Express the divine Love of spiritual at-one-ment!

[Experience and express the divine Love of spiritual at-one-ment!]
Metaphysical Application Ideas from Cedars for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
“Doctrine of Atonement” for April 15, 2012
by Dan Carnesciali, CS of St. Louis, MO 314.374.5616/ dancarne@gmail.com)

[These application ideas from a CedarS Camps' Resident Christian Science Practitioner are provided primarily to help CedarS campers and staff (as well as friends) see and demonstrate the great value of study and application of the Christian Science Bible lessons daily throughout the year, not just at camp! You can sign up to have them emailed to you free — by Monday each week in English; or by each Wednesday you can get a FREE TRANSLATION: in French, thanks to Denise and Pascal; in German, thanks to Helga and Manfred; or in Spanish, thanks to a team of Ana, Erick, Claudia and Patricio. YOU CAN ALSO SIGN UP for weekly emails from past CedarS staff of fun approaches & possible ways to teach lesson ideas to older and to younger Sunday School classes at www.cedarscamps.org/newsletters  Enjoy! Warren Huff, CedarS Director & editor of these notes with bracketed additions.]

 

Spring is a wonderful time of renewal. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, it's that time of year.   For many of us, it's time to dust off the running shoes, the tennis racket, or bicycle.  It's also a season for spiritual renewal [–that “Happy New Year” time within us as Christians.]  What is the essence of Easter [– and of our :”Easter gladness that rejoices every day” Hymn 171]? Unconditional love, forgiveness, strengthening our relationship with God, and understanding and honoring Jesus' sacrifice. I asked myself how well I was honoring his sacrifice. That's tough – I am still thinking about that one. What I want for you as you study the Bible lesson is a sense of Soul-full oneness.

 

Golden Text:

According to the author of II John: “Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.” (New Living Translation, or NLT)

 

Responsive Reading:

Christ Jesus' words and actions led and lead us to God, not to himself. That is why Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me.” (NLT) 
See yourself as branches of the vine and God as the gardener (husbandman in the King James Version (KJV).  What does a gardener do?  She/he makes sure that you are nurtured, that you have good soil, water and fertilizer. She/he makes sure that you are pruned back so that you will bear fruit. [Thanks to garden givers and a greenhouse CedarS' organic gardens are in! Grape vines were pruned & transplanted to Bible Lands Park vineyard where they & their lessons will bear much fruit.]
According to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, there are three possible meanings to the Greek word translated in KJV as abide, as in “abide in me.” 1) To stay in place, 2) To stay in time, to endure, last, continue. 3) To remain in a state or condition. The third definition is the one I want us to focus on. It means “to remain as one.” Reread the Responsive Reading thinking about you remaining in a state of oneness with Christ. What is one the best ways for a counselor to work well with his or her teammates and to bond with his or her campers?  That's right, to be their sister or brother.

 

Section 1 – [Be True to the] Only One Master

Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 is in the Bible lesson again; and it is wonderful.  It is central to Judaism and Christianity because it is an early and laser-sharp expression of worshipping one God (monotheism). It also expresses the true idea of worship, which I believe is grounded in and emerges from love. (B-1)  Imagine for a moment talking to friends who like the same music as you. You can feel their passion. You connect with them. Think about the best counselor you have ever had, or the best boss you have ever had. You connected with them. Paul is talking about worshipping from the basis of respect and admiration. (B-3)  In this section, love and worship are essential to atonement, which was originally spelled at-one-ment.  (S-3) Christ is the true idea of God. Christ is what reveals our true nature and destroys whatever is bad or unlike God. Christ reveals that the real man, known to God and Christ, is not capable of sin, sickness and death. (S-6)

 

