1. Acts 6:1-15

   1And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

   2Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

   3Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

   4But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.

   5¶ And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

   6Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

   7And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

   8And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

   9¶ Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.

   10And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

   11Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.

   12And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,

   13And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:

   14For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.

   15And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.

2. Acts 7:1, 2 (to 5th ,), 3, 4, 17, 20-37, 54-57, 59, 60 (to 1st .)

   1Then said the high priest, Are these things so?

   2And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham,

   ... 3And said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

   4Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans, and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell.

   ... 17But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

   ... 20In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:

   21And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.

   22And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.

   23And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.

   24And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:

   25For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.

   26And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?

   27But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?

   28Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?

   29Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.

   30And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush.

   31When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,

   32Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold.

   33Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.

   34I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.

   35This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.

   36He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

   37¶ This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.

   54¶ When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.

   55But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

   56And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

   57Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,

   ... 59And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.

   60And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.

1. SH 4:22

   We reach the Science of Christianity through demonstration of the 24divine nature; but in this wicked world goodness will “be evil spoken of,” and patience must bring experience.

2. SH 241:19-8

       The substance of all devotion is the reflection and demonstration of divine Love, healing sickness and 21destroying sin. Our Master said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

       One’s aim, a point beyond faith, should be to find the 24footsteps of Truth, the way to health and holiness. We should strive to reach the Horeb height where God is re-vealed; and the corner-stone of all spiritual building is 27purity. The baptism of Spirit, washing the body of all the impurities of flesh, signifies that the pure in heart see God and are approaching spiritual Life and its 30demonstration.

       It is “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,” than for sinful beliefs to enter the kingdom of 242 242:1heaven, eternal harmony. Through repentance, spiritual baptism, and regeneration, mortals put off their material 3Spiritual baptismbeliefs and false individuality. It is only a question of time when “they shall all know Me [God], from the least of them unto the greatest.” 6Denial of the claims of matter is a great step towards the joys of Spirit, towards human freedom and the final triumph over the body.

3. SH 199:21-22

   The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible.

4. SH 200:9-24

   Life is, always A mortal not manhas been, and ever will be independent of matter; for Life is God, and man is the idea 12of God, not formed materially but spiritually, and not subject to decay and dust. The Psalmist said: “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy 15 hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet.”

       The great truth in the Science of being, that the real man was, is, and ever shall be perfect, is incontrovertible; 18for if man is the image, reflection, of God, he is neither inverted nor subverted, but upright and Godlike.

       The suppositional antipode of divine infinite Spirit 21 is the so-called human soul or spirit, in other words the five senses, — the flesh that warreth against Spirit. These so-called material senses must yield to the infinite 24Spirit, named God.

5. SH 449:7-28

       The wrong done another reacts most heavily against one’s self. Right adjusts the balance sooner or later. 9Right adjusts the balanceThink it “easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,” than for you to benefit yourself by injuring others. Man’s moral mercury, ris-12ing or falling, registers his healing ability and fitness to teach. You should practise well what you know, and you will then advance in proportion to your honesty 15and fidelity, — qualities which insure success in this Science; but it requires a higher understanding to teach this subject properly and correctly than it does to heal 18the most difficult case.

       The baneful effect of evil associates is less seen than felt. The inoculation of evil human thoughts ought to 21Inoculation of thoughtbe understood and guarded against. The first impression, made on a mind which is attracted or repelled according to personal merit or de-24merit, is a good detective of individual character. Cer-tain minds meet only to separate through simultaneous repulsion. They are enemies without the preliminary 27offence. The impure are at peace with the impure. Only virtue is a rebuke to vice.

6. SH 39:8

   We must have trials and self-denials, as well as 9joys and victories, until all error is destroyed.

7. SH 28:29

   The trials encountered by prophet, disciple, and apostle, 30“of whom the world was not worthy,” await, in some form, every pioneer of truth.

8. SH 66:1-16

        Thou art right, immortal Shakespeare, great poet of humanity: 3Sweet are the uses of adversity; Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.

   6    Trials teach mortals not to lean on a material staff, — a broken reed, which pierces the heart. We do not Salutary sorrowhalf remember this in the sunshine of joy 9and prosperity. Sorrow is salutary. Through great tribulation we enter the kingdom. Trials are proofs of God’s care. Spiritual development germi-12nates not from seed sown in the soil of material hopes, but when these decay, Love propagates anew the higher joys of Spirit, which have no taint of earth. Each suc-15cessive stage of experience unfolds new views of divine goodness and love.

9. SH 509:24

   The periods of spiritual ascension are the days and seasons of Mind’s creation, in which beauty, sublimity, purity, and holiness 27 — yea, the divine nature — appear in man and the uni-verse never to disappear.

10. SH 337:14 Christian

    Christian Science demonstrates that none but 15Purity the path to perfectionthe pure in heart can see God, as the gospel teaches. In proportion to his purity is man perfect; and perfection is the order of celestial 18being which demonstrates Life in Christ, Life’s spiritual ideal.

11. SH 338:1-2

    Christian Science, rightly under-stood, leads to eternal harmony.

    
    
12. SH 409:27-21

        We have no right to say that life depends on matter now, but will not depend on it after death. We cannot Death no benefactorspend our days here in ignorance of the Science 30of Life, and expect to find beyond the grave a reward for this ignorance. Death will not make us harmonious and immortal as a recompense for ignorance. 410 410:1If here we give no heed to Christian Science, which is spiritual and eternal, we shall not be ready for spiritual 3Life hereafter.

        “This is life eternal,” says Jesus, — is, not shall be; and then he defines everlasting life as a present knowledge 6Life eternal and presentof his Father and of himself, — the knowledge of Love, Truth, and Life. “This is life eter -nal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and 9Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” The Scriptures say, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” show-12ing that Truth is the actual life of man; but mankind objects to making this teaching practical.

        Every trial of our faith in God makes us stronger. 15The more difficult seems the material condition to be Love casteth out fearovercome by Spirit, the stronger should be our faith and the purer our love. The Apostle 18John says: “There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casteth out fear. . . . He that feareth is not made per-fect in Love.” Here is a definite and inspired proclama-21tion of Christian Science.

From the Christian Science Hymnal
Hymn 464: “Dear Master, may I follow thee”
Hymn 485: “God of creation and Lord of my soul"
Hymn 475: “...You are the child of Spirit, sinless, pure”