Theme: Forward
Hymn 12
Violet Hay
Arise ye people, take your stand,
Cast out your idols from the land,
Above all doctrine, form or creed
Is found the Truth that meets your need.
Christ's promise stands: they that believe
His works shall do, his power receive.
Go forward then, and as ye preach
So let your works confirm your speech,
And prove to all with following sign
The Word of God is power divine.
In love and healing ministry
Show forth the Truth that makes men free.
O Father‑Mother God, whose plan
Hath given dominion unto man,
In Thine own image we may see
Man pure and upright, whole and free.
And ever through our work shall shine
That light whose glory, Lord, is Thine.
Readings from the Bible.
Genesis 26:12‑22 Isaac
Isaac sowed in that land, and
received in the same year an hundredfold: and the Lord blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward,
and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possession
of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. For all the wells which his father's servants
had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them,
and filled them with earth. And
Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. #And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his
tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.
And Isaac digged again the wells of water, which they had digged in the
days of Abraham his father; for the Philistines had stopped them after the
death of Abraham: and he called their names after the names by which his father
had called them. And Isaac's servants
digged in the valley, and found there a well of springing water. And the herdmen of Gerar did strive with
Isaac's herdmen, saying, The water is ours: and he called the name of the well
Esek; because they strove with him. And
they digged another well, and strove for that also: and he called the name of
it Sitnah. And he removed from thence,
and digged another well; and for that they strove not: and he called the name
of it Rehoboth; and he said, For now the Lord hath made room for us, and we
shall be fruitful in the land.
Ezra 3:8‑11
#Now in the second year of
their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant
of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out
of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years
old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his
brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the
workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their
brethren the Levites. And when the
builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in
their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to
praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising
and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for
ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they
praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Job 23:3‑10
Oh that I knew where I might
find him! that I might come even to his seat!
I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with
arguments. I would know the words which
he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me. Will he plead against me with his great
power? No; but he would put strength in me.
There the righteous might dispute with him; so should I be delivered for
ever from my judge. Behold, I go
forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: On the
left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him; he hideth himself on
the right hand, that I cannot see him; But he knoweth the way that I take: when
he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Psalms 19:1‑11
The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night sheweth knowledge. There is no
speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for
the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a
strong man to run a race. His going
forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and
there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of
the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment
of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the
Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter
also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is
great reward.
Psalms 21:1,2 (to 1st .),3‑7
The king shall joy in thy
strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and
hast not withholden the request of his lips.
For thou preventest him with
the blessings of goodness: thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it
him, even length of days for ever and ever.
His glory is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid
upon him. For thou hast made him most
blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding glad with thy countenance. For the king trusteth in the Lord, and
through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved.
II Corinthians 8:8‑15
I speak not by commandment,
but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of
your love. For ye know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor,
that ye through his poverty might be rich.
And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have
begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. Now therefore perform the doing of it; that
as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of
that which ye have. For if there be
first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not
according to that he hath not. For I
mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: But by an equality, that now
at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their
abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: As it
is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had
gathered little had no lack.
I Peter 2:9 ye,25
ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
For ye were as sheep going
astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Edduy.
5:14
Saints and sinners get their full award, but
not always in this world. The followers
of Christ drank his cup. Ingratitude and
persecution filled it to the brim; but God pours the riches of His love into
the understanding and affections, giving us strength according to our day. Sinners flourish "like a green bay
tree;" but, looking farther, the Psalmist could see their end,‑‑the destruction
of sin through suffering.
6:17
"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.
84:19‑6
To understand that Mind is infinite, not
bounded by corporeality, not dependent upon the ear and eye for sound or sight
nor upon muscles and bones for locomotion, is a step towards the Mind‑science
by which we discern man's nature and existence.
This true conception of being destroys the belief of spiritualism at its
very inception, for without the concession of material personalities called
spirits, spiritualism has no basis upon which to build.
All we correctly know of Spirit comes from
God, divine Principle, and is learned through Christ and Christian
Science. If this Science has been
thoroughly learned and properly digested, we can know the truth more accurately
than the astronomer can read the stars or calculate an eclipse. This Mind‑reading is the opposite of
clairvoyance. It is the illumination of
the spiritual understanding which demonstrates the capacity of Soul, not of
material sense. This Soul‑sense comes to
the human mind when the latter yields to the divine Mind.
124:14‑31
The universe, like man, is to be interpreted
by Science from its divine Principle, God, and then it can be understood; but
when explained on the basis of physical sense and represented as subject to
growth, maturity, and decay, the universe, like man, is, and must continue to
be, an enigma.
Adhesion, cohesion, and attraction are
properties of Mind. They belong to
divine Principle, and support the equipoise of that thought‑force, which
launched the earth in its orbit and said to the proud wave, "Thus far and
no farther."
Spirit is the life, substance, and continuity
of all things. We tread on forces. Withdraw them, and creation must collapse. Human knowledge calls them forces of matter;
but divine Science declares that they belong wholly to divine Mind, are
inherent in this Mind, and so restores them to their rightful home and
classification.
167:11‑23 np
We cannot serve two masters nor perceive
divine Science with the material senses.
Drugs and hygiene cannot successfully usurp the place and power of the
divine source of all health and perfection.
If God made man both good and evil, man must remain thus. What can improve God's work? Again, an error in the premise must appear in
the conclusion. To have one God and
avail yourself of the power of Spirit, you must love God supremely.
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.
Substituting good words for a good life, fair
seeming for straightforward character, is a poor shift for the weak and
worldly, who think the standard of Christian Science too high for them.