Section 2 – [Be True to the] Only One Intelligence

The temple scholars were amazed at how Jesus knew the teachings of Judaism so entirely well. (B-5) Recall the times that your thought has been in tune, at one, with divine Mind. I have a very small example. Once I was building a bicycle wheel for hire. Building a wheel from scratch takes a little skill and practice to tension the spokes so the wheel is strong, in balance and perfectly round. When done right, the wheel doesn't wobble side to side or up and down. The customer was coming in 15 minutes and this wheel was wobbling badly. None of my experience with crafting wheels was working. So, I panicked. Then, I surrendered. I knew only God could finish this wheel in time. The next thing I knew, my hands were getting messages what to do. I humanly knew that the changes were wrong, but I made them anyway. Just as the client rang the doorbell, the wheel was perfect and ready to go. In cycling they call a wheel that doesn't wobble, “true”. The customer rode the wheel across the United States (over 3,000 miles) and it stayed true. Think of what you can do if you will pause and [“be true and list the voice within” Hymn 20–] be aware of your divine right to intelligence. (B-5) “When man is governed by God, the ever-present Mind who understands all things, man knows with God all things are possible.” (S-7) This is key to understanding who you are. Today you are free to choose intelligence over confusion. You are free to choose health over sickness. Christ Jesus responded to those who were sick with compassion. He never put them down, never gave a reason [or genetic history] for why they should be imperfect. [The spiritual heritage or “DNA” Jesus proved was that to Divinely Natural Attributes, a lie Does Not Apply-as he voiced this way: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” B-6] 
It is very easy to go through life [fooled by façades] and not accept others just as they truly are. If someone is obese or super thin, it's easy to think to yourself that they should be different. Pause for a moment [– “lose sight of mortal selfhood” (S9)]. Do you realize that if you aren't accepting [the spiritual selfhood of] others, you aren't accepting your [spiritual] selfhood either? I'm not saying that you accept obesity or any other problem. I'm saying that to be like Jesus that we need to [plunge “beneath the material surface of things” (SH 313)–] accept and love people, and respect them. Then we can truly be the living, loving presence of Christ that heals. (B-6)

 

Section 3 – [Experience] True Worship

In Leviticus, God said, “I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people.” (B-9) In verse 15 of this chapter, there is this passage, “If you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you.” In Old Testament times, it was believed that God would reward people for loving God and punish them when they strayed. There is a fancy term for this: Deuteronomic Retributive Theology. I heard Bible scholar Barry Huff jokingly refer to this as DiRT (dirt). I believe the problem with worshipping God from this “dirty” basis is you don't love God, you fear God. Worshipping this way tends to make you a “teabag Christian”, which means you pray to God only when things get boiling. What we really want, as I mentioned earlier is a deep and continuing relationship with God. (B-9) Citation B-10 from Acts is a speech by Peter, which he gave before Romans (Gentiles) in Caesarea. Peter was an eye-witness to Jesus ministry and his healings. Imagine what it would be like to hear Peter share what he had seen and felt. It is believed that everyone who heard Peter's speech that day was baptized as a follower of Christ. (MyBibleLesson) Jesus was anointed (blessed, specially appointed) by God. He was the best expression of the Holy Spirit's power. In last week's lesson, we learned about Jesus' death at the hands of the Romans and how he was raised to life after three days. (B-10) Isn't the joy of Christ's resurrection the joy of spiritual renewal for us, too? Paul says, “God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and he has given us a place beside Christ in heaven.”  (CEV, B-11) “God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. That's why he sent Christ to make us what we are.” (CEV, B-11)

 

Section 4 – [Yield like] Paul Yielded

When you are sure someone else is wrong, it can be a bad sign.  In practice, the “right-er” you feel, usually the “wrong-er” you end up being. Paul was a devout Jew, a Pharisee. He was so sure that these followers of Jesus were destroying true Judaism that he set out to destroy them. Can you imagine the pride he felt that he was doing “God's work?” While Paul was travelling to Damascus to arrest followers of Jesus, a light appeared from above and he heard a voice that said, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” (NLT) Persecute means to harass, oppress, to treat terribly. It comes from the Latin word that means to pursue. Stunned, Paul asks the voice, “Who are you?” The answer came, “I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down.” (The Message) If you look at the Greek that the New Testament was translated from, it says ἐγώ εἰμί Ἰησοῦς (egō eimi Iēsous) (Strong's), which means, “I am Jesus.” This event is called Paul's conversion. Paul was converted to a follower of Jesus. If you are interested in other accounts of Paul's vision in the Bible, read, Gal 1:15-17 (in Paul's words); Acts 9:1-19 (Luke relating Paul's experience); Acts 22:2b-16 (Luke retelling Paul's talking about his conversion to a crowd in Jerusalem); Acts 26:9-18 (Luke's account of Paul telling his conversion to King Agrippa). There are also references to Paul's conversion in Gal 1:11-12; 1 Cor 9:1; 15:8.). Paul's self-righteous thought, yielded to the Word of God. “Saul of Tarsus beheld the way – the Christ, or Truth – only when his uncertain sense of right yielded to a spiritual sense, which is always right.  Then the man was changed.  Thought assumed a nobler outlook, and his life became more spiritual.” (S-18) Are you willing to give up the self-perception you are fond of and willing to let God turn you around? Who knows how God will speak to you. Maybe you'll feel God's presence powerfully. Maybe, like Paul, you'll see a vision. [Maybe like Ananias, you'll get a divine glimpse of someone you have been seeing as a persecutor (maybe a family member, boss, coach, houseparent, student…) to see them as “on their road to Damascus” and ready to be one of your biggest helpers.]

