Christian Science Society, Scarborough

This week’s lesson is the start of a short run of topics that appear (on the surface at least)  more theologically orientated subjects. We’ll see though that these topics offer very practical guidance for every day life. This week’s topic is  “Doctrine of Atonement”.

It’s really about how we overcome “sin” and feel that at-one-ment with God.

What is “sin”? What did Christ Jesus do to rid the world of sin? What’s our role?

The 3rd section of the lesson begins with Philippians 2:5:

Let this mind by in you, which was also in Christ Jesus

How do we adopt this Mind of Christ?

One of the last citation in the lesson is comprised of the last three Tenets of Christian Science, it may be very worthwhile for us to review these. But do bring your own questions, looking forward to seeing you Sunday!

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The Cross and Crown Trademark which now appears in the banner at the top of our site is a Trademark of our Global church. You can about the Cross and Crown Trademark on The Mother Church Website.  In part that site explains:

Background

The Cross and Crown is a registered trademark of the Christian Science Board of Directors and has long been used on Mary Baker Eddy’s writings and the Christian Science periodicals to indicate the authenticity of these products.

The Cross and Crown is also emblematic of the unity that branches and church members have with The Mother Church and with each other, and of the fact that such unity is a result of members’ and branches’ individual and collective commitment to practicing Jesus’ four imperative statements, which appear in the circular band around the Cross and Crown.

In order to represent this broader meaning of unity and commitment to healing, we’re pleased to announce that Christian Science branch churches and societies, Christian Science Reading Rooms, and Christian Science Organizations at colleges and universities may request to use the Cross and Crown.

It is hoped that, as the Cross and Crown trademark is more widely used in the ways described, it will be increasingly seen by others as an identifying and unifying emblem of our Church.

We are delighted that our church here in Scarborough has been granted a license to use the Cross and Crown Trademark. We are committed to doing all we can to obey Jesus’ commands from Matthew 10 verse 8 that encircle the cross and crown emblem:

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons

We realize that striving to follow these commands demands a lot of us as Christians, and that we all have a huge amount to learn. We recognize that that we have to take up the cross, before we can win the crown.

Mary Baker Eddy – the discoverer of Christian Science and founder of our worldwide Church – wrote of herself:

To-day, though rejoicing in some progress, she still finds herself a willing disciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ.

(see Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy ix:16)

Like her, we are a church of willing disciples waiting and working for the Mind of Christ, and we’d love you to join us!

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Didn’t the time really fly in our discussion on Sunday? Let’s hope we can find some time to return to the discussion about “moral freedom” and how the Commandments and the Covenant with God fit into that.

This week’s Bible lesson in on Mind – another of Mary Baker Eddy’s seven synonyms for God. The Golden text is from Philippians (2:5).

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

And the question of the week video on tmcyouth.com asks:

Question of the Week

if there is just one Mind (one God and intelligence of the universe), then how come there are so many disasters (like Haiti) and so on.

Do check out the video before Sunday and we’ll watch it again in class before discussing this topic.

There lots in the lesson to help us answer this question and to spark other discussions.

The first section reminds us “The time for thinkers has come”. How do God’s thoughts and mortals differ? The section ends with Mary Baker Eddy – the author of Science and Health – and founder of our church – describing herself as “a willing disciple at the heavenly gate, waiting for the Mind of Christ.” (S&H ix:16)

In section 2 – we see how Solomon serves God with “a perfect heart and with a willing mind”. We see how God opens the way, blesses and rewards, those with the right motives. Here there are perhaps some links back to last week’s question about “moral freedom”. There is also a big clue in this section to what it really means to have “that Mind which was also in Christ.”

The third section focuses on Christ Jesus himself. We read of his childhood as described in the Gospel of Luke – and how at the age of twelve he was found discussing religious and spiritual matters with the learned men of the church. It is perhaps no coincidence that 12 is the age one can unite with The Mother Church. In this section we are reminded that “we owe (Christ Jesus) endless homage.” Why?

