1. Date of Lesson

2. Subject, Golden Text, and Responsive Reading

3. Lesson Sermon — The Bible

4. Lesson Sermon — Science and Health

5. The Daily Duties

6. About the preparation of this lesson

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Subject — Is The Universe, Including Man, Evolved By Atomic Force?

GOLDEN TEXT: Jeremiah 1 : 5, 19

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, for I am with thee, saith the LORD.”

RESPONSIVE READING: Psalm 90 : 1, 2 • Psalm 104 : 24, 30, 31 • Job 36 : 24, 25 • Job 37 : 14

1.     LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

2.     Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

24.     O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

30.     Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.

31.     The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works.

24.     Remember that thou magnify his work, which men behold.

25.     Every man may see it; man may behold it afar off.

14.     Stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God.

Lesson Sermon

The Bible

1. Proverbs 8 : 22, 23

22     The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

23     I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

2. Psalm 102 : 24 (O) (to ,), 24 (thy), 25, 27 (thou)

24     O my God, … thy years are throughout all generations.

25     Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands.

27     …thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.

3. Psalm 148 : 2-11

2     Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

3     Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.

4     Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

5     Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.

6     He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

7     Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:

8     Fire, and hail; snow, and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

9     Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:

10     Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:

11     Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:

4. John 1 : 3, 13 (born)

3     All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

13     …born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

5. John 8 : 1, 2, 12-14, 25, 31, 32, 42 (for), 51, 52, 54 (to 1st ,), 56-58

1     Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.

2     And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.

12     Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

13     The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.

14     Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.

25     Then said they unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.

31     Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32     And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

42     …for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

51     Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.

52     Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

54     Jesus answered,

56     Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

57     Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?

58     Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

6. John 17 : 1 (to 3rd ,), 3, 5 (to 2nd ,), 24 (I will)

1     These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,

3     And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

5     And now, O Father,

24     I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

7. Isaiah 40 : 21, 26

21     Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

26     Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power: not one faileth.

8. Isaiah 45 : 4 (I have even) (to ,), 5, 6, 8, 11-13 (to :)

4     I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee,

5     I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

6     That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

8     Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.

11     Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.

12     I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.

13     I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways:

9. I John 2 : 24

24     Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

10. Ephesians 1 : 3, 4 (to 1st ,)

3     Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

4     According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,

Science and Health

1. 267 : 10-12

The great I AM made all "that was made." Hence man and the spiritual universe coexist with God.

2. 335 : 18 (Nothing)-20

Nothing but Spirit, Soul, can evolve Life, for Spirit is more than all else.

3. 252 : 31 (to 1st ,), 31 (saith)-8

Spirit, … saith:

I am Spirit. Man, whose senses are spiritual, is my likeness. He reflects the infinite understanding, for I am Infinity. The beauty of holiness, the perfection of being, imperishable glory, — all are Mine, for I am God. I give immortality to man, for I am Truth. I include and impart all bliss, for I am Love. I give life, without beginning and without end, for I am Life. I am supreme and give all, for I am Mind. I am the substance of all, because I AM THAT I am.

4. 492 : 3-4

For right reasoning there should be but one fact before the thought, namely, spiritual existence.

5. 429 : 19-28 (to ,), 31-2

If man did not exist before the material organization began, he could not exist after the body is disintegrated. If we live after death and are immortal, we must have lived before birth, for if Life ever had any beginning, it must also have an ending, even according to the calculations of natural science. Do you believe this? No! Do you understand it? No! This is why you doubt the statement and do not demonstrate the facts it involves. We must have faith in all the sayings of our Master,

Jesus said (John viii. 51), "If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." That statement is not confined to spiritual life, but includes all the phenomena of existence.

6. 547 : 23-30

The Scriptures are very sacred. Our aim must be to have them understood spiritually, for only by this understanding can truth be gained. The true theory of the universe, including man, is not in material history but in spiritual development. Inspired thought relinquishes a material, sensual, and mortal theory of the universe, and adopts the spiritual and immortal.

7. 550 : 15 (The)-23

The continual contemplation of existence as material and corporeal — as beginning and ending, and with birth, decay, and dissolution as its component stages — hides the true and spiritual Life, and causes our standard to trail in the dust. If Life has any starting-point whatsoever, then the great I AM is a myth. If Life is God, as the Scriptures imply, then Life is not embryonic, it is infinite.

