Theme: Everlasting
Hymn 53
Based on a hymn by John R. Macduff
Everlasting arms of Love
Are beneath, around, above;
God it is who bears us on,
His the arm we lean upon.
He our ever‑present guide
Faithful is, whate'er betide;
Gladly then we journey on,
With His arm to lean upon.
From earth's fears and vain alarms
Safe in His encircling arms,
He will keep us all the way,
God, our refuge, strength and stay.
Readings from the Bible.
Deuteronomy 33:27 (to :)
The eternal God is thy
refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:
Psalms 24:1‑6 (to 1st .),7‑10
(to 1st .)
The earth is the Lord's, and
the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and
established it upon the floods. Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands, and a
pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully. He shall receive the
blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him,
that seek thy face, O Jacob.
Lift up your heads, O ye
gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall
come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift
them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.
Psalms 41:1‑3 (to him),12
as,13
Blessed is he that
considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him, and keep him
alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth: and thou wilt not deliver him
unto the will of his enemies. The Lord
will strengthen him
as for me, thou upholdest me
in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from
everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
Psalms 90:1,2,4,14,16,17
Lord, thou hast been our
dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
For a thousand years in thy
sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
O satisfy us early with thy
mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Let thy work appear unto thy
servants, and thy glory unto their children.
And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou
the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Psalms 103:8‑18,22
The Lord is merciful and
gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he
keep his anger for ever. He hath not
dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so
great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our
transgressions from us. Like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that
we are dust. As for man, his days are as
grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone;
and the place thereof shall know it no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them
that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep
his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Bless the Lord, all his works
in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.
Psalms 139:23,24
Search me, O God, and know my
heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Isaiah 40:10‑15,18,26,28‑31
Behold, the Lord God will
come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is
with him, and his work before him. He
shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm,
and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with
young. #Who hath measured the waters in
the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended
the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and
the hills in a balance? Who hath
directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counseller hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed
him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and
shewed to him the way of understanding?
Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the
small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little
thing.
#To whom then will ye liken
God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?
Lift up your eyes on high,
and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by
number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he
is strong in power; not one faileth.
#Hast thou not known? hast
thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of
the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the
faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and
the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Isaiah 55:6‑13
#Seek ye the Lord while he
may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. #For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not
thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may
give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall
accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I
sent it. For ye shall go out with joy,
and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth
before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir
tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be
to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Isaiah 60:19,20
The sun shall be no more thy
light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but
the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall
thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and
the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
John 3:16
#For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
23:7 The
The atonement is a hard
problem in theology, but its scientific explanation is, that suffering is an
error of sinful sense which Truth destroys, and that eventually both sin and
suffering will fall at the feet of everlasting Love.
32:28‑17
The Passover, which Jesus ate with his
disciples in the month Nisan on the night before his crucifixion, was a
mournful occasion, a sad supper taken at the close of day, in the twilight of a
glorious career with shadows fast falling around; and this supper closed
forever Jesus' ritualism or concessions to matter.
His followers, sorrowful and silent,
anticipating the hour of their Master's betrayal, partook of the heavenly
manna, which of old had fed in the wilderness the persecuted followers of
Truth. Their bread indeed came down from
heaven. It was the great truth of
spiritual being, healing the sick and casting out error. Their Master had explained it all before, and
now this bread was feeding and sustaining them.
They had borne this bread from house to house, breaking (explaining) it to others, and now it comforted
themselves.
For this truth of spiritual being, their
Master was about to suffer violence and drain to the dregs his cup of
sorrow. He must leave them. With the great glory of an everlasting
victory overshadowing him, he gave thanks and said, "Drink ye all of
it."
44:28
His disciples believed Jesus to be dead while
he was hidden in the sepulchre, whereas he was alive, demonstrating within the
narrow tomb the power of Spirit to overrule mortal, material sense. There were
rock‑ribbed walls in the way, and a great stone must be rolled from the cave's
mouth; but Jesus vanquished every material obstacle, overcame every law of
matter, and stepped forth from his gloomy resting‑place, crowned with the glory
of a sublime success, an everlasting victory.
