Theme: Secure
Hymn 104
Duncan Sinclair
Help us, O Lord, to bear the cross,
The cross our Master bore;
To brave the senses' angry shock,
Our faith secure upon the rock
Of Christ, forevermore.
Grant us, O Love, the strength to drink
Thy cup on earth below,
The inspiration that it brings,
The hope serene that from it springs
To lighten every woe.
Give us, O Truth, Thou light of men,
Thy benediction rare,
That courage may sustain our way
Out of the darkness into day,
Thy day, celestial, fair.
Thus shall our Spirit, Mind divine,
Lead us to heaven's bowers:
The cross laid down; the victory won
O'er sense and self; revealed the Son;
The crown forever ours.
Readings from the Bible.
Leviticus 26:3‑6 (to :)
If ye walk in my statutes,
and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season,
and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield
their fruit. And your threshing shall
reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and
ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye
shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid:
Judges 18:2‑10 the
the children of Dan sent of their family five
men from their coasts, men of valour, from Zorah, and from Eshtaol, to spy out
the land, and to search it; and they said unto them, Go, search the land: who
when they came to mount Ephraim, to the house of Micah, they lodged there. When they were by the house of Micah, they
knew the voice of the young man the Levite: and they turned in thither, and
said unto him, Who brought thee hither? and what makest thou in this place? and
what hast thou here? And he said unto
them, Thus and thus dealeth Micah with me, and hath hired me, and I am his
priest. And they said unto him, Ask
counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go
shall be prosperous. And the priest said
unto them, Go in peace: before the Lord is your way wherein ye go.
#Then the five men departed, and came to
Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the
manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the
land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the
Zidonians, and had no business with any man.
And they came unto their brethren to Zorah and Eshtaol: and their
brethren said unto them, What say ye?
And they said, Arise, that we may go up against them: for we have seen
the land, and, behold, it is very good: and are ye still? be not slothful to
go, and to enter to possess the land.
When ye go, ye shall come unto a people secure, and to a large land: for
God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of any thing
that is in the earth.
Job 11:7‑19 (to ;)
Canst thou by searching find
out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do?
deeper than hell; what canst thou know?
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. If he cut off, and shut up, or gather
together, then who can hinder him? For
he knoweth vain men: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it? For vain man would be wise, though man be
born like a wild ass's colt. If thou
prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; If iniquity be in
thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy
tabernacles. For then shalt thou lift up
thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear: Because
thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away: And
thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt
be as the morning. And thou shalt be
secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt
take thy rest in safety. Also thou shalt
lie down, and none shall make thee afraid;
Psalms 4:1‑8
Hear me when I call, O God of
my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon
me, and hear my prayer. O ye sons of
men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity,
and seek after leasing? Selah. But know
that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the Lord will hear
when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and
sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and
put your trust in the Lord. There be
many that say, Who will shew us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light of thy
countenance upon us. Thou hast put
gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine
increased. I will both lay me down in
peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
Psalms 33:16‑22
There is no king saved by the
multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither
shall he deliver any by his great strength.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that
hope in his mercy; To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in
famine. 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 119:105‑117
Thy word is a lamp unto my
feet, and a light unto my path. I have
sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O Lord,
according unto thy word. Accept, I
beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me thy
judgments. My soul is continually in my
hand: yet do I not forget thy law. The
wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage
for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. I have inclined mine heart to perform thy
statutes alway, even unto the end.
I hate vain thoughts: but thy
law do I love. Thou art my hiding place
and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my
God. Uphold me according unto thy word,
that I may live: and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe: and I
will have respect unto thy statutes continually.
Proverbs 21:31 safety
safety is of the Lord.
Ezekiel 34:20 thus (to ;),22‑28
thus saith the Lord God unto them;
Therefore will I save my
flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and
cattle. And I will set up one shepherd
over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them,
and he shall be their shepherd. And I
the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the
Lord have spoken it. And I will make
with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of
the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the
woods. And I will make them and the
places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down
in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her
fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their
land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their
yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of
them. And they shall no more be a prey
to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall
dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
11:21
Petitions bring to mortals only the results
of mortals' own faith. We know that a
desire for holiness is requisite in order to gain holiness; but if we desire
holiness above all else, we shall sacrifice everything for it. We must be willing to do this, that we may
walk securely in the only practical road to holiness. Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth,
nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled
with a fervent habitual desire to know and do the will of God, will bring us
into all Truth. Such a desire has little
need of audible expression. It is best
expressed in thought and in life.
19:17
Every pang of repentance and suffering, every
effort for reform, every good thought and deed, will help us to understand
Jesus' atonement for sin and aid its efficacy; but if the sinner continues to
pray and repent, sin and be sorry, he has little part in the atonement,‑‑in the at‑one‑ment with God,‑‑for he lacks the
practical repentance, which reforms the heart and enables man to do the will of
wisdom. Those who cannot demonstrate, at
least in part, the divine Principle of the teachings and practice of our Master
have no part in God. If living in
disobedience to Him, we ought to feel no security, although God is good.
