"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.
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