99:23
The calm, strong currents of true
spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity, and self‑immolation,
must deepen human experience, until the beliefs of material existence are seen
to be a bald imposition, and sin, disease, and death give everlasting place to
the scientific demonstration of divine Spirit and to God's spiritual, perfect
man.
256:13
The everlasting I AM is not bounded nor
compressed within the narrow limits of physical humanity, nor can He be
understood aright through mortal concepts.
The precise form of God must be of small importance in comparison with
the sublime question, What is infinite Mind or divine Love?
289:25‑2
The spiritual fact and the material belief of
things are contradictions; but the spiritual is true, and therefore the
material must be untrue. Life is not in
matter. Therefore it cannot be said to
pass out of matter. Matter and death are
mortal illusions. Spirit and all things
spiritual are the real and eternal.
Man is not the offspring of flesh, but of
Spirit,‑‑of Life, not of matter. Because
Life is God, Life must be eternal, self‑existent. Life is the everlasting I AM, the Being who
was and is and shall be, whom nothing can erase.
410:4‑21
"This is life eternal," says Jesus,‑‑is, not shall be; and then he defines everlasting life as a present
knowledge of his Father and of himself,‑‑the knowledge of Love, Truth, and
Life. "This is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent." The Scriptures say,
"Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," showing that
Truth is the actual life of man; but mankind objects to making this teaching
practical.
Every trial of our faith in God makes us
stronger. The more difficult seems the
material condition to be overcome by Spirit, the stronger should be our faith
and the purer our love. The Apostle John
says: "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . .
He that feareth is not made perfect in Love." Here is a definite and inspired proclamation
of Christian Science.
428:15‑29
We should consecrate existence, not "to
the unknown God" whom we "ignorantly worship," but to the
eternal builder, the everlasting Father, to the Life which mortal sense cannot
impair nor mortal belief destroy. We
must realize the ability of mental might to offset human misconceptions and to
replace them with the life which is spiritual, not material.
The great spiritual fact must be brought out
that man is, not shall be, perfect and immortal.
We must hold forever the consciousness of existence, and sooner or
later, through Christ and Christian Science, we must master sin and death. The evidence of man's immortality will become
more apparent, as material beliefs are given up and the immortal facts of being
are admitted.
568:24‑30
For victory over a single sin, we give thanks
and magnify the Lord of Hosts. What
shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin? A louder song, sweeter than has ever before
reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ;
for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting
strain.
594:19
SPIRIT.
Divine substance; Mind; divine Principle; all that is good; God; that
only which is perfect, everlasting, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 249
Vivian Burnett
O, when we see God's mercy
Widespread in every place
And know how flows the fountain
Of His unbounded grace,
Can we withhold a tribute,
Forbear a psalm to raise,
Or leave unsung one blessing,
In this our hymn of praise?
Our gratitude is riches,
Complaint is poverty,
Our trials bloom in blessings,
They test our constancy.
O, life from joy is minted,
An everlasting gold,
True gladness is the treasure
That grateful hearts will hold.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congretation.
Hymn 374
John Randall Dunn
We thank Thee and we bless Thee,
O Father of us all,
That e'en before we ask Thee
Thou hear'st Thy children's call.
We praise Thee for Thy goodness
And tender, constant care,
We thank Thee, Father‑Mother,
That Thou hast heard our prayer.
We thank Thee and we bless Thee,
O Lord of all above,
That now Thy children know Thee
As everlasting Love.
And Love is not the author
Of discord, pain and fear;
O Love divine, we thank Thee
That good alone is here.
We thank Thee, Father‑Mother,
For blessings, light and grace
Which bid mankind to waken
And see Thee face to face.
We thank Thee, when in anguish
We turn from sense to Soul,
That we may hear Thee calling:
Rejoice, for thou art whole.
