Theme: Strength
Hymn 46
Josiah Conder*
Day by day the manna fell:
O, to learn this lesson well.
Still by constant mercy fed,
Give me, Lord, my daily bread.
Day by day the promise reads,
Daily strength for daily needs:
Cast foreboding fears away;
Take the manna of today.
Lord, my times are in Thy hand:
All my sanguine hopes have planned,
To Thy wisdom I resign,
And would mold my will to Thine.
Thou my daily task shalt give;
Day by day to Thee I live;
So shall added years fulfill
Not my own, my Father's will.
Readings from the Bible.
Psalms 18:1‑3 (to :),30‑32
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:
As for God, his way is
perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust
in him. For who is God save the
Lord? or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength, and
maketh my way perfect.
Psalms 19:1‑14
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. Their line is gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for
the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a
strong man to run a race. His going
forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and
there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
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. Who can understand his
errors? cleanse thou me from secret
faults. Keep back thy servant also from
presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright,
and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation
of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalms 27:1‑5,13
The Lord is my light and my
salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom
shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even
mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and
fell. Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this
will I be confident. One thing have I
desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of
the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to
inquire in his temple. For in the time
of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle
shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
I had fainted, unless I had
believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalms 29:1‑4,11
Give unto the Lord, O ye
mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness. The voice of the
Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many
waters. The voice of the Lord is
powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The Lord will give strength
unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 46:1-3 (to 1st .), 4,5,7 (to 1st.),11 (to 1st .)
God is our refuge and
strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and
be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall
make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be
moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Psalms 62:1,2,5‑8 (to 1st
.),11
Truly my soul waiteth upon
God: from him cometh my salvation. He
only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly
moved.
My soul, wait thou only upon
God; for my expectation is from him. He
only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock
of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him:
God is a refuge for us.
God hath spoken once; twice
have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.
Psalms 84:1,2,4 (to 1st .),5‑7,9‑12
How amiable are thy
tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul
longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh
crieth out for the living God.
Blessed are they that dwell
in thy house: they will be still praising thee.
Blessed is the man whose
strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make
it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.
They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God.
Behold, O God our shield, and
look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a
thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in
the tents of wickedness. For the Lord
God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will
he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
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 118:14
The Lord is my strength and
song, and is become my salvation.
Isaiah 12:2
Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my
song; he also is become my salvation.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the
Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
5:15‑18
The followers of Christ drank
his cup. Ingratitude and persecution
filled it to the brim; but God pours the riches of His love into the
understanding and affections, giving us strength according to our day.
58:5
Ill‑arranged notes produce discord. Tones of the human mind may be different, but
they should be concordant in order to blend properly. Unselfish ambition, noble life‑motives, and
purity,‑‑these constituents of thought, mingling, constitute individually and
collectively true happiness, strength, and permanence.
79:29‑3
Mind‑science teaches that mortals need
"not be weary in well doing."
It dissipates fatigue in doing good.
Giving does not impoverish us in the service of our Maker, neither does
withholding enrich us. We have strength
in proportion to our apprehension of the truth, and our strength is not
lessened by giving utterance to truth.
183:16
The supposed laws which result in weariness
and disease are not His laws, for the legitimate and only possible action of
Truth is the production of harmony. Laws
of nature are laws of Spirit; but mortals commonly recognize as law that which
hides the power of Spirit. Divine Mind
rightly demands man's entire obedience, affection, and strength. No reservation is made for any lesser
loyalty. Obedience to Truth gives man
power and strength. Submission to error
superinduces loss of power.
192:17‑31
Moral and spiritual might belong to Spirit,
who holds the "wind in His fists;" and this teaching accords with
Science and harmony. In Science, you can
have no power opposed to God, and the physical senses must give up their false
testimony. Your influence for good
depends upon the weight you throw into the right scale. The good you do and embody gives you the only
power obtainable. Evil is not
power. It is a mockery of strength,
which erelong betrays its weakness and falls, never to rise.
We walk in the footsteps of Truth and Love by
following the example of our Master in the understanding of divine
metaphysics. Christianity is the basis
of true healing. Whatever holds human
thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power.
