Theme: New
Hymn 392
Laura C. Nourse
With love and peace
and joy supreme
We hail the new
appearing;
From out the darkness
and the dream,
The haven of rest
is nearing.
With gifts of healing
in his wings
To light the Christ
now guides us,
The heart that knows
him burns and sings,
For endless joy
betides us.
His touch the door of
Life unseals
And bids us freely
enter,
His word the heaven
of heavens reveals
With Love its bound
and center.
For God is all, and
Christ the way;
Our meek and bold
defender
Has cleft the night
and lo, the day
Bursts forth in
mighty splendor.
Readings from the Bible
Psalms 33:1-9
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.
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 98:1-9
O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous
things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made known his salvation: his
righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth
toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation
of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the
harp, and the voice of a psalm. With
trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the
King. Let the sea roar, and the fulness
thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Let the floods clap their hands: let the
hills be joyful together Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth:
with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.
Psalms 149:1-5 (to :)
Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his
praise in the congregation of saints.
Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be
joyful in their King. Let them praise his
name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and
harp. For the Lord taketh pleasure in
his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory:
Isaiah 42:5-10,16
#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.
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I
will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light
before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and
not forsake them.
II Corinthians 5:17 if,18
if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new. And all things are of God,
who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation;
Ephesians 4:17,18,20-24
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye
henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having
the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the
ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have
heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put
off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye
put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness.
Revelation 21:1-7 I saw,10,11
I saw a new heaven
and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and
there was no more sea. And I John saw
the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband. And I
heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life
freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high
mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone
most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
20:8-23
Jesus' history made a new calendar, which we call the
Christian era; but he established no ritualistic worship. He knew that men can be baptized, partake of
the Eucharist, support the clergy, observe the Sabbath, make long prayers, and
yet be sensual and sinful.
Jesus bore our
infirmities; he knew the error of mortal belief, and "with his stripes
[the rejection of error] we are healed."
"Despised and rejected of men," returning blessing for
cursing, he taught mortals the opposite of themselves, even the nature of God;
and when error felt the power of Truth, the scourge and the cross awaited the
great Teacher. Yet he swerved not, well
knowing that to obey the divine order and trust God, saves retracing and
traversing anew the path from sin to holiness.
33:18
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.
34:29-29 np
What a contrast
between our Lord's last supper and his last spiritual breakfast with his
disciples in the bright morning hours at the joyful meeting on the shore of the
Galilean Sea! His gloom had passed into
glory, and his disciples' grief into repentance,--hearts chastened and pride
rebuked. Convinced of the fruitlessness
of their toil in the dark and wakened by their Master's voice, they changed
their methods, turned away from material things, and cast their net on the
right side. Discerning Christ, Truth,
anew on the shore of time, they were enabled to rise somewhat from mortal
sensuousness, or the burial of mind in matter, into newness of life as
Spirit.
This spiritual
meeting with our Lord in the dawn of a new light is the morning meal which
Christian Scientists commemorate. They
bow before Christ, Truth, to receive more of his reappearing and silently to
commune with the divine Principle, Love.
They celebrate their Lord's victory over death, his probation in the
flesh after death, its exemplification of human probation, and his spiritual
and final ascension above matter, or the flesh, when he rose out of material
sight.
Our baptism is a
purification from all error. Our church
is built on the divine Principle, Love.
We can unite with this church only as we are new-born of Spirit, as we
reach the Life which is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth the
fruits of Love,--casting out error and healing the sick. Our Eucharist is spiritual communion with the
one God. Our bread, "which cometh
down from heaven," is Truth. Our
cup is the cross. Our wine the
inspiration of Love, the draught our Master drank and commended to his
followers.
66:6
Trials teach mortals
not to lean on a material staff,--a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not half remember this in the sunshine
of joy and prosperity. Sorrow is
salutary. Through great tribulation we
enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of
God's care. Spiritual development germinates not from seed sown in the soil of
material hopes, but when these decay, Love propagates anew the higher joys of
Spirit, which have no taint of earth.
Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness
and love.
91:1-8
The Revelator tells
us of "a new heaven and a new earth."
Have you ever pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under
the control of supreme wisdom?
Let us rid ourselves
of the belief that man is separated from God, and obey only the divine
Principle, Life and Love. Here is the
great point of departure for all true spiritual growth.
109:4-27
Christian Science
reveals incontrovertibly that Mind is All-in-all, that the only realities are
the divine Mind and idea. This great
fact is not, however, seen to be supported by sensible evidence, until its
divine Principle is demonstrated by healing the sick and thus proved absolute
and divine. This proof once seen, no
other conclusion can be reached.
