Service for Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Theme: Refreshed

 Hymn 34 
 Marion Susan Campbell

 Christ comes again with holy power,
   To lift our blinded eyes to see;
 The sick are healed, the sinner blest,
   As on that eve in Galilee.

 Once more the lonely heart is fed.
   Who dwells with Love hath perfect ease,
 Faith, hope, and joy are with us all;
   Great are companions such as these.

 The weak and thirsty are refreshed,
   Again each empty cup is filled;
 The tender Christ is here to bless,
   And all the storms of earth are stilled.

 In Truth there is no pain or death
   Nor any shades of coming night;
 The promise of our God still stands:
   At eventide it shall be light.

Readings from the Bible.

Exodus 23:10‑12 six,20,25
 six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.  Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.

#Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. 

And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

Nehemiah 2:1‑5 it,16‑18
 it came to pass in the month Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king, that wine was before him: and I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king. Now I had not been beforetime sad in his presence.  Wherefore the king said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou art not sick? this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, And said unto the king, Let the king live for ever: why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers' sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?  Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.  And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers' sepulchres, that I may build it.

And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.  #Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.  Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king's words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.

Nehemiah 4:6
So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

Nehemiah 6:1‑3,16
Now it came to pass, when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and that there was no breach left therein; (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates;) That Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.  And I sent messengers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?

And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God.

Psalms 92:1‑5,10 my,12‑15
It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.  For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.  O Lord, how great are thy works!  and thy thoughts are very deep.

 my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.  Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Acts 3:1‑9,11,12,19
Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.  And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.  And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.  And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.  Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.  And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ancle bones received strength.  And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.  And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.  #And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

#Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Romans 15:4‑7 whatsoever,13,14,30‑32
 whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.

Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; That I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; That I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed.

II Timothy 2:1‑7 my
 my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.  And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.  The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.  Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. 

Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

24:11‑15
  He to whom "the arm of the Lord" is revealed will believe our report, and rise into newness of life with regeneration.  This is having part in the atonement; this is the understanding, in which Jesus suffered and triumphed.

32:20
  The true sense is spiritually lost, if the sacrament is confined to the use of bread and wine.  The disciples had eaten, yet Jesus prayed and gave them bread.  This would have been foolish in a literal sense; but in its spiritual signification, it was natural and beautiful.  Jesus prayed; he withdrew from the material senses to refresh his heart with brighter, with spiritual views. 

35:19‑25
  Our baptism is a purification from all error.  Our church is built on the divine Principle, Love.  We can unite with this church only as we are new‑born of Spirit, as we reach the Life which is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth the fruits of Love,‑‑casting out error and healing the sick.

138:14‑26
The supremacy of Spirit was the foundation on which Jesus built.  His sublime summary points to the religion of Love. 
  Jesus established in the Christian era the precedent for all Christianity, theology, and healing.  Christians are under as direct orders now, as they were then, to be Christlike, to possess the Christ‑spirit, to follow the Christ‑example, and to heal the sick as well as the sinning.  It is easier for Christianity to cast out sickness than sin, for the sick are more willing to part with pain than are sinners to give up the sinful, so‑called pleasure of the senses.  The Christian can prove this to‑day as readily as it was proved centuries ago. 

201:1‑19
  The best sermon ever preached is Truth practised and demonstrated by the destruction of sin, sickness, and death.  Knowing this and knowing too that one affection would be supreme in us and take the lead in our lives, Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters."
  We cannot build safely on false foundations.  Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away and "all things are become new."  Passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabundance of being is on the side of God, good. 
  We cannot fill vessels already full.  They must first be emptied. Let us disrobe error.  Then, when the winds of God blow, we shall not hug our tatters close about us. 
  The way to extract error from mortal mind is to pour in truth through flood‑tides of Love.  Christian perfection is won on no other basis. 

