Sunday, June 21, 2020 First Church of Christ, Scientist, Tigard

Bible Lesson Sermon: Is the Universe, Including Man, Evolved by Atomic Force?

Pre-Prelude “This is My Father’s World,” performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Prelude

“Jesus the very thought of thee,” arranged by Robert Kundick Hymn 120 can be found here. Hymn. 120 How beauteous on the mountains The feet of him that brings, Like streams from living fountains, Good tidings of good things; That publishes salvation; From error gives release To every tribe and nation: God's reign of joy and peace.

Break forth in hymns of gladness, O waste Jerusalem; Let songs instead of sadness, Thy jubilee proclaim; The Lord, in strength victorious, Upon thy foes has trod; Behold, O earth, the glorious Salvation of our God. Scriptural Selection Gen. 1:1–28, 31; 2:1–3 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 ¶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 ¶ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14 ¶ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24 ¶ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. A few moments of silent prayer . . . And then the Lord's Prayer with its spiritual interpretation as given in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures . . . SH 16:26–15 Our Father which art in heaven, 27 Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious, Hallowed be Thy name. Adorable One. 30 Thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present. 1 Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Enable us to know, - as in heaven, so on earth, - God is 3 omnipotent, supreme. Give us this day our daily bread; Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

6 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 9 evil; And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death. 12 For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over 15 all, and All. Hymn 370 can be found here: Hymn. 370 We are hid with Christ forever In the Father's holy plan. In this pure eternal union We behold the perfect man; And we know that sin can never Overthrow the sacred rod Of dominion over evil: We are hid with Christ in God. Hid with Christ in God, O gladness: O the meekness and the might, When the risen Christ has lifted All our thoughts into the light, Light of Truth wherein no sadness Dims the radiant peace we find, As we set our whole affection On the beauteous things of Mind. A few announcements:

If you are a member of Tigard Branch or The Mother Church and your income has been interrupted due to recent events, financial assistance may be available to you from The Principle Foundation's Disaster Relief Fund. Likewise, if you are seeking a way to help others who are facing an unexpected financial challenge, The Principle Foundation provides an avenue for giving. It is the Principle Foundation's mission to promote inspired benevolence in accordance with the teachings of Christian Science. To apply for a grant or to contribute, go online to PrincipleFoundation.org. More information is available by calling 816-561-5955 or Email info@PrincipleFoundation.org Some online resources to consider:

A number of online Christian Science lectures being given across the world are listed here. This one, titled, “How Far Can Lovingkindness Take Us?” was given last week by the Santa Rosa, CA church. Thank you to those who attended the church garden work party. Excellent progress was made on the weeds and branches in front of the church! In light of the new requirement that face masks be worn indoors in public spaces, the church is moving more slowly toward reopening. We will keep you posted on our progress!

The solo today will be "How Beautiful Upon The Mountains” (Thank you to Kathy Archibald for her selection.) 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. And now the Golden Text, Responsive Reading, and Bible Lesson Sermon . . .

If desired, you can read the lesson open-access for a limited time, here, or listen to The Mother Church Broadcast here.

Offertory Fugue in G major by J.S. Bach

If you would like to make a contribution to the collection for Tigard Branch Church, please

contact douglas.e.whitmore@gmail for a mailing address. We close with Hymn 474, found here. Hymn. 474 Father, we Your loving children Lift our hearts in joy today, Knowing well that You will keep us Ever in Your blessed way. You are Love and You are wisdom,

You are Life and You are All; In Your Spirit living, moving, We shall neither faint nor fall. Come we daily then, dear Father, Open hearts and willing hands, Eager ears, expectant, joyful, Ready for Your right commands. We would hear no other voices, We would heed no other call; You alone are good and gracious, You our Mind and You our All. In Your house securely dwelling, Where Your children live to bless, Seeing only Your creation, We can share Your happiness, Share Your joy and spend it freely. Loyal hearts can feel no fear; We Your children know You, Father, Love and Life forever near. Father, we Your loving children Lift our hearts in joy today, Knowing well that You will keep us Ever in Your blessed way. Scientific Statement of Being ... 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, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 468:8, 9 There) Correlative Scripture 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. 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. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (I John 3:1–3) Benediction Ps. 46:10 10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Postlude Fantasy on Ode to Joy by Gert van Hoef, performed by Rob Stefanussen

Post-Postlude

“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” performed by New Apostolic Church Silvertown (in our own hymnal, Hymn 492)