Service for Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013


Theme: Mighty

 Hymn 10
 Frederic W. Root – Based on hymn by Martin Luther

 All power is given unto our Lord,
   On Him we place reliance;
 With truth from out His sacred word
   We bid our foes defiance.
     With Him we shall prevail,
     Whatever may assail;
     He is our shield and tower,
     Almighty is His power;
     His kingdom is forever.

 Rejoice, ye people, praise His name,
   His care doth e'er surround us.
 His love to error's thralldom came,
   And from its chains unbound us.
     Our Lord is God alone,
     No other power we own;
     No other voice we heed,
     No other help we need;
     His kingdom is forever.

 O then give thanks to God on high,
   Who life to all is giving;
 The hosts of death before Him fly,
   In Him we all are living.
     Then let us know no fear,
     Our King is ever near;
     Our stay and fortress strong,
     Our strength, our hope, our song;
     His kingdom is forever.

Readings from the Bible.

Job 36:5
Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: he is mighty in strength and wisdom.

Psalms 24:7‑10 (to 1st .)
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 50:1,2
The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.  Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

Psalms 89:8,9,13‑16
O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?  Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. 

Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.  Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.  Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.  In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

Psalms 106:1‑3,7‑10
Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.  Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can shew forth all his praise?  Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. 

Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.  Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.  He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.  And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

Psalms 145:1‑14
I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.  Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.  Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.  I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.  And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.  They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.  The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.  The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.  All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee.  They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.  Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.  The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

Jeremiah 9:23,24
#Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.
Daniel 4:2,3
I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me.  How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

II Corinthians 10:3‑5 though
though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

I Peter 5:6,7
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

vii:27
  Since the author's discovery of the might of Truth in the treatment of disease as well as of sin, her system has been fully tested and has not been found wanting; but to reach the heights of Christian Science, man must live in obedience to its divine Principle.  To develop the full might of this Science, the discords of corporeal sense must yield to the harmony of spiritual sense, even as the science of music corrects false tones and gives sweet concord to sound. 

xi:9‑21
  The physical healing of Christian Science results now, as in Jesus' time, from the operation of divine Principle, before which sin and disease lose their reality in human consciousness and disappear as naturally and as necessarily as darkness gives place to light and sin to reformation.  Now, as then, these mighty works are not supernatural, but supremely natural.  They are the sign of Immanuel, or "God with us,"‑‑a divine influence ever present in human consciousness and repeating itself, coming now as was promised aforetime,

    To preach deliverance to the captives [of sense],
    And recovering of sight to the blind,
    To set at liberty them that are bruised. 

37:16
  When will Jesus' professed followers learn to emulate him in all his ways and to imitate his mighty works?  Those who procured the martyrdom of that righteous man would gladly have turned his sacred career into a mutilated doctrinal platform.  May the Christians of to‑day take up the more practical import of that career!  It is possible,‑‑yea, it is the duty and privilege of every child, man, and woman,‑‑to follow in some degree the example of the Master by the demonstration of Truth and Life, of health and holiness.  Chris‑tians claim to be his followers, but do they follow him in the way that he commanded?  Hear these imperative commands: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect!"  "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature!"  "Heal the sick!"

146:13‑30
  Material medicine substitutes drugs for the power of God‑‑even the might of Mind‑‑to heal the body.  Scholasticism clings for salvation to the person, instead of to the divine Principle, of the man Jesus; and his Science, the curative agent of God, is silenced. Why?  Because truth divests material drugs of their imaginary power, and clothes Spirit with supremacy.  Science is the "stranger that is within thy gates," remembered not, even when its elevating effects practically prove its divine origin and efficacy. 
  Divine Science derives its sanction from the Bible, and the divine origin of Science is demonstrated through the holy influence of Truth in healing sickness and sin.  This healing power of Truth must have been far anterior to the period in which Jesus lived.  It is as ancient as "the Ancient of days."  It lives through all Life, and extends throughout all space. 

192:17
  Moral and spiritual might belong to Spirit, who holds the "wind in His fists;" and this teaching accords with Science and harmony.  In Science, you can have no power opposed to God, and the physical senses must give up their false testimony.  Your influence for good depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale.  The good you do and embody gives you the only power obtainable.  Evil is not power.  It is a mockery of strength, which erelong betrays its weakness and falls, never to rise. 

