Service for Sunday, May 12, 2013


Subject: Adam and Fallen Man

  Hymn 15 
  Based on the Danish of Bernhard S. Ingemann

 As gold by fire is tested,
   Its purity shown forth,
 So cleansing fires of Truth may prove
   To man his native worth.

 And as a mirror shows us
   A likeness clear and bright,
 So God forever sees His child
   Revealed in radiant light.

 'Twas thus the loving Master
   Saw man's perfection shine,
 Beheld God's child forever pure
   In radiance all divine.

The scriptural selections are from Psalms.

Psalms 112:1‑8 (to 2nd ,)
Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.  His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.  Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.  Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.  A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion.  Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.  He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.  His heart is established, he shall not be afraid,

Psalms 18:1‑3,16‑24,30
I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.  The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. 

He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.  He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.  They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay.  He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.  The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.  For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.  For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.  I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.  Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. 

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Silent prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s prayer, with its spiritual interpretation as given in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy



Our Father which art in heaven,
Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Adorable One.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Enable us to know – as in heaven, so on earth
God is omnipotent, supreme.
Give us this day our daily bread;
Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections;
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And Love is reflected in love;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
   For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.



 Hymn 421
 Violet Hay

 From these Thy children gathered in Thy name,
 From hearts made whole, from lips redeemed from woe,
 Thy praise, O Father, shall forever flow.
     Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 O perfect Life, in Thy completeness held,
 None can beyond Thy omnipresence stray;
 Safe in Thy Love, we live and sing alway
     Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 O perfect Mind, reveal Thy likeness true,
 That higher selfhood which we all must prove,
 Joy and dominion, love reflecting Love.
     Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 Thou, Soul, inspiring‑‑give us vision clear,
 Break earth‑bound fetters, sweep away the veil,
 Show the new heaven and earth that shall prevail.
     Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Solo:  How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place"           

Friends:
The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers. We shall now read Scriptural texts, and their correlative passages from our denominational textbook; these comprise our sermon.

The canonical writings, together with the word of our textbook, corroborating and explaining the Bible texts in their spiritual import and application to all ages, past, present, and future, constitute a sermon undivorced from truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses, and divinely authorized.

The lesson-sermon from the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, read by the First and Second Readers.

The content of the Lesson Sermon may be found in the Christian Science Quarterly. You may also read the Lesson-Sermon for this week online by clicking here.



 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.

"The Scientific Statement of Being" (S&H p. 468} and the correlative scripture according to I John 3:1-3.

There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p.468

1John.3

[1] Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
[2] Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
[3] And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Benediction


Ecclesiastes 7:29 (to ;)
Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright;

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