SERMON r* "CHRIST IS RISEN" -by- MR. CHARLES FILL-PORE. -at - r> unity auditorium. 913 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, Missouri. EASTER SUNDAY, 1 ^ 1 2. Momtnr Service. Tie Central Idea of our -eeting this -notuinr is "I Am *he Resurrection and *he Lion*". "I Ari the Resurrection aro *he Li-ht". All through our conscio isness and outer mesh of environment of thought, swaddling clothes, is this statement, "I Am the Resu-rectlon ar,d the Light". I* has ..Hhin it a truth which can only be understood, appreciated bv analysis, study. You i.ius* look into the situation. Toe first statement "I A"", is that which includes all else. If I /'ere to ask you what is the greatest, most wonderful, most mysterious thing in existence, what would you say? llan! But what is man? I can get a thousand different answers to that ques'ion. Man is God manifest. Ad what is that man- ifest 1* ion now do you describe it? You can describe it in 2 a thousand different ways; 'out *o you, vhat id it? You say, "Why, it is tiut ./nich thinks; it is that .:'.ieh knows - 'out, A above and beyond that, it is self-iden* ity; and self-identity always said to itself, "T An, I An". Keep savin? to yourself "I in, I An"; think about yourself in your true relation, as ‘he real I An of God, and you ..ill find that , wrap ed up in ‘*.3 swaddling clothes of an outer thought, is the real thing, the .greatest of <*±1 things, I An. Why, do you know t.nst the greatest of all ‘he neta-physicians of all the ayes have nev r answered that 'luesticn yet, what I An is, what self-ldeutity i3. It must be God; it 0 must he *he all-Po*ent ial , all-?ossible One, and it is, it is. When God expresses Himself, lie sr/s, "I Ai". That is * ha way that He 4 old "oses, when ''uses <;aked Hi™ who he should sav sa.nt him,"say I An sent you-. Nov;, as we this morning give attention to the Spirit, lei us realize that it is I Am. I Aa is Spirit, and I Am is 4he lifMnr up power. I Ax io also the tearing-down power. The Resurrect ion, the lifting-up, is the one dominant idea. Thxt is now being put forth by all people who really think and understand; and ve are here ‘o set that airhty I An Power into expression in all of its fullness, ir. all oi its Truth, in right relation. T.nen, le* us pray to ‘he Great Power omnipresent. Ls* us affirm that Presence in i4s Spiritual relaMon, by quietly entering in* o the silence of oiind ana praglr.g and af firming and realizing that in" I Am is t.nc Risu rrec r. ion and *he Li~ht". 4 I* isn't outside, i* isn't in Jesus of Nazareth, the nan who lived nineteen hundred -/ears mo. He simply demonstrated it. fo-*h® x An in you. lie was the example; lie showed us the ./ay, bu* :i*t "lust demonstrate it. Let us be^in at. the rl"-it place, in Spirit and in Truth, in oursolvas, ar.d say earnestly, with truth the uppermost in our minds of that inherent power in every one of us, "I an the Rosn-rection nd the Life". Say it till the air palpitates with the Truth, un* il the Spirit becomes manifest in us, "I An the Resurrection «id the Life" - that will be our prayer. (Silence) 3 V.r'en Christ ianit v was i‘*h reduced ir tho earl” centuries * o * he parans, it vab found that they had a goddess called Eas*~e, th« Goddess of Life; and + ha*, a* about *'ris t tie of the "ear, * hoy had a festival in which this coddess of Life was used as * he supreme deity. 01'ferine a were made and, to those wno were in 1. ne understanding of unseen ‘‘orces, tnere was a reeonni* ion 0f *v-« z^-ir^in- forth of new Life in 'ne earth. V/hen Chrl e* innitv <*ave to tnese par an races the "ore spiritual •ruth tau"h» by Jesus Christ, they found it expedient *o incorporate, in order *na* tnese people mirht be reconciled, all, or '°a"l" al!