Theme: Rejoice
Hymn 168
10th Century – Richard Mant, Tr. – Adapted
Let all the earth with songs rejoice;
Let heaven return the joyful voice;
All mindful of our God's great name,
Let every man His praise proclaim.
Ye servants who once bore the light
Of Gospel truth o'er darkest night,
Still may our work that light impart,
To glad the eyes and cheer the heart.
O God, by whom to them was given
The key that shuts and opens heaven,
Our chains unbind, our loss repair,
Reveal Thy power through answered prayer.
For at Thy will they preached the Word
Which cured disease, which health conferred:
And now, that healing power once more
Our peace and health to us restore.
Readings from the Bible.
I Chronicles 16:8‑12,31,32,34
Give thanks unto the Lord,
call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye
of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in
his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face
continually. Remember his marvellous
works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
Let the heavens be glad, and
let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The Lord
reigneth. Let the sea roar, and the
fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein.
O give thanks unto the Lord;
for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 5:11 let,12
let all those that put their
trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest
them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous;
with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
Psalms 9:1,2,4,11
I will praise thee, O Lord,
with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will
sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
For thou hast maintained my
right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
Sing praises to the Lord,
which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
Psalms 20:5‑7
We will rejoice in thy
salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord
fulfil all thy petitions. Now know I
that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with
the saving strength of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the
name of the Lord our God.
Psalms 33:1‑9,20‑22
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with
the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right; and all
his works are done in truth. He loveth
righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together
as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Our soul waiteth for the
Lord: he is our help and our shield. For
our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according
as we hope in thee.
Psalms 40:16
Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually,
The Lord be magnified.
Psalms 63:7
Because thou hast been my
help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
Psalms 70:4
Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say
continually, Let God be magnified.
Psalms 96:1‑9,11‑13
O sing unto the Lord a new
song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name;
shew forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be
praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the
heavens. Honour and majesty are before
him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord
glory and strength. Give unto the Lord
the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:
fear before him, all the earth.
Let the heavens rejoice, and
let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is
therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the Lord: for he
cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with his truth.
Isaiah 61:10,11
I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with
her jewels. For as the earth bringeth
forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to
spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring
forth before all the nations.
Matthew 5:1‑12 seeing (to 2nd
:)
seeing the multitudes, he
went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And
he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be
comforted. Blessed are the meek: for
they shall inherit the earth. Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be
filled. Blessed are the merciful: for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of
God. Blessed are they which are
persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad:
for great is your reward in heaven:
Romans 12:9‑15 (to ,)
Let love be without
dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with
brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business;
fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation;
continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to
hospitality. Bless them which persecute
you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with
them that do rejoice,
Philippians 3:1 (to 1st .)
Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
15:25‑4
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.
A great sacrifice of material things must
precede this advanced spiritual understanding.
The highest prayer is not one of faith merely; it is demonstration.
22:11‑29
"Work out your own salvation," is
the demand of Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. "Occupy till I come!" Wait for your reward, and "be not weary
in well doing." If your endeavors
are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to
error, nor become a sluggard in the race.
When the smoke of battle clears away, you
will discern the good you have done, and receive according to your
deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver
us from temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.
Final deliverance from error, whereby we
rejoice in immortality, boundless freedom, and sinless sense, is not reached
through paths of flowers nor by pinning one's faith without works to another's
vicarious effort. Whosoever believeth
that wrath is righteous or that divinity is appeased by human suffering, does
not understand God.
28:32
There is too much animal courage in society
and not sufficient moral courage.
Christians must take up arms against error at home and abroad. They must grapple with sin in themselves and
in others, and continue this warfare until they have finished their
course. If they keep the faith, they
will have the crown of rejoicing.
140:4
That God is a corporeal being, nobody can
truly affirm. The Bible represents Him
as saying: "Thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me, and
live." Not materially but
spiritually we know Him as divine Mind, as Life, Truth, and Love. We shall obey and adore in proportion as we
apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly, warring no more over
the corporeality, but rejoicing in the affluence of our God. Religion will then be of the heart and not of
the head. Mankind will no longer be
tyrannical and proscriptive from lack of love,‑‑straining out gnats and
swallowing camels.
