In the book of Psalms (122:1) we read, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." For centuries Christians have found comfort and refreshment from assembling to hear the Word of God read and expounded by preachers, from joining in prayer to the Almighty, and from singing hymns of thanksgiving for His goodness.
Just before his ascension, Christ Jesus said to his disciples (Mark 16:15), "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." An important purpose of the members of Churches of Christ, Scientist, is to fulfill this mission, and one means of accomplishing it is through the Sunday services and Wednesday testimony meetings in The Mother Church and its branches.
The members of our churches do not assemble merely to benefit themselves. It is a basic fact that one cannot truly enjoy the fruitage of Christian Science unless he shares its blessings with his fellow men. The progress of the church depends on the individual progress of its members, and, vice versa, the progress of each member is bound up with the progressive activity of the church. Through daily systematic study of the Lesson-Sermons, outlined in the Christian Science Quarterly, and through earnest prayer the members let their thought reach out to include all mankind in tender love and affection. And they include in this prayer their fellow men not only in distant lands but also in their own communities.