For three years
after my discovery, I sought the solution of this problem of Mind-healing,
searched the Scriptures and read little else, kept aloof from society, and
devoted time and energies to discovering a positive rule. The search was sweet, calm, and buoyant with
hope, not selfish nor depressing. I knew
the Principle of all harmonious Mind-action to be God, and that cures were
produced in primitive Christian healing by holy, uplifting faith; but I must
know the Science of this healing, and I won my way to absolute conclusions
through divine revelation, reason, and demonstration. The revelation of Truth in the understanding
came to me gradually and apparently through divine power. When a new spiritual idea is borne to earth,
the prophetic Scripture of Isaiah is renewedly fulfilled: "Unto us a child
is born, . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful."
191:8
As a material,
theoretical life-basis is found to be a misapprehension of existence, the
spiritual and divine Principle of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to
"where the young child was," --even to the birth of a new-old idea,
to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by
Truth on its pinions of light, chasing away the darkness of error.
270:14
The prophets of old
looked for something higher than the systems of their times; hence their
foresight of the new dispensation of Truth.
But they knew not what would be the precise nature of the teaching and
demonstration of God, divine Mind, in His more infinite meanings,--the
demonstration which was to destroy sin, sickness, and death, establish the
definition of omnipotence, and maintain the Science of Spirit.
276:17
If God is admitted
to be the only Mind and Life, there ceases to be any opportunity for sin and
death. When we learn in Science how to
be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect, thought is turned into new
and healthy channels,--towards the contemplation of things immortal and away
from materiality to the Principle of the universe, including harmonious
man.
323:28
The effects of
Christian Science are not so much seen as felt.
It is the "still, small voice" of Truth uttering itself. We are either turning away from this utterance,
or we are listening to it and going up higher.
Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the
new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy
to see them disappear,--this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate
harmony. The purification of sense and
self is a proof of progress.
"Blessed are the pure in heart:
for they shall see God."
535:29
In the first chapter
of Genesis we read: "And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering
together of the waters called He Seas."
In the Apocalypse it is written: "And I saw a new heaven and a new
earth: for the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." In St.
John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea,
as a symbol of tempest-tossed human concepts advancing and receding, is
represented as having passed away. The
divine understanding reigns, is all,
and there is no other consciousness.
572:19-17
In Revelation xxi. 1
we read:--
And I saw a new
heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
The Revelator had
not yet passed the transitional stage in human experience called death, but he
already saw a new heaven and a new earth.
Through what sense came this vision to St. John? Not through the material visual organs for
seeing, for optics are inadequate to take in so wonderful a scene. Were this new heaven and new earth
terrestrial or celestial, material or spiritual? They could not be the former, for the human
sense of space is unable to grasp such a view.
The Revelator was on our plane of existence, while yet beholding what
the eye cannot see,--that which is invisible to the uninspired thought. This testimony of Holy Writ sustains the fact
in Science, that the heavens and earth to one human consciousness, that
consciousness which God bestows, are spiritual, while to another, the
unillumined human mind, the vision is material.
This shows unmistakably that what the human mind terms matter and spirit
indicates states and stages of consciousness.
Accompanying this
scientific consciousness was another revelation, even the declaration from
heaven, supreme harmony, that God, the divine Principle of harmony, is ever
with men, and they are His people.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 218
Samuel
Longfellow
O Life that maketh
all things new,
The blooming earth,
the thoughts of men;
Our pilgrim feet, wet
with Thy dew,
In gladness hither
turn again.
From hand to hand the
greeting flows,
From eye to eye the
signals run,
From heart to heart
the bright hope glows,
The seekers of the
Light are one:
One in the freedom of
the truth,
One in the joy of
paths untrod,
One in the heart's
perennial youth,
One in the larger
thought of God;--
The freer step, the
fuller breath,
The wide horizon's
grander view;
The sense of Life
that knows no death,--
The Life that
maketh all things new.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 414
Katherine Hankey
I love to tell the
story
Of unseen things
above,
Of Jesus and his
glory,
Of Jesus and his
love,
I love to tell the
story
Because I know 'tis
true,
It satisfies my
longing
As nothing else can
do.
Refrain
I love to tell the
story,
It is my theme in
glory
To tell the old, old
story
Of Jesus and his
love.
I love to tell the
story,
'Tis pleasant to
repeat
What seems, each time
I tell it,
More wonderfully
sweet.
I love to tell the
story,
For some have never
heard
The message of
salvation
From God's own holy
word.
[Refrain]
I love to tell the
story,
For those who know
it best
Seem hungering and
thirsting
To hear it like the
rest,
I love to tell the
story,
To sing the new,
new song
That is the old, old
story
That I have loved
so long.
[Refrain]
