Theme: Everlasting
Hymn 53
Based on a hymn by John R. Macduff
Everlasting arms of Love
Are beneath, around, above;
God it is who bears us on,
His the arm we lean upon.
He our ever‑present guide
Faithful is, whate'er betide;
Gladly then we journey on,
With His arm to lean upon.
From earth's fears and vain alarms
Safe in His encircling arms,
He will keep us all the way,
God, our refuge, strength and stay.
Readings from the Bible.
Deuteronomy 33:27 (to :)
The eternal God is thy
refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:
Psalms 24:1‑6 (to 1st .),7‑10
(to 1st .)
The earth is the Lord's, and
the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and
established it upon the floods. Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands, and a
pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully. He shall receive the
blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation of them that seek him,
that seek thy face, O Jacob.
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 90:1,2
Lord, thou hast been our
dwelling place in all generations. Before
the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Psalms 93:1‑5
The Lord reigneth, he is
clothed with majesty; the Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath
girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved. Thy throne is established of old: thou art from
everlasting. The floods have lifted up,
O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their
waves. The Lord on high is mightier than
the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea. Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness
becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.
Psalms 100:1‑5
Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with
gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he
that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of
his pasture. Enter into his gates with
thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless
his name. For the Lord is good; his
mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalms 103:1‑22
Bless the Lord, O my soul:
and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who
forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy
life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender
mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is
renewed like the eagle's. The Lord
executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts
unto the children of Israel. The Lord is
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he
keep his anger for ever. He hath not
dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as the heaven is high above the earth, so
great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our
transgressions from us. Like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that
we are dust. As for man, his days are as
grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over
it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting
to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's
children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his
commandments to do them.
The Lord hath
prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in
strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye
ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the
Lord, O my soul.
Psalms 145:8‑13
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.
Isaiah 26:1‑4
In that day shall this song
be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint
for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the
gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose
mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the
Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
Isaiah 40:28‑31
#Hast thou not known? hast
thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of
the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the
faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and
the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Galatians 6:7,8
Be not deceived; God is not
mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the
flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit
reap life everlasting.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
44:28
His disciples believed Jesus to be dead while
he was hidden in the sepulchre, whereas he was alive, demonstrating within the
narrow tomb the power of Spirit to overrule mortal, material sense. There were
rock‑ribbed walls in the way, and a great stone must be rolled from the cave's
mouth; but Jesus vanquished every material obstacle, overcame every law of
matter, and stepped forth from his gloomy resting‑place, crowned with the glory
of a sublime success, an everlasting victory.
99:23
The calm, strong currents of true
spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity, and self‑immolation,
must deepen human experience, until the beliefs of material existence are seen
to be a bald imposition, and sin, disease, and death give everlasting place to the
scientific demonstration of divine Spirit and to God's spiritual, perfect
man.
256:13‑23
The everlasting I AM is not bounded nor
compressed within the narrow limits of physical humanity, nor can He be
understood aright through mortal concepts.
The precise form of God must be of small importance in comparison with
the sublime question, What is infinite Mind or divine Love?
Who is it that demands our obedience? He who, in the language of Scripture,
"doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What
doest Thou?"
289:31‑15
Man is not the offspring of flesh, but of
Spirit,‑‑of Life, not of matter. Because
Life is God, Life must be eternal, self‑existent. Life is the everlasting I AM, the Being who
was and is and shall be, whom nothing can erase.
If the Principle, rule, and demonstration of
man's being are not in the least understood before what is termed death
overtakes mortals, they will rise no higher spiritually in the scale of
existence on account of that single experience, but will remain as material as
before the transition, still seeking happiness through a material, instead of
through a spiritual sense of life, and from selfish and inferior motives. That Life or Mind is finite and physical or
is manifested through brain and nerves, is false. Hence Truth comes to destroy this error and
its effects,‑‑sickness, sin, and death.
To the spiritual class, relates the Scripture: "On such the second
death hath no power."
390:4
We cannot deny that Life is self‑sustained,
and we should never deny the everlasting harmony of Soul, simply because, to
the mortal senses, there is seeming discord.
It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces
apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony. Truth will at length compel us all to
exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.
410:4‑21
"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.
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.
489:1
The less mind there is manifested in matter
the better. When the unthinking lobster
loses its claw, the claw grows again. If
the Science of Life were understood, it would be found that the senses of Mind
are never lost and that matter has no sensation. Then the human limb would be replaced as
readily as the lobster's claw,‑‑not with an artificial limb, but with the
genuine one. Any hypothesis which
supposes life to be in matter is an educated belief. In infancy this belief is not equal to
guiding the hand to the mouth; and as consciousness develops, this belief goes
out,‑‑yields to the reality of everlasting Life.
568:24‑14
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.
The Scripture, "Thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many," is literally
fulfilled, when we are conscious of the supremacy of Truth, by which the
nothingness of error is seen; and we know that the nothingness of error is in
proportion to its wickedness. He that
touches the hem of Christ's robe and masters his mortal beliefs, animality, and
hate, rejoices in the proof of healing,‑‑in a sweet and certain sense that God
is Love.
594:19
SPIRIT.
Divine substance; Mind; divine Principle; all that is good; God; that
only which is perfect, everlasting, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 247
Thomas H. Gill*
O walk with God along the road,
Your strength He will renew;
Wait on the everlasting God,
And He will walk with you.
Ye shall not to your daily task
Without your God repair,
But on your work His blessing ask
And prove His glory there.
Ye shall not faint, ye shall not fail;
In Spirit ye are strong;
Each task divine ye still shall hail,
And blend it with a song.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 374
John Randall Dunn
We thank Thee and we bless Thee,
O Father of us all,
That e'en before we ask Thee
Thou hear'st Thy children's call.
We praise Thee for Thy goodness
And tender, constant care,
We thank Thee, Father‑Mother,
That Thou hast heard our prayer.
We thank Thee and we bless Thee,
O Lord of all above,
That now Thy children know Thee
As everlasting Love.
And Love is not the author
Of discord, pain and fear;
O Love divine, we thank Thee
That good alone is here.
We thank Thee, Father‑Mother,
For blessings, light and grace
Which bid mankind to waken
And see Thee face to face.
We thank Thee, when in anguish
We turn from sense to Soul,
That we may hear Thee calling:
Rejoice, for thou art whole.
