Service for Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2013

Theme: Whole

 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.

Readings from the Bible.

Jeremiah 32:36‑41 now
now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.  Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

Matthew 6:9‑33
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.  Amen.  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  

#Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.  But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.  

#Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!  #No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.  Are ye not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 9:10‑13,20‑22
#And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples.  And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners?  But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.  But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

#And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.  But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.

Matthew 15:22‑28
And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.  But he answered her not a word.  And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.  But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.  But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.  And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.  Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Mark 10:46‑52 blind
blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.  And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.  And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.  And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee.  And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus.  And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight.  And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Luke 11:33‑36
No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.  The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.  Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.  If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

Ephesians 6:10‑17
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

45:6‑21
  Our Master fully and finally demonstrated divine Science in his victory over death and the grave.  Jesus' deed was for the enlightenment of men and for the salvation of the whole world from sin, sickness, and death.  Paul writes: "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the [seeming] death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."  Three days after his bodily burial he talked with his disciples.  The persecutors had failed to hide immortal Truth and Love in a sepulchre. 
  Glory be to God, and peace to the struggling hearts!  Christ hath rolled away the stone from the door of human hope and faith, and through the revelation and demonstration of life in God, hath elevated them to possible at‑one‑ment with the spiritual idea of man and his divine Principle, Love. 

142:4
  Anciently the followers of Christ, or Truth, measured Christianity by its power over sickness, sin, and death; but modern religions generally omit all but one of these powers,‑‑the power over sin.  We must seek the undivided garment, the whole Christ, as our first proof of Christianity, for Christ, Truth, alone can furnish us with absolute evidence. 

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. 

326:3‑22
  If we wish to follow Christ, Truth, it must be in the way of God's appointing.  Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also." He, who would reach the source and find the divine remedy for every ill, must not try to climb the hill of Science by some other road.  All nature teaches God's love to man, but man cannot love God supremely and set his whole affections on spiritual things, while loving the material or trusting in it more than in the spiritual. 
  We must forsake the foundation of material systems, however time‑honored, if we would gain the Christ as our only Saviour.  Not partially, but fully, the great healer of mortal mind is the healer of the body. 
  The purpose and motive to live aright can be gained now.  This point won, you have started as you should.  You have begun at the numeration‑table of Christian Science, and nothing but wrong intention can hinder your advancement.  Working and praying with true motives, your Father will open the way.  "Who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth?"

340:4
  This text in the book of Ecclesiastes conveys the Christian Science thought, especially when the word duty, which is not in the original, is omitted: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  Fear God, and keep His commandments:  for this is the whole duty of man."  In other words:  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:  love God and keep His commandments:  for this is the whole of man in His image and likeness.  Divine Love is infinite.  Therefore all that really exists is in and of God, and manifests His love. 

369:30
  No man is physically healed in wilful error or by it, any more than he is morally saved in or by sin.  It is error even to murmur or to be angry over sin.  To be every whit whole, man must be better spiritually as well as physically.  To be immortal, we must forsake the mortal sense of things, turn from the lie of false belief to Truth, and gather the facts of being from the divine Mind.  The body improves under the same regimen which spiritualizes the thought; and if health is not made manifest under this regimen, this proves that fear is governing the body.  This is the law of cause and effect, or like producing like. 

371:27
The necessity for uplifting the race is father to the fact that Mind can do it; for Mind can impart purity instead of impurity, strength instead of weakness, and health instead of disease.  Truth is an alterative in the entire system, and can make it "every whit whole."

390:27
  "Agree to disagree" with approaching symptoms of chronic or acute disease, whether it is cancer, consumption, or smallpox.  Meet the incipient stages of disease with as powerful mental opposition as a legislator would employ to defeat the passage of an inhuman law.  Rise in the conscious strength of the spirit of Truth to overthrow the plea of mortal mind, alias matter, arrayed against the supremacy of Spirit.  Blot out the images of mortal thought and its beliefs in sickness and sin.  Then, when thou art delivered to the judgment of Truth, Christ, the judge will say, "Thou art whole!"

411:27
  Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients.  Silently reassure them as to their exemption from disease and danger.  Watch the result of this simple rule of Christian Science, and you will find that it alleviates the symptoms of every disease. If you succeed in wholly removing the fear, your patient is healed. The great fact that God lovingly governs all, never punishing aught but sin, is your standpoint, from which to advance and destroy the human fear of sickness.  Mentally and silently plead the case scien‑tifically for Truth.  You may vary the arguments to meet the peculiar or general symptoms of the case you treat, but be thoroughly persuaded in your own mind concerning the truth which you think or speak, and you will be the victor. 

487:25‑6
  The Apostle James said, "Show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works." The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality. 
  This faith relies upon an understood Principle.  This Principle makes whole the diseased, and brings out the enduring and harmonious phases of things.  The result of our teachings is their sufficient confirmation.  When, on the strength of these instructions, you are able to banish a severe malady, the cure shows that you understand this teaching, and therefore you receive the blessing of Truth. 

Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.


 Hymn 74 
 Edmund Beale Sargant

 Go forth and stand upon the mount,
   For Truth is at thy side;
 The very rocks may seem to break,
   And earth to open wide;
 Yet error's tempest and its fire
 Before that still small voice retire.

 Go, take the little open book
   From out the angel's hand;
 The word of Truth is there for all
   To read and understand.
 What though the seven thunders roll?
 That still small voice shall make thee whole.

Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregationl


 Hymn 374
 John Randall Dunn 

 We thank Thee and we bless Thee,
   O Father of us all,
 That e'en before we ask Thee
   Thou hear'st Thy children's call.
 We praise Thee for Thy goodness
   And tender, constant care,
 We thank Thee, Father‑Mother,
   That Thou hast heard our prayer.

 We thank Thee and we bless Thee,
   O Lord of all above,
 That now Thy children know Thee
   As everlasting Love.
 And Love is not the author
   Of discord, pain and fear;
 O Love divine, we thank Thee
   That good alone is here.

 We thank Thee, Father‑Mother,
   For blessings, light and grace
 Which bid mankind to waken
   And see Thee face to face.
 We thank Thee, when in anguish
   We turn from sense to Soul,
 That we may hear Thee calling:

   Rejoice, for thou art whole.

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