Service for Sunday, April 24, 2011

Subject: Probation After Death

 Hymn 413
 Frances Thompson Hill

 Let us sing of Easter gladness
   That rejoices every day,
 Sing of hope and faith uplifted;
   Love has rolled the stone away.
 Lo, the promise and fulfillment,
   Lo, the man whom God hath made,
 Seen in glory of an Easter
   Crowned with light that cannot fade.

 When we touch Truth's healing garment
   And behold Life's purity,
 When we find in Love the refuge
   That is man's security,
 When we turn from earth to Spirit,
   And from self have won release,
 Then we see the risen Saviour;
   Then we know his promised peace.

 Living meekly as the Master,
   Who of God was glorified,
 Looking ever to the radiance
   Of his wondrous Eastertide;
 Freed of fear, of pain, and sorrow,
   Giving God the honor due,
 Every day will be an Easter
   Filled with benedictions new.

Readings from the Bible.

Psalms 8:1.3‑6
O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.  When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

II Corinthians 4:6‑18 God
God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.  We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.  For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.  So then death worketh in us, but life in you.  We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.  For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

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 421
 Violet Hay

 From these Thy children gathered in Thy name,
 From hearts made whole, from lips redeemed from woe,
 Thy praise, O Father, shall forever flow.
     Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 O perfect Life, in Thy completeness held,
 None can beyond Thy omnipresence stray;
 Safe in Thy Love, we live and sing alway
     Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 O perfect Mind, reveal Thy likeness true,
 That higher selfhood which we all must prove,
 Joy and dominion, love reflecting Love.
     Alleluia!  Alleluia!

 Thou, Soul, inspiring‑‑give us vision clear,
 Break earth‑bound fetters, sweep away the veil,
 Show the new heaven and earth that shall prevail.
     Alleluia!  Alleluia!

Solo: “Awake Thou That Sleepest”

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 371 
 Margaret Morrison

 We lift our hearts in praise,
   O God of Life, to Thee,
 And would reflect in all our ways
   Thy purity.
 Thy thoughts our lives enfold,
   And free us from all fear;
 All strife is stilled, all grief consoled,
   For Thou art here.

 We lift our hearts in praise,
   O God of Truth, to Thee,
 And find within Thy perfect law
   Our liberty.
 We bless Thy mighty name
   In this exalted hour,
 And to the world in faith proclaim
   Thy healing power.

 We lift our hearts in praise,
   O God of Love, to Thee,
 With joy to find through darkened days
   Thy harmony.
 O Father‑Mother Love,
   We triumph 'neath Thy rod,
 We glory in Thy light, and prove
   That Thou art God.

"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

I Timothy 1:17
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

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