First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Luke 4:1-44 Jesus
Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
9And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
10For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
14¶ And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about.
15And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
16¶ And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.
22And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son?
23And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
24And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.
25But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
26But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow.
27And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian.
28And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
29And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
30But he passing through the midst of them went his way,
31And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
32And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power.
33¶ And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
34Saying, 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.
35And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
36And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
37And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.
38¶ And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.
39And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
40¶ Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.
41And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.
42And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
43And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
44And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.
- II Tim. 1:1, 2, 7
1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,
2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
... 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 454:29-31
- SH 455:20
God selects 21for the highest service one who has grown into such a fitness for it as renders any abuse of the mission an im-possibility. The All-wise does not bestow His highest 24trusts upon the unworthy. When He commissions a mes-senger, it is one who is spiritually near Himself. No per-son can misuse this mental power, if he is taught of God 27to discern it.
- SH 456:10, 20
Whoever af-firms that there is more than one Principle and method 12of demonstrating Christian Science greatly errs, igno-rantly or intentionally, and separates himself from the true conception of Christian Science healing and from 15its possible demonstration.
So long as 21matter is the basis of practice, illness cannot be effica-ciously treated by the metaphysical process. Truth does the work, and you must both understand and abide by the 24divine Principle of your demonstration.
- SH 181:12
- SH 457:7-12
Since the divine light of Christian Science first dawned upon the author, she has never used this newly discovered 9Purity of sciencepower in any direction which she fears to have fairly understood. Her prime object, since entering this field of labor, has been to prevent suffering, 12not to produce it.
- SH 458:11, 23-24, 25 The
It is anything but scientifically Christian to think of 12aiding the divine Principle of healing or of trying to sus-Divinity ever readytain the human body until the divine Mind is ready to take the case. Divinity is always 15ready. Semper paratus is Truth’s motto. Having seen so much suffering from quackery, the author desires to keep it out of Christian Science. The two-edged sword 18of Truth must turn in every direction to guard “the tree of life.”
The Christianly scientific man reflects the 24divine law, thus becoming a law unto himself. ... The Christian Scientist wisely shapes his course, and is hon-27est and consistent in following the leadings of divine Mind. He must prove, through living as well as heal-ing and teaching, that Christ’s way is the only one 30by which mortals are radically saved from sin and sickness.
- SH 459:8-14
Judge not the 9future advancement of Christian Science by the steps already taken, lest you yourself be condemned for fail-ing to take the first step.
12 Any attempt to heal mortals with erring mortal mind, instead of resting on the omnipotence of the divine Dangerous knowledgeMind, must prove abortive.
- SH 4:32
- SH 38:10-18
Jesus said: “These signs shall follow them that be-lieve; . . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they 12shall recover.” Who believes him? He was addressing his disciples, yet he did not say, “These signs shall follow you,” but them — “them that believe” in all time to come. 15Here the word hands is used metaphorically, as in the text, “The right hand of the Lord is exalted.” It expresses spiritual power; otherwise the healing could not have 18been done spiritually.
- SH 115:19-5SCIENTIFIC TRANSLATION OF MORTAL MIND
21Physical. Evil beliefs, passions and appetites, fear, depraved will, self-justification, pride, envy, de-Unrealityceit, hatred, revenge, sin, sickness, disease, 24death.
In the third degree mortal mind disappears, and man as God’s image appears.
- SH 235:19
Physicians, whom the sick employ in their helplessness, should be models of virtue. They should be wise spir-21Physicians’ privilegeitual guides to health and hope. To the trem-blers on the brink of death, who understand not the divine Truth which is Life and perpetuates being, 24physicians should be able to teach it. Then when the soul is willing and the flesh weak, the patient’s feet may be planted on the rock Christ Jesus, the true idea of spiritual 27power.
- SH 83:12
Miracles are impossible in Science, and here Science takes issue with popular religions. The scientific mani-Natural wondersfestation of power is from the divine nature 15and is not supernatural, since Science is an explication of nature. The belief that the universe, in-cluding man, is governed in general by material laws, but 18that occasionally Spirit sets aside these laws, — this be-lief belittles omnipotent wisdom, and gives to matter the precedence over Spirit.
- SH 193:32-2
- SH 145:31
The theology of Christian Science includes healing the sick. Our Master’s first article of faith propounded 146 146:1to his students was healing, and he proved his faith by his works. The ancient Christians were healers. Why 3How healing was losthas this element of Christianity been lost? Because our systems of religion are governed more or less by our systems of medicine. The first idol-6atry was faith in matter. The schools have rendered faith in drugs the fashion, rather than faith in Deity. By trusting matter to destroy its own discord, health and 9harmony have been sacrificed. Such systems are barren of the vitality of spiritual power, by which material sense is made the servant of Science and religion becomes 12Christlike.
- SH 206:25-4
Can there be any birth or death for man, the spiritual image and likeness of God? Instead of God sending 27sickness and death, He destroys them, and brings to light immortality. Omnipotent and infinite Mind made all and includes all. This Mind does not make mistakes 30and subsequently correct them. God does not cause man to sin, to be sick, or to die.
There are evil beliefs, often called evil spirits; but 207 207:1these evils are not Spirit, for there is no evil in Spirit. Because God is Spirit, evil becomes more apparent and 3No evil in Spiritobnoxious proportionately as we advance spir-itually, until it disappears from our lives.
- SH 134:21-26, 28
The true Logos is demonstrably Christian Science, the natural law of harmony which overcomes discord, — not Basis of miraclesbecause this Science is supernatural or pre-24ternatural, nor because it is an infraction of divine law, but because it is the immutable law of God, good. ... There is divine authority for believing in the superiority of 30spiritual power over material resistance.
Hymn 203: “...And mirror forth Love's sacred power”
Hymn 594: “We're steadfastly protected by Your power”
Hymn 96: “...So shalt thou be with power endued”