Theme: New
Hymn 218
Samuel Longfellow
O Life that maketh all things new,
The
blooming earth, the thoughts of men;
Our pilgrim feet, wet with Thy dew,
In gladness hither turn again.
From hand to hand the greeting flows,
From eye to eye the signals run,
From heart to heart the bright hope glows,
The seekers of the Light are one:
One in the freedom of the truth,
One in the joy of paths untrod,
One in the heart's perennial youth,
One in the larger thought of God;‑‑
The freer step, the fuller breath,
The wide horizon's grander view;
The sense of Life that knows no death,‑‑
The Life that maketh all things new.
Readings from the Bible
Psalms 33:1‑12,20,22
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.
Our soul waiteth for the
Lord: he is our help and our shield.
Let thy mercy, O Lord, be
upon us, according as we hope in thee.
Psalms 40:1‑11,13,16
I waited patiently for the
Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit,
out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my
goings. And he hath put a new song in my
mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust
in the Lord. Blessed is that man that
maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside
to lies. Many, O Lord my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us‑ward:
they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of
them, they are more than can be numbered.
Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou
opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the
book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is
within my heart. I have preached
righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O
Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy
righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy
salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great
congregation. Withhold not thou thy
tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth
continually preserve me.
Be pleased, O Lord, to
deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.
Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually,
The Lord be magnified.
Proverbs 3:1‑26
My son, forget not my law;
but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life,
and peace, shall they add to thee. Let
not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the
table of thine heart: So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the
sight of God and man. #Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths. #Be not wise in thine
own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 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. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the
earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. By his knowledge the depths are broken up,
and the clouds drop down the dew. #My
son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion: So
shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and
thy foot shall not stumble. When thou
liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep
shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden
fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and
shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Lamentations 3:22‑26
It is of the Lord's mercies
that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy
faithfulness. The Lord is my portion,
saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh
him. It is good that a man should both
hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Ephesians 4:17,18,20‑24
This I say therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the
vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their heart:
But ye have not so learned
Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the
truth is in Jesus: That ye 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.
Colossians 3:9,10,12‑17
Lie not one to another,
seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new
man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Put on therefore, as the
elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of
mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one
another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so
also do ye. And above all these things
put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,
to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Revelation 21:1‑7
And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there
was no more sea. And I John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life
freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
91:1‑8
The Revelator tells us of "a new heaven
and a new earth." Have you ever
pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of
supreme wisdom?
Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man
is separated from God, and obey only the divine Principle, Life and Love. Here is the great point of departure for all
true spiritual growth.
108:19‑27 np
When apparently near the confines of mortal
existence, standing already within the shadow of the death‑valley, I learned
these truths in divine Science: that all real being is in God, the divine Mind,
and that Life, Truth, and Love are all‑powerful and ever‑present; that the
opposite of Truth,‑‑called error, sin, sickness, disease, death,‑‑is the false
testimony of false material sense, of mind in matter; that this false sense
evolves, in belief, a subjective state of mortal mind which this same so‑called
mind names matter, thereby shutting out the true sense of Spirit.
My discovery, that erring, mortal, misnamed mind produces all the organism and
action of the mortal body, set my thoughts to work in new channels, and led up
to my demonstration of the proposition that Mind is All and matter is naught as
the leading factor in Mind‑science.
Christian Science reveals incontrovertibly
that Mind is All‑in‑all, that the only realities are the divine Mind and
idea. This great fact is not, however,
seen to be supported by sensible evidence, until its divine Principle is
demonstrated by healing the sick and thus proved absolute and divine. This proof once seen, no other conclusion can
be reached.
For three years after my discovery, I sought
the solution of this problem of Mind‑healing, searched the Scriptures and read
little else, kept aloof from society, and devoted time and energies to
discovering a positive rule. The search
was sweet, calm, and buoyant with hope, not selfish nor depressing. I knew the Principle of all harmonious Mind‑action
to be God, and that cures were produced in primitive Christian healing by holy,
uplifting faith; but I must know the Science of this healing, and I won my way
to absolute conclusions through divine revelation, reason, and demonstration. The revelation of Truth in the understanding
came to me gradually and apparently through divine power. When a new spiritual idea is borne to earth,
the prophetic Scripture of Isaiah is renewedly fulfilled: "Unto us a child
is born, . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful."
