Service for Sunday, January 11, 2015
Subject: Sacrament
Hymn 425
M. M. Wienland
O weary pilgrim, lift your head,
For joy cometh in the morning;
For God in His own Word hath said
That joy cometh in the morning.
Refrain
Joy cometh in the morning,
Joy cometh in the morning;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy cometh in the morning.
Our God shall wipe all tears away,
For joy cometh in the morning;
Sorrow and sighing flee away,
For joy cometh in the morning.
[Refrain]
Readings from the Bible.
Psalms 100:1-5
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
Psalms 98:1-9 (to ;)
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;
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.
Communion Hymn – Mary Baker Eddy
Saw ye my Saviour? Heard ye the glad sound?
Felt ye the power of the Word?
'Twas the Truth that made us free,
And was found by you and me
In the life and the love of our Lord.
Mourner, it calls you,--"Come to my bosom,
Love wipes your tears all away,
And will lift the shade of gloom,
And for you make radiant room
Midst the glories of one endless day."
Sinner, it calls you,--"Come to this fountain,
Cleanse the foul senses within;
'Tis the Spirit that makes pure,
That exalts thee, and will cure
All thy sorrow and sickness and sin."
Strongest deliverer, friend of the friendless,
Life of all being divine:
Thou the Christ, and not the creed;
Thou the Truth in thought and deed;
Thou the water, the bread, and the wine.
Reading of the Tenets of The Mother Church
Tenets of The Mother Church
The First Church of Christ, Scientist*
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.
Mary Baker Eddy
Solo: “Sing With Grace in Your Heart”
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. (link to Service)
The content of the Lesson Sermon may be found in the Christian Science Quarterly. You may also hear the Lesson-Sermon for this week online and by subscribing to the eBible Lesson by clicking here.
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
#Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people,
Service for Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015
Theme: “Everlasting”
Hymn 53
Based on a hymn by John R. Macduff
Everlasting arms of Love
Are beneath, around, above;
God it is who bears us on,
His the arm we lean upon.
He our ever-present guide
Faithful is, whate'er betide;
Gladly then we journey on,
With His arm to lean upon.
From earth's fears and vain alarms
Safe in His encircling arms,
He will keep us all the way,
God, our refuge, strength and stay.
Readings from the Bible
Deuteronomy 33:27 (to :)The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms:
Psalms 24:3-6 (to 1st .),7,10 (to 1st .)
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 of hosts, he is the King of glory.
Psalms 90:1,2,4,14,16,17
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Psalms 103:15-19
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.
Psalms 119:142-144
Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.
Psalms 145:3-5,8-13
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.
The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
Isaiah 51:9-11
#Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Isaiah 55:3,6-12
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
#Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. #For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Isaiah 60:19,20
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Jeremiah 31:3,7-9 (to 2nd :)
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
For thus saith the Lord; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble:
Daniel 4:1-3
Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
Habakkuk 1:12 (to 1st .),13 (to :)
#Art thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die.
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:
John 3:16
#For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Galations 6:7,8
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
II Thessalonians 2:16,17
Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
22:23-11Final deliverance from error, whereby we rejoice in immortality, boundless freedom, and sinless sense, is not reached through paths of flowers nor by pinning one's faith without works to another's vicarious effort. Whosoever believeth that wrath is righteous or that divinity is appeased by human suffering, does not understand God.
Justice requires reformation of the sinner. Mercy cancels the debt only when justice approves. Revenge is inadmissible. Wrath which is only appeased is not destroyed, but partially indulged. Wisdom and Love may require many sacrifices of self to save us from sin. One sacrifice, however great, is insufficient to pay the debt of sin. The atonement requires constant self-immolation on the sinner's part. That God's wrath should be vented upon His beloved Son, is divinely unnatural. Such a theory is man-made. The atonement is a hard problem in theology, but its scientific explanation is, that suffering is an error of sinful sense which Truth destroys, and that eventually both sin and suffering will fall at the feet of everlasting Love.
44:20-5
Could it be called supernatural for the God of nature to sustain Jesus in his proof of man's truly derived power? It was a method of surgery beyond material art, but it was not a supernatural act. On the contrary, it was a divinely natural act, whereby divinity brought to humanity the understanding of the Christ-healing and revealed a method infinitely above that of human invention.
