Theme: Ready
Hymn 58
Elizabeth C. Adams
Father, we Thy loving children
Lift
our hearts in joy today,
Knowing well that Thou wilt keep us
Ever in Thy blessed way.
Thou art Love and Thou art wisdom,
Thou art Life and Thou art All;
In Thy Spirit living, moving,
We shall neither faint nor fall.
Come we daily then, dear Father,
Open hearts and willing hands,
Eager ears, expectant, joyful,
Ready for Thy right commands.
We would hear no other voices,
We would heed no other call;
Thou alone art good and gracious,
Thou our Mind and Thou our All.
In Thy house securely dwelling,
Where Thy children live to bless,
Seeing only Thy creation,
We can share Thy happiness,
Share Thy joy and spend it freely.
Loyal hearts can feel no fear;
We Thy children know Thee, Father,
Love and Life forever near.
Readings from the Bible.
Psalms 86:1‑17
Bow down thine ear, O Lord,
hear me: for I am poor and needy.
Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that
trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O
Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice
the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to
forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer; and attend
to the voice of my supplications. In the
day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. Among the gods there is none like unto thee,
O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made shall come
and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous
things: thou art God alone. Teach me thy
way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all
my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou
hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men
have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of
compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give
thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid. Shew me a token for good; that they which
hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and
comforted me.
Luke 12:32‑40
Fear not, little flock; for
it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide
yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not,
where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also. Let your loins be girded
about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for
their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and
knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find
watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to
sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or
come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the
house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not
have suffered his house to be broken through.
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye
think not.
I Timothy 6:12‑19
Fight the good fight of
faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast
professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who
quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate
witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot,
unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times
he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and
Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man
can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and
power everlasting. Amen. Charge them
that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in
uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation
against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
I Peter 1:3‑9
Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten
us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of
gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise
and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye
love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls.
I Peter 5:1,2
The elders which are among
you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ,
and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God
which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
I Corinthians 2:9‑16 as
as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath
prepared for them that love him. But God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God. For what
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even
so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God. Which things
also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know
them, because they are spiritually discerned.
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of
no man. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, that he may instruct him? But
we have the mind of Christ.
Revelation 21:1‑7
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. And I John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life
freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
49:14
The meek demonstrator of good, the highest
instructor and friend of man, met his earthly fate alone with God. No human eye was there to pity, no arm to
save. Forsaken by all whom he had blessed,
this faithful sentinel of God at the highest post of power, charged with the
grandest trust of heaven, was ready to be transformed by the renewing of the
infinite Spirit. He was to prove that
the Christ is not subject to material conditions, but is above the reach of
human wrath, and is able, through Truth, Life, and Love, to triumph over sin,
sickness, death, and the grave.
53:25‑13
Jesus bore our sins in his body. He knew the mortal errors which constitute
the material body, and could destroy those errors; but at the time when Jesus
felt our infirmities, he had not conquered all the beliefs of the flesh or his
sense of material life, nor had he risen to his final demonstration of
spiritual power.
Had he shared the sinful beliefs of others,
he would have been less sensitive to those beliefs. Through the magnitude of his human life, he
demonstrated the divine Life. Out of the
amplitude of his pure affection, he defined Love. With the affluence of Truth, he vanquished
error. The world acknowledged not his
righteousness, seeing it not; but earth received the harmony his glorified
example introduced.
Who is ready to follow his teaching and
example? All must sooner or later plant
themselves in Christ, the true idea of God.
That he might liberally pour his dear‑bought treasures into empty or sin‑filled
human storehouses, was the inspiration of Jesus' intense human sacrifice.
131:13
Must Christian Science come through the
Christian churches as some persons insist?
This Science has come already, after the manner of God's appointing, but
the churches seem not ready to receive it, according to the Scriptural saying,
"He came unto his own, and his own received him not." Jesus once said: "I thank Thee, O
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes:
even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight." As aforetime, the spirit of the Christ, which
taketh away the ceremonies and doctrines of men, is not accepted until the
hearts of men are made ready for it.
