Theme: New
Hymn 247
Thomas H. Gill*
O walk with God along the road,
Your strength He will renew;
Wait on the everlasting God,
And He will walk with you.
Ye shall not to your daily task
Without your God repair,
But on your work His blessing ask
And prove His glory there.
Ye shall not faint, ye shall not fail;
In Spirit ye are strong;
Each task divine ye still shall hail,
And blend it with a song.
Readings from the Bible
Psalms 33:1‑9
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye
righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise the Lord with harp: sing unto him with
the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise. For the word of the Lord is right; and all
his works are done in truth. He loveth
righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. By the word of the Lord were the heavens
made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together
as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the
inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
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.
Psalms 98:1‑9
O sing unto the Lord a new
song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm,
hath gotten him the victory. The Lord
hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the
sight of the heathen. He hath remembered
his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth
have seen the salvation of our God. Make
a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice,
and sing praise. Sing unto the Lord with
the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. With trumpets and sound of cornet make a
joyful noise before the Lord, the King.
Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that
dwell therein. Let the floods clap their
hands: let the hills be joyful together Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge
the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with
equity.
Psalms 149:1‑5 (to :)
Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto
the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let
the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him
with the timbrel and harp. For the Lord
taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory:
Isaiah 42:5‑10
#Thus saith God the Lord, he
that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the
earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people
upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee in
righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for
a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out
of the prison house. I am the Lord: that
is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to
graven images. Behold, the former things
are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell
you of them. #Sing unto the Lord a new
song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and
all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.
Lamentations 3:22‑26
It is of the Lord's mercies
that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy
faithfulness. The Lord is my portion,
saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh
him. It is good that a man should both
hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
II Corinthians 5:16
henceforth,17
henceforth know we no man after the flesh:
yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we
him no more. Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new.
Ephesians 4:17,18,20‑24
This I say therefore, and
testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the
vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness
of their heart:
But ye have not so learned
Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the
truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the
spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created
in righteousness and true holiness.
Revelation 21:1‑7
And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there
was no more sea. And I John saw the holy
city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:
for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life
freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
vii:1‑26
To those leaning on the sustaining infinite,
to‑day is big with blessings. The
wakeful shepherd beholds the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full
radiance of a risen day. So shone the
pale star to the prophet‑shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where,
in cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ,
Truth, who would make plain to benighted understanding the way of salvation
through Christ Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morning
beams and shine the guiding star of being.
The Wisemen were led to behold and to follow this daystar of divine
Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.
The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time‑honored
systems, knocks at the portal of humanity.
Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism
are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is
no longer the stepping‑stone to faith.
The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to
know aright is Life eternal. Though
empires fall, "the Lord shall reign forever."
A book introduces new thoughts, but it cannot
make them speedily understood. It is the
task of the sturdy pioneer to hew the tall oak and to cut the rough granite. Future ages must declare what the pioneer has
accomplished.
33:18
When the human element in him struggled with
the divine, our great Teacher said: "Not my will, but Thine, be
done!"‑‑that is, Let not the flesh, but the Spirit, be represented in
me. This is the new understanding of
spiritual Love. It gives all for Christ,
or Truth. It blesses its enemies, heals
the sick, casts out error, raises the dead from trespasses and sins, and
preaches the gospel to the poor, the meek in heart.
34:29‑18
What a contrast between our Lord's last
supper and his last spiritual breakfast with his disciples in the bright
morning hours at the joyful meeting on the shore of the Galilean Sea! His gloom had passed into glory, and his
disciples' grief into repentance,‑‑hearts chastened and pride rebuked. Convinced of the fruitlessness of their toil
in the dark and wakened by their Master's voice, they changed their methods,
turned away from material things, and cast their net on the right side. Discerning Christ, Truth, anew on the shore
of time, they were enabled to rise somewhat from mortal sensuousness, or the
burial of mind in matter, into newness of life as Spirit.
This spiritual meeting with our Lord in the
dawn of a new light is the morning meal which Christian Scientists
commemorate. They bow before Christ,
Truth, to receive more of his reappearing and silently to commune with the
divine Principle, Love. They celebrate
their Lord's victory over death, his probation in the flesh after death, its
exemplification of human probation, and his spiritual and final ascension above
matter, or the flesh, when he rose out of material sight.
