Theme: Restoration
Hymn 280
Henry Francis Lyte*
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To His feet thy tribute bring.
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like us His praise should sing?
Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise
Him,
Praise the everlasting King.
Fatherlike, He tends and spares us,
Well our daily needs He knows;
In His hand He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise
Him,
Widely as His mercy flows.
Praise Him for His grace and favor
To our fathers in distress;
Praise Him still the same forever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless.
Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise
Him,
Glorious in His faithfulness.
Readings from the Bible.
Psalms 51:1‑12,15‑17
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. Against thee, thee
only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be
justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin
did my mother conceive 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.
Jeremiah 30:1‑3,8‑11 (to 1st
:),17 (to ;),22
The word that came to
Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying,
Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that
I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord:
and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and
they shall possess it.
For it shall come to pass in
that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy
neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of
him: But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will
raise up unto them. #Therefore fear thou
not, O my servant Jacob, saith the Lord; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for,
lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity;
and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make
him afraid. For I am with thee, saith
the Lord, to save thee:
For I will restore health
unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord;
And ye shall be my people,
and I will be your God.
Joel 2:18‑25 the (to 1st
,),26,28
the Lord be jealous for his
land, and pity his people. Yea, the Lord
will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine,
and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a
reproach among the heathen: But I will remove far off from you the northern
army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward
the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall
come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great
things.
#Fear not, O land; be glad and
rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the
wilderness do spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the vine
do yield their strength. Be glad then,
ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you
the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain,
the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and
the fats shall overflow with wine and oil.
And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten,
And ye shall eat in plenty,
and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt
wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed.
#And it shall come to pass
afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men
shall see visions:
Luke 6:1‑10
And it came to pass on the
second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his
disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their
hands. And certain of the Pharisees said
unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days? And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not
read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they
which were with him; How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat
the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful
to eat but for the priests alone? And he
said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
And it came to pass also on another sabbath,
that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right
hand was withered. And the scribes and
Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they
might find an accusation against him.
But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered
hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one
thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save
life, or to destroy it? And looking
round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he
did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Galatians 6:1‑10,18 (to 2nd
.)
Brethren, if a man be
overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit
of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil
the law of Christ. For if a man think
himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then
shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word
communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.
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. And let us not be
weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do
good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Brethren, the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Amen.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
51:6‑32
Jesus could have withdrawn himself from his
enemies. He had power to lay down a
human sense of life for his spiritual identity in the likeness of the divine;
but he allowed men to attempt the destruction of the mortal body in order that
he might furnish the proof of immortal life.
Nothing could kill this Life of man.
Jesus could give his temporal life into his enemies' hands; but when his
earth‑mission was accomplished, his spiritual life, indestructible and eternal,
was found forever the same. He knew that
matter had no life and that real Life is God; therefore he could no more be
separated from his spiritual Life than God could be extinguished.
His consummate example was for the salvation
of us all, but only through doing the works which he did and taught others to
do. His purpose in healing was not alone
to restore health, but to demonstrate his divine Principle. He was inspired by God, by Truth and Love, in
all that he said and did. The motives of
his persecutors were pride, envy, cruelty, and vengeance, inflicted on the
physical Jesus, but aimed at the divine Principle, Love, which rebuked their
sensuality.
Jesus was unselfish. His spirituality separated him from
sensuousness, and caused the selfish materialist to hate him; but it was this
spirituality which enabled Jesus to heal the sick, cast out evil, and raise the
dead.
75:8‑20
Spiritualism would transfer men from the
spiritual sense of existence back into its material sense. This gross materialism is scientifically
impossible, since to infinite Spirit there can be no matter.
Jesus said of Lazarus: "Our friend
Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep." Jesus restored Lazarus by the understanding
that Lazarus had never died, not by an admission that his body had died and
then lived again. Had Jesus believed
that Lazarus had lived or died in his body, the Master would have stood on the
same plane of belief as those who buried the body, and he could not have
resuscitated it.
79:1‑22
The act of describing disease‑‑its symptoms,
locality, and fatality‑‑is not scientific.
Warning people against death is an error that tends to frighten into
death those who are ignorant of Life as God.
Thousands of instances could be cited of health restored by changing the
patient's thoughts regarding death.
A scientific mental method is more sanitary
than the use of drugs, and such a mental method produces permanent health. Science must go over the whole ground, and
dig up every seed of error's sow‑ing.
Spiritualism relies upon human beliefs and hypotheses. Christian Science removes these beliefs and
hypotheses through the higher understanding of God, for Christian Science,
resting on divine Principle, not on material personalities, in its revelation
of immortality, introduces the harmony of being.
Jesus cast out evil spirits, or false
beliefs. The Apostle Paul bade men have
the Mind that was in the Christ. Jesus
did his own work by the one Spirit. He
said: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." He never described disease, so far as can be
learned from the Gospels, but he healed disease.
162:4‑28
Christian Science brings to the body the
sunlight of Truth, which invigorates and purifies. Christian Science acts as an alterative,
neutralizing error with Truth. It
changes the secretions, expels humors, dissolves tumors, relaxes rigid muscles,
restores carious bones to soundness. The
effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which
it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind.
