Theme: Plenty
Hymn 97
Thomas Hastings – Adapted
He that goeth forth with weeping,
Bearing still the precious seed,
Never tiring, never sleeping,
Soon shall see his toil succeed;
Showers of rain will fall from heaven,
Then the cheering sun will shine;
So shall plenteous fruit be given,
Through an influence all divine.
Sow thy seed, be never weary,
Let not fear thy thoughts employ;
Though the prospect seem most dreary,
Thou shalt reap the fruits of joy:
Lo, the scene of verdure brightening,
See the rising grain appear;
Look again, the fields are whitening,
Harvest time is surely here.
Readings from the Bible
Deuteronomy 28:8‑12
The Lord shall command the
blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand
unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth
thee. The Lord shall establish thee an
holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the
commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou
art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in
goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the
fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give
thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his
good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to
bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and
thou shalt not borrow.
Deuteronomy 30:9,10
And the Lord thy God will
make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and
in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the
Lord will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If
thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments
and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn
unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
Psalms 86:3‑15
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.
Psalms 103:8‑18
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.
Psalms 130:1‑8
Out of the depths have I
cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my
voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O
Lord, who shall stand? But there is
forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and
in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth
for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they
that watch for the morning. Let Israel
hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous
redemption. And he shall redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
Joel 2:21‑29
#Fear not, O land; be glad
and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the
wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine
do yield their strength. Be glad then,
ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you
the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain,
the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and
the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the
cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent
among you. And ye shall eat in plenty,
and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt
wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of
Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and my people shall
never be ashamed. #And it shall come to
pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons
and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young
men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in
those days will I pour out my spirit.
Matthew 9:27‑38 when
when Jesus departed thence, two blind men
followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the
blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to
do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.
Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto
you. And their eyes were opened; and
Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread
abroad his fame in all that country. #As
they went out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with a
devil. And when the devil was cast out,
the dumb spake: and the multitudes marvelled, saying, It was never so seen in
Israel. But the Pharisees said, He
casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. And Jesus went about all the cities and
villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the
kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. #But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved
with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as
sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he
unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers
into his harvest.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
4:3‑16
What we most need is the prayer of fervent
desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good
deeds. To keep the commandments of our
Master and follow his example, is our proper debt to him and the only worthy
evidence of our gratitude for all that he has done. Outward worship is not of itself sufficient
to express loyal and heartfelt gratitude, since he has said: "If ye love
me, keep my commandments."
The habitual struggle to be always good is
unceasing prayer. Its motives are made
manifest in the blessings they bring,‑‑blessings which, even if not
acknowledged in audible words, attest our worthiness to be partakers of
Love.
14:31‑32 np
"When thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."
So spake Jesus. The closet typifies the sanctuary of Spirit,
the door of which shuts out sinful sense but lets in Truth, Life, and
Love. Closed to error, it is open to
Truth, and vice versa. The Father in secret is unseen to the
physical senses, but He knows all things and rewards according to motives, not
according to speech. To enter into the
heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent,
that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which
destroys all error.
In order to pray aright, we must enter into
the closet and shut the door. We must
close the lips and silence the material senses.
In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead
God's allness. We must resolve to take
up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom,
Truth, and Love. We must "pray
without ceasing." Such prayer is
answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice. The Master's injunction is, that we pray in
secret and let our lives attest our sincerity.
Christians rejoice in secret beauty and
bounty, hidden from the world, but known to God. Self‑forgetfulness, purity, and affection are
constant prayers. Practice not
profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of
omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings. Trustworthiness is the foundation of
enlightened faith. Without a fitness for
holiness, we cannot receive holiness.
224:11‑27
In the record of nineteen centuries, there
are sects many but not enough Christianity.
Centuries ago religionists were ready to hail an anthropomorphic God,
and array His vicegerent with pomp and splendor; but this was not the manner of
truth's appearing. Of old the cross was
truth's central sign, and it is to‑day.
The modern lash is less material than the Roman scourge, but it is
equally as cutting. Cold disdain,
stubborn resistance, opposition from church, state laws, and the press, are
still the harbingers of truth's full‑orbed appearing.
A higher and more practical Christianity,
demonstrating justice and meeting the needs of mortals in sickness and in
health, stands at the door of this age, knocking for admission. Will you open or close the door upon this
angel visitant, who cometh in the quiet of meekness, as he came of old to the
patriarch at noonday?
266:6
Would existence without personal friends be
to you a blank? Then the time will come
when you will be solitary, left without sympathy; but this seeming vacuum is
already filled with divine Love. When
this hour of development comes, even if you cling to a sense of personal joys,
spiritual Love will force you to accept what best promotes your growth. Friends will betray and enemies will slander,
until the lesson is sufficient to exalt you; for "man's extremity is God's
opportunity." The author has
experienced the foregoing prophecy and its blessings. Thus He teaches mortals to lay down their
fleshliness and gain spirituality. This
is done through self‑abnegation.
Universal Love is the divine way in Christian Science.
365:15‑2
If the Scientist reaches his patient through
divine Love, the healing work will be accomplished at one visit, and the
disease will vanish into its native nothingness like dew before the morning
sunshine. If the Scientist has enough
Christly affection to win his own pardon, and such commendation as the Magdalen
gained from Jesus, then he is Christian enough to practise scientifically and
deal with his patients compassionately; and the result will correspond with the
spiritual intent.
If hypocrisy, stolidity, inhumanity, or vice
finds its way into the chambers of disease through the would‑be healer, it
would, if it were possible, convert into a den of thieves the temple of the
Holy Ghost,‑‑the patient's spiritual power to resuscitate himself. The unchristian practitioner is not giving to
mind or body the joy and strength of Truth.
The poor suffering heart needs its rightful nutriment, such as peace,
patience in tribulation, and a priceless sense of the dear Father's loving‑kindness.
487:25‑6
The Apostle James said, "Show me thy
faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." The
understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our
trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality.
This faith relies upon an understood
Principle. This Principle makes whole
the diseased, and brings out the enduring and harmonious phases of things. The result of our teachings is their
sufficient confirmation. When, on the
strength of these instructions, you are able to banish a severe malady, the
cure shows that you understand this teaching, and therefore you receive the
blessing of Truth.
497:3 As
As adherents of Truth, we
take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal
Life.
520:3
Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty,
and glory of infinite Love fill all space.
That is enough! Human language
can repeat only an infinitesimal part of what exists. The absolute ideal, man, is no more seen nor
comprehended by mortals, than is his infinite Principle, Love. Principle and its idea, man, are coexistent
and eternal. The numerals of infinity,
called seven days, can never be
reckoned according to the calendar of time.
These days will appear as mortality disappears, and they will reveal
eternity, newness of Life, in which all sense of error forever disappears and
thought accepts the divine infinite calculus.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 169
John Henry Newman
Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on;
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on.
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on.
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will: remember not past years.
So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost
awhile.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 291
John Newton*
Quiet, Lord, my froward heart,
Make me gentle, pure, and mild,
Upright, simple, free from art;
Make me as a little child,
From distrust and envy free,
Pleased with all that pleaseth Thee.
What Thou shalt today provide
Let me as a child receive,
What tomorrow may betide
Calmly to Thy wisdom leave;
'Tis enough that Thou wilt care,
Why should I the burden bear?
As a little child relies
On a care beyond its own,
Being neither strong nor wise,
Will not take a step alone,
Let me thus with Thee abide,
As my Father, Friend, and Guide
