and flower. Earth and air and sky are vocal with thy praise, and throb with thine abounding life.

As a vesture shalt thou change them and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

Lord of our life and Disposer of our lot! Inspire us, we pray thee, with a divine faith in the loftiness and eternity of our lives; subdue us to the waiting trust and lowly patience of those who have lived as fellow-workers with thee; and most of all of him whose victory over death is the prophecy of our triumph, if only like him we lay hold of eternal life. Day by day, remembering that our time is short, may we grow in faith, in self-denial, in charity, in heavenly-mindedness; in the purity by which we may see thee; and the surrender which makes us one with thee. And then, mingle us at last with our loved ones, and with the mighty host of thy redeemed for evermore. Amen.

O

GREAT and gracious Presence, above, below, around, within, the Life of all that lives: thou sendest forth thy breath, and we are created: thou openest thy hand and we are filled with good. To every faith bowed down, and every love laid in its grave, thou bringest a new uplifting and a heavenly birth: and to ignorance and weakness and sin thou givest light and strength, and the tender healing of forgiveness. Having received such ministry and gracious regard, let us set our affections on things above, that so we may finally know the hope of thy calling and the riches of that inheritance, which thou didst manifest to him whom we remember this day, and with him be deemed worthy of the crown of immortality. Amen.

The Lord's Prayer: to be said by the minister and the people.

Give us this forgive those

UR Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever

A Service for the Baptism of Children

The parents with the child or children to be baptized being present and standing before the minister, the minister shall read one or more of the following sentences:

H

EAR, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love.

the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be upon thine heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou risest up.

The promise is unto you and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord your God shall call.

And Jesus took a young child, and set him in the midst of them, and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name receiveth me; and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.

And they brought young children to him that he should touch them, and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them: Suffer the little children. to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

IN

Then shall the minister say:

N the presence of this congregation of the Church of God, we are about to dedicate this child to the love and service of Almighty God. This water is the emblem of that purity which was in Jesus, through whose gospel we are called to holiness of living. May the God of love consecrate unto us this service, that we who are of the family of this household of faith may receive this child into the peculiar charge of our sympathy and love; that as (he) shall grow in stature and in wisdom and wax strong in spirit, (he) shall find in this family of the people of God congenial fellowship for

(his) soul's abiding joy. Through this sacred rite may this church assume to itself a solemn burden of responsibility for this child's sake: that (he) and we together grow in the fellowship of a pure religious faith, and in the way of truth whose law is perfect freedom.

Then shall the minister say to the parent or parents of the child presented for bap, tism, taking each child in turn where more than one are to be baptized:

You

OU present this child for baptism in token of your belief that (he) is God's child, and of your desire so to nurture and train (him) that he may ever seek to know and to do God's holy will.

Do you therefore promise that you will faithfully instruct this child in the way of religious truth, as best you can understand it; and will steadfastly endeavor to rear (him) in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Answer. We do.

Name this child.

IN

I

Then shall the minister baptize the child, repeating the name and saying:

N the faith, fellowship, and hope of the gospel, I dedicate thee to God, our Father in Heaven.

BAPTIZE thee in the name of God our Father, and into the faith and fellowship of the religion of Jesus Christ.

MA

In either case this benediction may be added to the words of baptism.

AY the Lord bless thee and keep thee: the Lord cause his face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.

L

After all the children presented have been duly baptized, the minister shall say: ET us pray.

A

Prayer: to be said by minister and people.

LMIGHTY and Everlasting God, who hast promised unto us that thou wilt not only be our God, but the God and Father of our children, we welcome this child into the bosom of thy Church, and into the fellowship of those who love thee and strive to do thy will; grant unto (him) thy best blessings of body and soul, that (he) may pass safely

through the temptations and trials of this life, and have part with all thy faithful children in the blessedness of the life eternal. Amen.

E

Prayer: to be said by minister alone.

NDUE these thy servants, O God, with wisdom from above, that they may tenderly and faithfully educate and preserve this child whom we now bless in thy name. Help them in thine own way to consecrate to thy service this gift of thy goodness, so that in years to come it may rise up and call them blessed. Counsel them in all their perplexities, sustain them in the exercise of their duties, and the discharge of their responsibilities, and grant that theirs may be the joy of seeing their child grow in strength, and wisdom, and grace, obedient to thy will for evermore. Amen.

A Service for Admission into the Church.

Sentences: to be read by the minister.

HEREWITH shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before

WH

the high God? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

And it shall come to pass, saith the Lord, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.

The first of all the commandments is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Brethren, I count not myself to have attained; but this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Then shall the minister say:

Tis surely fitting and altogether good that those who are agreed in the

at one company

bear witness to the truth by their fellowship in the gospel. We are met at this time to give welcome to these brethren who desire to unite with us in this household of worship. May the God of love, whose service is perfect freedom, sanctify unto us and to them this bond of fellowship; that together we may steadfastly follow after the things that make for peace, and the things wherewith we may edify one another.

Let us pray.

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