293:21
There is no vapid fury of mortal mind‑‑expressed
in earthquake, wind, wave, lightning, fire, bestial ferocity ‑‑and this so‑called
mind is self‑destroyed. The
manifestations of evil, which counterfeit divine justice, are called in the
Scriptures, "The anger of the Lord."
In reality, they show the self‑destruction of error or matter and point
to matter's opposite, the strength and permanency of Spirit. Christian Science brings to light Truth and
its supremacy, universal harmony, the entireness of God, good, and the
nothingness of evil.
371:27
The necessity for uplifting
the race is father to the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart purity
instead of impurity, strength instead of weakness, and health instead of
disease. Truth is an alterative in the
entire system, and can make it "every whit whole."
390:27
"Agree to disagree" with
approaching symptoms of chronic or acute disease, whether it is cancer,
consumption, or smallpox. Meet the
incipient stages of disease with as powerful mental opposition as a legislator
would employ to defeat the passage of an inhuman law. Rise in the conscious strength of the spirit
of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind, alias matter, arrayed against the supremacy of Spirit. Blot out the images of mortal thought and its
beliefs in sickness and sin. Then, when
thou art delivered to the judgment of Truth, Christ, the judge will say,
"Thou art whole!"
393:4‑24
The body seems to be self‑acting, only
because mortal mind is ignorant of itself, of its own actions, and of their
results,‑‑ignorant that the predisposing, remote, and exciting cause of all bad
effects is a law of so‑called mortal mind, not of matter. Mind is the master of the corporeal senses,
and can conquer sickness, sin, and death.
Exercise this God‑given authority.
Take possession of your body, and govern its feeling and action. Rise in the strength of Spirit to resist all
that is unlike good. God has made man
capable of this, and nothing can vitiate the ability and power divinely
bestowed on man.
Be firm in your understanding that the divine
Mind governs, and that in Science man reflects God's government. Have no fear that matter can ache, swell, and
be inflamed as the result of a law of any kind, when it is self‑evident that
matter can have no pain nor inflammation.
Your body would suffer no more from tension or wounds than the trunk of
a tree which you gash or the electric wire which you stretch, were it not for
mortal mind.
454:18
Love inspires, illumines,
designates, and leads the way. Right
motives give pinions to thought, and strength and freedom to speech and
action. Love is priestess at the altar
of Truth. Wait patiently for divine Love
to move upon the waters of mortal mind, and form the perfect concept. Patience must "have her perfect
work."
513:26
God creates all forms of reality. His thoughts are spiritual realities. So‑called mortal mind‑‑being non‑existent and
consequently not within the range of immortal existence‑‑could not by
simulating deific power invert the divine creation, and afterwards recreate
persons or things upon its own plane, since nothing exists beyond the range of
all‑inclusive infinity, in which and of which God is the sole creator. Mind, joyous in strength, dwells in the realm
of Mind. Mind's infinite ideas run and
disport themselves. In humility they
climb the heights of holiness.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 82
Arthur C. Ainger
God is working His purpose out
As year succeeds to year,
God is working His purpose out
And the time is drawing near;
Nearer and nearer draws the time,
The time that shall surely be,
When the earth shall be filled with the glory
of God
As the waters cover the sea.
What can we do to work God's work,
To prosper and increase
The brotherhood of all mankind,
The reign of the Prince of Peace?
What can we do to hasten the time,
The time that shall surely be,
When the earth shall be filled with the glory
of God
As the waters cover the sea?
March we forth in the strength of God
With the banner of Christ unfurled,
That the light of the glorious Gospel of truth
May shine throughout the world;
Fight we the fight with sorrow and sin,
To set their captives free,
That the earth may be filled with the glory of
God
As the waters cover the sea.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 247
Thomas H. Gill*
O walk with God along the road,
Your strength He will renew;
Wait on the everlasting God,
And He will walk with you.
Ye shall not to your daily task
Without your God repair,
But on your work His blessing ask
And prove His glory there.
Ye shall not faint, ye shall not fail;
In Spirit ye are strong;
Each task divine ye still shall hail,
And blend it with a song.