His disciples believed Jesus to be dead while he was hidden in the sepulchre, whereas he was alive, demonstrating within the narrow tomb the power of Spirit to overrule mortal, material sense. There were rock-ribbed walls in the way, and a great stone must be rolled from the cave's mouth; but Jesus vanquished every material obstacle, overcame every law of matter, and stepped forth from his gloomy resting-place, crowned with the glory of a sublime success, an everlasting victory.
99:23
The calm, strong currents of true spirituality, the manifestations of which are health, purity, and self-immolation, must deepen human experience, until the beliefs of material existence are seen to be a bald imposition, and sin, disease, and death give everlasting place to the scientific demonstration of divine Spirit and to God's spiritual, perfect man.
256:13-23
The everlasting I AM is not bounded nor compressed within the narrow limits of physical humanity, nor can He be understood aright through mortal concepts. The precise form of God must be of small importance in comparison with the sublime question, What is infinite Mind or divine Love?
Who is it that demands our obedience? He who, in the language of Scripture, "doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?"
289:25-2
The spiritual fact and the material belief of things are contradictions; but the spiritual is true, and therefore the material must be untrue. Life is not in matter. Therefore it cannot be said to pass out of matter. Matter and death are mortal illusions. Spirit and all things spiritual are the real and eternal.
Man is not the offspring of flesh, but of Spirit,--of Life, not of matter. Because Life is God, Life must be eternal, self-existent. Life is the everlasting I AM, the Being who was and is and shall be, whom nothing can erase.
390:4
We cannot deny that Life is self-sustained, and we should never deny the everlasting harmony of Soul, simply because, to the mortal senses, there is seeming discord. It is our ignorance of God, the divine Principle, which produces apparent discord, and the right understanding of Him restores harmony. Truth will at length compel us all to exchange the pleasures and pains of sense for the joys of Soul.
410:4-21
"This is life eternal," says Jesus,--^is^, not ^shall be^; and then he defines everlasting life as a present knowledge of his Father and of himself,--the knowledge of Love, Truth, and Life. "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent." The Scriptures say, "Man shall not live by bread ^alone^, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," showing that Truth is the actual life of man; but mankind objects to making this teaching practical.
Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger. The more difficult seems the material condition to be overcome by Spirit, the stronger should be our faith and the purer our love. The Apostle John says: "There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made perfect in Love." Here is a definite and inspired proclamation of Christian Science.
428:15-29
We should consecrate existence, not "to the unknown God" whom we "ignorantly worship," but to the eternal builder, the everlasting Father, to the Life which mortal sense cannot impair nor mortal belief destroy. We must realize the ability of mental might to offset human misconceptions and to replace them with the life which is spiritual, not material.
The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man ^is^, not ^shall be^, perfect and immortal. We must hold forever the consciousness of existence, and sooner or later, through Christ and Christian Science, we must master sin and death. The evidence of man's immortality will become more apparent, as material beliefs are given up and the immortal facts of being are admitted.
489:3
If the Science of Life were understood, it would be found that the senses of Mind are never lost and that matter has no sensation. Then the human limb would be replaced as readily as the lobster's claw,--not with an artificial limb, but with the genuine one. Any hypothesis which supposes life to be in matter is an educated belief. In infancy this belief is not equal to guiding the hand to the mouth; and as consciousness develops, this belief goes out,--yields to the reality of everlasting Life.
568:24-30
For victory over a single sin, we give thanks and magnify the Lord of Hosts. What shall we say of the mighty conquest over all sin? A louder song, sweeter than has ever before reached high heaven, now rises clearer and nearer to the great heart of Christ; for the accuser is not there, and Love sends forth her primal and everlasting strain.
594:19
SPIRIT. Divine substance; Mind; divine Principle; all that is good; God; that only which is perfect, everlasting, omnipresent, omnipotent, infinite.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 246
Isaiah 40 – From Dutch Version
O Thou who spreadest the heaven like a tent,
He who depends on Thee, ne'er is forspent,
Still for his might on Thee he ever counteth,
On wings of eagles he, unwearied, mounteth.
