Service for Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2014

Theme: Whole

 Hymn 12
 Violet Hay 

 Arise ye people, take your stand,
 Cast out your idols from the land,
 Above all doctrine, form or creed
 Is found the Truth that meets your need.
 Christ's promise stands: they that believe
 His works shall do, his power receive.

 Go forward then, and as ye preach
 So let your works confirm your speech,
 And prove to all with following sign
 The Word of God is power divine.
 In love and healing ministry
 Show forth the Truth that makes men free.

 O Father‑Mother God, whose plan
 Hath given dominion unto man,
 In Thine own image we may see
 Man pure and upright, whole and free.
 And ever through our work shall shine
 That light whose glory, Lord, is Thine.

Readings from the Bible

Psalms 9:1‑11
I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.  I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.  When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.  For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.  Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.  O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.  But the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.  And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.  The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.  And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.  Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

Psalms 119:1‑16,33‑40,57‑60
Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.  Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.  They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.  Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.  O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!  Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.  I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.  I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly. 

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.  With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.  With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.  I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.  I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.  I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. 

Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.  Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.  Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.  Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.  Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.  Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.  Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.  Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness. 

Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.  I intreated thy favour with my whole heart: be merciful unto me according to thy word.  I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.  I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.

Ecclesiastes 12:13
#Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Jeremiah 24:5‑7
Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.  For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.  And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Jeremiah 32:37‑41
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.  Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

Matthew 6:19‑33
#Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!  #No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.  Are ye not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 9:20‑22
#And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.  But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Ephesians 6:1‑17
Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.  Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men: Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.  And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

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

14:25
  Entirely separate from the belief and dream of material living, is the Life divine, revealing spiritual understanding and the consciousness of man's dominion over the whole earth.  This understanding casts out error and heals the sick, and with it you can speak "as one having authority."

103:6‑17
  The destruction of the claims of mortal mind through Science, by which man can escape from sin and mortality, blesses the whole human family.  As in the beginning, however, this liberation does not scientifically show itself in a knowledge of both good and evil, for the latter is unreal. 
  On the other hand, Mind‑science is wholly separate from any half‑way impertinent knowledge, because Mind‑science is of God and demonstrates the divine Principle, working out the purposes of good only.  The maximum of good is the infinite God and His idea, the All‑in‑all.  Evil is a suppositional lie. 

117:29‑25
  Jesus bade his disciples beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, which he defined as human doctrines.  His parable of the "leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened," impels the inference that the spiritual leaven signifies the Science of Christ and its spiritual interpretation,‑‑an inference far above the merely ecclesiastical and formal applications of the illustration. 
  Did not this parable point a moral with a prophecy, foretelling the second appearing in the flesh of the Christ, Truth, hidden in sacred secrecy from the visible world? 
  Ages pass, but this leaven of Truth is ever at work.  It must destroy the entire mass of error, and so be eternally glorified in man's spiritual freedom. 
  In their spiritual significance, Science, Theology, and Medicine are means of divine thought, which include spiritual laws emanating from the invisible and infinite power and grace.  The parable may import that these spiritual laws, perverted by a perverse material sense of law, are metaphysically presented as three measures of meal,‑‑that is, three modes of mortal thought.  In all mortal forms of thought, dust is dignified as the natural status of men and things, and modes of material motion are honored with the name of laws.  This continues until the leaven of Spirit changes the whole of mortal thought, as yeast changes the chemical properties of meal. 

191:4‑15
  As mortals give up the delusion that there is more than one Mind, more than one God, man in God's likeness will appear, and this eternal man will include in that likeness no material element. 
  As a material, theoretical life‑basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to "where the young child was," ‑‑even to the birth of a new‑old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes.  Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error. 

219:6
  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. 