8. 502 : 24-28 (to 2nd .)

The infinite has no beginning. This word beginning is employed to signify the only, — that is, the eternal verity and unity of God and man, including the universe. The creative Principle — Life, Truth, and Love — is God. The universe reflects God.

9. 124 : 14-19, 25-26 (to 1st .)

The universe, like man, is to be interpreted by Science from its divine Principle, God, and then it can be understood; but when explained on the basis of physical sense and represented as subject to growth, maturity, and decay, the universe, like man, is, and must continue to be, an enigma.

Spirit is the life, substance, and continuity of all things.

10. 513 : 17-21

Spirit diversifies, classifies, and individualizes all thoughts, which are as eternal as the Mind conceiving them; but the intelligence, existence, and continuity of all individuality remain in God, who is the divinely creative Principle thereof.

11. 78 : 1-5

The decaying flower, the blighted bud, the gnarled oak, the ferocious beast, — like the discords of disease, sin, and death, — are unnatural. They are the falsities of sense, the changing deflections of mortal mind; they are not the eternal realities of Mind.

12. 511 : 23-3

To mortal mind, the universe is liquid, solid, and aëriform. Spiritually interpreted, rocks and mountains stand for solid and grand ideas. Animals and mortals metaphorically present the gradation of mortal thought, rising in the scale of intelligence, taking form in masculine, feminine, or neuter gender. The fowls, which fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven, correspond to aspirations soaring beyond and above corporeality to the understanding of the incorporeal and divine Principle, Love.

13. 450 : 29-2

Knowing the claim of animal magnetism, that all evil combines in the belief of life, substance, and intelligence in matter, electricity, animal nature, and organic life, who will deny that these are the errors which Truth must and will annihilate?

14. 369 : 5-13

In proportion as matter loses to human sense all entity as man, in that proportion does man become its master. He enters into a diviner sense of the facts, and comprehends the theology of Jesus as demonstrated in healing the sick, raising the dead, and walking over the wave. All these deeds manifested Jesus' control over the belief that matter is substance, that it can be the arbiter of life or the constructor of any form of existence.

15. 516 : 4-8

The substance, Life, intelligence, Truth, and Love, which constitute Deity, are reflected by His creation; and when we subordinate the false testimony of the corporeal senses to the facts of Science, we shall see this true likeness and reflection everywhere.

16. 331 : 16-17

Everything in God's universe expresses Him.

17. 264 : 28-31

When we learn the way in Christian Science and recognize man's spiritual being, we shall behold and understand God's creation, — all the glories of earth and heaven and man.

The Daily Duties

by Mary Baker Eddy

Daily Prayer

It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to pray each day: "Thy kingdom come;" let the reign of divine Truth, Life, and Love be established in me, and rule out of me all sin; and may Thy Word enrich the affections of all mankind, and govern them!

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 4

A Rule for Motives and Acts

Neither animosity nor mere personal attachment should impel the motives or acts of the members of The Mother Church. In Science, divine Love alone governs man; and a Christian Scientist reflects the sweet amenities of Love, in rebuking sin, in true brotherliness, charitableness, and forgiveness. The members of this Church should daily watch and pray to be delivered from all evil, from prophesying, judging, condemning, counseling, influencing or being influenced erroneously.

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 1

Alertness to Duty

It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind. By his works he shall be judged, — and justified or condemned.

Church Manual, Article VIII, Sect. 6

Take Notice

To Christian Scientists: — See Science and Health, page 442, line 30, and give daily attention thereto.

from Miscellany, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 237

“Christian Scientists, be a law to yourselves that mental malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when awake.”

Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, page 422

This Bible Lesson was prepared by Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent. It is composed of Scriptural Quotations from the King James Bible and Correlative Passages from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, 1910 Edition, by Mary Baker Eddy.

Copyright 2022 Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent

Table of Contents

Sunday, December 18th, 2022 — Subject: Is The Universe, Including Man, Evolved By Atomic Force?

Date of Lesson

Subject, Golden Text, and Responsive Reading

Lesson Sermon — The Bible

Lesson Sermon — Science and Health

The Daily Duties

About the preparation of this lesson