Theme: Freedom
Hymn 65
Frances R. Havergal – Adapted
From glory unto glory,
Be this our joyous song;
From glory unto glory,
'Tis Love that leads us on;
As wider yet and wider,
The rising splendors glow,
What wisdom is revealed to us,
What freedom we may know.
The fullness of His blessing
Encompasseth our way;
The fullness of His promise
Crowns every dawning day;
The fullness of His glory
Is shining from above,
While more and more we learn to know
The fullness of His love.
From glory unto glory,
What great things He hath done,
What wonders He hath shown us,
What triumphs Love hath won.
From glory unto glory,
From strength to strength we go,
While grace for grace abundantly
Doth from His fullness flow.
Readings from the Bible
Psalms 51:1‑3,6‑12,15‑17
Have mercy upon me, O God,
according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender
mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash
me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my
sin is ever before me.
Behold, thou desirest truth
in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know
wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the
bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew
a right spirit within me. Cast me not
away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and
uphold me with thy free spirit.
O Lord, open thou my lips;
and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest
not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of
God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not
despise.
Isaiah 58:6,7 (to 1st ?),8,9
(to .),10,11
Is not this the fast that I
have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and
to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?
#Then shall thy light break
forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy
righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy
rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord
shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
And if thou draw out thy soul
to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in
obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee
continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou
shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail
not.
John 8:31‑36
Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
#They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and
were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for
ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the
Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Romans 6:16‑18,22,23
Know ye not, that to whom ye
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether
of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants
of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
delivered you. Being then made free from
sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
But now being made free from
sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end
everlasting life. For the wages of sin
is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 8:1‑9 (to 1st .),12‑19,28,35,37‑39
THERE is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do, in
that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit. For they that are after the
flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit. For to be carnally
minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against
God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot
please God. But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are
debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:
but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall
live. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye
have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of
God, and joint‑heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may
be also glorified together. For I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For
the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God.
And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.
Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Nay, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Galatians 5:1
Stand fast therefore in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
22:23
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.
89:18
Mind is
not necessarily dependent upon educational processes. It possesses of itself all beauty and poetry,
and the power of expressing them.
Spirit, God, is heard when the senses are silent. We are all capable of
more than we do. The influence or action
of Soul confers a freedom, which explains the phenomena of improvisation and
the fervor of untutored lips.
178:18
Mortal mind, acting from the basis of
sensation in matter, is animal magnetism; but this so‑called mind, from which
comes all evil, contradicts itself, and must finally yield to the eternal
Truth, or the divine Mind, expressed in Science. In proportion to our understanding of
Christian Science, we are freed from the belief of heredity, of mind in matter
or animal magnetism; and we disarm sin of its imaginary power in proportion to
our spiritual understanding of the status of immortal being.
225:5‑31
You may know when first Truth leads by the
fewness and faithfulness of its followers.
Thus it is that the march of time bears onward freedom's banner. The powers of this world will fight, and will
command their sentinels not to let truth pass the guard until it subscribes to
their systems; but Science, heeding not the pointed bayonet, marches on. There is always some tumult, but there is a
rallying to truth's standard.
The history of our country, like all history,
illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its
embodiment of right thinking. A few
immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been
potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping‑post and slave
market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of
freedom come from the cannon's mouth.
Love is the liberator.
Legally to abolish unpaid servitude in the
United States was hard; but the abolition of mental slavery is a more difficult
task. The despotic tendencies, inherent in mortal mind and always germinating
in new forms of tyranny, must be rooted out through the action of the divine
Mind.
Men and women of all climes and races are
still in bondage to material sense, ignorant how to obtain their freedom.
228:11
The enslavement of man is not
legitimate. It will cease when man
enters into his heritage of freedom, his God‑given dominion over the material
senses. Mortals will some day assert
their freedom in the name of Almighty God.
Then they will control their own bodies through the understanding of
divine Science. Dropping their present
beliefs, they will recognize harmony as the spiritual reality and discord as
the material unreality.
