First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Isa. 35:3-8 (to ;), 9 (to ;), 10
3¶ Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
4Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
6Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
7And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
8And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness;
... 9No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there;
... 10And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
- II Kings 4:42-44
42¶ And there came a man from Baal–shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
43And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof.
44So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the Lord.
- II Kings 8:1-6
1Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the Lord hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years.
2And the woman arose, and did after the saying of the man of God: and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
3And it came to pass at the seven years’ end, that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines: and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for her land.
4And the king talked with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great things that Elisha hath done.
5And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.
6And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field since the day that she left the land, even until now.
- Matt. 17:24-27
24¶ And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
25He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
26Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free.
27Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
- Luke 12:22-24, 27-32
22¶ And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
23The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
... 27Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in the field, and to-morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?
29And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
30For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
31¶ But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
32Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
- II Cor. 8:7 as, 11-15
7as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.
... 11Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
12For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
13For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
14But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:
15As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 224:22-25, 31 (only)
- SH 319:5, 15
3To calculate one’s life-prospects 6from a material basis, would infringe upon spiritual law and misguide human hope. Having faith in the divine Principle of health and spiritually under-9standing God, sustains man under all circumstances; whereas the lower appeal to the general faith in material means (commonly called nature) must yield to the all-12might of infinite Spirit.
15 The varied doctrines and theories which presuppose life and intelligence to exist in matter are so many ancient God the only Mindand modern mythologies. Mystery, miracle, 18sin, and death will disappear when it becomes fairly understood that the divine Mind controls man and man has no Mind but God.
- SH 545:10-15, 27
Man, created by God, was given dominion over the whole earth. The notion 12of a material universe is utterly opposed to the theory of man as evolved from Mind. Such fundamental errors send falsity into all human doctrines and conclusions, 15and do not accord infinity to Deity.
Truth has but one reply to all error, — to sin, sickness, and death: “Dust [nothingness] thou art, and unto dust [nothingness] 30shalt thou return.”
- SH 243:25
- SH 232:26-1
In the sacred sanctuary of Truth are voices of sol -27emn import, but we heed them not. It is only when the Signs followingso-called pleasures and pains of sense pass away in our lives, that we find unquestion-30able signs of the burial of error and the resurrection to spiritual life.
There is neither place nor opportunity in Science for error 233 233:1of any sort.
- SH 233:5
- SH 328:20-25, 28-7
Under-21standing spiritual law and knowing that there is no mate-rial law, Jesus said: “These signs shall follow them that believe, . . . they shall take up serpents, and if they 24drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Jesus’ promise is perpetual. Had it been given only to his immediate disciples, the Scriptural passage would 30read you, not they. The purpose of his great life-work extends through time and includes universal humanity. Its Principle is infinite, reaching beyond the pale of a 329 329:1single period or of a limited following. As time moves on, the healing elements of pure Christianity will be fairly 3dealt with; they will be sought and taught, and will glow in all the grandeur of universal goodness.
A little leaven leavens the whole lump. A little under-6standing of Christian Science proves the truth of all that Imitation of JesusI say of it.
- SH 329:17, 22-25 Science, 32-2
To be discouraged, is to resemble a pupil in 18addition, who attempts to solve a problem of Euclid, and denies the rule of the problem because he fails in his first effort.
21Science is a Error destroyed, not pardoneddivine demand, not a human. Always right, 24its divine Principle never repents, but main-tains the claim of Truth by quenching error.
Human resistance to divine Science weakens in pro-330330:1portion as mortals give up error for Truth and the un-derstanding of being supersedes mere belief.
- SH 183:4-22, 23-32
To suppose that God constitutes laws of inharmony is a mistake; dis-6cords have no support from nature or divine law, however much is said to the contrary.
Can the agriculturist, according to belief, produce a 9crop without sowing the seed and awaiting its germina-tion according to the laws of nature? The answer is no, and yet the Scriptures inform us that sin, or error, first 12caused the condemnation of man to till the ground, and indicate that obedience to God will remove this necessity. Truth never made error necessary, nor devised a law to 15perpetuate error.
The supposed laws which result in weariness and dis-ease are not His laws, for the legitimate and only possible 18Laws of nature spiritualaction of Truth is the production of harmony. Laws of nature are laws of Spirit; but mortals commonly recognize as law that which hides the power of 21Spirit. Divine Mind rightly demands man’s entire obe-dience, affection, and strength. Obedience to Truth gives man 24power and strength. Submission to error superinduces loss of power.
Truth casts out all evils and materialistic methods 27with the actual spiritual law, — the law which gives Belief and understandingsight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, voice to the dumb, feet to the lame. If Christian 30Science dishonors human belief, it honors spir-itual understanding; and the one Mind only is entitled to honor.
- SH 170:7-17
Did Jesus understand the economy of man less than Graham or Cutter? Christian ideas certainly present 9Physiology unscientificwhat human theories exclude — the Principle of man’s harmony. The text, “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die,” not only con-12tradicts human systems, but points to the self-sustaining and eternal Truth.
The demands of Truth are spiritual, and reach the 15body through Mind. The best interpreter of man’s needs said: “Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink.”
- SH 144:3-5
- SH 325:32
- SH 326:12-22
12 We must forsake the foundation of material systems, however time-honored, if we would gain the Christ as our only Saviour. Not partially, but fully, the great 15healer of mortal mind is the healer of the body.
The purpose and motive to live aright can be gained now. This point won, you have started as you should. 18You have begun at the numeration-table of Christian Science, and nothing but wrong intention can hinder your advancement. Working and praying with true motives, 21your Father will open the way. “Who did hinder you, that ye should not obey the truth?”
From the Christian Science Hymnal
Hymn 330: “The King of Love my Shepherd is”
Hymn 598: “Where you're going, Love will lead you”
Hymn 437: “All my hope on God is founded”
