First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Acts 14:8-10 there
8there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:
9The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
10Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.
- Acts 25:1-3, 24, 25
1Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Cæsarea to Jerusalem.
2Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him,
3And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.
... 24And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.
25But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him.
- Acts 26:1, 27-32
1Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself:
... 27King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
28Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
29And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.
30And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them:
31And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds.
32Then said Agrippa unto Festus, This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto Cæsar.
- Acts 27:1, 2 (to ;), 13, 14, 20-25, 35-37, 41-44
1And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band.
2And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia;
... 13And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.
14But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.
... 20And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.
21But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.
22And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.
23For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
24Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Cæsar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
25Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
... 35And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.
36Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.
37And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.
... 41And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.
42And the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.
43But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:
44And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.
- Acts 28:2-9
2And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
3And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
5And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
6Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
7In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously.
8And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.
9So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed:
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 463:12-13
- SH 20:27
- SH 418:12
12 It must be clear to you that sickness is no more the reality of being than is sin. 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.
- SH 319:13
- SH 462:9
9 If the student goes away to practise Truth’s teach-ings only in part, dividing his interests between God and Divided loyaltymammon and substituting his own views for 12Truth, he will inevitably reap the error he sows. Whoever would demonstrate the healing of Christian Science must abide strictly by its rules, heed every state-15ment, and advance from the rudiments laid down. There is nothing difficult nor toilsome in this task, when the way is pointed out; but self-denial, sincerity, Christianity, and 18persistence alone win the prize, as they usually do in every department of life.
- SH 463:21
21 To decide quickly as to the proper treatment of error — whether error is manifested in forms of sickness, sin, Unhesitating decisionor death — is the first step towards destroy-24ing error. Our Master treated error through Mind. He never enjoined obedience to the laws of nature, if by these are meant laws of matter, nor did he use drugs. 27There is a law of God applicable to healing, and it is a spiritual law instead of material. The sick are not healed by inanimate matter or drugs, as they believe that they 30are. Such seeming medical effect or action is that of so-called mortal mind.
- SH 318:5-13, 22-25
Corporeal senses define diseases as realities; but the 6Scriptures declare that God made all, even while the cor-What the senses originateporeal senses are saying that matter causes disease and the divine Mind cannot or will 9not heal it. The material senses originate and support all that is material, untrue, selfish, or debased. They would put soul into soil, life into limbo, and doom 12all things to decay. We must silence this lie of material sense with the truth of spiritual sense.
The Science of Mind denies the error of sensation in matter, and heals with Truth. Medical science treats 24disease as though disease were real, therefore right, and attempts to heal it with matter.
- SH 22:11-22
“Work out your own salvation,” is the demand of 12Life and Love, for to this end God worketh with you. Wait for reward“Occupy till I come!” Wait for your re -ward, and “be not weary in well doing.” If 15your endeavors are beset by fearful odds, and you receive no present reward, go not back to error, nor become a sluggard in the race.
18 When the smoke of battle clears away, you will dis-cern the good you have done, and receive according to your deserving. Love is not hasty to deliver us from 21temptation, for Love means that we shall be tried and purified.
- SH 106:15-29
15 Let this age, which sits in judgment on Christian Science, sanction only such methods as are demonstrable Right methodsin Truth and known by their fruit, and classify 18all others as did St. Paul in his great epistle to the Galatians, when he wrote as follows:
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are 21these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, 24revellings and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But 27the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
- SH 227:14-26
Discerning the rights of man, we cannot fail to fore-15see the doom of all oppression. Slavery is not the legiti-Native freedommate state of man. God made man free. Paul said, “I was free born.” All men should 18be free. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is lib-erty.” Love and Truth make free, but evil and error lead into captivity.
21 Christian Science raises the standard of liberty and cries: “Follow me! Escape from the bondage of sick-Standard of libertyness, sin, and death!” Jesus marked out the 24way. Citizens of the world, accept the “glori-ous liberty of the children of God,” and be free! This is your divine right.
- SH 150:4
To-day the healing power of Truth is widely demon-strated as an immanent, eternal Science, instead of a 6The main purposephenomenal exhibition. Its appearing is the coming anew of the gospel of “on earth peace, good-will toward men.” This coming, as was promised 9by the Master, is for its establishment as a permanent dispensation among men; but the mission of Christian Science now, as in the time of its earlier demonstration, 12is not primarily one of physical healing. Now, as then, signs and wonders are wrought in the metaphysical heal-ing of physical disease; but these signs are only to demon-15strate its divine origin, — to attest the reality of the higher mission of the Christ-power to take away the sins of the world.
- SH 151:17
Mortal belief says that death has been occasioned by 18fright. Fear never stopped being and its action. The Man governed by Mindblood, heart, lungs, brain, etc., have nothing to do with Life, God. Every function of the 21real man is governed by the divine Mind. The human mind has no power to kill or to cure, and it has no con-trol over God’s man. The divine Mind that made man 24maintains His own image and likeness. The human mind is opposed to God and must be put off, as St. Paul declares. All that really exists is the divine Mind and 27its idea, and in this Mind the entire being is found har-monious and eternal. The straight and narrow way is to see and acknowledge this fact, yield to this power, and 30follow the leadings of truth.
- SH 418:5
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 324:19-31
Paul was not at first a disciple of Jesus but a perse -cutor of Jesus’ followers. When the truth first appeared 21Paul’s enlightenmentto him in Science, Paul was made blind, and his blindness was felt; but spiritual light soon enabled him to follow the example and teach-24ings of Jesus, healing the sick and preaching Christian-ity throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and even in imperial Rome.
27 Paul writes, “If Christ [Truth] be not risen, then is our preaching vain.” That is, if the idea of the suprem-acy of Spirit, which is the true conception of being, 30come not to your thought, you cannot be benefited by what I say.
- SH 325:10-29
In Colossians (iii. 4) Paul writes: “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear [be manifested], then shall ye also 12Indestructible beingappear [be manifested] with him in glory.” When spiritual being is understood in all its perfection, continuity, and might, then shall man be found 15in God’s image. The absolute meaning of the apostolic words is this: Then shall man be found, in His likeness, perfect as the Father, indestructible in Life, “hid with 18Christ in God,” — with Truth in divine Love, where human sense hath not seen man.
Paul had a clear sense of the demands of Truth upon 21mortals physically and spiritually, when he said: “Pre-Consecration requiredsent your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac-ceptable unto God, which is your reasonable 24service.” But he, who is begotten of the beliefs of the flesh and serves them, can never reach in this world the divine heights of our Lord. The time cometh when 27the spiritual origin of man, the divine Science which ushered Jesus into human presence, will be understood and demonstrated.
From the Christian Science Hymnal
Hymn 12: “...In love and healing ministry”
Hymn 423: “Give me, O Lord, an understanding heart”
Hymn 85: “God of Truth,...So we seek Thy perfect healing”