236:28‑6
Jesus loved little children because of their
freedom from wrong and their receptiveness of right. While age is halting between two opinions or
battling with false beliefs, youth makes easy and rapid strides towards
Truth.
A little girl, who had occasionally listened
to my explanations, badly wounded her finger.
She seemed not to notice it. On
being questioned about it she answered ingenuously, "There is no sensation
in matter." Bounding off with
laughing eyes, she presently added, "Mamma, my finger is not a bit
sore."
241:23‑8
One's aim, a point beyond faith, should be to
find the footsteps of Truth, the way to health and holiness. We should strive to reach the Horeb height
where God is revealed; and the corner‑stone of all spiritual building is
purity. The baptism of Spirit, washing
the body of all the impurities of flesh, signifies that the pure in heart see
God and are approaching spiritual Life and its demonstration.
It is "easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle," than for sinful beliefs to enter the kingdom of
heaven, eternal harmony. Through
repentance, spiritual baptism, and regeneration, mortals put off their material
beliefs and false individuality. It is
only a question of time when "they shall all know Me [God], from the least
of them unto the greatest." Denial of the claims of matter is a great step
towards the joys of Spirit, towards human freedom and the final triumph over
the body.
244:7
If we were to derive all our conceptions of
man from what is seen between the cradle and the grave, happiness and goodness
would have no abiding‑place in man, and the worms would rob him of the flesh;
but Paul writes: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death."
454:14
He, who understands in a sufficient degree
the Principle of Mind‑healing, points out to his student error as well as
truth, the wrong as well as the right practice.
Love for God and man is the true incentive in both healing and
teaching. Love inspires, illumines,
designates, and leads the way. Right
motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and
action. Love is priestess at the altar
of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love
to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must "have her perfect
work."
480:26
The Bible declares: "All things were
made by Him [the divine Word]; and without Him was not anything made that was
made." This is the eternal verity
of divine Science. If sin, sickness, and
death were understood as nothingness, they would disappear. As vapor melts before the sun, so evil would
vanish before the reality of good. One
must hide the other. How important,
then, to choose good as the reality! Man
is tributary to God, Spirit, and to nothing else. God's being is infinity, freedom, harmony,
and boundless bliss. "Where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
Like the archpriests of yore, man is free "to enter into the
holiest,"‑‑the realm of God.
495:6
If sickness is true or the idea of Truth, you
cannot destroy sickness, and it would be absurd to try. Then classify sickness and error as our
Master did, when he spoke of the sick, "whom Satan hath bound," and
find a sovereign antidote for error in the life‑giving power of Truth acting on
human belief, a power which opens the prison doors to such as are bound, and
sets the captive free physically and morally.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 136
Violet Hay
I love Thy way of freedom, Lord,
To serve Thee is my choice,
In Thy clear light of Truth I rise
And, listening for Thy voice,
I hear Thy promise old and new,
That bids all fear to cease:
My presence still shall go with thee
And I will give thee peace.
Though storm or discord cross my path
Thy power is still my stay,
Though human will and woe would check
My upward‑soaring way;
All unafraid I wait, the while
Thy angels bring release,
For still Thy presence is with me,
And Thou dost give me peace.
I climb, with joy, the heights of Mind,
To soar o'er time and space;
I yet shall know as I am known
And see Thee face to face.
Till time and space and fear are naught
My quest shall never cease,
Thy presence ever goes with me
And Thou dost give me peace.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 218
Samuel Longfellow
O Life that maketh all things new,
The blooming earth, the thoughts of men;
Our pilgrim feet, wet with Thy dew,
In gladness hither turn again.
From hand to hand the greeting flows,
From eye to eye the signals run,
From heart to heart the bright hope glows,
The seekers of the Light are one:
One in the freedom of the truth,
One in the joy of paths untrod,
One in the heart's perennial youth,
One in the larger thought of God;‑‑
The freer step, the fuller breath,
The wide horizon's grander view;
The sense of Life that knows no death,‑‑
The Life that maketh all things new.
