First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Isa. 7:11, 14 the
11Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
... the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- Isa. 9:2
2The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
- Luke 1:26-35, 38
26And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
... 38And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
- Matt. 1:18-25
18¶ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
19Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
22Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,
23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
24Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
- Luke 2:4-12
4And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
- Eph. 4:7 unto, 13 come, 22-24 put
unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
... 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:
... put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
- John 3:1-7
1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH vii:2
The wakeful shepherd beholds 3the first faint morning beams, ere cometh the full radiance of a risen day. So shone the pale star to the prophet-shepherds; yet it traversed the night, and came where, in 6cradled obscurity, lay the Bethlehem babe, the human herald of Christ, Truth, who would make plain to be-nighted understanding the way of salvation through Christ 9Jesus, till across a night of error should dawn the morn-ing beams and shine the guiding star of being. The Wise-men were led to behold and to follow this daystar of 12divine Science, lighting the way to eternal harmony.
- SH 206:25-26
- SH 305:27
- SH 30:5
Born of a woman, Jesus’ advent in the flesh partook 6partly of Mary’s earthly condition, although he was en-Jesus the way-showerdowed with the Christ, the divine Spirit, with-out measure. This accounts for his struggles 9in Gethsemane and on Calvary, and this enabled him to be the mediator, or way-shower, between God and men. Had his origin and birth been wholly apart from mortal 12usage, Jesus would not have been appreciable to mortal mind as “the way.”
- SH 539:27-1
The divine origin of Jesus gave him more than human power to expound the facts of creation, and demonstrate Scientific offspringthe one Mind which makes and governs man 30and the universe. The Science of creation, so conspicuous in the birth of Jesus, inspired his wisest and least-understood sayings, and was the basis of his 540 540:1marvellous demonstrations.
- SH 548:18
Speaking of the origin of mortals, a famous naturalist says: “It is very possible that many general statements Prediction of a naturalistnow current, about birth and generation, will 21be changed with the progress of information.” Had the naturalist, through his tireless researches, gained the diviner side in Christian Science, — so far apart from 24his material sense of animal growth and organization, — he would have blessed the human race more abundantly.
- SH 191:8-13
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.
- SH 463:6
To attend properly Scientific obstetricsthe birth of the new child, or divine idea, you should so detach mortal thought from its 9material conceptions, that the birth will be natural and safe. Though gathering new energy, this idea cannot injure its useful surroundings in the travail of spiritual 12birth. A spiritual idea has not a single element of error, and this truth removes properly whatever is offensive. The new idea, conceived and born of Truth and Love, is 15clad in white garments. Its beginning will be meek, its growth sturdy, and its maturity undecaying. When this new birth takes place, the Christian Science infant 18is born of the Spirit, born of God, and can cause the mother no more suffering. By this we know that Truth is here and has fulfilled its perfect work.
- SH 548:12
Earth 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 409:20
The real man is 21spiritual and immortal, but the mortal and imperfect so-called “children of men” are counterfeits from the beginning, to be laid aside for the pure reality. This 24mortal is put off, and the new man or real man is put on, in proportion as mortals realize the Science of man and seek the true model.
- SH 670:21-15
I did not accept Christian Science on account of any healing of my own, but after seeing my mother, who was fast drifting toward helplessness with rheumatism, restored to perfect health with only a few treatments in Christian Science, I thought surely this must be the truth as Jesus taught and practised it, and if so it was what I had been longing for.
This was about ten years ago and was the first I had ever heard of Christian Science. We soon got a copy of Science and Health and I began in the right way to 671 671see if Christian Science were the truth. I had no thought of studying it for bodily healing; in fact, I did not think I needed it for that, but my soul cried out for something I had not yet found. This book was indeed a key to the Scriptures.
It was not long after I began reading before I dis-covered that my eyes were good and strong, I could read as much as I wished, and at any time, which was something I could not do before, as my eyes had always been weak. The doctors said they never would be very strong, and that if I did not wear glasses, I might lose my sight altogether. I never gave up to wearing glasses, and now, thanks to Christian Science, I do not need them, my work for the past two years as a railway mail clerk being a good test.
- SH 671:18, 32 O
Since that time my growth has seemed to me slow, yet when I look back and view myself as I was before Christian Science found me, and compare it with my life as it now is, I can only close my eyes to the picture and rejoice that I have been “born again” and that I have daily been putting off “the old man with his deeds,” and putting on “the new man.”
O. L. R., Fort Worth, Tex.
- SH 300:9
Hymn 222: “O little town of Bethlehem”
Hymn 434: “A village humble still”
Hymn 170: “Let every creature hail the morn”