Theme: Pure
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 18:1‑6,16‑26 (to ;)
I will love thee, O Lord, my
strength. The Lord is my rock, and my
fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my
buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the
Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the
floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented
me. In my distress I called upon the Lord,
and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came
before him, even into his ears.
He sent from above, he took
me, he drew me out of many waters. He
delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were
too strong for me. They prevented me in
the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the
cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed
from my God. For all his judgments were
before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me. I was also upright before him, and I kept
myself from mine iniquity. Therefore
hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the
cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man
thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;
Psalms 19:1‑3,7‑11
The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night sheweth knowledge. There is no
speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
The law of the Lord is
perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise
the simple. The statutes of the Lord are
right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether. More to be desired are they
than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the
honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy
servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
Psalms 24:1‑5
The earth is the Lord's, and
the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and
established it upon the floods. Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands, and a
pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully. He shall receive the
blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psalms 119:140
Thy word is very pure:
therefore thy servant loveth it.
Proverbs 30:5
Every word of God is pure: he
is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Matthew 5:1‑12 seeing
seeing the multitudes, he
went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And
he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit
the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall
obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in
heart: for they shall see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you,
and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my
sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad:
for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which
were before you.
Philippians 4:4‑9
Rejoice in the Lord alway:
and again I say, Rejoice. Let your
moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto
God. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good
report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these
things. Those things, which ye have both
learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace
shall be with you.
Hebrews 10:22‑24
Let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one
another to provoke unto love and to good works:
James 3:11‑13,16‑18 where
Doth a fountain send forth at
the same place sweet water and bitter?
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs?
so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge
among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of
wisdom.
where envying and strife is,
there is confusion and every evil work.
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality,
and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.
I Peter 1:22‑25
Seeing ye have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which
liveth and abideth for ever. For all
flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass
withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord
endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto
you.
I John 3:1‑3
Behold, what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:
therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him
purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
29:20‑32
The illumination of Mary's spiritual sense
put to silence material law and its order of generation, and brought forth her
child by the revelation of Truth, demonstrating God as the Father of men. The Holy Ghost, or divine Spirit,
overshadowed the pure sense of the Virgin‑mother with the full recognition that
being is Spirit. The Christ dwelt
forever an idea in the bosom of God, the divine Principle of the man Jesus, and
woman perceived this spiritual idea, though at first faintly developed.
Man as the offspring of God, as the idea of
Spirit, is the immortal evidence that Spirit is harmonious and man eternal.
53:25‑7
Jesus bore our sins in his body. He knew the mortal errors which constitute
the material body, and could destroy those errors; but at the time when Jesus
felt our infirmities, he had not conquered all the beliefs of the flesh or his
sense of material life, nor had he risen to his final demonstration of
spiritual power.
Had he shared the sinful beliefs of others,
he would have been less sensitive to those beliefs. Through the magnitude of his human life, he
demonstrated the divine Life. Out of the
amplitude of his pure affection, he defined Love. With the affluence of Truth, he vanquished
error. The world acknowledged not his
righteousness, seeing it not; but earth received the harmony his glorified
example introduced.
63:5
In Science man is the offspring of
Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure
constitute his ancestry. His origin is
not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material
conditions prior to reaching intelligence.
Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father,
and Life is the law of his being.
171:4‑16
Through discernment of the spiritual opposite
of materiality, even the way through Christ, Truth, man will reopen with the
key of divine Science the gates of Paradise which human beliefs have closed,
and will find himself unfallen, upright, pure, and free, not needing to consult
almanacs for the probabilities either of his life or of the weather, not
needing to study brainology to learn how much of a man he is.
Mind's control over the universe, including
man, is no longer an open question, but is demonstrable Science. Jesus illustrated the divine Principle and
the power of immortal Mind by healing sickness and sin and destroying the
foundations of death.
241:23
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.
259:26
Immortal ideas, pure,
perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine
Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine
concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results.
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."
337:14 Christian
Christian Science
demonstrates that none but the pure in heart can see God, as the gospel
teaches. In proportion to his purity is
man perfect; and perfection is the order of celestial being which demonstrates
Life in Christ, Life's spiritual ideal.
383:3
We need a clean body and a clean mind,‑‑a
body rendered pure by Mind as well as washed by water. One says: "I take good care of my
body." To do this, the pure and exalting influence of the divine Mind on
the body is requisite, and the Christian Scientist takes the best care of his
body when he leaves it most out of his thought, and, like the Apostle Paul, is
"willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord."
467:1‑16
Question.‑‑What
are the demands of the Science of Soul?
Answer.‑‑The
first demand of this Science is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before
me." This me is Spirit. Therefore the
command means this: Thou shalt have no
intelligence, no life, no substance, no truth, no love, but that which is
spiritual. The second is like unto it,
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." It should be thoroughly
understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and
Love. Mankind will become perfect in
proportion as this fact becomes apparent, war will cease and the true
brotherhood of man will be established.
Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to
guide him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, having that Mind which
was also in Christ.
476:28
When speaking of God's children, not the
children of men, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you;" that
is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is
unfallen and eternal. Jesus beheld in
Science the perfect man, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears
to mortals. In this perfect man the
Saviour saw God's own likeness, and this correct view of man healed the
sick. Thus Jesus taught that the kingdom
of God is intact, universal, and that man is pure and holy. Man is not a material habitation for Soul; he
is himself spiritual. Soul, being
Spirit, is seen in nothing imperfect nor material.
497:24 And
And we solemnly promise to
watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do
unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and
pure.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 61
Satisfied – Mary Baker Eddy
It matters not what be thy lot,
So Love doth guide;
For storm or shine, pure peace is thine,
Whate'er betide.
And of these stones, or tyrants' thrones,
God able is
To raise up seed‑‑in thought and deed‑‑
To faithful His.
Aye, darkling sense, arise, go hence!
Our God is good.
False fears are foes‑‑truth tatters those,
When understood.
Love looseth thee, and lifteth me,
Ayont hate's thrall:
There Life is light, and wisdom might,
And God is All.
The centuries break, the earth‑bound wake,
God's glorified!
Who doth His will‑‑His likeness still‑‑
Is satisfied.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 269
Frederic W. Root
Our God is Love, unchanging Love,
And can we ask for more?
Our prayer for Love's increase is vain;
'Twas infinite before.
Ask not the Lord with breath of praise
For more than we accept;
The open fount is free to all,
God's promises are kept.
Our God is Mind, the perfect Mind,
Intelligence divine;
Shall mortal man ask Him to change
His infinite design?
The heart that yearns for righteousness,
With longing unalloyed,
In such desire sends up a prayer
That ne'er returneth void.
O loving Father, well we know
That words alone are vain,
That those who seek Thy will to do,
The true communion gain.
Then may our deeds our pure desire
For growth in grace express,
That we may know how Love divine
Forever waits to bless.
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