Theme: Rejoice
Hymn 10
Frederic W. Root – Based on hymn by Martin
Luther
All power is given unto our Lord,
On Him we place reliance;
With truth from out His sacred word
We bid our foes defiance.
With Him we shall prevail,
Whatever may assail;
He is our shield and tower,
Almighty is His power;
His kingdom is forever.
Rejoice, ye people, praise His name,
His care doth e'er surround us.
His love to error's thralldom came,
And from its chains unbound us.
Our Lord is God alone,
No other power we own;
No
other voice we heed,
No other help we need;
His kingdom is forever.
O then give thanks to God on high,
Who life to all is giving;
The hosts of death before Him fly,
In Him we all are living.
Then let us know no fear,
Our King is ever near;
Our stay and fortress strong,
Our strength, our hope, our song;
His kingdom is forever.
Readings from the Bible.
Deuteronomy
12:1,7‑12 2nd ye shall (to ;),18 and thou
These are the statutes and
judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy
fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the
earth.
ye shall rejoice in all that
ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath
blessed thee. Ye shall not do after all
the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own
eyes. For ye are not as yet come to the
rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God giveth you. But when ye go over Jordan, and dwell in the
land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit, and when he giveth you rest
from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety; Then there shall
be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell
there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you; your burnt offerings, and
your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand, and all your
choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord: And ye shall rejoice before the Lord
your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your menservants, and your
maidservants, and the Levite that is within your gates;
and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God
in all that thou puttest thine hands unto.
I Chronicles 16:8‑12,31‑34
Give thanks unto the Lord,
call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye
of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in
his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face
continually. Remember his marvellous
works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth;
Let the heavens be glad, and
let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The Lord
reigneth. Let the sea roar, and the
fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at
the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good;
for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 5:11 let
let all those that put their trust in thee
rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them
also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
Psalms 9:1,2
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.
Psalms 32:11
Be glad in the Lord, and
rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
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. For
our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according
as we hope in thee.
Psalms 40:16
Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually,
The Lord be magnified.
Psalms 70:4
Let all those that seek thee
rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say
continually, Let God be magnified.
Psalms 96:1‑13
O sing unto the Lord a new
song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name;
shew forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great, and greatly to be
praised: he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the
heavens. Honour and majesty are before
him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord
glory and strength. Give unto the Lord
the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:
fear before him, all the earth. Say
among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established
that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be
glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is
therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice Before the Lord: for he
cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with his truth.
Psalms 97:1,12
The Lord reigneth; let the
earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
Rejoice in the Lord, ye
righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
Romans 5:1,2
Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we
have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of
the glory of God.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
14:31‑32 np
"When thou prayest, enter into thy
closet, and, when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."
So spake Jesus. The closet typifies the sanctuary of Spirit,
the door of which shuts out sinful sense but lets in Truth, Life, and
Love. Closed to error, it is open to
Truth, and vice versa. The Father in secret is unseen to the
physical senses, but He knows all things and rewards according to motives, not
according to speech. To enter into the
heart of prayer, the door of the erring senses must be closed. Lips must be mute and materialism silent,
that man may have audience with Spirit, the divine Principle, Love, which
destroys all error.
In order to pray aright, we must enter into
the closet and shut the door. We must
close the lips and silence the material senses.
In the quiet sanctuary of earnest longings, we must deny sin and plead
God's allness. We must resolve to take
up the cross, and go forth with honest hearts to work and watch for wisdom,
Truth, and Love. We must "pray
without ceasing." Such prayer is
answered, in so far as we put our desires into practice. The Master's injunction is, that we pray in
secret and let our lives attest our sincerity.
Christians rejoice in secret beauty and
bounty, hidden from the world, but known to God. Self‑forgetfulness, purity, and affection are
constant prayers. Practice not
profession, understanding not belief, gain the ear and right hand of
omnipotence and they assuredly call down infinite blessings. Trustworthiness is the foundation of
enlightened faith. Without a fitness for
holiness, we cannot receive holiness.
22:23
Final deliverance from error, whereby we
rejoice in immortality, boundless freedom, and sinless sense, is not reached
through paths of flowers nor by pinning one's faith without works to another's
vicarious effort. Whosoever believeth
that wrath is righteous or that divinity is appeased by human suffering, does
not understand God.