167:20
The "flesh lusteth against the
Spirit." The flesh and Spirit can
no more unite in action, than good can coincide with evil. It is not wise to take a halting and half‑way
position or to expect to work equally with Spirit and matter, Truth and
error. There is but one way‑‑namely, God
and His idea‑‑which leads to spiritual being.
The scientific government of the body must be attained through the
divine Mind. It is impossible to gain
control over the body in any other way.
On this fundamental point, timid conservatism is absolutely
inadmissible. Only through radical
reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized.
170:22
Spiritual causation is the one question to be
considered, for more than all others spiritual causation relates to human progress.
The age seems ready to approach this subject, to ponder somewhat the supremacy
of Spirit, and at least to touch the hem of Truth's garment.
223:14‑24
The question, "What is Truth,"
convulses the world. Many are ready to
meet this inquiry with the assurance which comes of understanding; but more are
blinded by their old illusions, and try to "give it pause." "If the blind lead the blind, both shall
fall into the ditch."
The efforts of error to answer this question
by some ology are vain. Spiritual rationality and free thought
accompany approaching Science, and cannot be put down. They will emancipate humanity, and supplant
unscientific means and so‑called laws.
346:29
Material beliefs must be expelled to make
room for spiritual understanding. We
cannot serve both God and mammon at the same time; but is not this what frail
mortals are trying to do? Paul says:
"The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh." Who is ready to admit
this?
353:13
The age has not wholly outlived the sense of
ghostly beliefs. It still holds them
more or less. Time has not yet reached
eternity, immortality, complete reality.
All the real is eternal.
Perfection underlies reality.
Without perfection, nothing is wholly real. All things will continue to disappear, until
perfection appears and reality is reached.
We must give up the spectral at all points. We must not continue to admit the somethingness
of superstition, but we must yield up all belief in it and be wise. When we learn that error is not real, we
shall be ready for progress, "forgetting those things which are
behind."
409:27
We have no right to say that life depends on
matter now, but will not depend on it after death. We cannot spend our days here in ignorance of
the Science of Life, and expect to find beyond the grave a reward for this
ignorance. Death will not make us
harmonious and immortal as a recompense for ignorance. If here we give no heed to Christian Science,
which is spiritual and eternal, we shall not be ready for spiritual Life
hereafter.
458:11‑15 (to 2nd .)
It is anything but scientifically Christian
to think of aiding the divine Principle of healing or of trying to sustain the
human body until the divine Mind is ready to take the case. Divinity is always ready. Semper
paratus is Truth's motto.
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.
570:14
Millions of unprejudiced minds‑‑simple
seekers for Truth, weary wanderers, athirst in the desert‑‑are waiting and
watching for rest and drink. Give them a
cup of cold water in Christ's name, and never fear the consequences. What if the old dragon should send forth a
new flood to drown the Christ‑idea? He
can neither drown your voice with its roar, nor again sink the world into the
deep waters of chaos and old night. In
this age the earth will help the woman; the spiritual idea will be
understood. Those ready for the blessing
you impart will give thanks. The waters
will be pacified, and Christ will command the wave.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 318
Based on the Danish of Nikolaj F. S. Grundtvig
Suffer the children to come to me,
This was the Master's tender plea;
Gentle and loving, they are mine,
Ah, will not ye who see this sign
Come unto me?
He who receiveth the Word as they,
Teachable, ready to choose my way,
He shall have peace of sin forgiven,
He shall in this wise enter heaven;
Come unto me.
See ye the lilies, how fair they grow,
Clothed in a glory kings ne'er know;
They, like the sparrows, praise the Lord,
Publish my call with clear accord,
Come unto me.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 350
Mary Peters – Adapted
Through the love of God our Saviour
All will be well;
Free and changeless is His favor;
All must be well;
Precious is the Love that healed us,
Perfect is the grace that sealed us,
Strong the hand stretched forth to shield us;
All, all is well.
Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well;
Ours is such a full salvation,
All must be well;
Happy still, in God confiding,
Fruitful, when in Christ abiding,
Holy, through the Spirit's guiding;
All, all is well.
We expect a bright tomorrow,
All will be well;
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All must be well;
While His truth we are applying,
And upon His love relying,
God is every need supplying,
All, all is well.
