unfoldment, not
accretion; it manifests no material growth from molecule to mind, but an
impartation of the divine Mind to man and the universe. Proportionately as human generation ceases,
the unbroken links of eternal, harmonious being will be spiritually discerned;
and man, not of the earth earthly but coexistent with God, will appear. The scientific fact that man and the universe
are evolved from Spirit, and so are spiritual, is as fixed in divine Science as
is the proof that mortals gain the sense of health only as they lose the sense
of sin and disease. Mortals can never
understand God's creation while believing that man is a creator. God's children already created will be
cognized only as man finds the truth of being.
Thus it is that the real, ideal man appears in proportion as the false
and material disappears.
201:1‑16
The best sermon ever preached is Truth
practised and demonstrated by the destruction of sin, sickness, and death. Knowing this and knowing too that one
affection would be supreme in us and take the lead in our lives, Jesus said,
"No man can serve two masters."
We cannot build safely on false
foundations. Truth makes a new creature,
in whom old things pass away and "all things are become new." Passions, selfishness, false appetites,
hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabundance of
being is on the side of God, good.
We cannot fill vessels already full. They must first be emptied. Let us disrobe
error. Then, when the winds of God blow,
we shall not hug our tatters close about us.
232:3‑15
Many theories relative to God and man neither
make man harmonious nor God lovable. The
beliefs we commonly entertain about happiness and life afford no scatheless and
permanent evidence of either. Security
for the claims of harmonious and eternal being is found only in divine
Science.
Scripture informs us that "with God all
things are possible,"‑‑all good is possible to Spirit; but our prevalent
theories practically deny this, and make healing possible only through
matter. These theories must be untrue,
for the Scripture is true. Christianity
is not false, but religions which contradict its Principle are false.
494:15‑29
The miracle of grace is no miracle to
Love. Jesus demonstrated the inability
of corporeality, as well as the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring
human sense to flee from its own convictions and seek safety in divine
Science. Reason, rightly directed,
serves to correct the errors of corporeal sense; but sin, sickness, and death
will seem real (even as the experiences of the sleeping dream seem real) until
the Science of man's eternal harmony breaks their illusion with the unbroken
reality of scientific being.
Which of these two theories concerning man
are you ready to accept? One is the
mortal testimony, changing, dying, unreal.
The other is the eternal and real evidence, bearing Truth's signet, its
lap piled high with immortal fruits.
514:26
Understanding the control which Love held
over all, Daniel felt safe in the lions' den, and Paul proved the viper to be
harmless. All of God's creatures, moving
in the harmony of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible. A realization of this grand verity was a
source of strength to the ancient worthies.
It supports Christian healing, and enables its possessor to emulate the
example of Jesus. "And God saw that
it was good."
581:8
ARK.
Safety; the idea, or reflection, of Truth, proved to be as immortal as
its Principle; the understanding of Spirit, destroying belief in matter.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 176
Based on the Danish of Nikolaj F. S. Grundtvig
Long hast thou stood, O church of God,
Long mid the tempest's assailing,
Founded secure on timeless rock
Rises thy light, never failing;
Shining that all may understand
What has been wrought by God's command,
O'er night and chaos prevailing.
Let there be light, and light was there,
Clear as the Word that declared it;
Healing and peace to all it gave,
Who in
humility shared it.
Ah, they were faithful, they who heard,
Steadfast their trust in God's great Word,
Steadfast the Love that prepared it.
Let there be light, the Word shines forth,
Lo, where the new morning whitens;
O church of God, with Book unsealed,
How its page beacons and brightens.
Living stones we, each in his place,
May we be worthy such a grace,
While Truth the wide earth enlightens.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 293
Frederic W. Root – Based on hymn by A. M.
Toplady
Rock of Ages, Truth divine,
Be Thy strength forever mine;
Let me rest secure on Thee,
Safe above life's raging sea.
Rock of Ages, Truth divine,
Be Thy strength forever mine.
Rock of Truth, our fortress strong,
Thou our refuge from all wrong,
When from mortal sense I flee,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Rock of Ages, Truth divine,
Be Thy strength forever mine.
Christ, the Truth, foundation sure,
On this rock we are secure;
Peace is there our life to fill,
Cure is there for every ill.
Rock of Ages, Truth divine,
Be Thy strength forever mine.
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