[PSST: Help students grow in confidence about the real and lasting power of God, good! (5)]
Possible Sunday School Topics for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on;
“Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced”
for Sunday, November 27, 2016
By Steve Henn, C.S. St. Louis, Missouri steven.henn@gmail.com
[Steve's been a CedarS Program Director & teaches English at The Principia School.]
P.S.S.T. Golden Text (GT): How can we learn what is simple concerning evil? How can we help our students identify it simply, easily? Must working against evil be an arduous activity?
P.S.S.T. Responsive Reading (RR): Why is Lucifer fallen? What has he done to be cast into the pit of hell? Look specifically at verses two and three in the RR. What can we learn from Lucifer’s ambitions? On the other hand, what happens when we submit ourselves to God’s care?
P.S.S.T. Section 1: How many different powers are there? That answer should be easy to agree on, at least in principle… but what are we to do with all the other seeming powers? Look throughout this section for how to address the seeming powers that present themselves to us. Also, spend time with your students brainstorming what those powers might be and how this section answers each one of them.
P.S.S.T. Section 2: Why is it so important to be sober and vigilant? What is the key factor that leads to the destruction of Dan? What are the antidotes to Dan-like thinking? Where in your students’ lives are they tempted to think like the city of Dan? What might prevent them from resisting this Dan-like thought? How can your students be wise to these temptations and resist or even conquer them? Why would they want to? What is the result of such resilient thought and demonstration of Science?
P.S.S.T. Section 3: What does Jesus’ example teach in this section? How can we at the same time both expose and denounce the claims of sin and denounce them as having any power, reality, or truth in them? This is perhaps one of the more difficult seeming-paradoxes to address with students. At the same time, it is at the foundation of practicing Christian Science.
P.S.S.T. Section 4: What is the power of the Spirit in which Jesus returned to Galilee? What does that power look like today? How can your students partake of that power? Consider all the admonitions in this section from the Science and Health – what attributes do they demand of us as practitioners? How can we build those attributes into our daily practice and preparation?
P.S.S.T. Section 5: What is the source of the power that undergirds our practice of Christian Science? What is the seeming source of any other power? Why can we have confidence in resisting any power that is apart from God? What is the result when our understanding of Truth and Love comes into contact with any false source of power or persuasion? How can you help your students grow in confidence regarding the real and lasting power of God, good?
P.S.S.T. Section 6: What is the end of the story? In the seeming battle between God and the great red dragon, who wins? How can we relate this to the very real-seeming challenges that we face on a daily basis? How can we help our students gain confidence and trust in Science, helping them know the power of perfection? How can we help them to truly feel that God is omnipotent and it is glorious that He reigns supreme over all?
