First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Isa. 14:1, 3, 24-27, 30 (to :)
1For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
... 3And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,
24¶ The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
25That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders.
26This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations.
27For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
30And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety:
- Ps. 31:1-3, 7, 14-16, 24
1In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness.
2Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me.
3For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.
... 7I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
... 14But I trusted in thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my God.
15My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
16Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: save me for thy mercies’ sake.
... 24Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.
- Lev. 19:1, 2, 15 2nd in, 18, 34-37
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
2Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.
in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
18¶ Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.
34But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
35¶ Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure.
36Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
37Therefore shall ye observe all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: I am the Lord.
- Matt. 4:12-17
12¶ Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
13And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
14That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
15The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
16The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
17¶ From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
- Matt. 5:1, 2, 10
1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
... 10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Mark 12:28-34 one (to 1st .)
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?
29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30And 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.
31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.
- Rom. 13:1, 2, 3 do, 4 (to 1st .), 8-10
1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
... do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4For he is the minister of God to thee for good.
... 8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
9For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
- Rom. 12:9, 10, 13, 16-18
9Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.
10Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
... 13Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
... 16Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
17Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.
18If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 205:22
When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law Redemption from selfishnessof loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded; 24whereas a belief in many ruling minds hinders man’s normal drift towards the one Mind, one God, and leads human thought into opposite channels 27where selfishness reigns.
- SH 494:5-15
Is it not a species of infidelity to believe that so great 6a work as the Messiah’s was done for himself or for God, Inexhaustible divine Lovewho needed no help from Jesus’ example to preserve the eternal harmony? But mortals 9did need this help, and Jesus pointed the way for them. Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need. It is not well to imagine that Jesus demon-12strated the divine power to heal only for a select number or for a limited period of time, since to all mankind and in every hour, divine Love supplies all good.
- SH 4:3-5
- SH 67:23
- SH 384:5
Let us reassure 6ourselves with the law of Love. God never punishes man for doing right, for honest labor, or for deeds of kindness, though they expose him to fatigue, 9cold, heat, contagion. If man seems to incur the penalty through matter, this is but a belief of mortal mind, not an enactment of wisdom, and man has only to enter his 12protest against this belief in order to annul it. Through this action of thought and its results upon the body, the student will prove to himself, by small beginnings, the 15grand verities of Christian Science.
- SH 385:15-18
- SH 276:4-9, 12-24, 26
When the divine precepts are understood, they unfold the foundation of fellowship, 6in which one mind is not at war with another, but all have one Spirit, God, one intelligent source, in accordance with the Scriptural command: “Let this Mind be in you, 9which was also in Christ Jesus.”
The realization that all inharmony is unreal brings objects and thoughts into human view in their true light, and presents them as beautiful and immortal. Harmony 15in man is as real and immortal as in music. Discord is unreal and mortal.
If God is admitted to be the only Mind and Life, 18there ceases to be any opportunity for sin and death. Perfection requisiteWhen we learn in Science how to be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect, 21thought is turned into new and healthy channels, — towards the contemplation of things immortal and away from materiality to the Principle of the universe, includ-24ing harmonious man.
The latter destroys the former. Discord is the 27nothingness named error. Harmony is the somethingness named Truth.
- SH 285:7
What, then, is the material personality which suffers, sins, and dies? It is not man, the image and likeness 9The human counterfeitof God, but man’s counterfeit, the inverted likeness, the unlikeness called sin, sickness, and death. The unreality of the claim that a mortal is 12the true image of God is illustrated by the opposite na-tures of Spirit and matter, Mind and body, for one is intelligence while the other is non-intelligence.
- SH 286:9-20
The Master said, “No man cometh unto the Father [the divine Principle of being] but by me,” Christ, Life, Truth, Love; for Christ says, “I am the way.” 12Physical causation was put aside from first to last by this original man, Jesus. He knew that the divine Principle, Love, creates and governs all that 15is real.
In the Saxon and twenty other tongues good is the term Goodness a portion of Godfor God. The Scriptures declare all that He 18 made to be good, like Himself, — good in Principle and in idea. Therefore the spiritual universe is good, and reflects God as He is.
- SH 287:11
- SH 288:20
The chief stones in the temple of Christian Science are 21to be found in the following postulates: that Life is God, The chief stones in the templegood, and not evil; that Soul is sinless, not to be found in the body; that Spirit is not, and 24cannot be, materialized; that Life is not subject to death; that the spiritual real man has no birth, no ma-terial life, and no death.
- SH 289:27
- SH 290:1
- SH 476:21-22, 28-32
Learn this, O mortal, and earnestly seek the spiritual status of man, which is outside of all material selfhood.
When speaking of God’s children, not the children of men, Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is within you;” 30The kingdom withinthat is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God’s image is unfallen and eternal.
- SH 477:13-17
Hymn 33: “...Though thou walk through hostile regions”
Hymn 169: “Lead, kindly Light, amid the encirdling gloom”
Hymn 402: “...Come, cast your burdens on the Lord”