SUNDAY August 1, 2010
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SUBJECT—LOVE
GOLDEN TEXT: Romans 13 : 10
“Love is the fulfilling of the law.”
RESPONSIVE READING: Ephesians 3 : 14-19
14. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15. Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17. That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18. May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
The Bible
1. Isaiah 61 : 1-3
2. Isaiah 58 : 10-12, 14 (to ;)
3. Mark 1 : 9
4. Luke 7 : 36-47
5. Revelation 1 : 1 (to 2nd ,)
6. Revelation 3 : 13, 15, 16, 19
7. Romans 15 : 1-3 (to ;)
8. I John 4 : 7-11, 20, 21
9. Ephesians 5 : 1, 2 (to 2nd ,)
Science and Health
1. 302 : 25-26 (to ,)
2. 494 : 10-14
3. 561 : 1-4
4. 192 : 27-31
5. 26 : 21-25, 28-32
6. 53 : 8-15
7 364 : 8-10, 17-31
8. 365 : 15-24, 31-2
9. 366 : 12-21, 30-9
10. 54 : 8-10, 13-17
11. 496 : 9 (Ask)-19
12. 55 : 16-26
“The real church is the gathering of members to work in the one Mind, to help Christianize the thoughts of all mankind. The membership of the church is only a small group composed of those who perceive the inspirational intent of Christian Science and work along such lines. The rank and file are decoys for the few consecrated ones who are doing the work, the real mental work, for the world.” – Gilbert Carpenter
Our church members are doing a “Watch” as in Mrs. Eddy’s household, every evening from 10:30 – 10:45 EST.
Unite with us in our prayers to help uplift the thought of all mankind. As Mrs. Eddy said in one of her classes, “We, today, in this class-room, are enough to convert the world if we are of one Mind: for then the whole world will feel the influence of this Mind: as when the earth was without form, and Mind spake and it was done.” (Misc. Wr. p.279-280)
- Andrew: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent."BB6 Tough stuff! For example, some people think they are being righteous by not making judgment between Boston Board of Directors authority and Independent - "there is always two sides to the story." But think of Saul, the zealous persecutor of Christians - he was the one God chose (converted to Paul) to be the primary exponent of the Christ message! Being non-committal is an offense to God. Why? Because it wreaks of a pride in a self apart from God - a non-committal person cannot be a reflection! Mrs. Eddy said that when she was unsure which way to go, she chose the best she could, and then continued to listen for God's direction, and changed if necessary - the idea being, that when you commit to a direction, it takes you to a new place, where you have a better perspective. If you guard yourself to the point of never making a commitment, you cannot progress. So we can all afford to do some self-examination and repent/change - rout out the non-committal, lukewarm thoughts!!
- darin s.: In the bible 1 John:8, He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love. Since God (is) Love he can only express himself as Love. Which he express's to his idea which is spiritual man so it just stands to reason that if I don't appear to be expressing Love than I am expressing somthing else which would be the oppisite of Love however in Christian Science we learn that that is impossible to express anything else but what God is which is Love. Last week it was brought up that some people were having a hard time understanding Christian Science and they appeared to be able to not demonstrate or were un able to heal. If we are always striving to understand how to best express Love (God) then it would be imposible to see anything else but Love and the demonstration would have to be expressed or showen forth.
- Andrew: To Gary's point - humbling yes, but to me, comforting as well. Divine Love has absolutely no fear, never conditional, and it has power! When we reflect it, there are no ifs, ands, or buts. It is unmistakable. If we are honest, we cannot fool ourselves into thinking we are loving when we are not. That, to me, is comforting!
- Mary: In the Eustace book (Clear Correct Teaching), he refers to the “unforgivable sin” (Matt: 12: 31, 32) in this way: “The sin against the Holy Ghost is the attempt to tamper with the truth of Christian Science and to turn to it to one’s own spiritual advantage.” I often wondered what the “unforgiveable sin” was, and this is quite an explanation and an awakening. One of the beauties of Christian Science is it cannot be “used” selfishly – it simply will not work! This certainly goes along with this week’s Lesson on Love… as the whole nature of Love is unselfish. “Whatever holds human thought in line with unselfed love, receives directly the divine power.” (SH 4) What a power, and what a statement!!
- Gary: This is a very humbling lesson. Jesus gave new meaning to love. It is what heals the sick. It is what leads us to understand all things. It has no regard for human customs or laws. It made me realize that if I have an ounce of selfishness, I am not loving. If I have an ounce of fear, I am not loving. If I am not healing those around me who are truly in need, I am not loving. Mrs. Eddy warns us that if we seek the Truth for any selfish reason, as Simon, we love little (if at all). However, the real test of love is whether we genuinely change and show unconditional human affection through meekness (strict obedience to God!), as did Mary Magdalen. This is the standard of perfection that Jesus implored for all of us, and which Mrs. Eddy explains how to achieve. As John said: “Perfect love casteth out fear.” Anything less than perfect love is a pretty empty life. I think this is what the Golden Text means. Only when we have a heart full of divine love can we fulfill Gods law of healing and dominion.
- Kevin: When people ask me what first attracted me to Christian Science, I tell them, the truth of this lesson: that love is the ultimate one God, immaterial and eternal, and the only real presence in the world. :) True love winning out is not a fantasy, even though erring material senses make it seem that way. Rather, it is a reality, and the fantasy is that there exists anything other than the One Love- namely, Spirit/Soul/God.
- Andrew: so we do not take it lightly - MBE on Love: "No word is more misconstrued; no sentiment less understood. The divine significance of Love is distorted into human qualities, which to their human abandon become jealousy and hate. Love is not something put upon a shelf, to be taken down on rare occasions with sugar-tongs and laid on a rose-leaf. I make strong demands on love, call for active witnesses to prove it, and noble sacrifices and grand achievements as its results. Unless these appear, I cast aside the word as a sham and counterfeit, having no ring of the true metal. Love cannot be a mere abstraction, or goodness without activity and power."(Misc. Wr. p.250)
- Andrew: The simplicity of Christ - it has nothing to do with profession, or theological mumbo-jumbo, or gravity-defying metaphysics! If you love, you know God. If you do not love, you do not know God. This is a simple litmus test we can use in our day-to-day living. It will keep us closer to Him than anything else could.