First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Mal. 3:1-3
1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
2But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap:
3And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
- Mal. 4:1-3
1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2¶ But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
- Luke 9:1-4, 6, 10, 11
1Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
2And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.
3And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, neither money; neither have two coats apiece.
4And whatsoever house ye enter into, there abide, and thence depart.
... 6And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.
10¶ And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
11And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.
- Mark 16:15-18
15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18They 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.
- Luke 8:1-3, 40-42 it, 49-56
1And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
2And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
3And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him.
41¶ And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus’ feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:
42For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a-dying. But as he went the people thronged him.
49¶ While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.
50But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
51And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
52And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
55And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
56And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.
- Luke 7:18-23
18And the disciples of John shewed him of all these things.
19¶ And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
20When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another?
21And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight.
22Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
23And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 341:11-1
In Christian Science mere opinion is valueless. Proof 12is essential to a due estimate of this subject. Sneers at Supported by factsthe application of the word Science to Chris-tianity cannot prevent that from being scien-15tific which is based on divine Principle, demonstrated ac-cording to a divine given rule, and subjected to proof. The facts are so absolute and numerous in support of 18Christian Science, that misrepresentation and denuncia-342342:1tion cannot overthrow it.
- SH 342:2-15, 21
The hour has struck when proof and demon-3stration, instead of opinion and dogma, are summoned to the support of Christianity, “making wise the simple.”
In the result of some unqualified condemnations of 6scientific Mind-healing, one may see with sorrow the sad Commands of Jesuseffects on the sick of denying Truth. He that decries this Science does it presumptuously, 9in the face of Bible history and in defiance of the direct command of Jesus, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel,” to which command was added the promise 12that his students should cast out evils and heal the sick. He bade the seventy disciples, as well as the twelve, heal the sick in any town where they should be hospitably 15received.
Christian Science awakens the sinner, reclaims the infidel, and raises from the couch of pain the helpless Argument of good worksinvalid. It speaks to the dumb the words of 24Truth, and they answer with rejoicing. It causes the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the blind to see. Who would be the first to disown the Christli-27ness of good works, when our Master says, “By their fruits ye shall know them”?
- SH 343:14, 25-29
Jesus strips all disguise from error, when his teachings 15are fully understood. By parable and argument he ex-Proof from miraclesplains the impossibility of good producing evil; and he also scientifically demonstrates this great 18fact, proving by what are wrongly called miracles, that sin, sickness, and death are beliefs — illusive errors — which he could and did destroy.
Anciently those apostles who were Jesus’ students, as well as Paul who was not one of his students, healed 27Example of the disciplesthe sick and reformed the sinner by their religion. Hence the mistake which allows words, rather than works, to follow such examples!
- SH 344:19
There are various methods of treating disease, which are not included in the commonly accepted systems; but 21The one divine methodthere is only one which should be presented to the whole world, and that is the Christian Science which Jesus preached and practised and left to us 24as his rich legacy.
- SH 345:17
- SH 390:12-13, 20
When the first symptoms of disease appear, dispute the testimony of the material senses with divine Science. ... Suffer no claim of sin or of sickness to grow upon 21the thought. Dismiss it with an abiding conviction that it is illegitimate, because you know that God is no more the author of sickness than He is of sin. You have no 24law of His to support the necessity either of sin or sick-ness, but you have divine authority for denying that neces-sity and healing the sick.
- SH 392:11-15
- SH 393:16-21, 29-30
Be firm in your understanding that the divine Mind governs, and that in Science man reflects God’s govern-18No pain in matterment. Have no fear that matter can ache, swell, and be inflamed as the result of a law of any kind, when it is self-evident that matter can have 21no pain nor inflammation.
Man is never sick, for Mind is not sick and matter 30No real diseasecannot be.
- SH 411:27
Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients. Silently reassure them as to their exemp-Unspoken pleadingtion from disease and danger. Watch the re-30sult of this simple rule of Christian Science, and you will find that it alleviates the symptoms of every disease. If you succeed in wholly removing the fear, 412 412:1your patient is healed. The great fact that God lovingly governs all, never punishing aught but sin, is your stand-3point, from which to advance and destroy the human fear of sickness. Mentally and silently plead the case scien-tifically for Truth. You may vary the arguments to meet 6the peculiar or general symptoms of the case you treat, but be thoroughly persuaded in your own mind concern-ing the truth which you think or speak, and you will be 9the victor.
- SH 412:16-31
To prevent disease or to cure it, the power of Truth, of divine Spirit, must break the dream of the material 18Insistence requisitesenses. To heal by argument, find the type of the ailment, get its name, and array your mental plea against the physical. Argue at first men-21tally, not audibly, that the patient has no disease, and conform the argument so as to destroy the evidence of disease. Mentally insist that harmony is the fact, and 24that sickness is a temporal dream. Realize the presence of health and the fact of harmonious being, until the body corresponds with the normal conditions of health 27and harmony.
If the case is that of a young child or an infant, it needs to be met mainly through the parent’s thought, silently 30The cure of infantsor audibly on the aforesaid basis of Christian Science.
- SH 417:20-11
To the Christian Science healer, sickness is a dream 21from which the patient needs to be awakened. Dis-Disease to be made unrealease should not appear real to the physician, since it is demonstrable that the way to 24cure the patient is to make disease unreal to him. To do this, the physician must understand the unreality of disease in Science.
27 Explain audibly to your patients, as soon as they can bear it, the complete control which Mind holds over the body. Show them how mortal mind seems to induce 30disease by certain fears and false conclusions, and how divine Mind can cure by opposite thoughts. Give your patients an underlying understanding to support them 418 418:1and to shield them from the baneful effects of their own conclusions. Show them that the conquest over sickness, 3as well as over sin, depends on mentally destroying all belief in material pleasure or pain.
Stick to the truth of being in contradistinction to the 6error that life, substance, or intelligence can be in matter. Christian pleadingPlead with an honest conviction of truth and a clear perception of the unchanging, unerr-9ing, and certain effect of divine Science. Then, if your fidelity is half equal to the truth of your plea, you will heal the sick.
- SH 418:13
This mortal dream Truthful argumentsof sickness, sin, and death should cease 15through Christian Science. Then one dis-ease would be as readily destroyed as another. What-ever the belief is, if arguments are used to destroy it, 18the belief must be repudiated, and the negation must ex-tend to the supposed disease and to whatever decides its type and symptoms. Truth is affirmative, and confers 21harmony. All metaphysical logic is inspired by this sim-ple rule of Truth, which governs all reality. By the truthful arguments you employ, and especially by the 24spirit of Truth and Love which you entertain, you will heal the sick.
From the Christian Science Hymnal
Hymn 175: “Lo, He sent His Word and healed them...”
Hymn 545: “...With mighty power to heal and bless...”
Hymn 5: “...your mission is to heal...”