Refrain
Have ye not heard, have ye not known
The everlasting God
Creator is of heaven and earth,
And He alone is Lord.
So shall the glory of God be revealed,
All flesh shall see it and all shall be healed;
In word and deed declare Him and adore Him.
God's will is done, and all is plain before Him.
[Refrain]
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
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.
Service for Jan 4, 2015
Subject: God
Hymn 5Irving C. Tomlinson
A voice from heaven we have heard,
The call to rise from earth;
Put armor on, the sword now gird,
And for the fight go forth.
The foe in ambush claims our prize,
Then heed high heaven's call.
Obey the voice of Truth, arise,
And let not fear enthrall.
The cause requires unswerving might:
With God alone agree.
Then have no other aim than right;
End bondage, O be free.
Depart from sin, awake to love:
Your mission is to heal.
Then all of Truth you must approve,
And only know the real.
The scriptural selection is from Psalms.
Psalms 66:1,2,4 (to 1st .),5 (to :),6,7 (to :),8-10,16,17,19,20
Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name.
Come and see the works of God:
He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him. He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations:
O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
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.
This being the first Sunday of the month, Article VIII , Section 1, is read from the Manual of The Mother Church:
A Rule for Motives and Acts.
Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church. In Science, divine Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness. The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously.
Hymn 282
Author Unknown
Praise the Lord, ye heavens, adore Him;
Praise Him, angels, in the height;
Sun and moon, rejoice before Him,
Praise Him, all ye stars of light;
Praise the Lord, for He hath spoken,
Worlds His mighty voice obeyed;
Laws that never shall be broken
For their guidance hath He made.
Praise the Lord, for He is glorious;
Never shall His promise fail;
God hath made His saints victorious,
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation;
Hosts on high, His power proclaim;
Heaven and earth, and all creation,
Laud and magnify His name.
Solo -
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. (link to Service)
The content of the Lesson Sermon may be found in the Christian Science Quarterly. You may also hear the Lesson-Sermon for this week online and by subscribing to the eBible Lesson by clicking here.
Hymn 342
Laura Lee Randall
This is the day the Lord hath made;
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice;
Stand in His presence, unafraid,
In praise lift up your voice.
All perfect gifts are from above,
And all our blessings show
The amplitude of God's dear love
Which every heart may know.
The Lord will hear before we call,
And every need supply;
Good things are freely given to all
Who on His word rely.
We come today to bring Him praise
Not for such gifts alone,
But for the higher, deeper ways
In which His love is shown.
For sin destroyed, for sorrow healed,
For health and peace restored;
For Life and Love by Truth revealed,
We thank and bless the Lord.
This is the day the Lord hath made,
In praise lift up your voice.
In shining robes of joy arrayed,
Be glad, give thanks, rejoice.
"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 130:1,2
Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
Service for Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014
Theme: New
Hymn 392
Laura C. Nourse
With love and peace
and joy supreme
We hail the new
appearing;
From out the darkness
and the dream,
The haven of rest
is nearing.
With gifts of healing
in his wings
To light the Christ
now guides us,
The heart that knows
him burns and sings,
For endless joy
betides us.
His touch the door of
Life unseals
And bids us freely
enter,
His word the heaven
of heavens reveals
With Love its bound
and center.
For God is all, and
Christ the way;
Our meek and bold
defender
Has cleft the night
and lo, the day
Bursts forth in
mighty splendor.
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 42:5-10,16
#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.
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I
will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light
before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and
not forsake them.
II Corinthians 5:17 if,18
if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new. And all things are of God,
who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation;
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 I saw,10,11
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.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high
mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone
most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;
Readings from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.
20:8-23
Jesus' history made a new calendar, which we call the
Christian era; but he established no ritualistic worship. He knew that men can be baptized, partake of
the Eucharist, support the clergy, observe the Sabbath, make long prayers, and
yet be sensual and sinful.
Jesus bore our
infirmities; he knew the error of mortal belief, and "with his stripes
[the rejection of error] we are healed."
