Service for Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010

Subject: Christian Science

 Hymn 9 

 Violet Hay

 All glory be to God most high,

   And on the earth be peace,

 The angels sang, in days of yore,

   The song that ne'er shall cease,

   Till all the world knows peace.

 God's angels ever come and go,

   All winged with light and love;

 They bring us blessings from on high,

   They lift our thoughts above,

   They whisper God is Love.

 O longing hearts that wait on God

   Through all the world so wide;

 He knows the angels that you need,

   And sends them to your side,

   To comfort, guard and guide.

 O wake and hear the angel‑song

   That bids all discord cease,

 From pain and sorrow, doubt and fear,

   It brings us sweet release;

   And so our hearts find peace.

The scriptural selections are from Psalms.

Psalms 24:1‑6 (to 1st .),7‑10 (to 1st .)

The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.  For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.  Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?  He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.  He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.  This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.

           

Silent prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s prayer, with its spiritual interpretation as given in the Christian Science textbook.

Our Father which art in heaven,

Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,

Hallowed be Thy name.

Adorable One.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Enable us to know – as in heaven, so on earth

God is omnipotent, supreme.

Give us this day our daily bread;

Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections;

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And Love is reflected in love;

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;

And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.

 Hymn 12

 Violet Hay 

 Arise ye people, take your stand,

 Cast out your idols from the land,

 Above all doctrine, form or creed

 Is found the Truth that meets your need.

 Christ's promise stands: they that believe

 His works shall do, his power receive.

 Go forward then, and as ye preach

 So let your works confirm your speech,

 And prove to all with following sign

 The Word of God is power divine.

 In love and healing ministry

 Show forth the Truth that makes men free.

 O Father‑Mother God, whose plan

 Hath given dominion unto man,

 In Thine own image we may see

 Man pure and upright, whole and free.

 And ever through our work shall shine

 That light whose glory, Lord, is Thine.

Solo: How Beautiful Upon the Mountains" 

The lesson-sermon from the Bible and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, read by the First and Second Readers.

The content of the Lesson Sermon may be found in the Christian Science Quarterly. You may also read the Lesson-Sermon for this week online by clicking here.

 Hymn 29 

 Florence L. Heywood

 Breaking through the clouds of darkness,

   Black with error, doubt, and fear;

 Lighting up each somber shadow,

   With a radiance soft and clear;

 Filling every heart with gladness,

   That its holy power feels,

 Comes the Christian Science gospel,

   Sin it kills and grief it heals.

 Christlike in its benedictions,

   Godlike in its strength sublime;

 Conquering every subtle error,

   With a meekness all divine,

 It has gone across the ocean,

   It is known in every land,

 And our sisters and our brothers

   Are united in one band.

"The Scientific Statement of Being" (S&H p. 468} and the correlative scripture according to I John 3:1-3.

There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p.468

1John.3

[1] Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

[2] Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

[3] And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Benediction

Psalms 62:7

In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.