Theme: Expectant
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.
Psalms 33:1‑12
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with
the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right; and all
his works are done in truth. He loveth
righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together
as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen
to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: and the people whom he hath
chosen for his own inheritance.
Psalms 96:1‑13
O sing unto the Lord a new
song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name;
shew forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be
praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the
heavens. Honour and majesty are before
him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord
glory and strength. Give unto the Lord
the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:
fear before him, all the earth. Say
among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established
that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be
glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is
therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the Lord: for he
cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with his truth.
Proverbs
3:9‑18
Honour the Lord with thy
substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns
be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. #My son, despise not the chastening of the
Lord; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the Lord loveth he
correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. #Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and
the man that getteth understanding. For
the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain
thereof than fine gold. She is more
precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be
compared unto her. Length of days is in
her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all
her paths are peace. She is a tree of
life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
Isaiah 42:8‑12
I am the Lord: that is my
name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven
images. Behold, the former things are
come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you
of them. #Sing unto the Lord a new song,
and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all
that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof
lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants
of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and
declare his praise in the islands.
Jeremiah 29:8‑14 thus (to ;)
thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of
Israel; Let not your prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you,
deceive you, neither hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For they prophesy falsely unto you in my
name: I have not sent them, saith the Lord.
#For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at
Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you
to return to this place. For I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of
evil, to give you an expected end. Then
shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken
unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find
me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord:
and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the
nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord;
Mark 16:15‑18 he
he said unto them, Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be
saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that
believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new
tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it
shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Acts 2:21‑28 it
it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of
God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the
midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the
determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the
pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of
it. For David speaketh concerning him, I
foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I
should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad;
moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul
in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life;
thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
II Corinthians 5:16‑20
henceforth
henceforth know we no man
after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now
henceforth know we him no more.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new.
And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus
Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye
reconciled to God.
Ephesians 4:22‑24 put
put off concerning the former
conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
II Timothy 2:19 the (to 1st
.)
the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
vii:13‑26
The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time‑honored
systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.
Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism
are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is
no longer the stepping‑stone to faith.
The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to
know aright is Life eternal. Though
empires fall, "the Lord shall reign forever."
A book introduces new thoughts, but it cannot
make them speedily understood. It is the
task of the sturdy pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer has
accomplished.
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.
55:15‑29
Truth's immortal idea is sweeping down the
centuries, gathering beneath its wings the sick and sinning. My weary hope tries to realize that happy
day, when man shall recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as
himself,‑‑when he shall realize God's omnipotence and the healing power of the
divine Love in what it has done and is doing for mankind. The promises will be fulfilled. The time for the reappearing of the divine
healing is throughout all time; and whosoever layeth his earthly all on the
altar of divine Science, drinketh of Christ's cup now, and is endued with the
spirit and power of Christian healing.
In the words of St. John: "He shall give
you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever." This
Comforter I understand to be Divine Science.
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 corpo‑reality
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.
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.
264:13
As mortals gain more correct views of God and
man, multitudinous objects of creation, which before were invisible, will
become visible. When we realize that
Life is Spirit, never in nor of matter, this understanding will expand into
self‑completeness, finding all in God, good, and needing no other
consciousness.
276:12
The realization that all inharmony is unreal
brings objects and thoughts into human view in their true light, and presents
them as beautiful and immortal. Harmony
in man is as real and immortal as in music.
Discord is unreal and mortal.
306:13‑29
If Life or Soul and its representative, man,
unite for a period and then are separated as by a law of divorce to be brought
together again at some uncertain future time and in a manner unknown,‑‑and this
is the general religious opinion of mankind,‑‑we are left without a rational
proof of immortality. But man cannot be
separated for an instant from God, if man reflects God. Thus Science proves man's existence to be
intact.
The myriad forms of mortal thought, made
manifest as matter, are not more distinct nor real to the material senses than
are the Soul‑created forms to spiritual sense, which cognizes Life as
permanent. Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses,
Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious,
divine Principle, ‑‑is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and
eternal.
409:20‑3
The real man is spiritual and
immortal, but the mortal and imperfect so‑called "children of men"
are counterfeits from the beginning, to be laid aside for the pure
reality. This mortal is put off, and the
new man or real man is put on, in proportion as mortals realize the Science of
man and seek the true model.
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.
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.
458:32
Christianity causes men to turn naturally
from matter to Spirit, as the flower turns from darkness to light. Man then appropriates those things which
"eye hath not seen nor ear heard."
Paul and John had a clear apprehension that, as mortal man achieves no
worldly honors except by sacrifice, so he must gain heavenly riches by
forsaking all worldliness. Then he will
have nothing in common with the worldling's affections, motives, and aims. Judge not the future advancement of Christian
Science by the steps already taken, lest you yourself be condemned for failing
to take the first step.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
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.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 2
Author Unknown
A glorious day is dawning,
And o'er the waking earth
The heralds of the morning
Are springing into birth.
In dark and hidden places
There shines the blessed light;
The beam of Truth displaces
The darkness of the night.
The advocates of error
Foresee the glorious morn,
And hear in shrinking terror,
The watchword of reform:
It rings from hill and valley,
It breaks oppression's chain.
A thousand freemen rally,
And swell the mighty strain.
The watchword has been spoken,
The light has broken forth,
Far shines the blessed token
Upon the startled earth.
To hearts and homes benighted
The blessed Truth is given,
And peace and love, united,
Point upward unto heaven.
