First Church of Christ, Scientist, La Cañada Flintridge, California
Wednesday Meeting Readings
- Ps. 133:1
1Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
- Judg. 6:6 Israel, 11 Gideon, 16, 36-38 (to :)
Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord.
Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
... 16And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
36¶ And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
37Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
38And it was so:
- Judg. 7:2, 3 Whosoever, 4 (to :), 5 Every (to ;), 6 (to :), 7 (to :), 9, 12, 13 (to 1st ,), 16 he, 20, 21 2nd and
2And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
... Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
4And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there:
... Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself;
... 6And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men:
... 7And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand:
9¶ And it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand.
... 12And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.
13And when Gideon was come,
he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.
20And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon.
... and all the host ran, and cried, and fled.
- Jer. 31:31-34 (to 2nd :)
31¶ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord:
- Isa. 9:6, 7 (to perform)
6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform
- Rom. 10:1, 12 there
1Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
... there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
- I John 4:7
7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
- Luke 4:33-37
33¶ And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
34Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.
35And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and hurt him not.
36And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.
37And the fame of him went out into every place of the country round about.
- Rev. 11:15 2nd The
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures
by Mary Baker Eddy
- SH vii:13
The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the 15portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away. Ignorance of God is no longer the stepping-18stone to faith. The only guarantee of obedience is a right apprehension of Him whom to know aright is Life eternal. Though empires fall, “the Lord shall 21reign forever.”
- SH 565:13-18
- SH 258:19-30
The infinite Principle is reflected by the infinite idea and spiritual individuality, but the material so-called senses 21have no cognizance of either Principle or its idea. The human capacities are enlarged and perfected in propor-tion as humanity gains the true conception of man and 24God.
Mortals have a very imperfect sense of the spiritual man and of the infinite range of his thought. To him 27Individual permanencybelongs eternal Life. Never born and never dying, it were impossible for man, under the government of God in eternal Science, to fall from his 30high estate.
- SH 82:31-2
- SH 83:6, 13-16
Science only can explain the incredible good and evil elements now coming to the surface. Mortals must find refuge in Truth in order to escape the error of these latter 9days. Nothing is more antagonistic to Christian Science than a blind belief without understanding, for such a belief hides Truth and builds on error.
The scientific mani-Natural wondersfestation of power is from the divine nature 15and is not supernatural, since Science is an explication of nature.
- SH 201:7, 17
We cannot build safely on false foundations. Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away 9and “all things are become new.” Passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirit-uality, and the superabundance of being is on the side 12of God, good.
The way to extract error from mortal mind is to pour 18in truth through flood-tides of Love. Christian perfec-tion is won on no other basis.
- SH 474:29
The apostle says that 30the mission of Christ is to “destroy the works of the devil.” Truth destroys falsity and error, for light and darkness cannot dwell together. Light extinguishes the 475 475:1darkness, and the Scripture declares that there is “no night there.” To Truth there is no error, — all is Truth. 3To infinite Spirit there is no matter, — all is Spirit, divine Principle and its idea.
- SH 239:5, 16, 25-27
Take away wealth, fame, and social organizations, 6which weigh not one jot in the balance of God, and we Right views of humanityget clearer views of Principle. Break up cliques, level wealth with honesty, let worth 9be judged according to wisdom, and we get better views of humanity.
To ascertain our progress, we must learn where our affections are placed and whom we acknowledge and 18Standpoint revealedobey as God. If divine Love is becoming nearer, dearer, and more real to us, matter is then submitting to Spirit. The objects we pursue and 21the spirit we manifest reveal our standpoint, and show what we are winning.
If action pro -ceeds from the divine Mind, action is harmo-27nious.
- SH 276:4-16, 19-26 (to 2nd .)
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.” Man and his Maker are correlated in divine Science, and real consciousness is cognizant only of the things of God.
12 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.
When 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.
Material beliefs and spiritual understanding never mingle. The latter destroys the former.
- SH 125:12-17
As human thought changes from one stage to an-other of conscious pain and painlessness, sorrow and joy, — from fear to hope and from faith to understand-15ing, — the visible manifestation will at last be man gov-erned by Soul, not by material sense. Reflecting God’s government, man is self-governed.
- SH 340:23
One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; con-24stitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, “Love thy neighbor as thyself;” annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry, — whatever is wrong in 27social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes; equalizes the sexes; annuls the curse on man, and leaves nothing that can sin, suffer, be punished or destroyed.
- SH 467:9
It should be thoroughly understood that all men have one Mind, one God and Father, one Life, Truth, and Love. Mankind will become perfect in proportion as this fact 12becomes apparent, war will cease and the true brother-hood of man will be established. Having no other gods, turning to no other but the one perfect Mind to guide 15him, man is the likeness of God, pure and eternal, hav-ing that Mind which was also in Christ.
Hymn 386: “When Jesus our great Master came … He lived the precepts which he taught”
Hymn 519: “Lean on the sustaining infinite And blessings will be yours”
Hymn 532: “May God give us Her blessing, May God lift up Her face upon us all”