 

Section 5 – Feel In Tune

Draw close to God and God will draw close to you is what the Bible says in James. (B-16)  One recent morning as I took 5 minutes before I prayed to be quiet, I heard this. I heard that I was “unattached” to my concept of myself, and to others' concept of me. This was so freeing and it opened up that I was connected to God, linked to God in a way that is unbreakable and always present. Perhaps there are times when you don't feel well, or you feel miserable [–or “double-minded” (B-16) as if you're trying to tune into two radio stations at once].  When that happens, you can [tune out the static station and automatically] tune in to God's voice, to the true idea or perception of God. Christ is always tuned into God. Because Christ is your true Self, the real you (not mortal mind) is always tuned into God. Jesus taught us, “I and my Father are One.” Mary Baker Eddy said, “Principle and its idea is one.” [SH 465:17] You are not out of tune with God. This is your in-tune-ness, your at-one-ment, with God.   Does feeling at one with God seem like just a goal? You are entitled to realize your present and eternal one-ness with God. “… just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too can walk in newness of life.” (B-18, Common English Bible)

 

Section 6 – [Find delight in] Steps Ordered By God

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” (B-19) Yes, God delights in the details of your life. God is having an experience and he calls it Tom, or Denise, or Misha, or Suzanne. You are God's individual expression. You are God's walking, God's running, God's being and thinking. What is really true is that you are expressing the strength that you already have. In the book of Acts, the following healing is related. “There was a man in Lystra who couldn't walk. He sat there, crippled since the day of his birth. He heard Paul talking, and Paul, looking him in the eye, saw that he was ripe for God's work, ready to believe. So he said, loud enough for everyone to hear, “Up on your feet!” The man was up in a flash-jumped up and walked around as if he'd been walking all his life.” (B-20, The Message) Can you see that just like for this man in Acts that healing is your nature? In other words, it is already true. And now it is unfolding to your consciousness. We suffer when we believe incorrect thoughts. We stop suffering when we question them. The facts never change, though. Can you see that you can't really gain or lose strength? It is always yours (as a spiritual idea). Now is the time to claim and prove your present and eternal strength and mobility.

 

Section 7 – [Experience and express the] Love of the Mother-Father

“I will tell of the LORD's unfailing love.  I will praise the LORD for all he has done.  I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted according to his mercy and love. In his love and mercy he redeemed them.  He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.” (B-22, NLT) Love is the language of God. It is the healing nature and presence of God. It is your true nature. “This is the kind of love we are talking about-not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.  My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.  No one has seen God, ever.  But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us-perfect love!  This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us:  He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit.  Also, we've seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world.  Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.” (B-23, The Message) [Since “divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation, or object…” (S-29), you cannot be prevented from feeling at one with this divine Love and it cannot be kept from joyously shining through you!]

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[Calling all Christian Scientists 14 & up! ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT* TO REGISTER for the Texas Regional Youth Conference!  (*A late fee applies for those enrolling between Tuesday April 17^th and the April 21^st conference.)  Event Planners from Houston & Boston have asked us in all the ways we know to encourage everyone, not just youth to register and come.  If you're 14-35, you've got the whole conference day!  But if you're over 35, and a parent, friend, or mentor of youth, you're invited also to join the fun and inspiration of an evening session that includes dinner, live concert, and an inspirational talk on parenting and mentoring.  (I'm flying in for the evening and have registered!) Please join me and all youth supporters as well as young adults in registering so planners can reserve seating, dinner, etc. Three wonderful Christian Science youth speakers will share: how Christian Science can make a difference in our lives; how we can make a difference in the world; and how we can be happier, and have better relationships… (See more and register online at makingadifference2012.com ]

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[CedarS will send a DVD & info on our programs for all ages; session dates & rates; 2012 online enrollment; transportation… to help get anyone in your church family to camp!]

