Theme: Care
Hymn 10
Frederic W. Root – Based on hymn by Martin
Luther
All power is given unto our Lord,
On Him we place reliance;
With truth from out His sacred word
We bid our foes defiance.
With Him we shall prevail,
Whatever may assail;
He is our shield and tower,
Almighty is His power;
His kingdom is forever.
Rejoice, ye people, praise His name,
His care doth e'er surround us.
His love to error's thralldom came,
And from its chains unbound us.
Our Lord is God alone,
No other power we own;
No other voice we heed,
No other help we need;
His kingdom is forever.
O then give thanks to God on high,
Who life to all is giving;
The hosts of death before Him fly,
In Him we all are living.
Then let us know no fear,
Our King is ever near;
Our stay and fortress strong,
Our strength, our hope, our song;
His kingdom is forever.
Readings from the Bible.
II Kings 4:8‑17 it
it fell on a day, that Elisha
passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat
bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat
bread. And she said unto her husband,
Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us
continually. Let us make a little
chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a
table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us,
that he shall turn in thither.
And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? and Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? and Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.
Luke 10:30‑37 A
A certain man went down from Jerusalem to
Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded
him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw
him, he passed by on the other side. And
likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed
by on the other side. But a certain
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had
compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and
wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of
him. And on the morrow when he departed,
he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care
of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay
thee. Which now of these three, thinkest
thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him.
Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Philippians 4:4‑9
Rejoice in the Lord alway:
and again I say, Rejoice. Let your
moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things. Those things, which ye have both
learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace
shall be with you.
Titus 3:4‑8 after
after that the kindness and
love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should
be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I
will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be
careful to maintain good works. These
things are good and profitable unto men.
I Peter 5:2‑11
Feed the flock of God which
is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly;
not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's
heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of
glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye
younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to
another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth
grace to the humble. Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom
resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are
accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us
unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while,
make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and
ever. Amen.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
62:20
We must not attribute more and more intelligence
to matter, but less and less, if we would be wise and healthy. The divine Mind, which forms the bud and
blossom, will care for the human body, even as it clothes the lily; but let no
mortal interfere with God's government by thrusting in the laws of erring,
human concepts.
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.
84:3‑18
The ancient prophets gained their foresight
from a spiritual, incorporeal standpoint, not by foreshadowing evil and
mistaking fact for fiction,‑‑predicting the future from a groundwork of
corporeality and human belief. When
sufficiently advanced in Science to be in harmony with the truth of being, men
become seers and prophets involuntarily, controlled not by demons, spirits, or
demigods, but by the one Spirit. It is
the prerogative of the ever‑present, divine Mind, and of thought which is in
rapport with this Mind, to know the past, the present, and the future.
Acquaintance with the Science of being
enables us to commune more largely with the divine Mind, to foresee and
foretell events which concern the universal welfare, to be divinely inspired,‑‑yea,
to reach the range of fetterless Mind.
92:21
Uncover error, and it turns the lie upon
you. Until the fact concerning error‑‑namely,
its nothingness‑‑appears, the moral demand will not be met, and the ability to
make nothing of error will be wanting.
We should blush to call that real which is only a mistake. The foundation of evil is laid on a belief in
something besides God. This belief tends
to support two opposite powers, instead of urging the claims of Truth
alone. The mistake of thinking that
error can be real, when it is merely the absence of truth, leads to belief in
the superiority of error.
219:6‑22
In mathematics, we do not multiply when we
should subtract, and then say the product is correct. No more can we say in Science that muscles
give strength, that nerves give pain or pleasure, or that matter governs, and
then expect that the result will be harmony.
Not muscles, nerves, nor bones, but mortal mind makes the whole body
"sick, and the whole heart faint;" whereas divine Mind heals.
When this is understood, we shall never
affirm concerning the body what we do not wish to have manifested. We shall not call the body weak, if we would
have it strong; for the belief in feebleness must obtain in the human mind
before it can be made manifest on the body, and the destruction of the belief
will be the removal of its effects.
Science includes no rule of discord, but governs harmoniously. "The wish," says the poet, "is
ever father to the thought."
231:20‑2
To hold yourself superior to sin, because God
made you superior to it and governs man, is true wisdom. To fear sin is to misunderstand the power of
Love and the divine Science of being in man's relation to God,‑‑to doubt His
government and distrust His omnipotent care.
To hold yourself superior to sickness and death is equally wise, and is
in accordance with divine Science. To
fear them is impossible, when you fully apprehend God and know that they are no
part of His creation.
Man, governed by his Maker, having no other
Mind,‑‑planted on the Evangelist's statement that "all things were made by
Him [the Word of God]; and without Him was not anything made that was
made,"‑‑can triumph over sin, sickness, and death.
272:13‑25
Jesus' parable of "the sower" shows
the care our Master took not to impart to dull ears and gross hearts the
spiritual teachings which dulness and grossness could not accept. Reading the thoughts of the people, he said:
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls
before swine."
It is the spiritualization of thought and
Christianization of daily life, in contrast with the results of the ghastly
farce of material existence; it is chastity and purity, in contrast with the
downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity, which
really attest the divine origin and operation of Christian Science.
383:3
We need a clean body and a clean mind,‑‑a
body rendered pure by Mind as well as washed by water. One says: "I take good care of my
body." To do this, the pure and exalting influence of the divine Mind on
the body is requisite, and the Christian Scientist takes the best care of his
body when he leaves it most out of his thought, and, like the Apostle Paul, is
"willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord."
494:15‑24 np
The miracle of grace is no miracle to
Love. Jesus demonstrated the inability
of corporeality, as well as the infinite ability of Spirit, thus helping erring
human sense to flee from its own convictions and seek safety in divine
Science. Reason, rightly directed,
serves to correct the errors of corporeal sense; but sin, sickness, and death
will seem real (even as the experiences of the sleeping dream seem real) until
the Science of man's eternal harmony breaks their illusion with the unbroken
reality of scientific being.
Which of these two theories concerning man
are you ready to accept? One is the mortal
testimony, changing, dying, unreal. The
other is the eternal and real evidence, bearing Truth's signet, its lap piled
high with immortal fruits.
Our Master cast out devils (evils) and healed
the sick. It should be said of his
followers also, that they cast fear and all evil out of themselves and others
and heal the sick. God will heal the
sick through man, whenever man is governed by God. Truth casts out error now as surely as it did
nineteen centuries ago. All of Truth is
not understood; hence its healing power is not fully demonstrated.
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.
When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts
you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea.
Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your
clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious‑‑as Life
eternally is‑‑can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life
is not. Let Christian Science, instead
of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding
will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence
discord with harmony.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 402
Philip Doddridge – Adapted
How gentle God's commands,
How kind His precepts are;
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord,
And trust His constant care.
Beneath His watchful eye
His saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears creation up
Shall guard His children well.
His goodness stands approved,
Unchanged from day to day:
I drop my burden at His feet,
And bear a song away.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 224
John Ryland
Adapted
O Lord, I would delight in Thee,
And on Thy care depend;
To Thee in every trouble flee,
My best, my ever Friend.
When all material streams are dried,
Thy fullness is the same;
May I with this be satisfied,
And glory in Thy name.
All good, where'er it may be found,
Its source doth find in Thee;
I must have all things and abound,
While God is God to me.
O that I had a stronger faith,
To look within the veil,
To credit what my Saviour saith,
Whose word can never fail.
He that has made my heaven secure,
Will here all good provide;
While Christ is rich, can I be poor?
What can I want beside?
O God, I cast my care on Thee;
I triumph and adore;
Henceforth my great concern shall be
To love and praise Thee more.
