Service for Sunday, Sept. 18, 2011

Subject: Matter

 Hymn 41 

 Jane Borthwick – Adapted

 Come, labor on:

    Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain?

    While all around him waves the golden grain,

    And to each servant does the Master say,

    Go work today.

 Come, labor on:

    Claim the high calling that we all may share;

    To all the world the joyful tidings bear;

    Redeem the time: its hours too swiftly fly,

    Harvest draws nigh.

 Come, labor on:

    Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear.

    No arm so weak but may do service here;

    By means the simplest can our God fulfill

    His righteous will.

 Come, labor on:

    The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure;

    Blessed are they who to the end endure;

    How full their joy, how sweet their rest shall be,

    O Lord, with Thee.

The scriptural selection is from Luke.

Luke 12:16‑32 The

 The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.  #And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.  The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.  Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?  And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?  If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?  Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?  And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.  #But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.  Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

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 304

 "Feed My Sheep" – Mary Baker Eddy

 Shepherd, show me how to go

   O'er the hillside steep,

 How to gather, how to sow,‑‑

   How to feed Thy sheep;

 I will listen for Thy voice,

   Lest my footsteps stray;

 I will follow and rejoice

   All the rugged way.

 Thou wilt bind the stubborn will,

   Wound the callous breast,

 Make self‑righteousness be still,

   Break earth's stupid rest.

 Strangers on a barren shore,

   Lab'ring long and lone,

 We would enter by the door,

   And Thou know'st Thine own;

 So, when day grows dark and cold,

   Tear or triumph harms,

 Lead Thy lambkins to the fold,

   Take them in Thine arms;

 Feed the hungry, heal the heart,

   Till the morning's beam;

 White as wool, ere they depart,

   Shepherd, wash them clean.

Solo: “Bless the Lord, O My Soul”

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 150 

 William P. McKenzie

 In mercy, in goodness, how great is our King;

 Our tribute, thanksgiving, with glad hearts we bring.

 Thou art the Renewer, the Ancient of Days,

 Who givest, for mourning, the garment of praise.

 We thank Thee for work in the wide harvest field,

 For gladness that ripens when sorrow is healed;

 Made strong with Thy goodness that meets every need,

 We gather the fruit of the Sower's good seed.

 Dear Father and Saviour, we thank Thee for life,

 And courage that rises undaunted by strife,

 For confident giving and giving's reward,

 For beauty and love in the life of our Lord.

"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

Benediction

Galatians 6:9 let

let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.