First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Nah. 1:7, 9
7The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.
... 9What do ye imagine against the Lord? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time.
- Dan. 3:1 (to :), 4-6, 8, 9, 12 (to :), 16, 17, 19 (to :), 20, 24 (to ?), 25 Lo, 26, 28
1Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits:
... 4Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
5That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up:
6And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
8¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
9They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
... 12There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee:
16Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
19¶ Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego:
... 20And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
... 24Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?
... Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26¶ Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
28Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed–nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
- Luke 4:14 (to :)
14¶ And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:
- Luke 5:1-10 (to 1st .), 11-14 (to :), 15
1And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret,
2And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.
3And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship.
4Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
5And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
6And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
7And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
9For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
10And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon.
... 11And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.
12¶ And it came to pass, when he was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
13And he put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean. And immediately the leprosy departed from him.
14And he charged him to tell no man:
15But so much the more went there a fame abroad of him: and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities.
- Luke 18:15-17
15And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them.
16But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
17Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
- Isa. 26:3, 4 (to 1st :)
3Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
4Trust ye in the Lord for ever:
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH 1:11
- SH 9:17
Dost thou “love the Lord thy God with all thy 18heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”? Practical religionThis command includes much, even the sur-render of all merely material sensation, affec-21tion, and worship. This is the El Dorado of Christianity. It involves the Science of Life, and recognizes only the divine control of Spirit, in which Soul is our master, 24and material sense and human will have no place.
- SH 326:20-21
- SH 428:8-19, 22
To divest 9thought of false trusts and material evidences in order that the spiritual facts of being may appear, — this is the great attainment by means of which we shall sweep 12away the false and give place to the true. Thus we may establish in truth the temple, or body, “whose builder and maker is God.”
15 We should consecrate existence, not “to the unknown God” whom we “ignorantly worship,” but to the eternal Intelligent consecrationbuilder, the everlasting Father, to the Life 18 which mortal sense cannot impair nor mortal belief destroy.
The great spiritual fact must be brought out that man is, not shall be, perfect and immortal. We must hold 24The present immortalityforever the consciousness of existence, and sooner or later, through Christ and Christian Science, we must master sin and death. The evidence 27of man’s immortality will become more apparent, as ma-terial beliefs are given up and the immortal facts of being are admitted.
- SH 487:27-1
The understanding that Life is God, Spirit, lengthens our days by strengthening our trust in the deathless reality of Life, its almightiness and immortality.
30 This faith relies upon an understood Principle. This Principle makes whole the diseased, and brings out the 488 488:1enduring and harmonious phases of things.
- SH 488:7
The Hebrew and Greek words often translated belief differ somewhat in meaning from that conveyed by the 9Belief and firm trustEnglish verb believe; they have more the sig -nificance of faith, understanding, trust, con-stancy, firmness. Hence the Scriptures often appear in 12our common version to approve and endorse belief, when they mean to enforce the necessity of understanding.
- SH 323:28
The effects of Christian Science are not so much seen Childlike receptivityas felt. It is the “still, small voice” of Truth 30 uttering itself. We are either turning away from this utterance, or we are listening to it and going up higher. Willingness to become as a little child and 324 324:1to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks 3and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony. The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. “Blessed are the 6pure in heart: for they shall see God.”
- SH 130:20
Laboring long to shake the adult’s 21faith in matter and to inculcate a grain of faith in God, — an inkling of the ability of Spirit to make the body har-monious, — the author has often remembered our Master’s 24love for little children, and understood how truly such as they belong to the heavenly kingdom.
- SH 236:28-12
Jesus loved little children because of their freedom from wrong and their receptiveness of right. While 30age is halting between two opinions or battling with false beliefs, youth makes easy and rapid strides towards Truth.
237237:1 A little girl, who had occasionally listened to my ex-planations, badly wounded her finger. She seemed not 3to notice it. On being questioned about it she answered ingenuously, “There is no sensation in matter.” Bound-ing off with laughing eyes, she presently added, “Mamma, 6my finger is not a bit sore.”
It might have been months or years before her parents would have laid aside their drugs, or reached the mental 9Soil and seedheight their little daughter so naturally at-tained. The more stubborn beliefs and theo-ries of parents often choke the good seed in the minds of 12themselves and their offspring.
- SH 368:2-4, 14
The 3Real and counterfeitconfidence inspired by Science lies in the fact that Truth is real and error is unreal.
When we 15come to have more faith in the truth of being than we have in error, more faith in Spirit than in matter, more faith in living than in dying, more faith in God than in man, 18then no material suppositions can prevent us from healing the sick and destroying error.
- SH 298:4, 10-15, 19
As a cloud hides the sun it cannot extinguish, so false belief silences for a while the 6voice of immutable harmony, but false belief cannot de-stroy Science armed with faith, hope, and fruition.
To material sense, the unreal is the real until this sense is corrected 12by Christian Science.
Spiritual sense, contradicting the material senses, in-volves intuition, hope, faith, understanding, fruition, real-15ity. When the real is attained, which is announced by Science, joy is no longer a trembler, nor is hope a cheat. Spirit-21ual ideas, like numbers and notes, start from Principle, and admit no materialistic beliefs. Spiritual ideas lead up to their divine origin, God, and to the spiritual sense 24of being.
- SH 495:16-20
- SH 444:10
Hymn 359: “Trust the eternal … Then in thy child-heart shall come strength in weakness”
Hymn 502: “…This have I learned — to humbly trust Your father-motherhood”
Hymn 176: “…Steadfast their trust in God's great Word”