 ^{[Camp Director's Note: This sharing is the latest in an ongoing, 11-year series of CedarS Bible Lesson “Mets” (Metaphysical application ideas) contributed weekly by a rotation of CedarS Resident Practitioners and occasionally by other metaphysicians.  (Ask and look for “Possible Sunday School Topics “and “Possible Younger Class Lessons” in subsequent emails.) These weekly offerings are intended to encourage further study and application of ideas in the lesson and to invigorate Sunday School participation by students and by the budding teachers on our staff. Originally sent JUST to my Sunday School students and to campers, staff and CedarS families who wanted to continue at home and in their home Sunday Schools the same type of focused Lesson study, application and inspiration they had felt at camp, CedarS lesson “mets “and Sunday School ideas are in no way meant to be definitive or conclusive or in any way a substitute for daily study of the lesson. The thoughts presented are the inspiration of the moment and are offered to give a bit more dimension and background as well as new angles (and angels) on the daily applicability of some of the ideas and passages being studied. The weekly Bible Lessons are copyrighted by the Christian Science Publishing Society and are printed in the Christian Science Quarterly as available at Christian Science Reading Rooms or online at eBibleLesson.com or myBibleLesson.com. The citations referenced (i.e.B-1 and S-28) from this week's Bible Lesson in the “Met” (Metaphysical application ideas) are taken from the Bible (B-1 thru B-24) and the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health With Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy (S-1 thru S-30). The Bible and Science and Health are the ordained pastor of the Churches of Christ, Scientist. The Bible Lesson is the sermon read in Christian Science church services throughout the world. The Lesson-Sermon speaks individually through the Christ to everyone, providing unique insights and tailor-made applications for each one. We are glad you requested this metaphysical sharing and hope that you find some of the ideas helpful in your daily spiritual journey, in your deeper digging in the books and in closer bonding with your Comforter and Pastor.]}

[PSST: Celebrate God with us!]

Possible Sunday School Topics by Merrill Boudreaux for the

Christian Science Bible Lesson: “Doctrine of Atonement” April 15, 2012

 

P.S.S.T. Golden Text: What is the doctrine of Christ? Ask students to write 3 things they know about the life of Christ Jesus. Ask them to put all of the items written in priority order as most important, based on the impact Christ Jesus had on the world. How does any statement on the list the students created indicate the relationship Christ Jesus had with our Father, God? 

     Read together Mrs. Eddy's definition of Christ in Science & Health 583:10. Now the big question: Is this definition of Christ unique or exclusive to Christ Jesus? Ask students to state in their own words what this definition means to them. I often state it as “God with us.” If God is with us, as God was with Christ Jesus, then God is available to us — to use God, to call on God — in our lives today. Let us explore further the doctrine of Christ, or the doctrine of God With Us, in this lesson.

 

P.S.S.T. Responsive Reading (RR): To whom is Jesus pointing in the first passage in the Responsive Reading? Jesus often used agricultural terms when speaking to his followers. What is a husbandman? A person who cultivates the land; a farmer. What is the role of the husbandman in the RR? He is pruning. What does prune mean? EX: to cut off or remove anything considered superfluous or undesirable. Often it is to remove dead wood or the non-producing part of a plant in order to give strength to the remaining plant so it would produce more. 

     Can we ever be separated from God, who is always with us? What then is it to be cut off or removed? What characteristics might be considered superfluous or undesirable? What would remain? Removing the belief that man is material or mortal would leave what? What is a statement of the doctrine of Christ in John 15:9?

 

P.S.S.T. Section 1: What might be a doctrine of Christ stated in citations B1 and B4? One God. See citation S2 for an expanded statement. 

     What is the relationship between God and man stated here? How is this relationship statement like the vine and branches statement in the RR?

 

P.S.S.T. Section 2:  What is a doctrine of Christ in citation B5, verse 24? Why would one “Judge not according to the appearance”? 