"Despised and rejected of men," returning blessing for
cursing, he taught mortals the opposite of themselves, even the nature of God;
and when error felt the power of Truth, the scourge and the cross awaited the
great Teacher. Yet he swerved not, well
knowing that to obey the divine order and trust God, saves retracing and
traversing anew the path from sin to holiness.
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.
34:29-29 np
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.
Our baptism is a
purification from all error. Our church
is built on the divine Principle, Love.
We can unite with this church only as we are new-born of Spirit, as we
reach the Life which is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth the
fruits of Love,--casting out error and healing the sick. Our Eucharist is spiritual communion with the
one God. Our bread, "which cometh
down from heaven," is Truth. Our
cup is the cross. Our wine the
inspiration of Love, the draught our Master drank and commended to his
followers.
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 discovering 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.
270:14
The prophets of old
looked for something higher than the systems of their times; hence their
foresight of the new dispensation of Truth.
But they knew not what would be the precise nature of the teaching and
demonstration of God, divine Mind, in His more infinite meanings,--the
demonstration which was to destroy sin, sickness, and death, establish the
definition of omnipotence, and maintain the Science of Spirit.
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."
535:29
In the first chapter
of Genesis we read: "And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering
together of the waters called He Seas."
In the Apocalypse it is written: "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." In St.
John's vision, heaven and earth stand for spiritual ideas, and the sea,
as a symbol of tempest-tossed human concepts advancing and receding, is
represented as having passed away. The
divine understanding reigns, is all,
and there is no other consciousness.
572:19-17
In Revelation xxi. 1
we read:--
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.
The Revelator had
not yet passed the transitional stage in human experience called death, but he
already saw a new heaven and a new earth.
Through what sense came this vision to St. John? Not through the material visual organs for
seeing, for optics are inadequate to take in so wonderful a scene. Were this new heaven and new earth
terrestrial or celestial, material or spiritual? They could not be the former, for the human
sense of space is unable to grasp such a view.
The Revelator was on our plane of existence, while yet beholding what
the eye cannot see,--that which is invisible to the uninspired thought. This testimony of Holy Writ sustains the fact
in Science, that the heavens and earth to one human consciousness, that
consciousness which God bestows, are spiritual, while to another, the
unillumined human mind, the vision is material.
This shows unmistakably that what the human mind terms matter and spirit
indicates states and stages of consciousness.
Accompanying this
scientific consciousness was another revelation, even the declaration from
heaven, supreme harmony, that God, the divine Principle of harmony, is ever
with men, and they are His people.
Silent prayer followed by the audible repetition of the Lord’s Prayer.
Hymn 218
Samuel
Longfellow
O Life that maketh
all things new,
The blooming earth,
the thoughts of men;
Our pilgrim feet, wet
with Thy dew,
In gladness hither
turn again.
From hand to hand the
greeting flows,
From eye to eye the
signals run,
From heart to heart
the bright hope glows,
The seekers of the
Light are one:
One in the freedom of
the truth,
One in the joy of
paths untrod,
One in the heart's
perennial youth,
One in the larger
thought of God;--
The freer step, the
fuller breath,
The wide horizon's
grander view;
The sense of Life
that knows no death,--
The Life that
maketh all things new.
Sharing of experiences, testimonies and remarks by members of the congregation.
Hymn 414
Katherine Hankey
I love to tell the
story
Of unseen things
above,
Of Jesus and his
glory,
Of Jesus and his
love,
I love to tell the
story
Because I know 'tis
true,
It satisfies my
longing
As nothing else can
do.
Refrain
I love to tell the
story,
It is my theme in
glory
To tell the old, old
story
Of Jesus and his
love.
I love to tell the
story,
'Tis pleasant to
repeat
What seems, each time
I tell it,
More wonderfully
sweet.
I love to tell the
story,
For some have never
heard
The message of
salvation
From God's own holy
word.
[Refrain]
I love to tell the
story,
For those who know
it best
Seem hungering and
thirsting
To hear it like the
rest,
I love to tell the
story,
To sing the new,
new song
That is the old, old
story
That I have loved
so long.
[Refrain]
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