Theme: Open
Hymn 85
Edith Gaddis Brewer
God of Truth, eternal good,
Lift our hearts to revelation,
That Thou mayst be understood,
Thou, the Rock of our salvation;
All Thy love we have for loving,
All Thy truth is ours for proving.
Open now our eyes to see,
As the clouds of sense are riven,
We behold reality,
Know the glory of Thy heaven;
So we seek Thy perfect healing
Through the Truth of Thy revealing.
All the way that we must go
We will take at Thy direction,
Where the floods of trouble flow
Find Thy perfect, calm reflection;
On the path that has no turning,
Patience, courage, meekness learning.
Readings from the Bible.
II Kings 6:8‑17 the
the king of Syria warred against Israel, and
took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my
camp. And the man of God sent unto the
king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the
Syrians are come down. And the king of
Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and
saved himself there, not once nor twice. Therefore the heart of the king of
Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said
unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel? And one of his servants said, None, my lord,
O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel
the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
#And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
#And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Psalms 119:17,18
Deal bountifully with thy
servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Isaiah 42:1‑12
Behold my servant, whom I
uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him:
he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the
street. A bruised reed shall he not
break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail nor be
discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait
for his law. #Thus saith God the Lord,
he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the
earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people
upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee in
righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for
a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out
of the prison house. I am the Lord: that
is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to
graven images. Behold, the former things
are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell
you of them.
#Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.
#Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands.
Acts 26:12‑20 as
as I went to Damascus with authority and
commission from the chief priests, At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light
from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them
which journeyed with me. And when we
were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in
the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to
kick against the pricks. And I said, Who
art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus
whom thou persecutest. But rise, and
stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make
thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of
those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the
people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes,
and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God,
that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are
sanctified by faith that is in me.
Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly
vision: But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and
throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
II Corinthians 3:18 we
we all, with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Colossians 3:9,10
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:
II Peter 3:10‑14 the,17
therefore,18
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.
Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent
that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these
things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the
wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
14:31‑24
"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.
24:4‑15
Acquaintance with the original texts, and
willingness to give up human beliefs (established by hierarchies, and
instigated sometimes by the worst passions of men), open the way for Christian
Science to be understood, and make the Bible the chart of life, where the buoys
and healing currents of Truth are pointed out.
He to whom "the arm of the Lord" is
revealed will believe our report, and rise into newness of life with
regeneration. This is having part in the
atonement; this is the understanding, in which Jesus suffered and triumphed.
165:1
Physiology is one of the apples from
"the tree of knowledge." Evil
declared that eating this fruit would open man's eyes and make him as a god. Instead of so doing, it closed the eyes of
mortals to man's God‑given dominion over the earth.
220:1
We hear it said: "I exercise daily in
the open air. I take cold baths, in
order to overcome a predisposition to take cold; and yet I have continual
colds, catarrh, and cough." Such
admissions ought to open people's eyes to the inefficacy of material hygiene,
and induce sufferers to look in other directions for cause and cure.
326:16‑32
The purpose and motive to live aright can be
gained now. This point won, you have
started as you should. You have begun at
the numeration‑table of Christian Science, and nothing but wrong intention can
hinder your advancement. Working and
praying with true motives, your Father will open the way. "Who did hinder you, that ye should not
obey the truth?"
Saul of Tarsus beheld the way‑‑the Christ, or
Truth ‑‑only when his uncertain sense of right yielded to a spiritual sense,
which is always right. Then the man was
changed. Thought assumed a nobler
outlook, and his life became more spiritual.
He learned the wrong that he had done in persecuting Christians, whose
religion he had not understood, and in humility he took the new name of
Paul. He beheld for the first time the
true idea of Love, and learned a lesson in divine Science.
451:19‑26
Every Christian Scientist, every
conscientious teacher of the Science of Mind‑healing, knows that human will is
not Christian Science, and he must recognize this in order to defend himself
from the influence of human will. He
feels morally obligated to open the eyes of his students that they may perceive
the nature and methods of error of every sort, especially any subtle degree of
evil, deceived and deceiving.
491:17‑25
The belief that matter and mind are one,‑‑that
matter is awake at one time and asleep at another, sometimes presenting no
appearance of mind,‑‑this belief culminates in another belief, that man
dies. Science reveals material man as
never the real being. The dream or
belief goes on, whether our eyes are closed or open. In sleep, memory and consciousness are lost
from the body, and they wander whither they will apparently with their own
separate embodiment.
495:14
When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts
you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea.
Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought. Let neither fear nor doubt overshadow your
clear sense and calm trust, that the recognition of life harmonious‑‑as Life
eternally is‑‑can destroy any painful sense of, or belief in, that which Life
is not. Let Christian Science, instead
of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding
will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence
discord with harmony.
506:18
Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into
their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals
of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.
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
requires 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.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 201
Charles Parsons
O do not bar your mind
Against the light of good;
But open wide, let in the Word,
And Truth will be your food.
Truth will from error free
Your long enslaved mind,
And bring the light of liberty
Where it shall be enshrined.
Hid treasures it reveals
To all who know its power;
And all who will may light receive
In this most gracious hour.
Then open wide your heart
To Truth and Light and Love;
You then shall know your life is hid
With Christ in God above.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 391
Charles H. Barlow
Why search the future and the past?
Why do ye look with tearful eyes
And seek far off for paradise?
Before your feet Life's pearl is cast.
As deathless as His spirit free,
The Perfect lives and works today
As in the ancient prophets' lay,
Where there's an open eye to see.
Of all that was and is to come
The present holds the Mind and Cause;
For God lives in eternal laws,
And here today upholds His throne.
Then rise and greet the signs that prove
Unreal the ages' long lament;
The "one far‑off divine event"
Is now, and that event is Love.