     What did everyone else see about the man in citation B6? What did Jesus see? What was the trick question asked of Jesus? That question was based on a false belief of matter or mortal living being a cause. What did Jesus know in advance of others? God and man is one. See citations S8 and S10.

 

P.S.S.T. Section 3: What doctrine of Christ is stated in citation B9? Look up the definition of tabernacle. What did this word mean to people in Jesus' time? What was contained in the tabernacle? What is the ark of the covenant and what was contained within it? Ask students to write down what they believe is the contract God has with them. Here might be a good opportunity to explain the difference between atonement and at-one-ment.

 

P.S.S.T. Section 4: How was Saul like one blind to the doctrine of Christ? What did this blindness cause him to do? B13. How like is what Ananias did for Saul and what Jesus did for the man born blind in citation B6? Something had to be removed. In citation B13 it is referred to as scales. Look up that word and see how often we have to remove layers of material or mortal belief to get to the always truth. What did removing these “scales” from Saul's eyes permit him to do?

     It was Saul/Paul who preached the doctrine of Christ to the gentiles; that would be us in the days of the Jews during his time. Where was Paul from? Tarsus. Where is Tarsus? Turkey. Was Saul/Paul one of Jesus' 12 disciples? No. How was he connected to Jesus? Through the doctrine of Christ, the same way we can be connected today.

 

P.S.S.T. Section 5: What is the doctrine of Christ in citation S22? When we are pure in heart, when we are pruned, what do we see? Ask students to write false landmarks on one half of a page and the opposite, true landmarks, on the other half. EX: war/peace, want/plenty, envy/gratitude, human sense/God with us.

 

P.S.S.T. Section 6: Where is Lystra? Turkey. It is no wonder that Paul would have visited there, his old home area. What is the parallel between this man and the one Jesus healed in citation B6? They were both with a problem from birth. They were both healed by the doctrine of Christ, God with us, and us at-one with God.

     What is the connection of these two healings with us? They both annul the curse on man, the belief that we are the way we are because we were born that way, or that mankind is cursed because of something that Adam and Eve did.

     Here is a good opportunity to ask students what is the doctrine of Christian Science or the Science of the Christ? See S&H 304:9 and 454:11 and 340:23.

 

P.S.S.T. Section 7: What is the doctrine of Christ in citation B23?

     Ask students to write down one big idea they learned from this Lesson. Ask students to write down one question they may still have from this Lesson. This can be the basis for further teaching or clarification.

CedarS PYCL–Possible Younger Class Lessons for:  
“Doctrine of Atonement”
The Christian Science Bible Lesson for April 15, 2012
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, House Springs, MO (314) 406-0041

 

It is always a good idea to start with defining the subject of the lesson. We shouldn't ignore the traditional religious implications of atonement as we are all humbly and eternally grateful for Jesus' sacrifice for mankind, and for what it means for us today.  I think the wonderful thing about Mrs. Eddy's view of atonement is the way that she helps us see what this act calls us to do.  Rather than just stopping at gratitude, we are asked to continue spreading the great news that Jesus shared, that man and God are one in Christ.  And as part of this sharing, we must demonstrate the truth of this claim through healing.  So how do we share this with kids?  Talk about what Jesus came to do.  Talk about how he revealed to us, a God who is Love, Love that can never “…be deprived of its manifestation or object;” S29.  Show how every healing that we have or that is in the Bible, is an example of our oneness with God, Love.  There are dozens of statements in the lesson that speak to the oneness of God and man.  For example you can look at citation B3 where it says that “…in him we live , and move, and have our being;”  What does that mean?  If we live in God, how do we define this?  If we move in God what does that say about the nature of movement, and so on?  Then in citation S1 you can apply citation B3 to the definition of God…we live and move, etc in “infinity”, in “in corporeality”, in “Mind” and so on.  Have them hunt for words in the lesson such as “inseparable”, “coexist”, “dwell”, and the like.