202:24
  Our beliefs about a Supreme Being contradict the practice growing out of them.  Error abounds where Truth should "much more abound."  We admit that God has almighty power, is "a very present help in trouble;" and yet we rely on a drug or hypnotism to heal disease, as if senseless matter or erring mortal mind had more power than omnipotent Spirit. 

214:28
Neither age nor accident can interfere with the senses of Soul, and there are no other real senses.  It is evident that the body as matter has no sensation of its own, and there is no oblivion for Soul and its faculties.  Spirit's senses are without pain, and they are forever at peace.  Nothing can hide from them the harmony of all things and the might and permanence of Truth. 

325:10
  In Colossians (iii. 4) Paul writes: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear [be manifested], then shall ye also appear [be manifested] with him in glory." When spiritual being is understood in all its perfection, continuity, and might, then shall man be found in God's image.  The absolute meaning of the apostolic words is this:  Then shall man be found, in His likeness, perfect as the Father, indestructible in Life, "hid with Christ in God,"‑‑with Truth in divine Love, where human sense hath not seen man. 

329:5
  A little leaven leavens the whole lump.  A little understanding of Christian Science proves the truth of all that I say of it.  Because you cannot walk on the water and raise the dead, you have no right to question the great might of divine Science in these directions.  Be thankful that Jesus, who was the true demonstrator of Science, did these things, and left his example for us.  In Science we can use only what we understand.  We must prove our faith by demonstration. 

348:14‑2
  Are we irreverent towards sin, or imputing too much power to God, when we ascribe to Him almighty Life and Love?  I deny His cooperation with evil, because I desire to have no faith in evil or in any power but God, good.  Is it not well to eliminate from so‑called mortal mind that which, so long as it remains in mortal mind, will show itself in forms of sin, sickness, and death?  Instead of tenaciously defending the supposed rights of disease, while complaining of the suffering disease brings, would it not be well to abandon the defence, especially when by so doing our own condition can be improved and that of other persons as well? 
  I have never supposed the world would immediately witness the full fruitage of Christian Science, or that sin, disease, and death would not be believed for an indefinite time; but this I do aver, that, as a result of teaching Christian Science, ethics and temperance have received an impulse, health has been restored, and longevity increased.  If such are the present fruits, what will the harvest be, when this Science is more generally understood? 

357:25
  If what opposes God is real, there must be two powers, and God is not supreme and infinite.  Can Deity be almighty, if another mighty and self‑creative cause exists and sways mankind?  Has the Father "Life in Himself," as the Scriptures say, and, if so, can Life, or God, dwell in evil and create it?  Can matter drive Life, Spirit, hence, and so defeat omnipotence? 

428:15
  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. 

520:3‑5 (to !)
  Unfathomable Mind is expressed.  The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space.  That is enough!

568:24
  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. 

Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.


 Hymn 401
 John Marriott*

 Thou whose almighty Word
 Chaos and darkness heard,
   And took their flight;
 Hear us, we humbly pray,
 And where the Gospel‑day
 Sheds not its glorious ray,
   Let there be light.

 Christ, thou dost come to bring
 On thy redeeming wing
   Healing and sight,
 Health to the sick in mind,
 Sight to the inly blind;
 Ah, now to all mankind
   Let there be light.

 Spirit of truth and love,
 Life‑giving, holy dove,
   Speed forth thy flight;
 Move on the waters' face,
 Bearing the lamp of grace,
 And in earth's darkest place
   Let there be light.

Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.


 Hymn 349 
 H.

 Thy will, almighty Father, Thine,
   And Thine alone be ever done;
 For Thou art Life and Truth and Love,
   The great, eternal, Holy One.

 Reflecting truly all Thou art
   And all the sunshine of Thy love,
 No life we know from Thee apart,
   But peace on earth from heaven above.

 We walk in freedom and in peace
   Thy holy purpose to fulfill,
 And Thou dost ever point the path
   For loving servants of Thy will.

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