First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Heb. 12:1 let
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
- Ps. 51:1-3, 7, 10
1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
... 7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
... 10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
- Ps. 86:2 O, 3, 7, 11-13
O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.
3Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.
... 7In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.
... 11Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
12I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.
13For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
- Ps. 138:7, 8 (to 2nd :)
7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
8The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever:
- John 8:1-12
1Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
12¶ Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
- Eph. 5:14 Awake
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
- Rom. 1:1, 7 (to :), 16 I (to ;)
1Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
... 7To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:
... I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
- Rom. 6:12-14
12Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
- Rom. 7:5 when, 14, 15, 17-19, 22-25
when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
... 14For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
... 17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
... 22For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
- Rom. 8:1, 2, 12-14, 28, 31, 35 (to 1st ?)
1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
... 12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
... 28And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
... 31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
... 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
- Acts 17:14, 15
14And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.
15And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 405:1 (only)
The basic error is mortal mind.
- SH 339:31-32
- SH 311:9-25
All sin is of the flesh. It cannot be spiritual. Sin exists here or hereafter only so long as the illusion of mind in 12matter remains. It is a sense of sin, and not a sinful soul, which is lost. Evil is destroyed by the sense of good.
Through false estimates of soul as dwelling in sense 15and of mind as dwelling in matter, belief strays into a Soul impeccablesense of temporary loss or absence of soul, spir-itual truth. This state of error is the mortal 18dream of life and substance as existent in matter, and is directly opposite to the immortal reality of being. So long as we believe that soul can sin or that immortal Soul is in 21mortal body, we can never understand the Science of be-ing. When humanity does understand this Science, it will become the law of Life to man, — even the higher law 24of Soul, which prevails over material sense through har-mony and immortality.
- SH 272:3-8, 19-25
The spiritual sense of truth must be gained before Truth can be understood. This sense is assimilated only Spirituality of Scriptureas we are honest, unselfish, loving, and meek. 6In the soil of an “honest and good heart” the seed must be sown; else it beareth not much fruit, for the swinish element in human nature uproots it.
It is the spiritualization of thought and Christianization of daily life, in contrast with the results of the ghastly farce 21Unspiritual contrastsof material existence; it is chastity and purity, in contrast with the downward tendencies and earthward gravitation of sensualism and impurity, 24which really attest the divine origin and operation of Chris-tian Science.
- SH 260:24-7
Selfishness and sensualism are educated in mortal mind by the thoughts ever recurring to one’s self, by conversation about the body, and by the expectation of 27perpetual pleasure or pain from it; and this education is at the expense of spiritual growth. If we array thought in mortal vestures, it must lose its immortal 30nature.
If we look to the body for pleasure, we find pain; for Life, we find death; for Truth, we find error; for Spirit, 261 261:1we find its opposite, matter. Now reverse this action. Thoughts are thingsLook away from the body into Truth and Love, 3the Principle of all happiness, harmony, and immortality. Hold thought steadfastly to the endur-ing, the good, and the true, and you will bring these 6into your experience proportionably to their occupancy of your thoughts.
- SH 404:19-27
This con-viction, that there is no real pleasure in sin, 21is one of the most important points in the theology of Christian Science. Arouse the sinner to this new and true view of sin, show him that sin confers no pleasure, 24and this knowledge strengthens his moral courage and increases his ability to master evil and to love good.
Healing the sick and reforming the sinner are one and 27the same thing in Christian Science.
- SH 405:5-11, 26-29
Christian Science commands man to master the pro-6pensities, — to hold hatred in abeyance with kindness, Mental conspiratorsto conquer lust with chastity, revenge with charity, and to overcome deceit with hon-9esty. Choke these errors in their early stages, if you would not cherish an army of conspirators against health, happiness, and success.
If sin is not regretted and is not lessening, then it is 27hastening on to physical and moral doom. You are con-quered by the moral penalties you incur and the ills they bring.
- SH 407:6-20, 24
Man’s enslavement to the most relentless masters — passion, selfishness, envy, hatred, and revenge — is con-Universal panaceaquered only by a mighty struggle. Every 9hour of delay makes the struggle more severe. If man is not victorious over the passions, they crush out happiness, health, and manhood. Here Christian 12Science is the sovereign panacea, giving strength to the weakness of mortal mind, — strength from the immortal and omnipotent Mind, — and lifting humanity above 15itself into purer desires, even into spiritual power and good-will to man.
Let the slave of wrong desire learn the lessons of Chris-18tian Science, and he will get the better of that desire, and ascend a degree in the scale of health, happiness, and existence.
Let the perfect model be present in your thoughts instead of its demoralized op-posite. This spiritualization of thought lets in the light, 27and brings the divine Mind, Life not death, into your consciousness.
- SH 296:4-9 (to 2nd .), 14
Progress is born of experience. It is the ripening of mortal man, through which the mortal is dropped for 6Scientific purgationthe immortal. Either here or hereafter, suf-fering or Science must destroy all illusions regarding life and mind, and regenerate material sense 9and self. The old man with his deeds must be put off.
The so-called pleasures and pains of matter perish, 15and they must go out under the blaze of Truth, spiritual sense, and the actuality of being. Mortal belief must lose all satisfaction in error and sin in order to part with 18them.
- SH 167:6
- SH 20:24-25, 27-4
Material belief is slow to acknowledge what the spiritual fact implies. ... St. Paul wrote, “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that 30is set before us;” that is, let us put aside material self and sense, and seek the divine Principle and Science of all healing.
2121:1 If Truth is overcoming error in your daily walk and conversation, you can finally say, “I have fought a 3Moral victorygood fight . . . I have kept the faith,” be-cause you are a better man.
Hymn 383: “Whatever dims thy sense of truth”
Hymn 416: “Be true and list the voice within”
Hymn 206: “O God, our Father-Mother, Love”
