Topic: Nurturing the purpose of church
The Bible:
(1) Ezek 47:1 (to :),8,9 (to :),12 (to 2nd :)
1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward:
8 Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live:
12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary:
(2) Isa 2:2 it shall,5
2 it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
(3) Mark 1:21 and straightway,22
21 and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught.
22 And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.
(4) Luke 6:1-3 (to 4th ,),4,5
1 And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.
2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungered,
4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
(5) Mark 3:1-8,10 (to ;)
1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
7 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,
8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
10 For he had healed many;
(6) Mark 12:28-31
28 ¶ And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
(7) Matt 16:13-18
13 ¶ When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
(8) Mark 16:9 when,14,15,17,18
9 when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
14 ¶ Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
(9) I Tim 4:6 thou shalt,12 be,16
6 thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
12 be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
16 Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy:
(1) 35:19-20 Our church
Our baptism is a purification from all error. Our
church is built on the divine Principle, Love.
(2) 41:14-25,28-4
The proofs of Truth, Life, and Love, which Jesus gave
15 by casting out error and healing the sick, completed his
earthly mission; but in the Christian Church Healing
this demonstration of healing was early lost, early lost
18 about three centuries after the crucifixion. No ancient
school of philosophy, materia medica, or scholastic theol-
ogy ever taught or demonstrated the divine healing of
21 absolute Science.
Jesus foresaw the reception Christian Science would have
before it was understood, but this foreknowledge hindered
24 him not. He fulfilled his God-mission, and Immortal
then sat down at the right hand of the Father. achieval
The truth taught by Jesus, the elders scoffed at.
Why? Because it demanded more than they were willing
30 to practise. It was enough for them to believe in a national
Deity; but that belief, from their time to ours, has never
made a disciple who could cast out evils and heal the sick.
1 Jesus' life proved, divinely and scientifically, that God
is Love, whereas priest and rabbi affirmed God to be a
3 mighty potentate, who loves and hates. The Jewish the-
ology gave no hint of the unchanging love of God.
(3) 136:29-9
The disciples apprehended their Master better than
30 did others; but they did not comprehend all Doubting
that he said and did, or they would not have disciples
questioned him so often. Jesus patiently persisted in
1 teaching and demonstrating the truth of being. His stu-
dents saw this power of Truth heal the sick, cast out evil,
3 raise the dead; but the ultimate of this wonderful work
was not spiritually discerned, even by them, until after the
crucifixion, when their immaculate Teacher stood before
6 them, the victor over sickness, sin, disease, death, and
the grave.
Yearning to be understood, the Master repeated,
9 "But whom say ye that I am?"
(4) 137:10-11 Who,16-21,26
Who or what is it that is able to do the work, so
mysterious to the popular mind?
With his usual impetuosity, Simon replied for his
brethren, and his reply set forth a great fact: "Thou
18 art the Christ, the Son of the living God!" A divine
That is: The Messiah is what thou hast de- response
clared, — Christ, the spirit of God, of Truth, Life, and
21 Love, which heals mentally.
Before this the impetuous disciple had been called
27 only by his common names, Simon Bar-jona, or son of
Jona; but now the Master gave him a spir- The true and
itual name in these words: "And I say also living rock
30 unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock [the
meaning of the Greek word petros, or stone] I will build
my church; and the gates of hell [hades, the under-
1 world, or the grave] shall not prevail against it." In
other words, Jesus purposed founding his society, not
3 on the personal Peter as a mortal, but on the God-
power which lay behind Peter's confession of the true
Messiah.
(5) 138:14,18-22,25-30
The supremacy of Spirit was the foundation on which
15 Jesus built. His sublime summary points to the religion
of Love.
18 Christians are
under as direct orders now, as they were then, New era
to be Christlike, to possess the Christ-spirit, to in Jesus
21 follow the Christ-example, and to heal the sick as well as
the sinning.
The Christian can prove this to-day as
readily as it was proved centuries ago.
27 Our Master said to every follower: "Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature! . . .
Heal the sick! . . . Love thy neighbor as Healthful
30 thyself!" theology
(6) 351:8
The author became a member of the orthodox Con-
9 gregational Church in early years. Later she learned
that her own prayers failed to heal her as did the prayers
of her devout parents and the church; but when the
12 spiritual sense of the creed was discerned in the Science
of Christianity, this spiritual sense was a present help. It
was the living, palpitating presence of Christ, Truth, which
15 healed the sick.
(7) 224:4-7,22-25
As the crude footprints of the past disappear from the
dissolving paths of the present, we shall better understand
6 the Science which governs these changes, and shall plant
our feet on firmer ground.
A higher and more practical Christianity, demonstrat-
ing justice and meeting the needs of mortals in sickness
24 and in health, stands at the door of this age, knocking
for admission.
(8) 360:28-5
Of old, the Jews put to death the Galilean Prophet,
the best Christian on earth, for the truth he spoke and
30 demonstrated, while to-day, Jew and Christian can unite
in doctrine and denomination on the very basis of Jesus'
words and works. The Jew believes that the Messiah or
1 Christ has not yet come; the Christian believes that
Christ is God. Here Christian Science intervenes, ex-
3 plains these doctrinal points, cancels the disagreement,
and settles the question. Christ, as the true spiritual idea,
is the ideal of God now and forever, here and everywhere.
(9) 342:2
The hour has struck when proof and demon-
3 stration, instead of opinion and dogma, are summoned to
the support of Christianity, "making wise the simple."
(10) 136:1-6
1 Jesus established his church and maintained his mission
on a spiritual foundation of Christ-healing. He taught
3 his followers that his religion had a divine The
Principle, which would cast out error and heal Christ-mission
both the sick and the sinning. He claimed no intelli-
6 gence, action, nor life separate from God.
(11) 241:19-21
The substance of all devotion is the reflection and
demonstration of divine Love, healing sickness and
21 destroying sin.
(12) 283:11
Principle is absolute. It
12 admits of no error, but rests upon understanding.
(13) 107:7
This apodictical Principle points to the revelation of
Immanuel, "God with us," — the sovereign ever-pres-
9 ence, delivering the children of men from Mission of
every ill "that flesh is heir to." Through Christian
Christian Science, religion and medicine are Science
12 inspired with a diviner nature and essence; fresh pinions
are given to faith and understanding, and thoughts ac-
quaint themselves intelligently with God.
(14) 224:31(to 2nd .)
Mental
No power can withstand divine Love. emancipation
From the Christian Science Hymnal:
Hymn 36: Church of the ever-living God
Hymn 261: One holy church of God appears . . . To serve the world raised up.
Hymn 176: Long hast thou stood, O church of God
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