Theme: Heed
Hymn 58
Elizabeth C. Adams
Father, we Thy loving children
Lift
our hearts in joy today,
Knowing well that Thou wilt keep us
Ever in Thy blessed way.
Thou art Love and Thou art wisdom,
Thou art Life and Thou art All;
In Thy Spirit living, moving,
We shall neither faint nor fall.
Come we daily then, dear Father,
Open hearts and willing hands,
Eager ears, expectant, joyful,
Ready for Thy right commands.
We would hear no other voices,
We would heed no other call;
Thou alone art good and gracious,
Thou our Mind and Thou our All.
In Thy house securely dwelling,
Where Thy children live to bless,
Seeing only Thy creation,
We can share Thy happiness,
Share Thy joy and spend it freely.
Loyal hearts can feel no fear;
We Thy children know Thee, Father,
Love and Life forever near.
Readings from the Bible.
II Chronicles 19:4‑7
Jehoshaphat
Jehoshaphat dwelt at
Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beersheba to mount
Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord God of their fathers. And he set judges in the land throughout all
the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, And said to the judges, Take heed
what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord, who is with you in the
judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of
the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the
Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.
Matthew 6:1‑8
Take heed that ye do not your
alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father
which is in heaven. Therefore when thou
doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in
the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I
say unto you, They have their reward.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand
doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret
himself shall reward thee openly.
#And
when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to
pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they
may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions,
as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much
speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto
them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
Matthew 16:1‑3,5‑12
The Pharisees also with the
Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from
heaven. He answered and said unto them,
When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather
to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the
face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
And when his disciples were
come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
#Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying,
It is because we have taken no bread.
Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why
reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember
the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four
thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you
concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of
the Sadducees? Then understood they how
that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the
Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
Matthew 24:1‑6,11‑13
And Jesus went out, and
departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the
buildings of the temple. And Jesus said
unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not
be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
#And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the
disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?
and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take
heed that no man deceive you. For many
shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of
wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but
the end is not yet.
And many false prophets shall
rise, and shall deceive many. And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the
same shall be saved.
Mark 13:1‑9,23,30,31,33 (to
:)
And as he went out of the
temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones
and what buildings are here! And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou
these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that
shall not be thrown down. And as he sat
upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and
Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall
be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
And Jesus answering them began to say, Take
heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am
Christ; and shall deceive many. And when
ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things
must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and
there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and
troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
#But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils;
and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers
and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
But take ye heed: behold, I
have foretold you all things.
Verily I say unto you, that
this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my
words shall not pass away.
Take ye heed, watch and pray:
Luke 11:33‑36
No man, when he hath lighted
a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a
candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore
when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine
eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.
Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness. If thy whole body therefore be full of light,
having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright
shining of a candle doth give thee light.
Luke 21:33‑36
Heaven and earth shall pass
away: but my words shall not pass away. #And take heed to yourselves, lest at
any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares
of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that
dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to
escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
man.
I Corinthians 3:6‑11
I have planted, Apollos
watered; but God gave the increase. So
then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God
that giveth the increase. Now he that
planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own
reward according to his own labour. For
we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's
building. According to the grace of God
which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation,
and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth
thereupon. For other foundation can no
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
I Timothy 4:4‑16 every
every creature of God is
good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is
sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a
good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good
doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather
unto godliness.
For bodily exercise
profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise
of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all
acceptation. For therefore we both
labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the
Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe. These things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an
example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in
faith, in purity.
Till I come, give
attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which
was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the
presbytery. Meditate upon these things;
give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the
doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and
them that hear thee.
Readings from Science and Health with Key the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
225:5
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.
232:16‑7
In our age Christianity is again
demonstrating the power of divine Principle, as it did over nineteen hundred
years ago, by healing the sick and triumphing over death. Jesus never taught that drugs, food, air, and
exercise could make a man healthy, or that they could destroy human life; nor
did he illustrate these errors by his practice.
He referred man's harmony to Mind, not to matter, and never tried to
make of none effect the sentence of God, which sealed God's condemnation of
sin, sickness, and death.
In the sacred sanctuary of Truth are voices
of solemn import, but we heed them not.
It is only when the so‑called pleasures and pains of sense pass away in
our lives, that we find unquestionable signs of the burial of error and the
resurrection to spiritual life.
There is neither place nor opportunity in
Science for error of any sort. Every day
makes its demands upon us for higher proofs rather than professions of
Christian power. These proofs consist
solely in the destruction of sin, sickness, and death by the power of Spirit,
as Jesus destroyed them. This is an
element of progress, and progress is the law of God, whose law demands of us
only what we can certainly fulfil.
298:25‑17
Angels are not etherealized human beings,
evolving animal qualities in their wings; but they are celestial visitants,
flying on spiritual, not material, pinions.
Angels are pure thoughts from God, winged with Truth and Love, no matter
what their individualism may be. Human
conjecture confers upon angels its own forms of thought, marked with
superstitious outlines, making them human creatures with suggestive feathers;
but this is only fancy. It has behind it
no more reality than has the sculptor's thought when he carves his "Statue
of Liberty," which embodies his conception of an unseen quality or
condition, but which has no physical antecedent reality save in the artist's
own observation and "chambers of imagery."
