Theme: Willing
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
Exodus 35:4‑29 Moses
Moses spake unto all the congregation of the
children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying,
Take ye from among you an offering unto the Lord: whosoever is of a willing
heart, let him bring it, an offering of the Lord; gold, and silver, and brass,
And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair, And rams'
skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, And oil for the light,
and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense, And onyx stones, and
stones to be set for the ephod, and for the breastplate. And every wise hearted among you shall come,
and make all that the Lord hath commanded; The tabernacle, his tent, and his
covering, his taches, and his boards, his bars, his pillars, and his sockets,
The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the
covering, The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the shewbread,
The candlestick also for the light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the
oil for the light, And the incense altar, and his staves, and the anointing
oil, and the sweet incense, and the hanging for the door at the entering in of
the tabernacle, The altar of burnt offering, with his brasen grate, his staves,
and all his vessels, the laver and his foot, The hangings of the court, his
pillars, and their sockets, and the hanging for the door of the court, The pins
of the tabernacle, and the pins of the court, and their cords, The cloths of
service, to do service in the holy place, the holy garments for Aaron the
priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office.
#And all the congregation of the children of
Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom
his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord's offering to the work of
the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all his service, and for the holy
garments. And they came, both men and
women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings,
and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered offered
an offering of gold unto the Lord. And
every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,
and goats' hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers' skins, brought them. Every one that did offer an offering of
silver and brass brought the Lord's offering: and every man, with whom was
found shittim wood for any work of the service, brought it. And all the women that were wise hearted did
spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and
of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.
And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats'
hair. And the rulers brought onyx
stones, and stones to be set, for the ephod, and for the breastplate; And
spice, and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the sweet
incense. The children of Israel brought
a willing offering unto the Lord, every man and woman, whose heart made them
willing to bring for all manner of work, which the Lord had commanded to be
made by the hand of Moses.
I Chronicles 28:9 know
know thou the God of thy father, and serve him
with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all
hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek
him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off
for ever.
Isaiah 1:10,16‑19
#Hear the word of the Lord,
ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of
Gomorrah.
#Wash you, make you clean;
put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn
to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead
for the widow. Come now, and let us
reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat
the good of the land:
Matthew 26:36‑41
#Then cometh Jesus with them
unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here,
while I go and pray yonder. And he took
with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very
heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his
face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass
from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth
them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one
hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not
into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
II Corinthians 5:1‑8 we
we know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. For in
this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is
from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan,
being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that
mortality might be swallowed up of life.
Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath
given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.
Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home
in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to
be present with the Lord.
II Corinthians 8:7‑14 as
as ye abound in every thing,
in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love
to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of
others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye
through his poverty might be rich. And
herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before,
not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. Now therefore perform the doing of it; that
as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of
that which ye have. For if there be
first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not
according to that he hath not. For I
mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened: But by an equality, that now
at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their
abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:
I Timothy 6:12‑19
Fight the good fight of
faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast
professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who
quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate
witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot,
unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times
he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and
Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man
can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and
power everlasting. Amen. Charge them
that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in
uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to
enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute,
willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation
against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
II Peter 3:1‑13
This second epistle, beloved,
I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of
remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by
the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and
Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming?
for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the
beginning of the creation. For this they
willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and
the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that
then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth,
which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against
the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one
thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years
as one day. The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us‑ward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and
the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of
persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise,
look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
11:21
Petitions bring to mortals only the results
of mortals' own faith. We know that a
desire for holiness is requisite in order to gain holiness; but if we desire
holiness above all else, we shall sacrifice everything for it. We must be willing to do this, that we may
walk securely in the only practical road to holiness. Prayer cannot change the unalterable Truth,
nor can prayer alone give us an understanding of Truth; but prayer, coupled
with a fervent habitual desire to know and do the will of God, will bring us
into all Truth. Such a desire has little
need of audible expression. It is best
expressed in thought and in life.
33:18‑5
When the human element in him struggled with
the divine, our great Teacher said: "Not my will, but Thine, be
done!"‑‑that is, Let not the flesh, but the Spirit, be represented in
me. This is the new understanding of
spiritual Love. It gives all for Christ,
or Truth. It blesses its enemies, heals
the sick, casts out error, raises the dead from trespasses and sins, and
preaches the gospel to the poor, the meek in heart.
