First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge

Wednesday Meeting Readings

w190925
Base your prayer on man's perfection
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
The Bible
  1. Matt. 6:6 when

    6when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

  2. Gen. 1:26 (to :), 27 (to ;)

    26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

    ... 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him;

  3. Ps. 19:7-11, 14

    7The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

    8The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

    9The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

    10More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

    11Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

    ... 14Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

  4. Ps. 37:35-37

    35I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree.

    36Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.

    37Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.

  5. Ezek. 28:12 Thus, 24 they, 26 (to 4th ,)

    12Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

    24they shall know that I am the Lord God.

    ... 26And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence,

  6. Luke 6:45 (to ;), 47, 48

    45A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good;

    47Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:

    48He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

  7. Matt. 5:48

    48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

  8. Matt. 19:16, 21, 22, 25, 26, 29 every

    16And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

    ... 21Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

    22But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

    25When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?

    26But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

    29every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

  9. Acts 3:1-8, 11-13 (to ;), 16

    1Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

    2And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

    3Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

    4And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

    5And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

    6Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

    7And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

    8And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

    ... 11And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering.

    12And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?

    13The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus;

    16And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

  10. Eph. 4:7 unto, 12, 13

    7unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.

    ... 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

    13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

  11. James 1:25 whoso

    25whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

  12. Col. 1:3, 5, 6 (to ;), 10, 11, 28 that

    3We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,

    ... 5For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;

    6Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world;

    ... 10That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

    11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

    28 ... that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:


Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy

  1. SH 353:16-19 Perfection

    Perfection underlies reality. Without perfection, nothing is wholly 18real. All things will continue to disappear, until per-fection appears and reality is reached.

  2. SH 475:11-13

    Man is spiritual and perfect; and be-12cause he is spiritual and perfect, he must be so under-stood in Christian Science.

  3. SH 259:6-21

    6    In divine Science, man is the true image of God. The divine nature was best expressed in Christ Jesus, who threw upon mortals the truer reflection of God and lifted 9their lives higher than their poor thought-models would allow, — thoughts which presented man as fallen, sick, sinning, and dying. The Christlike understanding of 12scientific being and divine healing includes a perfect Prin-ciple and idea, — perfect God and perfect man, — as the basis of thought and demonstration.

    15    If man was once perfect but has now lost his perfection, then mortals have never beheld in man the reflex image The divine image not lostof God. The lost image is no image. The 18true likeness cannot be lost in divine reflection. Understanding this, Jesus said: “Be ye there-fore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is 21perfect.”

  4. SH 69:13

    Spiritually to understand that there is but one creator, God, unfolds all creation, confirms the Scrip-15tures, brings the sweet assurance of no parting, no pain, and of man deathless and perfect and eternal.

  5. SH 276:19-26 (to 2nd .)

    When we learn in Science how to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect, 21thought is turned into new and healthy channels, — towards the contemplation of things immortal and away from materiality to the Principle of the universe, includ-24ing harmonious man.

        Material beliefs and spiritual understanding never mingle. The latter destroys the former.

  6. SH 302:14 let

    let us remember that 15harmonious and immortal man has existed forever, and Definition of manis always beyond and above the mortal illu-sion of any life, substance, and intelligence 18as existent in matter. This statement is based on fact, not fable. The Science of being reveals man as perfect, even as the Father is perfect, because the Soul, or Mind, 21of the spiritual man is God, the divine Principle of all being, and because this real man is governed by Soul instead of sense, by the law of Spirit, not by the so-called 24laws of matter.

  7. SH 470:18-5

    The standard of perfection was originally God and man. Has God taken down His own standard, and has man fallen?

    21    God is the creator of man, and, the divine Principle of man remaining perfect, the divine idea or reflection, Indestructible relationshipman, remains perfect. Man is the expression 24of God’s being. If there ever was a moment when man did not express the divine perfec-tion, then there was a moment when man did not express 27God, and consequently a time when Deity was unex-pressed — that is, without entity. If man has lost per-fection, then he has lost his perfect Principle, the divine 30Mind. If man ever existed without this perfect Principle or Mind, then man’s existence was a myth.

        The relations of God and man, divine Principle and 471 471:1idea, are indestructible in Science; and Science knows no lapse from nor return to harmony, but holds the divine 3order or spiritual law, in which God and all that He cre-ates are perfect and eternal, to have remained unchanged in its eternal history.

  8. SH 555:23-27

    We lose our standard of 24perfection and set aside the proper conception of Deity, when we admit that the perfect is the author of aught that can become imperfect, that God bestows the power 27to sin, or that Truth confers the ability to err.

  9. SH 477:9-17 To

    9To the five corporeal senses, man appears to be matter and mind united; but Material body never God’s ideaChristian Science reveals man as the idea of 12God, and declares the corporeal senses to be mortal and erring illusions. Divine Science shows it to be impossible that a material body, though 15interwoven with matter’s highest stratum, misnamed mind, should be man, — the genuine and perfect man, the immortal idea of being, indestructible and eternal.

  10. SH 485:14-24

        Emerge gently from matter into Spirit. Think not 15to thwart the spiritual ultimate of all things, but come Scientific translationsnaturally into Spirit through better health and morals and as the result of spiritual growth. 18Not death, but the understanding of Life, makes man im-mortal. The belief that life can be in matter or soul in body, and that man springs from dust or from an egg, 21is the result of the mortal error which Christ, or Truth, destroys by fulfilling the spiritual law of being, in which man is perfect, even as the “Father which is in heaven 24is perfect.”

  11. SH 519:14

    Mortals 15can never know the infinite, until they throw off the old man and reach the spiritual image and likeness. What can fathom infinity! How shall we declare Him, till, 18in the language of the apostle, “we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the ful-21ness of Christ”?

  12. SH 325:10

        In Colossians (iii. 4) Paul writes: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear [be manifested], then shall ye also 12Indestructible beingappear [be manifested] with him in glory.” When spiritual being is understood in all its perfection, continuity, and might, then shall man be found 15in God’s image. The absolute meaning of the apostolic words is this: Then shall man be found, in His likeness, perfect as the Father, indestructible in Life, “hid with 18Christ in God,” — with Truth in divine Love, where human sense hath not seen man.

  13. SH 467:9

    9It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact 12becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brother-hood of man will be established. Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide 15him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, hav-ing that Mind which was also in Christ.

  14. SH 200:16

        The great truth in the Science of being, that the real man was, is, and ever shall be perfect, is incontrovertible; 18for if man is the image, reflection, of God, he is neither inverted nor subverted, but upright and Godlike.


From the Christian Science Hymnal:
Hymn 416: “… Thy perfect self, that knows no sin, That self that is the only real”
Hymn 460 : “… the truth of life's perfection Fills our hearts with joy and love”
Hymn 475: “… You are conceived by Love, a perfect child, Unhampered by the flesh, or doubt, or fear”