[PSST: Claim your divine heritage! Disclaim mortal heredity! Feel Spirit lifting you up!]
Possible Sunday School Topics for the Christian Science Bible Lesson
“Unreality” – September 26-October 2, 2016
prepared by Merrill Boudreaux, CS
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P.S.S.T. Golden Text – How does God see you? What qualities do you express that are indicative of how you are seen? Does physicality enter into what God sees? In your quiet moments with all the noise of the world silenced, what do you honestly see as yourself?
P.S.S.T. Responsive Reading – Why did Moses put a veil over his face? See Exodus 34:30-35. Why do you think Moses’ face shone? Have you ever felt so connected to some thought or action that you felt enlightened, sometimes to the point that others asked, “What have you done, you look so… (peaceful, inspired, committed, dedicated, and even, I want some of that, to be like that, charismatic)?” Is this having the Christ, or knowing that God is with you? When you are alone having an honest conversation with yourself, speaking plainly to yourself, trusting yourself to God, opening your heart to God and Her view of you, do you ever feel the Spirit lifting you up? Read together Hymn 2 from the Christian Science Hymnal (below).
P.S.S.T. Section 1 – What is God saying to you in citation B3? And what is your possible response in citations B4 and B5? Note the difference between “heredity” (that which our ancestors bequeathed unto us) and “heritage” (that which God and His Christ has bequeathed). Truthfully, is there a power opposite to God? (S2) What is God’s standard for you, God’s reality for you? (S3, line 18 and S4)
P.S.S.T. Section 2 – Are you the person of Genesis 1 or Genesis 2? You cannot be both. What is the word of God revealed about you in Genesis 1 and in citation B9? Do you realize that you can never be cut off from God, never abandoned by God, never remanded to mortality, physicality, and dust by God? Why not? God does not know them and, as His image and likeness, neither do you. Read together Hymn 224 from the Christian Science Hymnal (below).
P.S.S.T. Section 3 – What is the statement in citation B10 that delineates heritage from heredity? What are some qualities of reality in citation S13? These are your qualities! What is the separation statement about reality and unreality in citation S14 (line 13)? What does the word “supposititious” mean? Counterfeit, not genuine, substituted for the real thing. Where else in Science and Health do you find this word? There are seven references, but pay close attention to S&H 469:13-17. Do you co-exist with God? If so, you can never co-exist with anything else, especially with any supposititious unreality. (S17, line 21)
P.S.S.T. Section 4 – Why do you think citation B15 is known as the “peaceable kingdom”? Can you literally apply this to world conditions today? Is it possible for “little old you” to make a difference in the world by siding with the Isaiah statement? Why do you think citation B18 is a fitting follow-up to citation B17? Is there always room for redemption or reform? Can you apply this truth to so-called villains today? (S22) Daily you get to choose. See S&H 392:24 (stand)-27. See also S&H 393:4.
P.S.S.T. Section 5 – What does the story in citation B20 teach us about being a neighbor, about beholding the truth about man? What do your students know about the Jericho Road? From “MyBibleLesson.com” is this statement:
“The trip from Jerusalem to Jericho was a rough one. This 18-mile (29-kilometer) long road featured an elevation change of over 3,000 feet (914 meters) – roughly the height of three Eiffel Towers! Despite being a major workout, this road was used by many people. Trading caravans, Roman military convoys, pilgrims, and holy men (such as priests and Levites returning from work at the Temple) all traveled it. With so many travelers on the road, it was a target for roaming bandits.”
I have seen a portion of this deep valley extending from Jerusalem to Jericho, with its high cliffs, which our tour guide referred to as the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It was easy to envision the story of the Good Samaritan possibly taking place along that path. How can we be supported when coming to the aid of our neighbors – those present and those absent from us? (S24) See also Miscellany 210:2-11:
“Beloved Christian Scientists, keep your minds so filled with Truth and Love, that sin, disease, and death cannot enter them. It is plain that nothing can be added to the mind already full. There is no door through which evil can enter, and no space for evil to fill in a mind filled with goodness. Good thoughts are an impervious armor; clad therewith you are completely shielded from the attacks of error of every sort. And not only yourselves are safe, but all whom your thoughts rest upon are thereby benefited.”
Is harmony a “pie-in-the-sky” dream or can we experience it now, here? See S&H 228:11.
P.S.S.T. Section 6 – How can you go forth as Jesus did in citation B21? Review the significant truths you have learned from this Lesson: Perhaps about heritage versus heredity, how God sees you, qualities of God expressed in you, suppositions, God’s standard for you, the man of Genesis 1 versus Genesis 2 (poem below), are there truly villains, being a neighbor, and seeing as God sees.
Do not hide your talents, the kingdom of God is at hand (B24). What are the demands in citations B24 and S27?
There is a certainty about God and your relationship to Her. Read it together in citation S29.
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Hymn 2:
A glorious day is dawning, And o’er the waking earth The heralds of the morning Are springing into birth. In dark and hidden places There shines the blessed light; The beam of Truth displaces The darkness of the night.
The advocates of error Foresee the glorious morn, And hear in shrinking terror, The watchword of reform: It rings from hill and valley, It breaks oppression’s chain. A thousand freemen rally, And swell the mighty strain.
The watchword has been spoken, The light has broken forth, Far shines the blessed token Upon the startled earth. To hearts and homes benighted The blessed Truth is given, And peace and love, united, Point upward unto heaven.
Hymn 224:
O Lord, I would delight in Thee, And on Thy care depend; To Thee in every trouble flee, My best, my ever Friend. When all material streams are dried, Thy fullness is the same; May I with this be satisfied, And glory in Thy name.
All good, where’er it may be found, Its source doth find in Thee; I must have all things and abound, While God is God to me. O that I had a stronger faith, To look within the veil, To credit what my Saviour saith, Whose word can never fail.
He that has made my heaven secure, Will here all good provide; While Christ is rich, can I be poor? What can I want beside? O God, I cast my care on Thee; I triumph and adore; Henceforth my great concern shall be To love and praise Thee more.
GENESIS I OR GENESIS 2
By Woodruff Smith
Where did it begin
This idea called you?
In Genesis I,
Or Genesis 2?
Which one of these concepts
Will prove to be true?
If you know what is what,
Do you know who is who?
In Genesis I in the 26th verse
There's a man with never a taint' of a curse.
But in Genesis 2 in verse number seven
There's a dust man conceived…
He'll never see heaven.
So it really comes down
To which one you will claim,
What thou see'st thou be'st…
So what is your name?
There they both stand.
Which one is you?
Is it immortal man one,
Or mortal man two?
If you're immortal man
You know what you're worth.
For according to law
You'll inherit the earth.
But if you're just a mortal
And made out of dust…
Is there anything to you
That's worthy of trust?
No, the thing they call man
In Genesis 2
Is the dream of the dreamer.
It never was you.
So know what you are.
Take your place in the sun,
You're the immortal man
Of Genesis I.