66:6
Trials teach mortals not to lean on a
material staff,‑‑a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not half remember this in the sunshine
of joy and prosperity. Sorrow is
salutary. Through great tribulation we
enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of
God's care. Spiritual development germinates not from seed sown in the soil of
material hopes, but when these decay, Love propagates anew the higher joys of
Spirit, which have no taint of earth.
Each successive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness
and love.
91:1‑8
The Revelator tells us of "a new heaven
and a new earth." Have you ever
pictured this heaven and earth, inhabited by beings under the control of
supreme wisdom?
Let us rid ourselves of the belief that man
is separated from God, and obey only the divine Principle, Life and Love. Here is the great point of departure for all
true spiritual growth.
109:4‑27
Christian Science reveals incontrovertibly
that Mind is All‑in‑all, that the only realities are the divine Mind and
idea. This great fact is not, however,
seen to be supported by sensible evidence, until its divine Principle is
demonstrated by healing the sick and thus proved absolute and divine. This proof once seen, no other conclusion can
be reached.
For three years after my discovery, I sought
the solution of this problem of Mind‑healing, searched the Scriptures and read
little else, kept aloof from society, and devoted time and energies to dis‑covering
a positive rule. The search was sweet,
calm, and buoyant with hope, not selfish nor depressing. I knew the Principle of all harmonious Mind‑action
to be God, and that cures were produced in primitive Christian healing by holy,
uplifting faith; but I must know the Science of this healing, and I won my way
to absolute conclusions through divine revelation, reason, and demonstration. The revelation of Truth in the understanding
came to me gradually and apparently through divine power. When a new spiritual idea is borne to earth,
the prophetic Scripture of Isaiah is renewedly fulfilled: "Unto us a child
is born, . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful."
191:8
As a material, theoretical life‑basis is
found to be a misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine Principle
of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to "where the young child
was," ‑‑even to the birth of a new‑old idea, to the spiritual sense of
being and of what Life includes. Thus
the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, chasing
away the darkness of error.
201:7
We cannot build safely on false foundations. Truth makes a new creature, in whom old
things pass away and "all things are become new." Passions, selfishness, false appetites,
hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabundance of
being is on the side of God, good.
276:17
If God is admitted to be the only Mind and
Life, there ceases to be any opportunity for sin and death. When we learn in Science how to be perfect
even as our Father in heaven is perfect, thought is turned into new and healthy
channels,‑‑towards the contemplation of things immortal and away from
materiality to the Principle of the universe, including harmonious man.
323:28
The effects of Christian Science are not so
much seen as felt. It is the
"still, small voice" of Truth uttering itself. We are either turning away from this
utterance, or we are listening to it and going up higher. Willingness to become as a little child and
to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy
to see them disappear,‑‑this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate
harmony. The purification of sense and
self is a proof of progress.
"Blessed are the pure in heart:
for they shall see God."
518:27
The divine Principle, or Spirit, comprehends
and expresses all, and all must therefore be as perfect as the divine Principle
is perfect. Nothing is new to Spirit. Nothing can be novel to eternal Mind, the
author of all things, who from all eternity knoweth His own ideas. Deity was satisfied with His work. How could He be otherwise, since the
spiritual creation was the outgrowth, the emanation, of His infinite self‑containment
and immortal wisdom?
592:18
NEW JERUSALEM. Divine Science; the spiritual facts and
harmony of the universe; the kingdom of heaven, or reign of harmony.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 258
James Russell Lowell – Adapted
Oft to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of Truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side.
A great cause, God's new Messiah,
Shows to each the bloom or blight,
So can choice be made by all men
Twixt the darkness and the light.
New occasions teach new duties,
Time makes ancient creeds uncouth;
They must upward still and onward
Who would keep abreast of Truth,
And serenely down the future
See the thought of men incline
To the side of perfect justice
And to God's supreme design.
Though the cause of evil prosper,
Yet 'tis Truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold,
And upon the throne be wrong,
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above His own.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
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!
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