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 — Life

GOLDEN TEXT: Deuteronomy 30 : 20

“Love the LORD thy God, and obey his voice, that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days.”

RESPONSIVE READING: Proverbs 3 : 1-8

1.     My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:

2.     For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.

3.     Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

4.     So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.

5.     Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

6.     In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

7.     Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.

8.     It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

Lesson Sermon

The Bible

1. Job 33 : 4

4     The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.

2. Psalm 16 : 5-11

5     The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

6     The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

7     I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

8     I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9     Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

10     For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

11     Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

3. Psalm 23 : 6

6     Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

4. I Kings 17 : 1, 2, 9-15, 17-20 (to 1st ,), 21 (O LORD), 22

1     And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2     And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

9     Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10     So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11     And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12     And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13     And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14     For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

15     And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

17     And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18     And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

19     And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

20     And he cried unto the LORD,

21     O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again.

22     And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

5. Job 11 : 14-19 (to ;)

14     If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles.

15     For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be stedfast, and shalt not fear:

16     Because thou shalt forget thy misery, and remember it as waters that pass away:

17     And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.

18     And thou shalt be secure, because there is hope; yea, thou shalt dig about thee, and thou shalt take thy rest in safety.

19     Also thou shalt lie down, and none shall make thee afraid;

6. Isaiah 38 : 1-5, 9, 12 (to 1st :), 16, 18 (to :), 19 (to :)

1     In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.

2     Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,

3     And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.

4     Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,

5     Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.

9     The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:

12     Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent:

16     O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.

18     For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee:

19     The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day:

7. Matthew 4 : 23

23     And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

8. Matthew 5 : 1, 2

1     And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2     And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

9. John 8 : 12 (I am)

12     I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

10. I Thessalonians 3 : 8

8     For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.

Science and Health

1. 394 : 28-29

We should remember that Life is God, and that God is omnipotent.

2. 289 : 2-6

Mortal man can never rise from the temporal débris of error, belief in sin, sickness, and death, until he learns that God is the only Life. The belief that life and sensation are in the body should be overcome by the understanding of what constitutes man as the image of God.

3. 492 : 7-11

Being is holiness, harmony, immortality. It is already proved that a knowledge of this, even in small degree, will uplift the physical and moral standard of mortals, will increase longevity, will purify and elevate character.

4. 245 : 32 (The)-6

The infinite never began nor will it ever end. Mind and its formations can never be annihilated. Man is not a pendulum, swinging between evil and good, joy and sorrow, sickness and health, life and death. Life and its faculties are not measured by calendars. The perfect and immortal are the eternal likeness of their Maker.

5. 246 : 10-31

The measurement of life by solar years robs youth and gives ugliness to age. The radiant sun of virtue and truth coexists with being. Manhood is its eternal noon, undimmed by a declining sun. As the physical and material, the transient sense of beauty fades, the radiance of Spirit should dawn upon the enraptured sense with bright and imperishable glories.

Never record ages. Chronological data are no part of the vast forever. Time-tables of birth and death are so many conspiracies against manhood and womanhood. Except for the error of measuring and limiting all that is good and beautiful, man would enjoy more than threescore years and ten and still maintain his vigor, freshness, and promise. Man, governed by immortal Mind, is always beautiful and grand. Each succeeding year unfolds wisdom, beauty, and holiness.

Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight.

6. 247 : 10-11 next page

Beauty, as well as truth, is eternal; but the beauty of material things passes away, fading and fleeting as mortal belief. Custom, education, and fashion form the transient standards of mortals. Immortality, exempt from age or decay, has a glory of its own, — the radiance of Soul. Immortal men and women are models of spiritual sense, drawn by perfect Mind and reflecting those higher conceptions of loveliness which transcend all material sense.

Comeliness and grace are independent of matter. Being possesses its qualities before they are perceived humanly. Beauty is a thing of life, which dwells forever in the eternal Mind and reflects the charms of His goodness in expression, form, outline, and color. It is Love which paints the petal with myriad hues, glances in the warm sunbeam, arches the cloud with the bow of beauty, blazons the night with starry gems, and covers earth with loveliness.

The embellishments of the person are poor substitutes for the charms of being, shining resplendent and eternal over age and decay.

The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul, to retreat from the belief of pain or pleasure in the body into the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony.

Love never loses sight of loveliness. Its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful. Men and women of riper years and larger lessons ought to ripen into health and immortality, instead of lapsing into darkness or gloom. Immortal Mind feeds the body with supernal freshness and fairness, supplying it with beautiful images of thought and destroying the woes of sense which each day brings to a nearer tomb.

7. 249 : 18-20 (to 1st .)

Life is, like Christ, "the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." Organization and time have nothing to do with Life.

8. 407 : 21-24

If delusion says, "I have lost my memory," contradict it. No faculty of Mind is lost. In Science, all being is eternal, spiritual, perfect, harmonious in every action.

9. 486 : 23-26

Sight, hearing, all the spiritual senses of man, are eternal. They cannot be lost. Their reality and immortality are in Spirit and understanding, not in matter, — hence their permanence.

10. 487 : 3 (Life is deathless.)-12

Life is deathless. Life is the origin and ultimate of man, never attainable through death, but gained by walking in the pathway of Truth both before and after that which is called death. There is more Christianity in seeing and hearing spiritually than materially. There is more Science in the perpetual exercise of the Mind-faculties than in their loss. Lost they cannot be, while Mind remains. The apprehension of this gave sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf centuries ago, and it will repeat the wonder.

11. 283 : 1-6

As mortals begin to understand Spirit, they give up the belief that there is any true existence apart from God.

Mind is the source of all movement, and there is no inertia to retard or check its perpetual and harmonious action.

12. 218 : 27-2

The Scriptures say, "They that wait upon the Lord ... shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." The meaning of that passage is not perverted by applying it literally to moments of fatigue, for the moral and physical are as one in their results. When we wake to the truth of being, all disease, pain, weakness, weariness, sorrow, sin, death, will be unknown, and the mortal dream will forever cease.

13. 249 : 6-8

Let us feel the divine energy of Spirit, bringing us into newness of life and recognizing no mortal nor material power as able to destroy.

14. 200 : 9-15 (to 2nd .)

Life is, always has been, and ever will be independent of matter; for Life is God, and man is the idea of God, not formed materially but spiritually, and not subject to decay and dust. The Psalmist said: "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet."

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 2024 Plainfield Christian Science Church, Independent

Table of Contents

Sunday, July 21st, 2024 — Subject: Life

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