 

Once I contemplated passage B5in the second section, about judging righteous judgment, I started to see dozens of examples of how this righteous judgment was illustrated throughout the lesson.  How is it related to atonement?  If we see man and God accurately, we are judging righteous judgment and not relying on a sense that is “separate” from God.  This judgment gives us the “new man”, as illustrated in several ways throughout the lesson.  First we can see it in the healing of the blind man where Jesus “spat” on the “…accredited evidence of the senses…” S8.  He did not accept or judge the man from the common perception that the man had sinned in order to deserve such a fate.  The most obvious example of judging rightly is the story in section 4 of Saul's transformation into Paul.  He thought that he was judging righteously didn't he?  S18  But he perceived the Christ on his way to Damascus, and became a new man.  It is interesting to note in citation B15 that it says “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;”  This implies to me that we all have within us this “spirit” that is ready to be addressed by the Christ.  It is a spirit that cannot be led astray, or judge unrighteously.

 

With the previous topic in mind and a conversation about what the “new man” has to do with atonement; try tracing the outline of the pupils on a sheet of roll paper.  (This would be something for the younger classes.  J). If you don't have access to larger roll paper, you could probably do adequately with a roll or two of packing paper; it comes in brown and in white and can be purchased at WalMart.  The kids may have to hold their hands at their side for tracing, but it would give the idea.  If you don't want to do the tracing in class you could just cut out large child-sized paper people and bring them to class.  Pin one for each kid to a divider or wall of your class.  Alternatively you could all work on one paper child.  Think of all the ways that this “child” is the “new you”.   Does it have qualities that are freshly expressing God?  Can you write or draw those qualities on the paper cut out?  What made Paul a new man? What did he go on to do after his transformation? What can you do like Paul? Talk about B18 and walking in newness of life. What does that mean? When Sunday school is over they can bring home their cut out, or you can keep adding to them week after week. It may be fun to talk about how the “old man” is the “matter man”, this man has all sorts of problems doesn't he? This is why we want to always be walking in newness of life!

 

There are so many little tidbits in this lesson that I'm not sure how to collect them under a single or even several headings. So I'll share as many as I can and maybe they will lead you in a new direction with this subject, since you will know best what will speak to your class.

 

The idea of dwelling in temples built with hands…it is noted in the my bible lesson that new testament people really thought God lived in the temple. But beyond this fact, there are several references to dwelling in tabernacles, dwelling in God (and God in man), setting His tabernacle among us and the correlative passage (as I see it) in S11 that “Man is the reflection of Soul”. Somehow this passage speaks to me of where we “dwell”. Also in the same section you have B11 where Christ has “…raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:” What a lovely statement of truth! So you have so many statements such as these that refer to both where God dwells and where we dwell, that there may be something there to discuss.

 

Along with defining the subject you may want to touch on what the crucifixion has to do with atonement. This is obvious to us, but unless you specifically address this link, you may not give them a clear sense that this is what is considered the atonement. Then look at the definitions Mrs. Eddy gives us that are included in the lesson S13, S3, for example.And see what she says about what made the crucifixion effective in S14. This would be a topic for the slightly older classes.

 

How can we feel our oneness with Christ and with God? The one, sure fire way is through healing. We can feel our unity with God/Good, when we feel the power and presence of Good in our lives. So for the atonement to mean something to us we must be always demonstrating the power that Jesus showed us we have from God. Always remember that Jesus even said “I can of mine own self do nothing.”

 

In talking about the healing of the blind man in the second section and the lame man in section six, you can point out some interesting details that they may not have noticed. Details always bring stories to life. For example, why do they think that Jesus spat on the ground and put the “clay” on the man's eyes.  Give them some time to think about it. Do they think the clay “did” something? Then you can address the idea of man in Genesis two being made of the “dust of the ground”. Do they think that maybe Jesus was showing his disdain and disbelief that God could create such an imperfect man, a man that could be born without sight for instance? In the story of the lame man, you can explain how amazing it was that the man who was lame from his birth leaped up instantly and walked? Humanly wouldn't he have to develop strength in the muscles at least since they had never been used? This is yet another example of the disdain that the Christ, truth has for the material model of man. What do these men's healings say to us about the possibilities for healing? Are there any limitations on the man that is “one” with God?

 

Finally, (though it is in the first citation), we have the first great commandment in the lesson.  How does this really show us what atonement is about?  If we are focused solely on God with our love, our strength, our thought and so on, then won't we be healing and joyously feeling our oneness with God?  Ask for ideas about what it means for us to love God in this way.  Can we do normal activities and still do this?  (We had better be able to!)

 

Have a great Sunday, as always!