Service for Sunday, March 20, 2011

Subject: Matter

 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.

The scriptural selection is from Psalms.

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. 

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 224

 John Ryland – Adapted

 O Lord, I would delight in Thee,

   And on Thy care depend;

 To Thee in every trouble flee,

   My best, my ever Friend.

 When all material streams are dried,

   Thy fullness is the same;

 May I with this be satisfied,

   And glory in Thy name.

 All good, where'er it may be found,

   Its source doth find in Thee;

 I must have all things and abound,

   While God is God to me.

 O that I had a stronger faith,

   To look within the veil,

 To credit what my Saviour saith,

   Whose word can never fail.

 He that has made my heaven secure,

   Will here all good provide;

 While Christ is rich, can I be poor?

   What can I want beside?

 O God, I cast my care on Thee;

   I triumph and adore;

 Henceforth my great concern shall be

   To love and praise Thee more.

Solo: “Wait on the Lord”

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 177 

 Thomas Kelly – Adapted

 Look, ye saints, the day is breaking,

   Joyful times are near at hand;

 God, the mighty God, is speaking

   By His Word in every land:

 Day advances, day advances,

   Darkness flees at His command.

 God of Jacob, high and glorious,

   Let Thy people see Thy power;

 Let the gospel be victorious

   Through the world forevermore:

 Then shall every idol perish,

   While Thy faithful saints adore.

"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 73:26

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.