> , of *hei- customs and rites ***1 ceremonies in the religions way. And "ds ir why we have Ens'er, and why it. has become separated *-a*” its nyan idea and adopt »d and i-roroor- a+ed i"*o a Christian idea We do no* worship +he "oddess of Life, hut we worship a Supreme Spiritual Llf*in~-ur of "an. Sow, tr.is briars *o the cons ide^at Ion of tne subject wnicn Christianity adopted and brought to the particular notice of men, because, back of all these symbols, are God incarnate, that .ve nUht be lifted up into our God likeness; that ns might be as we ntrt in • he beginning; that we might be restored to 'hat golden age in which immortality, joy, perfection, all good, reigned supreme. Kow is tnis to be brought about? Through God! -o other way. So, we ur* face *o face with tne great Troths, that *he Supreme Jod incarnated .‘iiriself in flesn, became one of us, ♦ hat )in mirht s o.. us the wav into the Life;that iie might, “ 9 through Ids example, lift us every on - up, if we would follow that example. In one of the Novels - I t hi rut tr.e itomaice of Two VJorlds, by Marie Corelli - we V.ve "iven *o us 1 he drean of a wonan * he area* S’preme Mind rave creative power, pov/er to nake a world and people It, which she did. And her people, in the be-‘nninp, were all ‘'ood, we^e happy; hut they fell one oy one ir.*o evil wavs, and finally she saw her world full of discord full of irhamony, sickness, and finally death. She was greatly disturbed and grieved, and thought, "how can I show *hese people * he truth. They won't listen * o •ne - t.hev have forgotten ne" . And it cane t. o her that the or.ly ray she could get their attention ’.vas to incarnate herself as one of then; to be- 10 come a lit'le child; to grow up in their midst, and w’ ich sne did; aid ir that way opened to then again the Life. I.'ov.', ♦•jis, in a crude way, shows cut the Great Supreme Life, God, incarnated himself in Christ, and became nothin-, vet demonstrated all, showing ug the way. ->ow, this Is o* a religions theory, but, as we Iook in* o The sources of creation; as we loex into our own c onsciousness;as we loox into the real forces lying oacx of mind ar.d thought, we see ♦hat i* all rests upon consciousness, upon tne power of thought in man; and tnat it must be *hrough this avenue that we shall resurrect nan; tnat we shall do away with those t rings which lead *o the greatest of all tragedies ir. human life, which is death 11 Sow, Jesus Christ is 4 he example. he demon st. rated ‘he proposit ion; lie taught along that ».iy, If you study h'is life, you will find t.nat He first entered into the religious and moral side o'* *hc quest ion,- >• is S arm or or: tne .'fount, !iis 4sue irg us *o t'-p relation of nen, Then, * he next ste; was ‘he pu*‘i*rr ‘'or’h of the example, of the power of man to do awav v»i*h axis* in? conditions cf ”ind, in wi-iC he healed, in which he purified, cas* in" out the de- il. And *ho no:4 step i“ *s 4 n* man, ~ne Supreme I Am,had power over the elements. Jie s4illed tne s*orm, walked upor. the waves; increased c.nd multiplied *he things of 4he natural world, showing in these various steps that these was a > regressive law, uo *o the final, which was the overcoming of death. *•01?, '.'e accept all these as ■nimcles of One vrvo was God, but "v.e can't do those things!" Gradual! v, however, it dawns unon us tha* v;e are *o follow alone the line taueht by -ing x'esus Christ, and, follovuKi'n up to the hirhest tide of our fal*h, ,-e* ‘he results. Ou* i' serna t t‘ ;e can'* alwavs have *ha* faith in ‘he invisible and step form upon the unseen and realize i* is a roc<. That is the power of *he mind, and ‘he -ni.nd must for.~e ahead in i* a ideal. 3ut o’esus Christ was •end is an exaiple * o us . We are arriving at a definite conclusion, through experience, that. we can hex 1 our ills through the V use of ills spirimal consciousness. The s.ur.e life that fia had is for us. lie said, " Follow ne, u:d do as I do"; -.nd we are 13 doing; but we only arrive at a cert a In point in the proposition, r* of *nu then we stop. *e follow o'cbus i:. healing. 