The fourth section contains the bible story of the woman healed by touching Jesus garment. Jesus felt her spiritual touch – even while the multitude thronged him. The story illustrates how Christ Jesus read “mortal mind on a scientific basis”, and the passages in Science and Health explain this form of mental discernment or intuition and the essential role it continues to play in the healing the sick today.

The Fifth section features Jesus overcoming the power of death when he heals Jairus’ daughter (see Luke 8 40-55) and reminds us that while the same God-given healing power is available in every age – we need the “Mind .. which was also in Christ Jesus” if we are to “repeat the ancient demonstrations of prophets and apostles” (S&H 243:12)

The sixth and final section explains how having the Mind that was in Christ Jesus is the “foundation of fellowship” - how it is needed to establish the brotherhood of man. It’s a great section to work with in overcoming disputes in families, at work, in our churches and the world. The lesson ends with the sixth Tenet of Christian Science from Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy:

6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.  (S&H 497:24)

BTW I have just posted all the Tenets of Christian Science on this site.

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Each week our Youth Discussion groups are fueled by the week’s :

This week’s lesson subject is “Spirit” – and the sub-theme is Fruits of the Spirit.  You can read “Cultivate the Fruits of the Spirit” in the Christian Science Sentinel .  Below are just some ideas I am thinking about as I prepare for Sunday’s Bible Lesson Class for teenagers in our Sunday School.

The Golden text which sets the theme for the lesson is from the King James Bible: -

Ephesian 5: 9 – the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;

The verse preceding it in the Bible speaks of the light of Spirit (as opposed darkness )and The Good News Bible, translates this week’s golden text:

for it is the light that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

When we study the Science of Christianity and live in this light of Spirit we can all expect our own “rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth”. (Note it doesn’t say “wealth, fame, material possessions”. ) The Bible Lesson contains a lot of really helpful ideas about how to be more fruitful how to reap that “rich harvest”– how to be more productive and how to do more good works, including healing.

The last chapter in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy is called Fruitage – and contains testimonies of healing sent in by people who had been healed through reading Science and Health and studying and applying Christian Science. The lesson this week and every week contains ideas about how to heal and be healed.

The first section of the lesson reminds us that Jesus taught in parables, and the responsive reading is the parable of the sower and the seed. This parable can help us to understand – and thus avoid – the kind of thinking and activities that stop the seed from being fruitful – and yielding a harvest of 30-fold, 60-fold or 100-fold. What do you think the different scenarios in the parable represent? How did Christ Jesus explain them? What lesson can you learn for your life?

Section 2 – really helps us to think about the question: How did Christ Jesus heal? How can we heal? How can we cultivate the same kind of thought and spirituality that enabled Jesus to heal so effortlessly?

Section – 3 There lots to think about in every section and every Bible verse and passage from Science and Health that’s in the lesson. But one thing I am getting from this section 3 is the need to weed our thinking – we need to “watch and pray” to avoid temptation (see Matt 26:41) or as Science and Health puts it “Be watchful, sober, vigilant”.

Section – 4. Here we learn of Jesus Christ as the true vine and God as the “husbandman” (what is husbandman? ) What was Christ Jesus mission? What do we “most need”? And why? What are the signs that we are winning?

Section – 5. Here we read of Jesus healing on the Sabbath – and the Jobsworth who said he shouldn’t be healing on the Sabbath! Jesus knew the high law the over-ruled the petty limited sense of law that made the ruler of the synagogue indignant. The Science and Health passages in this section explain the superiority of this high law of Spirit and give some really practical pointers for our own healing work.

Section – 6. The final section of this week’s lesson reminds us that the early Christian Church grew because of the healing work of the first apostles – and that Christians today are still under “direct orders ..to heal the sick as well as the sinning” (Science and Health p 138). And this is so essential to our church.

Our church is built on the divine Principle, Love. We can unite with this church only as we are new-born of Spirit, as we reach the Life which is Truth and the Truth which is Life by bringing forth the fruits of Love, — casting out error and healing the sick.

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy p 35

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