If the scales are evenly adjusted, the
removal of a single weight from either scale gives preponderance to the
opposite. Whatever influence you cast on
the side of matter, you take away from Mind, which would otherwise outweigh all
else. Your belief militates against your
health, when it ought to be enlisted on the side of health. When sick (according to belief) you rush
after drugs, search out the material so‑called laws of health, and depend upon
them to heal you, though you have already brought yourself into the slough of
disease through just this false belief.
Because man‑made systems insist that man
becomes sick and useless, suffers and dies, all in consonance with the laws of
God, are we to believe it? Are we to
believe an authority which denies God's spiritual command relating to perfection,‑‑an
authority which Jesus proved to be false?
He did the will of the Father. He
healed sickness in defiance of what is called material law, but in accordance
with God's law, the law of Mind.
176:21
Should all cases of organic disease be
treated by a regular practitioner, and the Christian Scientist try truth only
in cases of hysteria, hypochondria, and hallucination? One disease is no more real than
another. All disease is the result of
education, and disease can carry its ill‑effects no farther than mortal mind
maps out the way. The human mind, not
matter, is supposed to feel, suffer, enjoy.
Hence decided types of acute disease are quite as ready to yield to
Truth as the less distinct type and chronic form of disease. Truth handles the most malignant contagion
with perfect assurance.
196:31‑15
The press unwittingly sends forth many
sorrows and diseases among the human family.
It does this by giving names to diseases and by printing long
descriptions which mirror images of disease distinctly in thought. A new name for an ailment affects people like
a Parisian name for a novel garment.
Every one hastens to get it. A
minutely described disease costs many a man his earthly days of comfort. What a price for human knowledge! But the price does not exceed the original
cost. God said of the tree of knowledge,
which bears the fruit of sin, disease, and death, "In the day that thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
The less that is said of physical structure
and laws, and the more that is thought and said about moral and spiritual law,
the higher will be the standard of living and the farther mortals will be
removed from imbecility or disease.
213:6‑12
Mortal mind conceives of something as either
liquid or solid, and then classifies it materially. Immortal and spiritual facts exist apart from
this mortal and material conception.
God, good, is self‑existent and self‑expressed, though indefinable as a
whole. Every step towards goodness is a
departure from materiality, and is a tendency towards God, Spirit.
234:17‑6
If mortals would keep proper ward over mortal
mind, the brood of evils which infest it would be cleared out. We must begin with this so‑called mind and
empty it of sin and sickness, or sin and sickness will never cease. The present codes of human systems disappoint
the weary searcher after a divine theology, adequate to the right education of
human thought.
Sin and disease must be thought before they
can be manifested. You must control evil
thoughts in the first instance, or they will control you in the second. Jesus declared that to look with desire on
forbidden objects was to break a moral precept.
He laid great stress on the action of the human mind, unseen to the
senses.
Evil thoughts and aims reach no farther and
do no more harm than one's belief permits.
Evil thoughts, lusts, and malicious purposes cannot go forth, like
wandering pollen, from one human mind to another, finding unsuspected lodgment,
if virtue and truth build a strong defence.
Better suffer a doctor infected with smallpox to attend you than to be
treated mentally by one who does not obey the requirements of divine
Science.
240:18
Mortals move onward towards good or evil as
time glides on. If mortals are not
progressive, past failures will be repeated until all wrong work is effaced or
rectified. If at present satisfied with
wrong‑doing, we must learn to loathe it.
If at present content with idleness, we must become dissatisfied with
it. Remember that mankind must sooner or
later, either by suffering or by Science, be convinced of the error that is to
be overcome.
241:31‑14
It is "easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle," than for sinful beliefs to enter the kingdom of
heaven, eternal harmony. Through
repentance, spiritual baptism, and regeneration, mortals put off their material
beliefs and false individuality. It is
only a question of time when "they shall all know Me [God], from the least
of them unto the greatest." Denial of the claims of matter is a great step
towards the joys of Spirit, towards human freedom and the final triumph over
the body.
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.
323:6
Through the wholesome chastisements of Love,
we are helped onward in the march towards righteousness, peace, and purity,
which are the landmarks of Science.
Beholding the infinite tasks of truth, we pause,‑‑wait on God. Then we push onward, until boundless thought
walks enraptured, and conception unconfined is winged to reach the divine
glory.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 264
S. Baring‑Gould
Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Christ, the royal Master,
Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle,
See his banners go.
Refrain
Onward, Christian soldiers,
Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
Going on before.
Like a mighty army,
Moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading
Where the saints have trod;
We are not divided,
All one body we,
One in hope and doctrine,
One in charity.
[Refrain]
Crowns and thrones may perish,
Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the Church of Jesus
Constant will remain;
Gates of hell can never
'Gainst that Church prevail;
We have Christ's own promise,
And that cannot fail.
[Refrain]
Onward, then, ye people,
Join our happy throng;
Blend with ours your voices
In the triumph song;
Glory, laud and honor
Unto Christ the King;
This through countless ages
Men and angels sing.
[Refrain]
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation..
Hymn 278
P. M. – Adapted
Pilgrim on earth, home and heaven are within
thee,
Heir of the ages and child of the day.
Cared for, watched over, beloved and
protected,
Walk thou with courage each step of the way.
Truthful and steadfast though trials betide
thee,
Ever one thing do thou ask of thy Lord,
Grace to go forward, wherever He guide thee,
Gladly obeying the call of His word.
Healed is thy hardness, His love hath
dissolved it,
Full is the promise, the blessing how kind;
So shall His tenderness teach thee compassion,
So all the merciful, mercy shall find.