Christians, are you drinking his cup? Have you shared the blood of the New
Covenant, the persecutions which attend a new and higher understanding of
God? If not, can you then say that you
have commemorated Jesus in his cup? Are
all who eat bread and drink wine in memory of Jesus willing truly to drink his
cup, take his cross, and leave all for the Christ‑principle? Then why ascribe this inspiration to a dead
rite, instead of showing, by casting out error and making the body "holy,
acceptable unto God," that Truth has come to the understanding?
216:28
When you say, "Man's body is
material," I say with Paul: Be
"willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord." Give up your material belief
of mind in matter, and have but one Mind, even God; for this Mind forms its own
likeness. The loss of man's identity
through the understanding which Science confers is impossible; and the notion
of such a possibility is more absurd than to conclude that individual musical
tones are lost in the origin of harmony.
271:20‑5
Our Master said, "But the Comforter . .
. shall teach you all things." When
the Science of Christianity appears, it will lead you into all truth. The Sermon on the Mount is the essence of
this Science, and the eternal life, not the death of Jesus, is its
outcome.
Those, who are willing to leave their nets or
to cast them on the right side for Truth, have the opportunity now, as
aforetime, to learn and to practise Christian healing. The Scriptures contain it. The spiritual import of the Word imparts this
power. But, as Paul says, "How
shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be
sent?" If sent, how shall they
preach, convert, and heal multitudes, except the people hear?
The spiritual sense of truth must be gained
before Truth can be understood. This
sense is assimilated only as we are honest, unselfish, loving, and meek.
369:14
We never read that Luke or Paul made a
reality of disease in order to discover some means of healing it. Jesus never asked if disease were acute or
chronic, and he never recommended attention to laws of health, never gave
drugs, never prayed to know if God were willing that a man should live. He understood man, whose Life is God, to be
immortal, and knew that man has not two lives, one to be destroyed and the
other to be made indestructible.
380:32
Every law of matter or the body, supposed to
govern man, is rendered null and void by the law of Life, God. Ignorant of our God‑given rights, we submit
to unjust decrees, and the bias of education enforces this slavery. Be no more willing to suffer the illusion
that you are sick or that some disease is developing in the system, than you
are to yield to a sinful temptation on the ground that sin has its
necessities.
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."
570:26‑14
When God heals the sick or the sinning, they
should know the great benefit which Mind has wrought. They should also know the great delusion of
mortal mind, when it makes them sick or sinful.
Many are willing to open the eyes of the people to the power of good
resident in divine Mind, but they are not so willing to point out the evil in
human thought, and expose evil's hidden mental ways of accomplishing
iniquity.
Why this backwardness, since exposure is
necessary to ensure the avoidance of the evil?
Because people like you better when you tell them their virtues than
when you tell them their vices. It re‑quires
the spirit of our blessed Master to tell a man his faults, and so risk human
displeasure for the sake of doing right and benefiting our race. Who is telling mankind of the foe in
ambush? Is the informer one who sees the
foe? If so, listen and be wise. Escape from evil, and designate those as
unfaithful stewards who have seen the danger and yet have given no
warning.
581:23‑26 (to ))
BAPTISM.
Purification by Spirit; submergence in Spirit.
We are "willing rather to be absent from
the body, and to be present with the Lord." (II Corinthians v. 8.)
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 311
Robert Ellis Key
So brightly burns Love's holy glow,
So constant shines its light,
That none can claim he doth not know
The pathway through the night,
For see, 'tis lit by Love divine
To trace for us His wise design.
The lambs who wander by the way,
He taketh in His arm;
For in the darkness they did stray
Unconscious of their harm:
So cometh He to all who roam,
To lead them safely, surely home.
To God then praises let us sing
With glad and willing mind
For all the gifts His hand doth bring
To us and all mankind:
Forever doth His gift of love
Pour warmth and radiance from above.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 388
James Montgomery – Adapted
When like a stranger on our sphere
The lowly Jesus sojourned here,
Where'er he went affliction fled,
The sick were healed, the hungry fed.
With bounding steps the halt and lame
To hail their great deliverer came;
For him the grave could hold no dread,
He spoke the word and raised the dead.
Through paths of loving‑kindness led,
Where Jesus triumphed we would tread;
To all with willing hands dispense
The gifts of our benevolence.
