Subject: Reality
Hymn 15
Based on the Danish of Bernhard S. Ingemann
As gold by fire is tested,
Its purity shown forth,
So cleansing fires of Truth may prove
To man his native worth.
And as a mirror shows us
A likeness clear and bright,
So God forever sees His child
Revealed in radiant light.
'Twas thus the loving Master
Saw man's perfection shine,
Beheld God's child forever pure
In radiance all divine.
The scriptural selection is from Psalms.
Psalms 18:1‑3,16‑22,25,28‑32,49
I will love thee, O Lord, my
strength. The Lord is my rock, and my
fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my
buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the
Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
He sent from above, he took
me, he drew me out of many waters. He
delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were
too strong for me. They prevented me in
the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place;
he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the
cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed
from my God. For all his judgments were
before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
With the merciful thou wilt
shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
For thou wilt light my
candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by thee I have run through a troop; and
by my God have I leaped over a wall. As
for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to
all those that trust in him. For who is
God save the Lord? or who is a rock save
our God? It is God that girdeth me with
strength, and maketh my way perfect.
Therefore will I give thanks
unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
Silent prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s prayer, with its spiritual interpretation as given in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy
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 416
Kate L. Colby – Adapted
Be true and list the voice within,
Be true unto thy high ideal,
Thy perfect self, that knows no sin,
That self that is the only real.
God is the only perfect One:
My perfect self is one with Him;
So man is seen as God's own son,
When Truth dispels the shadows dim.
True to our God whose name is Love,
We shall fulfill our Father's plan;
For true means true to God above,
To self, and to our fellow man.
Solo: “Bless the Lord, Oh My
Soul”
Explanatory Note
Friends:
The Bible and the Christian Science textbook are our only preachers. We shall now read Scriptural texts, and their correlative passages from our denominational textbook; these comprise our sermon.
The canonical writings, together with the word of our textbook, corroborating and explaining the Bible texts in their spiritual import and application to all ages, past, present, and future, constitute a sermon undivorced from truth, uncontaminated and unfettered by human hypotheses, and divinely authorized.
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 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!
"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
Isaiah 26:4
Trust ye in the Lord for
ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:
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