28:32
There is too much animal courage in society
and not sufficient moral courage.
Christians must take up arms against error at home and abroad. They must grapple with sin in themselves and
in others, and continue this warfare until they have finished their course. If they keep the faith, they will have the
crown of rejoicing.
140:4
That God is a corporeal being, nobody can
truly affirm. The Bible represents Him
as saying: "Thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me, and
live." Not materially but
spiritually we know Him as divine Mind, as Life, Truth, and Love. We shall obey and adore in proportion as we
apprehend the divine nature and love Him understandingly, warring no more over
the corporeality, but rejoicing in the affluence of our God. Religion will then be of the heart and not of
the head. Mankind will no longer be
tyrannical and proscriptive from lack of love,‑‑straining out gnats and
swallowing camels.
151:8
Great respect is due the motives and
philanthropy of the higher class of physicians.
We know that if they understood the Science of Mind‑healing, and were in
possession of the enlarged power it confers to benefit the race physically and
spiritually, they would rejoice with us.
Even this one reform in medicine would ultimately deliver mankind from
the awful and oppressive bondage now enforced by false theories, from which
multitudes would gladly escape.
249:6
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. Any other theory of
Life, or God, is delusive and mythological.
265:31
The pains of sense are salutary, if they
wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections from sense
to Soul, where the creations of God are good, "rejoicing the
heart." Such is the sword of
Science, with which Truth decapitates error, materiality giving place to man's
higher individuality and destiny.
342:21
Christian Science awakens the sinner,
reclaims the infidel, and raises from the couch of pain the helpless
invalid. It speaks to the dumb the words
of Truth, and they answer with rejoicing.
It causes the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the blind to see. Who would be the first to disown the
Christliness of good works, when our Master says, "By their fruits ye
shall know them"?
354:26
Sin should become unreal to every one. It is in itself inconsistent, a divided
kingdom. Its supposed realism has no
divine authority, and I rejoice in the apprehension of this grand verity.
529:21
Whence comes a talking, lying serpent to
tempt the children of divine Love? The
serpent enters into the metaphor only as evil.
We have nothing in the animal kingdom which represents the species
described,‑‑a talking serpent,‑‑and should rejoice that evil, by whatever
figure presented, contradicts itself and has neither origin nor support in
Truth and good. Seeing this, we should
have faith to fight all claims of evil, because we know that they are worthless
and unreal.
562:11
The spiritual idea is crowned with twelve
stars. The twelve tribes of Israel with
all mortals,‑‑separated by belief from man's divine origin and the true idea,‑‑will
through much tribulation yield to the activities of the divine Principle of man
in the harmony of Science. These are the
stars in the crown of rejoicing. They
are the lamps in the spiritual heavens of the age, which show the workings of
the spiritual idea by healing the sick and the sinning, and by manifesting the
light which shines "unto the perfect day" as the night of materialism
wanes.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 168
10th Century – ichard Mant, Tr. – Adapted
Let all the earth with songs rejoice;
Let heaven return the joyful voice;
All mindful of our God's great name,
Let every man His praise proclaim.
Ye servants who once bore the light
Of Gospel truth o'er darkest night,
Still may our work that light impart,
To glad the eyes and cheer the heart.
O God, by whom to them was given
The key that shuts and opens heaven,
Our chains unbind, our loss repair,
Reveal Thy power through answered prayer.
For at Thy will they preached the Word
Which cured disease, which health conferred:
And now, that healing power once more
Our peace and health to us restore.
Sharing of experiences,
testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 342
Laura Lee Randall
This is the day the Lord hath made;
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice;
Stand in His presence, unafraid,
In praise lift up your voice.
All perfect gifts are from above,
And all our blessings show
The amplitude of God's dear love
Which every heart may know.
The Lord will hear before we call,
And every need supply;
Good things are freely given to all
Who on His word rely.
We come today to bring Him praise
Not for such gifts alone,
But for the higher, deeper ways
In which His love is shown.
For sin destroyed, for sorrow healed,
For health and peace restored;
For Life and Love by Truth revealed,
We thank and bless the Lord.
This is the day the Lord hath made,
In praise lift up your voice.
In shining robes of joy arrayed,
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice.
