Service for Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011

Subject: Probation After Death

 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 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.

Psalms 139:1‑10

O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.  Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

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 264 

 S. Baring‑Gould

 Onward, Christian soldiers,

   Marching as to war,

 With the cross of Jesus

   Going on before.

 Christ, the royal Master,

   Leads against the foe;

 Forward into battle,

   See his banners go.

       Refrain

 Onward, Christian soldiers,

   Marching as to war,

 With the cross of Jesus

   Going on before.

 Like a mighty army,

   Moves the Church of God;

 Brothers, we are treading

   Where the saints have trod;

 We are not divided,

   All one body we,

 One in hope and doctrine,

   One in charity.

       [Refrain]

 Crowns and thrones may perish,

   Kingdoms rise and wane,

 But the Church of Jesus

   Constant will remain;

 Gates of hell can never

   'Gainst that Church prevail;

 We have Christ's own promise,

   And that cannot fail.

       [Refrain]

 Onward, then, ye people,

   Join our happy throng;

 Blend with ours your voices

   In the triumph song;

 Glory, laud and honor

   Unto Christ the King;

 This through countless ages

   Men and angels sing.

       [Refrain]

Solo: “Be of Good Courage”

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 278

 P. M. – Adapted

 Pilgrim on earth, home and heaven are within thee,

   Heir of the ages and child of the day.

 Cared for, watched over, beloved and protected,

   Walk thou with courage each step of the way.

 Truthful and steadfast though trials betide thee,

   Ever one thing do thou ask of thy Lord,

 Grace to go forward, wherever He guide thee,

   Gladly obeying the call of His word.

 Healed is thy hardness, His love hath dissolved it,

   Full is the promise, the blessing how kind;

 So shall His tenderness teach thee compassion,

   So all the merciful, mercy shall find.

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 68:19 (to 1st .)

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation.