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
I Chronicles 16:23‑34
Sing unto the Lord, all the
earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen: his
marvellous works among all nations. For
great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all
gods. For all the gods of the people are
idols: but the Lord made the heavens.
Glory and honour are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his
place. Give unto the Lord, 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 before him: worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness. Fear
before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not
moved. 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,12
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.
For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass
him as with a shield.
Psalms 9:1,2,4,11
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.
For thou hast maintained my
right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.
Sing praises to the Lord,
which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.
Psalms 20:5‑7
We will rejoice in thy
salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the Lord
fulfil all thy petitions. Now know I
that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with
the saving strength of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the
name of the Lord our God.
Psalms 33:1‑12,18‑22
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.
Behold, the eye of the Lord
is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; To deliver their
soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. 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 63:1‑7
O God, thou art my God; early
will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a
dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as
I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise
thee. Thus will I bless thee while I
live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth
shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and
meditate on thee in the night watches.
Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings
will I rejoice.
Psalms 96:11‑13
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 118:24
This is the day which the
Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Isaiah 61:10,11
I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with
her jewels. For as the earth bringeth
forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to
spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring
forth before all the nations.
Joel 2:21
#Fear not, O land; be glad
and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.
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.
15:14‑32
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.
249:1‑11
Let us accept Science, relinquish all
theories based on sense‑testimony, give up imperfect models and illusive
ideals; and so let us have one God, one Mind, and that one perfect, producing
His own models of excellence.
Let the "male and female" of God's
creating appear. 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"?
354:1‑29
Are the protests of Christian Science against
the notion that there can be material life, substance, or mind "utter
falsities and absurdities," as some aver?
Why then do Christians try to obey the Scriptures and war against
"the world, the flesh, and the devil"? Why do they invoke the divine aid to enable
them to leave all for Christ, Truth? Why
do they use this phraseology, and yet deny Christian Science, when it teaches
precisely this thought? The words of
divine Science find their immortality in deeds, for their Principle heals the
sick and spiritualizes humanity.
On the other hand, the Christian opponents of
Christian Science neither give nor offer any proofs that their Master's
religion can heal the sick. Surely it is
not enough to cleave to barren and desultory dogmas, derived from the
traditions of the elders who thereunto have set their seals.
Consistency is seen in example more than in
precept. Inconsistency is shown by words
without deeds, which are like clouds without rain. If our words fail to express our deeds, God
will redeem that weakness, and out of the mouth of babes He will perfect
praise. The night of materiality is far
spent, and with the dawn Truth will waken men spiritually to hear and to speak
the new tongue.
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.
376:17‑5
If the body is material, it cannot, for that
very reason, suffer with a fever.
Because the so‑called material body is a mental concept and governed by
mortal mind, it manifests only what that so‑called mind expresses. Therefore the efficient remedy is to destroy
the patient's false belief by both silently and audibly arguing the true facts
in regard to harmonious being,‑‑representing man as healthy instead of
diseased, and showing that it is impossible for matter to suffer, to feel pain
or heat, to be thirsty or sick. Destroy
fear, and you end fever. Some people,
mistaught as to Mind‑science, inquire when it will be safe to check a
fever. Know that in Science you cannot
check a fever after admitting that it must have its course. To fear and admit the power of disease, is to
paralyze mental and scientific demonstration.
If your patient believes in taking cold,
mentally convince him that matter cannot take cold, and that thought governs
this liability. If grief causes suffering,
convince the sufferer that affliction is often the source of joy, and that he
should rejoice always in ever‑present Love.
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.
561:32‑21
John the Baptist prophesied the coming of the
immaculate Jesus, and John saw in those days the spiritual idea as the Messiah,
who would baptize with the Holy Ghost,‑‑divine Science. As Elias presented the idea of the fatherhood
of God, which Jesus afterwards manifested, so the Revelator completed this
figure with woman, typifying the spiritual idea of God's motherhood. The moon is under her feet. This idea reveals the universe as secondary
and tributary to Spirit, from which the universe borrows its reflected light,
substance, life, and intelligence.
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 – Richard 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.
