First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Deut. 32:1-4, 9, 10
1Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
3Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
9For the Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.
10He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
- Ps. 100:1-5
1Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
- Ps. 66:1, 4 (to 1st .), 5 (to :), 7 (to ;), 19 verily, 20
1Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
... 4All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name.
... 5Come and see the works of God:
... 7He ruleth by his power for ever;
19 ... verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
20Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
- Matt. 18:11-14 the
11the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
12How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
13And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
14Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
- Luke 10:1-3, 5, 9, 17-21, 23, 24
1After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
2Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
3Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
... 5And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
... 9And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.
17¶ And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
18And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
19Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
20Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
21¶ In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.
23¶ And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:
24For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
- Acts 8:5-8
5Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.
7For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed.
8And there was great joy in that city.
- Phil. 4:1 my, 4-7, 9, 13, 19 my
1my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.
... 4Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.
5Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
... 9Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
... 13I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
19 ... my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
- Zeph. 3:14, 17
14¶ Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
... 17The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 15:25-26
- SH 337:7
For true happiness, man must harmonize with his Principle, divine Love; the 9Son must be in accord with the Father, in conformity with Christ. According to divine Science, man is in a degree as perfect as the Mind that forms him. The truth of be-12ing makes man harmonious and immortal, while error is mortal and discordant.
- SH 265:16-24, 28-5
The senses represent birth as untimely and death as irresistible, as if man were a weed growing apace or a 18Mortal birth and deathflower withered by the sun and nipped by untimely frosts; but this is true only of a mortal, not of a man in God’s image and likeness. The 21truth of being is perennial, and the error is unreal and obsolete.
Who that has felt the loss of human peace has not gained 24stronger desires for spiritual joy? The pains of sense quickly inform us that the pleasures of sense are mortal and that joy is 30spiritual.
The pains of sense are salutary, if they wrench away false pleasurable beliefs and transplant the affections 266 266:1from sense to Soul, where the creations of God are good, Decapitation of error“rejoicing the heart.” Such is the sword of 3Science, with which Truth decapitates error, materiality giving place to man’s higher individuality and destiny.
- SH 548:12
12Earth has little light or joy for mortals before Life is spiritually learned. Every agony of mortal error helps error to destroy error, and so aids the apprehension 15of immortal Truth. This is the new birth going on hourly, by which men may entertain angels, the true ideas of God, the spiritual sense of being.
- 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.
- SH 390:7
- SH 486:23-26
- SH 245:32-6
The infinite never began nor will it ever end. Mind 246 246:1 and its formations can never be annihilated. Man is not a pendulum, swinging between evil and good, joy and 3Man reflects Godsorrow, sickness and health, life and death. Life and its faculties are not measured by calendars. The perfect and immortal are the eternal 6likeness of their Maker.
- SH 563:1-7 (to ?)
563:1 Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a diviner sense, harmony is the real and discord the unreal. 3The dragon as a typeWe may well be astonished at sin, sickness, and death. We may well be perplexed at human fear; and still more astounded at hatred, which lifts 6its hydra head, showing its horns in the many inventions of evil. But why should we stand aghast at nothingness?
- SH 304:3-14, 16
3 It is ignorance and false belief, based on a material sense of things, which hide spiritual beauty and good-Man inseparable from Loveness. Understanding this, Paul said: “Nei-6ther death, nor life, . . . nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from 9the love of God.” This is the doctrine of Christian Science: that divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation, or object; that joy cannot be turned into 12sorrow, for sorrow is not the master of joy; that good can never produce evil; that matter can never produce mind nor life result in death.
Harmony is produced by its Principle, is controlled by it and abides with it. Divine Principle is the Life 18Harmony natural of man. Man’s happiness is not, therefore, at the disposal of physical sense. Truth is not contaminated by error. Harmony in man is as beautiful 21as in music, and discord is unnatural, unreal.
- SH 76:18-26
18 Suffering, sinning, dying beliefs are unreal. When divine Science is universally understood, they will have no power over man, for man is immortal and lives by 21divine authority.
The sinless joy, — the perfect harmony and immortality of Life, possessing unlimited divine beauty and goodness 24Immaterial pleasurewithout a single bodily pleasure or pain, — constitutes the only veritable, indestructible man, whose being is spiritual.
- SH 242:9, 25-26
9 There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way. It is to know no The one only wayother reality — to have no other conscious-12ness of life — than good, God and His reflec-tion, and to rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses.
The divine Science of man is woven into one web of consistency without seam or rent.
- SH 298:13-15, 19-20, 22
Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, in-volves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, real-15ity. ... When the real is attained, which is announced by Science, joy is no longer a trembler, nor is hope a cheat. ... Spiritual ideas lead up to their divine origin, God, and to the spiritual sense 24of being.
- SH 249:6-10
From the Christian Science Hymnal:
Hymn 560: “… Let every creature rise and bring Their gifts of praise for all to sing”
Hymn 594: “We're steadfastly protected by Your power, … We all praise You with joy that will not cease”
Hymn 489: “Praise God in this holy place, Every nation, every race, Come, make joyful music to the Lord”
