Service for Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011

Subject: Sacrament

 Hymn 15 

 Based on the Danish of – Bernhard S. Ingemann

 As gold by fire is tested,

   Its purity shown forth,

 So cleansing fires of Truth may prove

   To man his native worth.

 And as a mirror shows us

   A likeness clear and bright,

 So God forever sees His child

   Revealed in radiant light.

 'Twas thus the loving Master

   Saw man's perfection shine,

 Beheld God's child forever pure

   In radiance all divine.

The scriptural selection is from Psalms.

Psalms 104:1‑6,13,14,24,30,31,33,34,35 Bless

Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.  Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain: Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind: Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire: Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.  Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. 

He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.  He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;

O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. 

Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.  The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works. 

I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.  My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the Lord. 

 Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.

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 298

 Communion Hymn – Mary Baker Eddy

 Saw ye my Saviour?  Heard ye the glad sound?

 Felt ye the power of the Word?

 'Twas the Truth that made us free,

 And was found by you and me

 In the life and the love of our Lord.

 Mourner, it calls you,‑‑"Come to my bosom,

 Love wipes your tears all away,

 And will lift the shade of gloom,

 And for you make radiant room

 Midst the glories of one endless day."

 Sinner, it calls you,‑‑"Come to this fountain,

 Cleanse the foul senses within;

 'Tis the Spirit that makes pure,

 That exalts thee, and will cure

 All thy sorrow and sickness and sin."

 Strongest deliverer, friend of the friendless,

 Life of all being divine:

 Thou the Christ, and not the creed;

 Thou the Truth in thought and deed;

 Thou the water, the bread, and the wine.

.

Reading of the Tenets of The Mother Church:

1. As adherents of Truth, we take the inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.

2. We acknowledge and adore one supreme and infinite God. We acknowledge His Son, one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God's image and likeness.

3. We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.

4. We acknowledge Jesus' atonement as the evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man's unity with God through Christ Jesus the Way-shower;and we acknowledge that man is saved through Christ, through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet in healing the sick and overcoming sin and death.

5. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life, even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter

6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.

Mary Baker Eddy

Solo: “Come to the Waters”

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.

The lesson-sermon for today is found on page 10 of the Christian Science Quarterly. Subject: Sacrament.

The congregation is invited to kneel in silent communion, to be followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s prayer.

 Hymn 1 

 Communion Doxology – Tate and Brady

 Be Thou, O God, exalted high;

 And as Thy glory fills the sky,

 So let it be on earth displayed,

 Till Thou art here and now obeyed.

Reading of "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 145:3‑5

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.  One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.  I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.