PSST: Consider God’s immensity and eternality as the only self-existent Cause!
Possible Sunday School Topics (PSSTs) for The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson:
“God the Only Cause and Creator”
for November 29-December 5, 2021
prepared by Merrill Boudreaux, C.S.
pegasus6524@gmail.com • 314-308-1059
P.S.S.T. Golden Text (GT) – “The Lord hath made all things for himself:..” Proverbs 16:4
Why did God make “all things for himself”? For the full expression of God’s being to be seen.
Why so many things? Because of the infinite nature of God. Immensity is only a hint at the varied expressions of God. Consider the variety of ideas you observe in your purview, and you will get a glimmer of the size and scope of God. Even “size and scope” don’t do justice to God’s being, since those are human concepts. Even to ask the question “How big is God?” doesn’t really give us a view of the fact that God is everywhere and fills all space.
Read together Science & Health (SH) 520:3-5: “Unfathomable Mind is expressed. The depth, breadth, height, might, majesty, and glory of infinite Love fill all space.”
P.S.S.T. Responsive Reading (RR) – [Are you ready & willing to let God openly direct all your ways?]
What are some key statements in the Responsive Reading about God, and our relationship to God?
- I have made the earth, and created man upon it
- I will direct all his ways
- I have not spoken in secret
- Look unto me and be ye saved
- He hath remembered… the word which he commanded to a thousand generations
Read together SH 60:29-31: “Soul has infinite resources with which to bless mankind, and happiness would be more readily attained and would be more secure in our keeping, if sought in Soul.”
P.S.S.T. Section 1 – [Think about the totality, the completeness, of God, good—as the only, the first & last.]
What do the words “alpha” and “omega” mean, especially when applied to God? These Greek letters – alpha meaning first, and omega meaning last – represent the totality, the completeness, of God. See citation B3/Isaiah 44:6. Think about this concept: God is God, the only, the first and last, the infinite complete and we are the witnesses of this God, this One, this complete whole. Now this may give you a hint of our importance in this relationship.
Citation B5/Isa. 40:28 asks in part, “Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard…?” Well, have you?
See citation S5/SH 519:3 for a confidence builder – God is satisfied with you and why not, since He created you for Himself, to show forth His goodness.
At this point, ask students to share some ideas they think of when they think of God. Encourage them to go beyond the seven prominent synonyms used by Mary Baker Eddy when helping to define God in Science & Health 587:5.
P.S.S.T. Section 2 –[Recognize others & your “genuine selfhood … only in what is good and true.” SH 294:25]
Artists have for generations tried to give expression to God in paintings, sculptures, stories, but they all pale in comparison to God revealing God’s self in the totality of ideas. Ask students to complete this phrase: “If I see God in the world, it would look like….”
Maybe they might say, Peace, harmony, good, no hunger, no homelessness, no fighting, and so forth.
Read together citation S13/SH 294:25, “Man’s genuine selfhood is recognizable only in what is good and true. Man is neither self-made nor made by mortals. God created man.”
P.S.S.T. Section 3 – [Find in receptive joy your “disposition …to precipitate the ultimate harmony.” (SH 323:32)]
Do you embrace your role in relationship with God?
That is, as a witness, doing God’s will in the universe, as one who listens, who hears God’s voice?
Read from Science & Health 323:32-4, “Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea. Gladness to leave the false landmarks and joy to see them disappear, — this disposition helps to precipitate the ultimate harmony.”
How would you define “all”? Maybe as nothing else, nothing left over. Once again, God is all. MBE also uses these three words to help with association with all: omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. How about that to help with the concept of your God — present everywhere, knowing everything, all powerful? Have you ever experienced any of these “omni” characteristics in your life, when studying, on the athletic field or court, in relationship with friends and family?
Read together Hymn 249 from The Christian Science Hymnal, printed here:
Hymn 249, 250
O, when we see God’s mercy / Widespread in every place / And know how flows the fountain / Of His unbounded grace, / Can we withhold a tribute, / Forbear a psalm to raise, / Or leave unsung one blessing, / In this our hymn of praise?
Our gratitude is riches, / Complaint is poverty, / Our trials bloom in blessings, / They test our constancy. / O, life from joy is minted, / An everlasting gold, / True gladness is the treasure / That grateful hearts will hold.
P.S.S.T. Section 4 – [Commit to do your needed part as God’s witness!]
Finish the statement, “As for me, I will….” – as my commitment to doing my part as a witness. Read the scripture stories in citation B13/Mark 5:21-42. Think about what we have been talking about so far – How do these concepts apply in those healings?
See citation B14/Isa. 40:31 as a hint: “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Students probably are familiar with the scripture statement in John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” How important is it then to know the truth? See citation S24/SH 142:31. Where shall you find the truth, see the truth, hear the truth?
See what Mary Baker Eddy tells us in Science & Health 495:25-8:
“Question. — How can I progress most rapidly in the understanding of Christian Science?
“Answer. — Study thoroughly the letter and imbibe the spirit. Adhere to the divine Principle of Christian Science and follow the behests of God, abiding steadfastly in wisdom, Truth, and Love. In the Science of Mind, you will soon ascertain that error cannot destroy error. You will also learn that in Science there is no transfer of evil suggestions from one mortal to another, for there is but one Mind, and this ever-present omnipotent Mind is reflected by man and governs the entire universe. You will learn that in Christian Science the first duty is to obey God, to have one Mind, and to love another as yourself.”
Pause and think on these things.
P.S.S.T. Section 5 – [Consider God’s immensity and eternality as the only self-existent Cause!]
We began this Lesson considering God’s immensity. Now citation B15/Exodus 15:18 tells us to consider God’s eternality: “The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.”
How long does/will God need you to serve as a witness?
- Because God has life in Himself, you have life.
- Because God has love in Himself, you are loved
- Because God has truth in himself, you shall/do know the truth
Look for these key phrases in this section of the Lesson:
- The King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise
- Can Deity be almighty, if another mighty and self-creative cause exists
- We cannot deny that Life is self-sustained
- Because Life is God, Life must be eternal, self-existent
Read together in Science & Health 465:16-6:
“Question. — Is there more than one God or Principle?
“Answer. — There is not. Principle and its idea is one, and this one is God, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent Being, and His reflection is man and the universe. Omni is adopted from the Latin adjective signifying all. Hence God combines all-power or potency, all-science or true knowledge, all-presence. The varied manifestations of Christian Science indicate Mind, never matter, and have one Principle.