60:24‑11
An ill‑attuned ear calls discord harmony, not
appreciating concord. So physical sense,
not discerning the true happiness of being, places it on a false basis. Science will correct the discord, and teach
us life's sweeter harmonies.
Soul has infinite resources with which to
bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more
secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul.
Higher enjoyments alone can satisfy the cravings of immortal man. We cannot circumscribe happiness within the
limits of personal sense. The senses
confer no real enjoyment.
The good in human affections must have
ascendency over the evil and the spiritual over the animal, or happiness will never
be won. The attainment of this celestial
condition would improve our progeny, diminish crime, and give higher aims to
ambition. Every valley of sin must be
exalted, and every mountain of selfishness be brought low, that the highway of
our God may be prepared in Science.
66:6
Trials teach mortals not to lean on a
material staff,‑‑a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not half remember this in the sunshine
of joy and prosperity. Sorrow is
salutary. Through great tribulation we
enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of
God's care. Spiritual development germinates not from seed sown in the soil of
material hopes, but when these decay, Love propagates anew the higher joys of
Spirit, which have no taint of earth.
Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness
and love.
201:1‑19
The best sermon ever preached is Truth
practised and demonstrated by the destruction of sin, sickness, and death. Knowing this and knowing too that one
affection would be supreme in us and take the lead in our lives, Jesus said,
"No man can serve two masters."
We cannot build safely on false
foundations. Truth makes a new creature,
in whom old things pass away and "all things are become new." Passions, selfishness, false appetites,
hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabundance of
being is on the side of God, good.
We cannot fill vessels already full. They must first be emptied. Let us disrobe
error. Then, when the winds of God blow,
we shall not hug our tatters close about us.
The way to extract error from mortal mind is
to pour in truth through flood‑tides of Love.
Christian perfection is won on no other basis.
232:3
Many theories relative to God and man neither
make man harmonious nor God lovable. The
beliefs we commonly entertain about happiness and life afford no scatheless and
permanent evidence of either. Security
for the claims of harmonious and eternal being is found only in divine
Science.
384:16
If exposure to a draught of air while in a
state of perspiration is followed by chills, dry cough, influenza, congestive
symptoms in the lungs, or hints of inflammatory rheumatism, your Mind‑remedy is
safe and sure. If you are a Christian
Scientist, such symptoms are not apt to follow exposure; but if you believe in
laws of matter and their fatal effects when transgressed, you are not fit to
conduct your own case or to destroy the bad effects of your belief. When the
fear subsides and the conviction abides that you have broken no law, neither
rheumatism, consumption, nor any other disease will ever result from exposure
to the weather. In Science this is an
established fact which all the evidence before the senses can never overrule.
456:3
Teaching or practising in the name of Truth,
but contrary to its spirit or rules, is most dangerous quackery. Strict adherence to the divine Principle and
rules of the scientific method has secured the only success of the students of
Christian Science. This alone entitles
them to the high standing which most of them hold in the community, a
reputation experimentally justified by their efforts. Whoever affirms that there is more than one
Principle and method of demonstrating Christian Science greatly errs,
ignorantly or intentionally, and separates himself from the true conception of
Christian Science healing and from its possible demonstration.
514:26
Understanding the control which Love held
over all, Daniel felt safe in the lions' den, and Paul proved the viper to be harmless. All of God's creatures, moving in the harmony
of Science, are harmless, useful, indestructible. A realization of this grand verity was a
source of strength to the ancient worthies.
It supports Christian healing, and enables its possessor to emulate the
example of Jesus. "And God saw that
it was good."
518:13
God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a
link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower. The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand
brotherhood, all having the same Principle, or Father; and blessed is that man
who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's
good. Love giveth to the least spiritual idea might, immortality, and goodness,
which shine through all as the blossom shines through the bud. All the varied expressions of God reflect
health, holiness, immortality‑‑infinite Life, Truth, and Love.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 176
Based on the Danish of Nikolaj F. S. Grundtvig
Long hast thou stood, O church of God,
Long mid the tempest's assailing,
Founded secure on timeless rock
Rises thy light, never failing;
Shining that all may understand
What has been wrought by God's command,
O'er night and chaos prevailing.
Let there be light, and light was there,
Clear as the Word that declared it;
Healing and peace to all it gave,
Who in humility shared it.
Ah, they were faithful, they who heard,
Steadfast their trust in God's great Word,
Steadfast the Love that prepared it.
Let there be light, the Word shines forth,
Lo, where the new morning whitens;
O church of God, with Book unsealed,
How its page beacons and brightens.
Living stones we, each in his place,
May we be worthy such a grace,
While Truth the wide earth enlightens.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 293
Frederic W. Root – Based on hymn by A. M.
Toplady
Rock of Ages, Truth divine,
Be Thy strength forever mine;
Let me rest secure on Thee,
Safe above life's raging sea.
Rock of Ages, Truth divine,
Be Thy strength forever mine.
Rock of Truth, our fortress strong,
Thou our refuge from all wrong,
When from mortal sense I flee,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Rock of Ages, Truth divine,
Be Thy strength forever mine.
Christ, the Truth, foundation sure,
On this rock we are secure;
Peace is there our life to fill,
Cure is there for every ill.
Rock of Ages, Truth divine,
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