Theme: Expect
Hymn 351
Bernhard S. Ingemann – S. Baring‑Gould, Tr.
Through the night of doubt and sorrow
Onward goes the pilgrim band,
Singing songs of expectation,
Marching to the promised land.
Clear before us through the darkness
Gleams and burns the guiding light;
Brother clasps the hand of brother,
Stepping fearless through the night.
One, the light of God's own presence,
O'er His ransomed people shed,
Chasing far the gloom and terror,
Brightening all the path we tread:
One, the object of our journey,
One, the faith which never tires,
One, the earnest looking forward,
One, the hope our God inspires;
One, the strain the lips of thousands
Lift as from the heart of one;
One the conflict, one the peril,
One, the march in God begun:
One, the gladness of rejoicing
On the far eternal shore
Where the One Almighty Father
Reigns in love forevermore.
Readings from the Bible.
Psalms 62:1,2,5‑8 (to 1st
.),11,12
Truly my soul waiteth upon
God: from him cometh my salvation. He
only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly
moved.
My soul, wait thou only upon
God; for my expectation is from him. He
only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock
of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him:
God is a refuge for us.
God hath spoken once; twice
have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for
thou renderest to every man according to his work.
Proverbs 23:12,17‑19,23‑26
Apply thine heart unto
instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Let not thine heart envy
sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine
expectation shall not be cut off. Hear
thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Buy the truth, and sell it
not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. The father of the righteous shall greatly
rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and
she that bare thee shall rejoice. My
son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Proverbs 24:13,14
My son, eat thou honey,
because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste: So shall
the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there
shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
Romans 8:1‑19
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. Now if any man
have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead
because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus
from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also
quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth 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.
Philippians 1:2‑11,18‑20 (to
2nd ,)
Grace be unto you, and peace,
from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your
fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ: Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all,
because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the
defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly I long
after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in
knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent;
that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled
with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and
praise of God.
What then? notwithstanding,
every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein
do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I
know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, According to my earnest expectation and my hope,
that in nothing I shall be ashamed,
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
2:23‑2
God is Love.
Can we ask Him to be more? God is
intelligence. Can we inform the infinite
Mind of anything He does not already comprehend? Do we expect to change perfection? Shall we plead for more at the open fount,
which is pouring forth more than we accept? The unspoken desire does bring us
nearer the source of all existence and blessedness.
Asking God to be God is a vain repetition.
God is "the same yesterday, and to‑day, and forever;" and He
who is immutably right will do right without being reminded of His province.
21:1‑14
If Truth is overcoming error in your daily
walk and conversation, you can finally say, "I have fought a good fight .
. . I have kept the faith," because you are a better man. This is having our part in the at‑one‑ment
with Truth and Love. Christians do not
continue to labor and pray, expecting because of another's goodness, suffering,
and triumph, that they shall reach his harmony and reward.
If the disciple is advancing spiritually, he
is striving to enter in. He constantly
turns away from material sense, and looks towards the imperishable things of
Spirit. If honest, he will be in earnest
from the start, and gain a little each day in the right direction, till at last
he finishes his course with joy.
39:18
"Now,"
cried the apostle, "is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation,"‑‑meaning, not that now men must
prepare for a future‑world salvation, or safety, but that now is the time in
which to experience that salvation in spirit and in life. Now is the time for so‑called material pains
and material pleasures to pass away, for both are unreal, because impossible in
Science. To break this earthly spell,
mortals must get the true idea and divine Principle of all that really exists
and governs the universe harmoniously.
This thought is apprehended slowly, and the interval before its
attainment is attended with doubts and defeats as well as triumphs.
167:20
The "flesh lusteth against the
Spirit." The flesh and Spirit can
no more unite in action, than good can coincide with evil. It is not wise to take a halting and half‑way
position or to expect to work equally with Spirit and matter, Truth and
error. There is but one way‑‑namely, God
and His idea‑‑which leads to spiritual being.
The scientific government of the body must be attained through the
divine Mind. It is impossible to gain
control over the body in any other way.
On this fundamental point, timid conservatism is absolutely
inadmissible. Only through radical
reliance on Truth can scientific healing power be realized.
208:20
Let us learn of the real and
eternal, and prepare for the reign of Spirit, the kingdom of heaven,‑‑the reign
and rule of universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain forever
unseen.
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."
409:27
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.
426:5
The discoverer of Christian Science finds the
path less difficult when she has the high goal always before her thoughts, than
when she counts her footsteps in endeavoring to reach it. When the destination is desirable,
expectation speeds our progress. The
struggle for Truth makes one strong instead of weak, resting instead of wearying
one. If the belief in death were
obliterated, and the understanding obtained that there is no death, this would
be a "tree of life," known by its fruits. Man should renew his energies and endeavors,
and see the folly of hypocrisy, while also learning the necessity of working
out his own salvation. When it is
learned that disease cannot destroy life, and that mortals are not saved from
sin or sickness by death, this understanding will quicken into newness of
life. It will master either a desire to
die or a dread of the grave, and thus destroy the great fear that besets mortal
existence.
452:18
Right is radical. The teacher must know the truth himself. He must live it and love it, or he cannot
impart it to others. We soil our
garments with conservatism, and afterwards we must wash them clean. When the spiritual sense of Truth unfolds its
harmonies, you take no risks in the policy of error. Expect to heal simply by repeating the
author's words, by right talking and wrong acting, and you will be
disappointed. Such a practice does not
demonstrate the Science by which divine Mind heals the sick.
596:15
The illuminations of Science
give us a sense of the nothingness of error, and they show the spiritual
inspiration of Love and Truth to be the only fit preparation for admission to
the presence and power of the Most High.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
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.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 350
Mary Peters – Adapted
Through the love of God our Saviour
All will be well;
Free and changeless is His favor;
All must be well;
Precious is the Love that healed us,
Perfect is the grace that sealed us,
Strong the hand stretched forth to shield us;
All, all is well.
Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well;
Ours is such a full salvation,
All must be well;
Happy still, in God confiding,
Fruitful, when in Christ abiding,
Holy, through the Spirit's guiding;
All, all is well.
We expect a bright tomorrow,
All will be well;
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All must be well;
While His truth we are applying,
And upon His love relying,
God is every need supplying,
All, all is well.