249:6‑19
Let us feel the divine energy
of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor
material power as able to destroy. Let
us rejoice that we are subject to the divine "powers that be." Such
is the true Science of being. Any other
theory of Life, or God, is delusive and mythological.
Mind is not the author of matter, and the
creator of ideas is not the creator of illusions. Either there is no omnipotence, or
omnipotence is the only power. God is
the infinite, and infinity never began, will never end, and includes nothing
unlike God. Whence then is soulless
matter?
Life is, like Christ, "the same
yesterday, and to‑day, and forever."
265:23‑2
Who that has felt the loss of human peace has
not gained stronger desires for spiritual joy?
The aspiration after heavenly good comes even before we discover what
belongs to wisdom and Love. The loss of
earthly hopes and pleasures brightens the ascending path of many a heart. The pains of sense quickly inform us that the
pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is spiritual.
The pains of sense are salutary, if they
wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections from sense
to Soul, where the creations of God are good, "rejoicing the heart."
342:21
Christian Science awakens the sinner,
reclaims the infidel, and raises from the couch of pain the helpless
invalid. It speaks to the dumb the words
of Truth, and they answer with rejoicing.
It causes the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the blind to see. Who would be the first to disown the
Christliness of good works, when our Master says, "By their fruits ye
shall know them"?
354:26
Sin should become unreal to every one. It is in itself inconsistent, a divided
kingdom. Its supposed realism has no
divine authority, and I rejoice in the apprehension of this grand verity.
561:32‑21
John the Baptist prophesied the coming of the
immaculate Jesus, and John saw in those days the spiritual idea as the Messiah,
who would baptize with the Holy Ghost,‑‑divine Science. As Elias presented the idea of the fatherhood
of God, which Jesus afterwards manifested, so the Revelator completed this
figure with woman, typifying the spiritual idea of God's motherhood. The moon is under her feet. This idea reveals the universe as secondary
and tributary to Spirit, from which the universe borrows its reflected light,
substance, life, and intelligence.
The spiritual idea is crowned with twelve
stars. The twelve tribes of Israel with
all mortals,‑‑separated by belief from man's divine origin and the true idea,‑‑will
through much tribulation yield to the activities of the divine Principle of man
in the harmony of Science. These are the
stars in the crown of rejoicing. They
are the lamps in the spiritual heavens of the age, which show the workings of
the spiritual idea by healing the sick and the sinning, and by manifesting the
light which shines "unto the perfect day" as the night of materialism
wanes.
568:24‑14
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. Self‑abnegation, by which we lay
down all for Truth, or Christ, in our warfare against error, is a rule in
Christian Science. This rule clearly
interprets God as divine Principle,‑‑as Life, represented by the Father; as
Truth, represented by the Son; as Love, represented by the Mother. Every mortal at some period, here or
hereafter, must grapple with and overcome the mortal belief in a power opposed
to God.
The Scripture, "Thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many," is literally
fulfilled, when we are conscious of the supremacy of Truth, by which the
nothingness of error is seen; and we know that the nothingness of error is in
proportion to its wickedness. He that
touches the hem of Christ's robe and masters his mortal beliefs, animality, and
hate, rejoices in the proof of healing,‑‑in a sweet and certain sense that God
is Love.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 342
Laura Lee Randall
This is the day the Lord hath made;
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice;
Stand in His presence, unafraid,
In praise lift up your voice.
All perfect gifts are from above,
And all our blessings show
The amplitude of God's dear love
Which every heart may know.
The Lord will hear before we call,
And every need supply;
Good things are freely given to all
Who on His word rely.
We come today to bring Him praise
Not for such gifts alone,
But for the higher, deeper ways
In which His love is shown.
For sin destroyed, for sorrow healed,
For health and peace restored;
For Life and Love by Truth revealed,
We thank and bless the Lord.
This is the day the Lord hath made,
In praise lift up your voice.
In shining robes of joy arrayed,
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice.
Sharings of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
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.