3ome you have found * nat we have control of so>e of the forces of nature, it not all. Ju' ..'her. .ve cove t.o t.-ia* final step, *he resurrection fro-- the dead, we, sane of ua stop.short. 'He can do the minor ‘hings, but we excuse ourselves from the final, bv looking out and seeing ..'hnt has been the history of men; that they have died, and we ‘hink all men must die. There is no salvation - t» least in our present power, ou- present understanding; yet, logically, we are s-*ep by step doing away .vi*h those things /> that lead to death. V.e are healing ourselves, and all expect- ing *o be healthful. V.ell, supposing that we had perpetual health, z.ould there be death? bo 1 "3ut", you say, "we grow old; and people would die finally of old ace". 14. cut, are you not doin': away with old * as a logical proposition. The next ster> is the realisation of the Truth in yourself. That is the second day. I realize that God in me is omnipotent, omnicient, and omnipresent. and 4 he third step is the demons’ra4 ion of -ha*. I put forth my re-.lization into external conditions. I be-in to speak to-my body, "You are Soirtt; yo 1 are omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent". .hat makes an organic change, there is a resurrection in me, ind I s4 so forth into c rlorified body. T is bodv is lifted up; t^is body is resurrected and just *o the extent that I make those three s*-sps, ’hose three da-s, demonst rat ions ir. myself, do I cans in4 o 4 he Kingdom of (iod, do I do away with hese conditions that 3esm to environ me. 17 r* Sow, *’-.is poes on until you finally reach the place where you overcome death. You overcome deatn by everooming, ■ irst , ihe idea in your -fund, ir.d then those conditio -.e which * he race have believed in sc persistently, which, through the tower of their thought are in *he ?.t nosphe re. They huva ir.cor-r ‘torated *noms elves in* o our very cells, but they are put out "hen you Know the law of *h© three steps, the three ideas in Divine 'ind, in yo*rmind. The*'v.*ill overcame all these thirds. '•ov', if .;•£ .v Alla folio.- Jesus Christ to the uttermost, we would ic o./ the nean'.nc of t.nis season of the year, know the •teviin? cf * nis observance ’ h.t ;;c are car-’anc: ou* , we should en'er l-’o ’he real 3 i ritual I A", doing away-, ith history, ------ l3 cioiT- awav wl‘h * he past; looking no longer *o tne future; an-^ ♦Icipa+lnp; nor hit:,- i i *na future out what ..e have in the j-res- ent; ana affirrciu^ trie power of Goa Almirnty in us, that the Ch 'ist of God, in® Divine Idea, is horn, is incarnate in us, as 1 • nos been in all those who have overcome, who nave stepped ou» in* o the light and Life o'* Spirit, \«d overcome death. lav.-, we every one of us should enter into *!ia* con-acioysness this v ry hour, right no::. Don't . ut it off; don't say, that there are condiMons; dor “ say * ha* I even have done •.nin^s or sinned, * hat I have mitsed * he narK - none of those * hingrs count when vou realise, "I am the Resurrect ion and the Life". Sow is t;ie acceptible tir.e; now is tne tine when the 19 festival of tile Spirit of Life is toir.ir forward, and you can r* partafce of that Life and that light; you can enter into your own s. iritual I Am uul co**ie into Divine Understanding and re-surreo'in.t power,horn and now. Then, 1st us a,~roe among oursslves, and let us accept without reservation, without quibbling, this grand truth, *hat r' we have * he I An; that we have the lav/; that we perseive the Truth, realize the Truth, and we demonstrate it through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. 11:50 A. 12:11 P. CHARLES H. WOLF 'ENERAL STENOGRAPHER NOTARY PUBLIC -iu Bldg. KanfiM City, Mo. one Home, Main 6340 I