First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge

Wednesday Meeting Readings

w200101
Revolutionary Christ past and present
Wednesday, January 1, 2020
The Bible
  1. Eccl. 1:1, 9, 10

    1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

    ... 9The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

    10Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

  2. Gen. 1:3

    3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

  3. Ps. 50:2

    2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

  4. II Cor. 3:18 we

    we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

  5. Heb. 8:5 See

    See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

  6. Heb. 11:8-10

    8By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

    9By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

    10For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

  7. Ex. 33:7, 8, 11 (to 1st .), 12-14

    7And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the Lord went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.

    8And it came to pass, when Moses went out unto the tabernacle, that all the people rose up, and stood every man at his tent door, and looked after Moses, until he was gone into the tabernacle.

    ... 11And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.

    12And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.

    13Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

    14And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.

  8. Jer. 32:6-15, 36 (to 1st ,), 37-41

    6And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

    7Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth: for the right of redemption is thine to buy it.

    8So Hanameel mine uncle’s son came to me in the court of the prison according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin: for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.

    9And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle’s son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver.

    10And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances.

    11So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that which was open:

    12And I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle’s son, and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison.

    13And I charged Baruch before them, saying,

    14Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days.

    15For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.

    36And now therefore thus saith the Lord,

    ... 37Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:

    38And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:

    39And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:

    40And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.

    41Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

  9. Mark 1:14 Jesus, 15, 20-42

    Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,

    15And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

    ... 20And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

    21And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.

    22And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

    23And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,

    24Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.

    25And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.

    26And when the unclean spirit had torn him, and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.

    27And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and they do obey him.

    28And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region round about Galilee.

    29And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

    30But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

    31And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.

    32And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.

    33And all the city was gathered together at the door.

    34And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.

    35And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.

    36And Simon and they that were with him followed after him.

    37And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee.

    38And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth.

    39And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils.

    40And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.

    41And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.

    42And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.

  10. Matt. 5:48

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

  11. Matt. 13:33 The

    The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

  12. Rom. 13:1

    1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

  13. Rev. 1:8

    8I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.


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

  1. SH 255:1-6

    Eternal Truth is changing the universe. As mor-tals drop off their mental swaddling-clothes, thought 3Inadequate theories of creationexpands into expression. “Let there be light,” is the perpetual demand of Truth and Love, changing chaos into order and discord into the 6music of the spheres.

  2. SH 333:16-26

        XIII. The advent of Jesus of Nazareth marked the first century of the Christian era, but the Christ is 18The divine Principle and ideawithout beginning of years or end of days. Throughout all generations both before and after the Christian era, the Christ, as the spirit-21ual idea, — the reflection of God, — has come with some measure of power and grace to all prepared to receive Christ, Truth. Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and the prophets 24caught glorious glimpses of the Messiah, or Christ, which baptized these seers in the divine nature, the essence of Love.

  3. SH 117:31

    His parable of the “leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures 118 118:1of meal, till the whole was leavened,” impels the infer-ence that the spiritual leaven signifies the Science of Christ 3and its spiritual interpretation, — an inference far above the merely ecclesiastical and formal applications of the illustration.

  4. SH 118:10

        Ages pass, but this leaven of Truth is ever at work. It must destroy the entire mass of error, and so be eternally 12glorified in man’s spiritual freedom.

  5. SH 313:23-26

        Jesus of Nazareth was the most scientific man that 24ever trod the globe. He plunged beneath the material Jesus the Scientistsurface of things, and found the spiritual cause.

  6. SH 496:15

    Hold perpetually this thought, — that it is the spiritual idea, the Holy Ghost and Christ, which enables you to demonstrate, with scientific certainty, the rule of healing, 18based upon its divine Principle, Love, underlying, over-lying, and encompassing all true being.

  7. SH 382:24

        One whom I rescued from seeming spiritual oblivion, in which the senses had engulfed him, wrote to me: “I should have died, but for the glorious Principle you teach, 27— supporting the power of Mind over the body and show-ing me the nothingness of the so-called pleasures and pains of sense. The treatises I had read and the medicines I 30 had taken only abandoned me to more hopeless suffering and despair. Adherence to hygiene was useless. Mortal mind needed to be set right. The ailment was not bodily, 383 383:1but mental, and I was cured when I learned my way in Christian Science.”

  8. SH 414:21

    The Scripture declares, “The Lord He is God [good]; there is none else beside Him.” Even so, harmony is universal, and discord is unreal. Christian Science de-24clares that Mind is substance, also that matter neither feels, suffers, nor enjoys. Hold these points strongly in view. Keep in mind the verity of being, — that man is 27the image and likeness of God, in whom all being is painless and permanent. Remember that man’s perfec-tion is real and unimpeachable, whereas imperfection is 30blameworthy, unreal, and is not brought about by divine Love.

  9. SH 260:13

        Science reveals the possibility of achieving all good, and sets mortals at work to discover what God has already 15done; but distrust of one’s ability to gain the goodness desired and to bring out better and higher results, often hampers the trial of one’s wings and ensures failure at the 18outset.

  10. SH 259:15

        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.”

  11. SH 40:31

        The nature of Christianity is peaceful and blessed, but in order to enter into the kingdom, the anchor of 41 41:1hope must be cast beyond the veil of matter into the Shekinah into which Jesus has passed before us; and 3Within the veilthis advance beyond matter must come through the joys and triumphs of the right-eous as well as through their sorrows and afflictions. 6Like our Master, we must depart from material sense into the spiritual sense of being.

  12. SH 258:25-5

        Mortals have a very imperfect sense of the spiritual man and of the infinite range of his thought. To him 27Individual permanencybelongs eternal Life. Never born and never dying, it were impossible for man, under the government of God in eternal Science, to fall from his 30high estate.

        Through spiritual sense you can discern the heart of divinity, and thus begin to comprehend in Science the 259 259:1generic term man. Man is not absorbed in Deity, and God’s man discernedman cannot lose his individuality, for he re-3flects eternal Life; nor is he an isolated, soli-tary idea, for he represents infinite Mind, the sum of all substance.

  13. SH 316:3-7

    The real man being linked by Science to his Maker, mortals need only turn from sin and lose sight of mortal 6selfhood to find Christ, the real man and his relation to God, and to recognize the divine sonship.

  14. SH 300:28

    The universe reflects and expresses the di-vine substance or Mind; therefore God is seen only in the 30spiritual universe and spiritual man, as the sun is seen in the ray of light which goes out from it. God is re-vealed only in that which reflects Life, Truth, Love, — 301 301:1yea, which manifests God’s attributes and power, even as the human likeness thrown upon the mirror, repeats 3the color, form, and action of the person in front of the mirror.

  15. SH 191:8

        As a material, theoretical life-basis is found to be a 9misapprehension of existence, the spiritual and divine The immortal birthPrinciple of man dawns upon human thought, and leads it to “where the young child was,” 12— even to the birth of a new-old idea, to the spiritual sense of being and of what Life includes. Thus the whole earth will be transformed by Truth on its pinions of light, 15chasing away the darkness of error.


From the Christian Science Hymnal:
Hymn 401: “... Christ, thou dost come to bring On thy redeeming wing Healing...”
Hymn 529: “...Turn the page, rewrite that story, As the Christ is welcomed in”
Hymn 501: “I love Your way of freedom, Lord”