Experiments have favored the fact that Mind
governs the body, not in one instance, but in every instance. The indestructible faculties of Spirit exist
without the conditions of matter and also without the false beliefs of a so‑called
material existence. Working out the
rules of Science in practice, the author has restored health in cases of both
acute and chronic disease in their severest forms. Secretions have been changed, the structure
has been renewed, shortened limbs have been elongated, ankylosed joints have
been made supple, and carious bones have been restored to healthy
conditions. I have restored what is
called the lost substance of lungs, and healthy organizations have been
established where disease was organic.
Christian Science heals organic disease as surely as it heals what is
called functional, for it requires only a fuller understanding of the divine
Principle of Christian Science to demonstrate the higher rule.
308:14‑6
The Soul‑inspired patriarchs heard the voice
of Truth, and talked with God as consciously as man talks with man.
Jacob was alone,
wrestling with error,‑‑struggling with a mortal sense of life, substance, and
intelligence as existent in matter with its false pleasures and pains,‑‑when an
angel, a message from Truth and Love, appeared to him and smote the sinew, or
strength, of his error, till he saw its unreality; and Truth, being thereby
understood, gave him spiritual strength in this Peniel of divine Science. Then said the spiritual evangel: "Let me
go, for the day breaketh;" that is, the light of Truth and Love dawns upon
thee. But the patriarch, perceiving his
error and his need of help, did not loosen his hold upon this glorious light until
his nature was transformed. When Jacob
was asked, "What is thy name?" he straightway answered; and then his
name was changed to Israel, for "as a prince" had he prevailed and
had "power with God and with men."
Then Jacob questioned his deliverer, "Tell me, I pray thee, thy name;" but this appellation was
withheld, for the messenger was not a corporeal being, but a nameless,
incorporeal impartation of divine Love to man, which, to use the word of the
Psalmist, restored his Soul,‑‑gave
him the spiritual sense of being and rebuked his material sense.
348:26
I have never supposed the world would
immediately witness the full fruitage of Christian Science, or that sin,
disease, and death would not be believed for an indefinite time; but this I do
aver, that, as a result of teaching Christian Science, ethics and temperance
have received an impulse, health has been restored, and longevity
increased. If such are the present
fruits, what will the harvest be, when this Science is more generally understood?
352:17‑32
Children, like adults, ought to fear a reality which can harm them and which they do not
understand, for at any moment they may become its helpless victims; but instead
of increasing children's fears by declaring ghosts to be real, merciless, and
powerful, thus watering the very roots of childish timidity, children should be
assured that their fears are groundless, that ghosts are not realities, but
traditional beliefs, erroneous and man‑made.
In short, children should be told not to
believe in ghosts, because there are no such things. If belief in their reality is destroyed,
terror of ghosts will depart and health be restored. The objects of alarm will then vanish into
nothingness, no longer seeming worthy of fear or honor. To accomplish a good result, it is certainly
not irrational to tell the truth about ghosts.
398:1
Sometimes Jesus called a disease by name, as
when he said to the epileptic boy, "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge
thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him." It is added that "the spirit [error]
cried, and rent him sore and came out of him, and he was as one dead,"‑‑clear
evidence that the malady was not material.
These instances show the concessions which Jesus was willing to make to
the popular ignorance of spiritual Life‑laws.
Often he gave no name to the distemper he cured. To the synagogue ruler's daughter, whom they
called dead but of whom he said, "she is not dead, but sleepeth," he
simply said, "Damsel, I say unto thee, arise!" To the sufferer with the withered hand he
said, "Stretch forth thine hand," and it "was restored whole,
like as the other."
Silent prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s prayer.
Hymn 342
Laura Lee Randall
This is the day the Lord hath made;
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice;
Stand in His presence, unafraid,
In praise lift up your voice.
All perfect gifts are from above,
And all our blessings show
The amplitude of God's dear love
Which every heart may know.
The Lord will hear before we call,
And every need supply;
Good things are freely given to all
Who on His word rely.
We come today to bring Him praise
Not for such gifts alone,
But for the higher, deeper ways
In which His love is shown.
For sin destroyed, for sorrow healed,
For health and peace restored;
For Life and Love by Truth revealed,
We thank and bless the Lord.
This is the day the Lord hath made,
In praise lift up your voice.
In shining robes of joy arrayed,
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 168
10th Century; Richard Mant, Tr. – Adapted
Let all the earth with songs rejoice;
Let heaven return the joyful voice;
All mindful of our God's great name,
Let every man His praise proclaim.
Ye servants who once bore the light
Of Gospel truth o'er darkest night,
Still may our work that light impart,
To glad the eyes and cheer the heart.
O God, by whom to them was given
The key that shuts and opens heaven,
Our chains unbind, our loss repair,
Reveal Thy power through answered prayer.
For at Thy will they preached the Word
Which cured disease, which health conferred:
And now, that healing power once more
Our peace and health to us restore.
