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PSST: TO NEVER FAIL, ALWAYS SIDE AND ACT WITH LOVE !
Possible Sunday School Topics (P. S. S. T.) for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on

“Love”
for Sunday, January 29, 2023

by Tom and Amy Evans, former staff members and big fans of CedarS


P.S.S.T. for The Golden Text and The Responsive Reading

What does your class know about 1 Corinthians, chapter 13? Who wrote it? Did you notice the New King James Version of the Bible was chosen for the GT and RR? This was intentional to include the word “love” instead of “charity”. What is Paul’s message about love?
Why does Paul say amazing accomplishments are meaningless without Love?
Henry Drummond wrote a book called, The Greatest Thing in the World, completely about 1 Corinthians 13. This could be a great resource to unpack with your students. A PDF version can be found here.


P.S.S.T. for Section 1 – LOVE SUFFERS LONG AND IS KIND

Bible Citation 3, 1st John 4:16, 19: This is a simple way to live in God: live [dwell] in love.
Can you think of ways to live in love?
Reading from marked books makes it easy to discover the emphasis the Bible Lesson Committee is placing on this uplifted sense of love found in 1st John 3 and 1st John 4 this week. Take a look at the four short citations found in 1 John in this week’s lesson.
How does the Johannian community describe love?
Did you realize that both places where the Bible says “God is love” can be found in 1 John chapter 4? See verses 8 and 16.

Discuss S&H Citation 1, p. 6:17-18 and citation 4, 520:3-5. How do those two citations describe the infinitude of Love? Consider the marginal heading in S&H Citation 2, 516:9-19. How have you witnessed Love imparting beauty?
Take apart S&H Citation 3, 265:23-26. Why does Mary Baker Eddy point out the aspiration or desire for spiritual / heavenly good comes before we fully understand wisdom and Love?
Describe this hopeful, inspired state of thought.
Ask your students to allow their thought to be transformed when beholding infinite, divine Love.


P.S.S.T for Section 2 – LOVE IS NOT PUFFED UP

Apply the description of the spiritual river from Bible Citation 4 (Psalm 46:4-6) to the experience Naaman goes through with Elisha’s guidance.

Bible Citation 5, 2nd Kings 5:1-14: List examples of humility in the episode of Naaman and Elisha. Here are some to begin with:

  • Hebrew maid helping Naaman
  • Naaman’s servants humbly correcting him when he is upset
  • Naaman changing his thought and washing himself in the Jordan River

What surprised you about the story? Do you think Elisha had a large house? (unlikely)
Why would Elisha send his servant to the door instead of answering it himself when they could probably hear Naaman and his entourage just outside of their humble home?

(Bible Citation 6) Compare Naaman’s’ desired vision of Elisha dramatically calling God’s name to heal him, to 2nd Timothy (verse 22) calling on the Lord out of a pure heart.
How was Naaman opposing himself as described in Bible Citation 6, 2nd Timothy (verse 25)?

Older classes can apply the citations from Science and Health to this story directly.
Each of the passages from Science and Health in this section ties to this example of a humbling transformation.
ACTIVITY: Have your students number a sheet of paper 6 through 11 and ask them to summarize how these citations describe Naaman’s experience. It might look something like this:

  • S&H Citation 6, 2:8 – Summary of the situation: Naaman was already whole. No verbal command was needed.
  • S&H Citation 7, 13:2 – Love is impartial: God healed the general of a nation at war with Israel
  • S&H Citation 8, 593:14-17 – The river didn’t heal Naaman, it was his thought calming and humbly aligning with God. He was healed when his thought was smooth and unobstructed.
  • S&H Citation 9, 242:15 – Naaman’s ego, the adamant of error, was dissolved along with the leprosy in the Jordan.
  • S&H Citation 10, 445:19-21 – When the fear is gone, we hand over responsibility to God. Divine energy is never strained. Healing is natural, easy.
  • S&H Citation 11, 454:18 – This is a great capstone to complete the healing. When we fully abide in Love, thought changes and patience has her perfect work.

P.S.S.T. for Section 3 – LOVE IS NOT PROVOKED, THINKS NO EVIL

Continuing with the theme of 1st Cor 13, this section addresses impartiality among other things. How is love impartial to people with differing perspectives?
See Bible Citation 9, Matt. 5:39, 44, 45, from the Sermon on the Mount and S&H Citation 16, 444:13-22, about loving and being kind to those who believe medicine to be the only source of healing.

This section also addresses Love’s ability to triumph over adversity.
Ask your class to rephrase Paul’s message to the Church in Rome in Romans 8:38 and 39.

What is the “doctrine of Christian Science”? (see S&H citation 13, 304:9).
How have you witnessed this in your experience? How can you witness it in the future?
Another theme in the section is overcoming hatred and removing it from thought.
Describe what S&H citation 15, 201:17-18, looks like and how to actually apply the concept of pouring in truth through flood-tides of Love. How does that work in practice?
Use an example of fear, hate, or any belief of separation from God.
What does S&H citation 16,444:13-22, mean to you?


PSST Section 4 – LOVE DOES NOT REJOICE IN INIQUITY, BUT REJOICES IN THE TRUTH

Where have you seen S&H Citation 18,494:10, before? (hint: On the wall of many Christian Science Churches)
S&H Citation 19, 365:15-19, is often cited. What does Mary Baker Eddy mean when she says that a Christian Scientist reaches her patient “through divine Love”?
How is this different from telling a patient they are loved? What does this healing love entail? Why does the material challenge fall away so easily?


P.S.S.T. for Section 5 – LOVE HOPES ALL THINGS

Think about how highly Jesus esteemed anyone who did the will of God when he referred to them as his family in Bible Citation 16 (Mark 3:35). What is this will of God?
How can you tell if you are following accurately and consistently or not?

Why does Mary Baker Eddy tie Love to Truth so frequently? She says the “brotherhood of man would consist of Love and Truth” when describing an ideal state of brotherhood among mankind in S&H Citation 20, 469:30-5.


P.S.S.T. for Section 6 – LOVE ENDURES ALL THINGS

Pull out a dictionary and look up the word dissimulation from Bible Citation 17, Romans 12:9. The New Living Translation translates this verse from Romans 12:9 this way “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them.”
Describe Simon the Pharisee’s behavior and thought process in Luke 7. Why might Jesus have shared the parable of the two people forgiven two different amounts of debt (not included in this week’s Bible lesson)? Simon appears outwardly respectful and listening to what Jesus has to say, but clearly, he is not applying the lesson in his actions (washing feet) and likely other areas of his life.

What stands out to you in S&H citation 26, 367:3?
How have you felt Christian Science is “aflame with divine Love”?


P.S.S.T. for Section 7 – LOVE NEVER FAILS

Wow! What a summary of abundant love in Section 7! Bible Citation 21, 1st Peter 4:8-10 encourages fervent love, giving this love, and doing so as “good stewards” of the very present and tangible grace of God.
What does it mean to be a steward of God’s grace and Love?
In S&H Citation 30, 518:19-21, how can God give “might, immortality, and goodness” even to the least spiritual idea? Explain how that works. What does it look like?
If God is Love (Bible Citation 22, 1st John 4:8) and all that exists is in God and manifests God’s Love (S&H Citation 32, 340:12), what does that say about existence, being, and our experience?
What about negative experiences? What about negative thoughts?
Where do these fit into reality which is composed of all-embracing Love?

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