328:28‑13
  Jesus' promise is perpetual.  Had it been given only to his immediate disciples, the Scriptural passage would read you, not they.  The purpose of his great life‑work extends through time and includes universal humanity.  Its Principle is infinite, reaching beyond the pale of a single period or of a limited following.  As time moves on, the healing elements of pure Christianity will be fairly dealt with; they will be sought and taught, and will glow in all the grandeur of universal goodness. 
  A little leaven leavens the whole lump.  A little understanding of Christian Science proves the truth of all that I say of it.  Because you cannot walk on the water and raise the dead, you have no right to question the great might of divine Science in these directions.  Be thankful that Jesus, who was the true demonstrator of Science, did these things, and left his example for us.  In Science we can use only what we understand.  We must prove our faith by demonstration. 

340:4
  This text in the book of Ecclesiastes conveys the Christian Science thought, especially when the word duty, which is not in the original, is omitted: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God, and keep His commandments:  for this is the whole duty of man."  In other words:  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  love God and keep His commandments:  for this is the whole of man in His image and likeness.  Divine Love is infinite.  Therefore all that really exists is in and of God, and manifests His love. 

369:32
To be every whit whole, man must be better spiritually as well as physically.  To be immortal, we must forsake the mortal sense of things, turn from the lie of false belief to Truth, and gather the facts of being from the divine Mind.  The body improves under the same regimen which spiritualizes the thought; and if health is not made manifest under this regimen, this proves that fear is governing the body.  This is the law of cause and effect, or like producing like. 

371:27
The necessity for uplifting the race is father to the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weakness, and health instead of disease.  Truth is an alterative in the entire system, and can make it "every whit whole."

390:27


  "Agree to disagree" with approaching symptoms of chronic or acute disease, whether it is cancer, consumption, or smallpox.  Meet the incipient stages of disease with as powerful mental opposition as a legislator would employ to defeat the passage of an inhuman law.  Rise in the conscious strength of the spirit of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind, alias matter, arrayed against the supremacy of Spirit.  Blot out the images of mortal thought and its beliefs in sickness and sin.  Then, when thou art delivered to the judgment of Truth, Christ, the judge will say, "Thou art whole!"

487:25‑6
  The Apostle James said, "Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality. 
  This faith relies upon an understood Principle.  This Principle makes whole the diseased, and brings out the enduring and harmonious phases of things.  The result of our teachings is their sufficient confirmation.  When, on the strength of these instructions, you are able to banish a severe malady, the cure shows that you understand this teaching, and therefore you receive the blessing of Truth. 

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


 Hymn 153 
 Luke I:46 – Maria Louise Baum

 In Thee, my God and Saviour,
   Forevermore the same,
 My spirit hath rejoicing,
   For holy is Thy name.
 My soul doth magnify the Lord,
   Sing all in glad accord!
 Praise Him who lifts the lowly,
   For faithful is His word.
 I magnify and bless Thee,
   For faithful is Thy word.

 Thou who alone art mighty
   Hast done to me great things,
 Remembrance of Thy mercy
   Sure help to Israel brings.
 Thy power, O Lord, will I extol,
   Who hast redeemed my soul;
 I praise Thee, Lord, with gladness,
   For Thou hast made me whole.
 I magnify and bless Thee,
   For Thou hast made me whole.

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


 Hymn 374
 John Randall Dunn 

 We thank Thee and we bless Thee,
   O Father of us all,
 That e'en before we ask Thee
   Thou hear'st Thy children's call.
 We praise Thee for Thy goodness
   And tender, constant care,
 We thank Thee, Father‑Mother,
   That Thou hast heard our prayer.

 We thank Thee and we bless Thee,
   O Lord of all above,
 That now Thy children know Thee
   As everlasting Love.
 And Love is not the author
   Of discord, pain and fear;
 O Love divine, we thank Thee
   That good alone is here.

 We thank Thee, Father‑Mother,
   For blessings, light and grace
 Which bid mankind to waken
   And see Thee face to face.
 We thank Thee, when in anguish
   We turn from sense to Soul,
 That we may hear Thee calling:

   Rejoice, for thou art whole.

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