226:14
  God has built a higher platform of human rights, and He has built it on diviner claims.  These claims are not made through code or creed, but in demonstration of "on earth peace, good‑will toward men." Human codes, scholastic theology, material medicine and hygiene, fetter faith and spiritual understanding.  Divine Science rends asunder these fetters, and man's birthright of sole allegiance to his Maker asserts itself. 

241:19‑30
  The substance of all devotion is the reflection and demonstration of divine Love, healing sickness and destroying sin.  Our Master said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
  One's aim, a point beyond faith, should be to find the footsteps of Truth, the way to health and holiness.  We should strive to reach the Horeb height where God is revealed; and the corner‑stone of all spiritual building is purity.  The baptism of Spirit, washing the body of all the impurities of flesh, signifies that the pure in heart see God and are approaching spiritual Life and its demonstration. 

249:1‑10
  Let us accept Science, relinquish all theories based on sense‑testimony, give up imperfect models and illusive ideals; and so let us have one God, one Mind, and that one perfect, producing His own models of excellence. 
  Let the "male and female" of God's creating appear.  Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy.  Let us rejoice that we are subject to the divine "powers that be." Such is the true Science of being.

288:9
  Superstition and understanding can never combine.  When the final physical and moral effects of Christian Science are fully apprehended, the conflict between truth and error, understanding and belief, Science and material sense, foreshadowed by the prophets and inaugurated by Jesus, will cease, and spiritual harmony reign.  The lightnings and thunderbolts of error may burst and flash till the cloud is cleared and the tumult dies away in the distance.  Then the raindrops of divinity refresh the earth.  As St. Paul says: "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God" (of Spirit). 

387:3
  Because mortal mind is kept active, must it pay the penalty in a softened brain?  Who dares to say that actual Mind can be overworked?  When we reach our limits of mental endurance, we conclude that intellectual labor has been carried sufficiently far; but when we realize that immortal Mind is ever active, and that spiritual energies can neither wear out nor can so‑called material law trespass upon God‑given powers and resources, we are able to rest in Truth, refreshed by the assurances of immortality, opposed to mortality. 

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. 

454:4
  Teach your students the omnipotence of Truth, which illustrates the impotence of error.  The understanding, even in a degree, of the divine All‑power destroys fear, and plants the feet in the true path, ‑‑the path which leads to the house built without hands "eternal in the heavens."  Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom.  Love is enthroned.  That evil or matter has neither intelligence nor power, is the doctrine of absolute Christian Science, and this is the great truth which strips all disguise from error. 

520:3
  Unfathomable Mind is expressed.  The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space.  That is enough!  Human language can repeat only an infinitesimal part of what exists.  The absolute ideal, man, is no more seen nor comprehended by mortals, than is his infinite Principle, Love.  Principle and its idea, man, are coexistent and eternal.  The numerals of infinity, called seven days, can never be reckoned according to the calendar of time.  These days will appear as mortality disappears, and they will reveal eternity, newness of Life, in which all sense of error forever disappears and thought accepts the divine infinite calculus. 

Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.


 Hymn 260 
 Frederick L. Hosmer – Adapted

 One thought I have, my ample creed,
   So deep it is and broad,
 And equal to my every need,‑‑
   It is the thought of God.

 Each morn unfolds His blessings new,
   I take in trust my road;
 And rising freshly to my view,
   Shines forth the thought of God.

 To this their secret strength they owed,
   The martyr's path who trod;
 The fountains of their patience flowed
   From out their thought of God.

 Be still the light upon my way,
   My pilgrim staff and rod,
 My rest by night, my strength by day,
   O blessed thought of God.

Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.


 Hymn 384  
 Hosea Ballou – Adapted

 When God is seen with men to dwell,
   And all creation makes anew,
 What tongue can half the wonders tell,
   What eye the dazzling glories view?

 Celestial streams shall gently flow,
   The wilderness shall joyful be;
 On parched ground shall lilies grow
   And gladness spring on every tree;

 The weak be strong, the fearful bold,
   The deaf shall hear, the dumb shall sing,
 The lame shall walk, the blind behold,

   And joy through all the earth shall ring.

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