My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at
the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest
earthly hopes. With white fingers they
point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its
joys. Angels are God's
representatives. These upward‑soaring
beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine
Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of
God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to
these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain "angels
unawares."
340:4
This text in the book of Ecclesiastes conveys
the Christian Science thought, especially when the word duty, which is not in the original, is omitted: "Let us hear
the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear
God, and keep His commandments: for this
is the whole duty of man." In other
words: Let us hear the conclusion of the
whole matter: love God and keep His
commandments: for this is the whole of
man in His image and likeness. Divine
Love is infinite. Therefore all that
really exists is in and of God, and manifests His love.
400:9‑29
Mortals obtain the harmony of health, only as
they forsake discord, acknowledge the supremacy of divine Mind, and abandon
their material beliefs. Eradicate the
image of disease from the perturbed thought before it has taken tangible shape
in conscious thought, alias the body,
and you prevent the development of disease.
This task becomes easy, if you understand that every disease is an
error, and has no character nor type, except what mortal mind assigns to it. By lifting thought above error, or disease,
and contending persistently for truth, you destroy error. When we remove disease by addressing the
disturbed mind, giving no heed to the body, we prove that thought alone creates
the suffering. Mortal mind rules all
that is mortal. We see in the body the
images of this mind, even as in optics we see painted on the retina the image
which becomes visible to the senses. The
action of so‑called mortal mind must be destroyed by the divine Mind to bring
out the harmony of being. Without divine
control there is discord, manifest as sin, sickness, and death.
409:27‑21
We have no right to say that life depends on
matter now, but will not depend on it after death. We cannot spend our days here in ignorance of
the Science of Life, and expect to find beyond the grave a reward for this
ignorance. Death will not make us
harmonious and immortal as a recompense for ignorance. If here we give no heed to Christian Science,
which is spiritual and eternal, we shall not be ready for spiritual Life
hereafter.
"This is life eternal," says Jesus,‑‑is, not shall be; and then he defines everlasting life as a present
knowledge of his Father and of himself,‑‑the knowledge of Love, Truth, and
Life. "This is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent." The Scriptures say,
"Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," showing that
Truth is the actual life of man; but mankind objects to making this teaching
practical.
Every trial of our faith in God makes us
stronger. The more difficult seems the
material condition to be overcome by Spirit, the stronger should be our faith
and the purer our love. The Apostle John
says: "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . .
He that feareth is not made perfect in Love." Here is a definite and inspired proclamation
of Christian Science.
462:9
If the student goes away to practise Truth's
teachings only in part, dividing his interests between God and mammon and
substituting his own views for Truth, he will inevitably reap the error he
sows. Whoever would demonstrate the
healing of Christian Science must abide strictly by its rules, heed every
statement, and advance from the rudiments laid down. There is nothing difficult nor toilsome in
this task, when the way is pointed out; but self‑denial, sincerity,
Christianity, and persistence alone win the prize, as they usually do in every
department of life.
525:17
In the Gospel of John, it is declared that
all things were made through the Word of God, "and without Him [the logos, or word] was not anything made that was made." Everything good or worthy, God made. Whatever is valueless or baneful, He did not
make,‑‑hence its unreality. In the
Science of Genesis we read that He saw everything which He had made, "and,
behold, it was very good." The
corporeal senses declare otherwise; and if we give the same heed to the history
of error as to the records of truth, the Scriptural record of sin and death
favors the false conclusion of the material senses. Sin, sickness, and death must be deemed as
devoid of reality as they are of good, God.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 304
"Feed My Sheep" – Mary Baker Eddy
Shepherd, show me how to go
O'er the hillside steep,
How to gather, how to sow,‑‑
How to feed Thy sheep;
I will listen for Thy voice,
Lest my footsteps stray;
I will follow and rejoice
All the rugged way.
Thou wilt bind the stubborn will,
Wound
the callous breast,
Make self‑righteousness be still,
Break earth's stupid rest.
Strangers on a barren shore,
Lab'ring long and lone,
We would enter by the door,
And Thou know'st Thine own;
So, when day grows dark and cold,
Tear or triumph harms,
Lead Thy lambkins to the fold,
Take them in Thine arms;
Feed the hungry, heal the heart,
Till the morning's beam;
White as wool, ere they depart,
Shepherd, wash them clean.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 329
Frederic W. Root
The heavens declare the glory
Of Him who made all things;
Each day repeats the story,
Each night its tribute brings.
To earth's remotest border
His mighty power is known;
In beauty, grandeur, order,
His handiwork is shown.
His law man's pathway brightens,
His judgments all are pure,
His Word the thought enlightens,
And ever shall endure.
To heed His testimony,
And Wisdom's way to hold,
Is sweeter far than honey,
And better far than gold.
In daily contemplation
Of Thee, I take delight;
O, let my meditation
Lay hold of Thee aright.
O, aid me in suppression
Of idle thought or word;
O, keep me from transgression,
Redeemer, strength, and Lord.