191:8‑20
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.
The human thought must free itself from self‑imposed
materiality and bondage. It should no
longer ask of the head, heart, or lungs: What are man's prospects for
life? Mind is not helpless. Intelligence is not mute before non‑intelligence.
201:7‑19
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.
263:20
There can be but one creator, who has created
all. Whatever seems to be a new
creation, is but the discovery of some distant idea of Truth; else it is a new
multiplication or self‑division of mortal thought, as when some finite sense
peers from its cloister with amazement and attempts to pattern the
infinite.
276:17
If God is admitted to be the only Mind and
Life, there ceases to be any opportunity for sin and death. When we learn in Science how to be perfect
even as our Father in heaven is perfect, thought is turned into new and healthy
channels,‑‑towards the contemplation of things immortal and away from
materiality to the Principle of the universe, including harmonious man.
323:28
The effects of Christian Science are not so
much seen as felt. It is the
"still, small voice" of Truth uttering itself. We are either turning away from this
utterance, or we are listening to it and going up higher. Willingness to become as a little child and
to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced
idea. Gladness to leave the false
landmarks and joy to see them disappear,‑‑this disposition helps to precipitate
the ultimate harmony. The purification
of sense and self is a proof of progress.
"Blessed are the pure in heart:
for they shall see God."
354:18
Consistency is seen in example more than in
precept. Inconsistency is shown by words
without deeds, which are like clouds without rain. If our words fail to express our deeds, God
will redeem that weakness, and out of the mouth of babes He will perfect
praise. The night of materiality is far
spent, and with the dawn Truth will waken men spiritually to hear and to speak
the new tongue.
409:16
The so‑called conscious mortal mind is
believed to be superior to its unconscious substratum, matter, and the stronger
never yields to the weaker, except through fear or choice. The animate should be governed by God alone. 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.
535:29
In the first chapter of Genesis we read:
"And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the
waters called He Seas." In the
Apocalypse it is written: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away; and there was no more sea."
In St. John's vision, heaven and
earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea, as a symbol of tempest‑tossed
human concepts advancing and receding, is represented as having passed away. The divine understanding reigns, is all, and there is no other
consciousness.
548:9
How little light or heat reach our earth when
clouds cover the sun's face! So
Christian Science can be seen only as the clouds of corporeal sense roll away. Earth has little light or joy for mortals
before Life is spiritually learned.
Every agony of mortal error helps error to destroy error, and so aids
the apprehension of immortal Truth. This
is the new birth going on hourly, by which men may entertain angels, the true
ideas of God, the spiritual sense of being.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 392
Laura C. Nourse
With love and peace and joy supreme
We hail the new appearing;
From out the darkness and the dream,
The haven of rest is nearing.
With gifts of healing in his wings
To light the Christ now guides us,
The heart that knows him burns and sings,
For endless joy betides us.
His touch the door of Life unseals
And bids us freely enter,
His word the heaven of heavens reveals
With Love its bound and center.
For God is all, and Christ the way;
Our meek and bold defender
Has cleft the night and lo, the day
Bursts forth in mighty splendor.
Sharing of experiences,
testimonies and remarks by members of the congretation.
Hymn 414
Katherine Hankey
I love to tell the story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and his glory,
Of Jesus and his love,
I love to tell the story
Because I know 'tis true,
It satisfies my longing
As nothing else can do.
Refrain
I love to tell the story,
It is my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and his love.
I love to tell the story,
'Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems, each time I tell it,
More wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story,
For some have never heard
The message of salvation
From God's own holy word.
[Refrain]
I love to tell the story,
For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
To hear it like the rest,
I love to tell the story,
To sing the new, new song
That is the old, old story
That I have loved so long.
[Refrain]
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