Subject: Sacrament
Hymn 269
Frederic W. Root
Our God is Love, unchanging Love,
And can we ask for more?
Our prayer for Love's increase is vain;
'Twas infinite before.
Ask not the Lord with breath of praise
For more than we accept;
The open fount is free to all,
God's promises are kept.
Our God is Mind, the perfect Mind,
Intelligence divine;
Shall mortal man ask Him to change
His infinite design?
The heart that yearns for righteousness,
With longing unalloyed,
In such desire sends up a prayer
That ne'er returneth void.
O loving Father, well we know
That words alone are vain,
That those who seek Thy will to do,
The true communion gain.
Then may our deeds our pure desire
For growth in grace express,
That we may know how Love divine
Forever waits to bless.
The scriptural selections are from Psalms and I Corinthians.
Psalms 19:1‑11,14
The heavens declare the glory
of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto
night sheweth knowledge. There is no
speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for
the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a
strong man to run a race. His going
forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and
there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of
the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment
of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the
Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter
also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is
great reward.
Let the words of my mouth,
and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my
strength, and my redeemer.
I Corinthians 10:16,17,26
The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we
break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one
body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
For the earth is the Lord's,
and the fulness thereof.
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 297
Roberta B. Lynch
Science, the angel with the flaming sword,
God's gift, the glory of the risen Lord;
Light of the world, in whose light we shall
see
Father and perfect Son, blest unity;
Calm of Shekinah where hope anchors fast,
Harbor of refuge till the storm be past;
Sweet, secret place where God and men do meet,
Horeb whereon we walk with unshod feet;
Place of communion with the Lamb of God,
Fold where the sheep must pass beneath His
rod;
Ark where the dove may close her faltering
wings,
Love's law divine that makes us priests and
kings;
Loosener of prison bands at midnight hour,
Of self‑forged chains that fall through Love's
all‑power;
Christ's morning meal by joyous Galilee:
Science, thou dost fulfill all prophecy.
Tenets of the Mother Church.
1. As adherents of Truth, we take the
inspired Word of the Bible as our sufficient guide to eternal Life.
2. We acknowledge and adore one supreme and
infinite God. We acknowledge His Son,
one Christ; the Holy Ghost or divine Comforter; and man in God's image and
likeness.
3. We acknowledge God's forgiveness of sin in
the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as
unreal. But the belief in sin is
punished so long as the belief lasts.
4. We acknowledge Jesus' atonement as the
evidence of divine, efficacious Love, unfolding man's unity with God through
Christ Jesus the Way‑shower; and we acknowledge that man is saved through
Christ, through Truth, Life, and Love as demonstrated by the Galilean Prophet
in healing the sick and overcoming sin and death.
5. We acknowledge that the crucifixion of
Jesus and his resurrection served to uplift faith to understand eternal Life,
even the allness of Soul, Spirit, and the nothingness of matter.
6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray
for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as
we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.
Solo: “Communion Hymn” with
words by Mary Baker Eddy.
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.
The congregation is invited to kneel in silent communion, to be followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 1
Communion Doxology --Tate and Brady
Be Thou, O God, exalted high;
And as Thy glory fills the sky,
So let it be on earth displayed,
Till Thou art here and now obeyed.
"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
II Corinthians 13:14 (to 2nd
.)
The grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you
all. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment