First Church
of Christ, Scientist,
Chattanooga
The weekly Bible Lessons in the Christian Science Quarterly offer ideas and inspiration that comfort, heal, and lead to a deeper understanding of God’s goodness. Each year the Quarterly includes a special Thanksgiving Lesson, which is studied by individuals and shared at Thanksgiving church services around the world.
The Chattanooga Thanksgiving Service is on Thanksgiving Day at 10am ET.
Join by phone or online here.
In the Thanksgiving Lesson, we discover God as the source of all good and see how natural it is to experience and rejoice in His daily gifts of mercy, grace, and abundance.
You're invited to dive in, explore, study, and share this special message of love with family, friends, and neighbors.
Download the Thanksgiving Bible Lesson, read or listen to it online in English, German, Spanish, or French here.
Listen to The Mother Church Thanksgiving service (from 11:30a - 12:30p ET) here.
Read an article by the Research Staff of The Mary Baker Eddy Library, giving the historical background of the creation of this special service called,
"The Thanksgiving Day Service and 'the good already received' " here.
ORDER OF SERVICES
THANKSGIVING DAY
1. Hymn 299
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.
(Christian Science Hymnal, Hymn 299. Words: Mary Baker Eddy. Music: Walter E. Young. Music © 1932, ren. 1960 The Christian Science Board of Directors.)
2. Reading the Thanksgiving Proclamation of the President of the United States, or the Governor of the state, or both.
3. Reading a Scriptural Selection.
4. Silent Prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord's Prayer with its spiritual interpretation.
5. Hymn 197
Now sweeping down the years untold,
The day of Truth is breaking;
And sweet and fair the leaves unfold,
Of Love’s immortal waking.
For flower and fruitage now are seen,
Where blight and mildew rested:
The Christ today to us has been
By word and deed attested.
His living presence we have felt,
The Word made flesh among us:
And hearts of stone before him melt,
His peace is brooding o’er us.
(Christian Science Hymnal, Hymn 197. Words: Laura C. Nourse. Music: Lyman Brackett.)
6. Reading the Explanation Note on the first leaf of the Quarterly.
7. Announcing the subject of the Lesson-Sermon, and reading the Golden Text.
8. Responsive Reading by the First Reader and the congregation.
9. Reading the Lesson-Sermon prepared by the Bible Lesson Committee.
10. Solo -
Because God Loves Us
Sung by Rebecca Minor
Music and Lyrics by Rebecca Minor
Because God Loves Us Album
(Used with permission from Watchfire Music)
Do you feel your store of love is running low?
Yet, everyone around you needs it, heaven knows.
You’ve been praying for the day
You’ll feel it coming back your way,
Like so many promises you’ve heard.
Well, if it’s true that our Creator is Love alone,
Then Love’s not something we must conjure on our own.
And it upholds us when we’re weak,
So we can turn the other cheek,
Confident that God fulfills His word.
Love comes to you straight from the source.
And it shines from you with effortless force,
Gracing all those you meet throughout your life,
Whether they’ve brought you blessings or strife.
You see, it can’t be depleted, so let’s be generous.
We love because God Loves us.
Have you ever gone astray and wound up lost?
Those promised pleasures let you down at quite a cost.
Well, the beauty of it is
He never dropped your hand from His.
You were guided home to open arms.
And no one’s ever left outside God’s tender care.
In the desert, in the depths His voice will call you there.
And if you listen and obey
His light will surely shine the way,
Leading you and shielding you from harm.
Love comes to you straight from the source.
And it shines from you with effortless force,
Gracing all those you meet throughout your life,
Whether they’ve brought you blessings or strife.
You see, it can’t be depleted, so let’s be generous.
We love because God Loves us.
And if it seems otherwise,
We only have to lift our eyes
And see that neither height nor depth,
Past or future, life of death
Can separate us from the Love of God.
Love comes to you straight from the source.
And it shines from you with effortless force,
Gracing all those you meet throughout your life,
Whether they’ve brought you blessings or strife.
You see, it can’t be depleted, so let’s be generous.
We love because God
We love because God
We love because God Loves us.
11. Testimonies by Christian Scientists, appropriate for the occasion.
12. Hymn 226
O Lord of life, to Thee we lift
Our hearts in praise for those,
Thy prophets, who have shown Thy gift
Of grace that ever grows,
Of truth that spreads from shore to shore,
Of wisdom’s widening ray,
Of light that shineth more and more
Unto Thy perfect day.
Shine forth, O Light, that we may see,
With hearts all unafraid,
The meaning and the majesty
Of things that Thou hast made:
Shine forth, and let the darkling past
Beneath Thy beam grow bright;
Shine forth, and touch the future vast
With Thine untroubled light.
Light up Thy word; the fettered page
From darkened bondage free:
Light up our way; lead forth this age
In love’s large liberty.
O Light of light, within us dwell,
Through us Thy radiance pour,
That word and deed Thy truths may tell,
And praise Thee evermore.
(Christian Science Hymnal, Hymn 226. Words: Washington Gladden, alt. Music: Mainz Gesangbuch, 1833.)
13. Reading the Scientific Statement of Being, and the correlative Scripture according to I John 3:1-3.
14. Pronouncing Benediction.
ORDER OF SERVICES
THANKSGIVING DAY
1. Hymn.
2. Reading the Thanksgiving Proclamation of the President of the United States, or the Governor of the state, or both.
3. Reading a Scriptural Selection.
4. Silent Prayer, followed by the audible repetition of the Lord's Prayer with its spiritual interpretation.
5. Hymn.
6. Reading the Explanation Note on the first leaf of the Quarterly.
7. Announcing the subject of the Lesson-Sermon, and reading the Golden Text.
8. Responsive Reading by the First Reader and the congregation.
9. Reading the Lesson-Sermon prepared by the Bible Lesson Committee.
10. Solo.
11. Testimonies by Christian Scientists, appropriate for the occasion.
12. Hymn.
13. Reading the Scientific Statement of Being, and the correlative Scripture according to I John 3:1-3.
14. Pronouncing Benediction.
SOLO
"Blessings Overflowing"
Sung by Ann Stephan
Blessings Overflowing CD
Hymn 586
REFRAIN
This is the day, this is the day,
This is the day that God has made!
Open, now open the doorways of justice,
Let us be glad as we pass through those gates.
There is the place where the righteous may enter,
Singing to God with thanksgiving and praise.
REFRAIN
I will sing praises because You have heard me,
Offering salvation with grace upon grace.
Turning the stone that the builders rejected,
Into the cornerstone, rock of our faith.
REFRAIN
It is the Lord who has done all these wonders;
I have seen marvelous, marvelous things.
This is the day that the Lord has created;
Join the rejoicing as every heart sings.
REFRAIN
Hymn 342
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.
Hymn 520
Let all things now living
A song of thanksgiving
To God our creator triumphantly raise;
Who fashioned and made us,
Protected and stayed us,
By guiding us forward throughout all our days.
God’s angels are o’er us,
Pure light goes before us,
A pillar of fire shining forth in the night:
Till shadows have vanished,
All fearfulness banished,
As forward we travel from light into Light.
By law God enforces,
The stars in their courses
And sun in its orbit obediently shine;
The hills and the mountains,
The rivers and fountains,
The depths of the ocean proclaim God divine.
We, too, should be voicing
Our love and rejoicing
With glad adoration, a song let us raise:
Let all things now living
Unite in thanksgiving,
To God in the highest, hosanna and praise. ~~~