PSST: Hope you enjoy and can make use of Possible Sunday School Topics
for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
“Reality”
for March 29, 2020
By Tom and Amy Evans, former staff members and big fans of CedarS
In St. Louis, like many other cities around the globe, an order has been issued to stay in our homes and "social distance" from other people to avoid spreading the Coronavirus. The Mother Church issued a statement to obey local laws and show compassion and respect for others. As a result, our church and Sunday School are meeting virtually via Zoom conferencing.
Here are some things we have learned in the last two weeks which can also apply to future natural disasters when church and Sunday School are unable to meet in person.
Amy held a Zoom conference with other local Superintendents to share ideas. She then held a Zoom conference for Sunday School teachers and interested members for our church to discuss virtual Sunday School classes. Some classes are meeting earlier or later than the normal Sunday School start time to accommodate the needs of the students and the teacher.
When Tom's class joins, he chats with the students who are early and then for a few minutes after the normal 10:30am start time. Then he shares a Word document on his screen which includes (all sent from the superintendent):
Opening exercises:
Words to a hymn (a student reads this)
[Spaces]
Golden Text & Responsive Reading (a student reads this) GT and RR can be found online at https://quarterly.christianscience.com/lesson
[Spaces]
The words "Silent Prayer"
[Spaces]
"Lord’s Prayer (Our Father…)"
[Spaces]
Then he lists several topics and corresponding passages from the lesson–or the CedarS PSST 🙂 . These are not rigid, but optional discussion topics to make the most of the time we have in Sunday School. Students chose the ideas they wanted to focus on first or shared their own from their prayers that week.
The last thing Tom includes on the Word doc he screen-shares are the words to a closing hymn (a student or Tom will read this)
We recommend that you try out Zoom or Google hangouts for yourself and your class. Both are easy to get set up. Zoom is helpful because anyone can call in or connect. Google hangouts requires everyone to have a google account. Both are free, although there is a paid version for Zoom. To sign up for Zoom, go to the website https://zoom.us and click the Sign up button. To set up Google hangouts, you’ll need to add the hangouts extension at this link. Then, you can invite your students to join the hangout via email.
This is a time when your Sunday School students need you and are yearning for the Truth. Other distractions and false idols are clamoring for their attention. It will take some extra effort on your part to reach out digitally, but Sunday School and a spiritual perspective are worth it!
If you find the need to hold virtual Sunday School, it may be useful to politely remind your students to focus. You can thank them for devoting this time to God when there are many other things they could be doing on their computers or phones. Ask them politely not to do those other things during Sunday School. They don't need to be multitasking with YouTube, video games, or social media during the short time you are together. A loving reminder can help focus the class.
P.S.S.T. for Golden Text & Responsive Reading
"Taste and See" what do you think of when hearing this phrase? How does it relate to God's goodness? Why would you be "truly happy" for "taking refuge in God?"
P.S.S.T. for Section. 1: God made all. All is good.
Ask your class to find a theme in Section 1 (hint: see citation B2). If you are screen sharing, provide some highlights like the following:
- Citation B1 (John 1:3) "All things were made by him"
- Citation B2 (Gen 1:31) "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."
- Citation B3 (Ps 33:4) "the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth"
- Citation B4 (Ps 104:30) "Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created"
- Citation B5 (Ps 119:68) "Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes."
Citation B5 is an invitation on the author's part—and hopefully us as readers to proactively seek direction from God. To strive to learn more about God's law by studying God's creation: "Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes." How can you be spiritually inquisitive?
Dive into the passages from Science and Health for a clearer view of God's creation. Citation S2 states "All that is made is the work of God, and all is good."
P.S.S.T. for Section 2: Choose God
What is a proverb? Why might citation B8, Proverbs 16:3, be a good guide for our lives? "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established" (Prov 8:3).
Why is this proverb also a good summary for the book of Joshua?
This YouTube video is a great video summary of the book of Joshua.
This concluding section of the book of Joshua (B7) as well as two passages from Science and Health remind us "There is but one way — namely, God and His idea — which leads to spiritual being" (S11) and to "choose good as the reality" (S12).
How does Joshua reason with the children of Israel to essentially swear an oath to remain faithful to God?
How can we remind ourselves to consistently choose God rather than a material viewpoint?
Citation B9 (Psalms 34) is a repetition of the Golden Text. This must be important!
P.S.S.T. for Section 3: Healing
How is Jesus’ healing of the man with the withered hand (B14) an example of reality?
What were the Pharisees hoping to accuse Jesus of?
How did he handle the situation?
What can you learn from this healing?
What direction does Mary Baker Eddy give in citation S15 about how to heal like Jesus?
Answer for yourself the question that is posed in citation S16.
Which theory are you accepting?
Discuss citation S17. How are you preventing and/or curing disease?
How can you “break the dream of the material senses”?
P.S.S.T. for Section 4: Pause and Wait on God
What is significant about the interaction that Jesus has with Martha (B16)?
How can we be more like Mary?
Was Martha doing anything wrong with serving others (no!)?
But was she doing the very best thing she could be doing (no)?
How do we make sure that we are doing the very best thing?
Compare the story of Mary and Martha (remember that these two sisters had a brother named Lazarus–remember that story?) with citation B17 about not taking any thought for what you eat, drink, or wear.
How are you making sure that you are not caught up in the material picture but trusting that you have everything you need?
How does this relate to the concerns about hoarding and lack of necessities like toilet paper and paper towels?
Consider citation S19. How are you pausing and waiting on God?
How are you preparing for the “reign of Spirit” (S23) in your experience?
P.S.S.T. for Section 5: Reality
Read Paul’s words to the Philippians in citations B19 and B20. Take a look at other translations as well. Bible Lens includes translations from the God’s Word Translation.
What is Paul saying to the Philippians?
How are you following his direction?
Paul humbly states that he is still searching (Phil 3:13), and yet he is an apostle whose loving guidance and Christian example helped to change the world.
What does it mean to “press toward the mark" (Phil 3:14)?
What mark/ goal are you striving for?
Are you thinking about things that are “just, pure, lovely, and of good report”?
Connect this idea with citation S24 where Mary Baker Eddy directs us to “hold thought steadfastly to the enduring, the good, and the true”.
How are you keeping your thoughts focused on good?
Give an example of the perfect model you are forming in thought (S25).
Discuss citation S25 and the metaphor of the sculptor looking towards his model while keeping in mind what Paul wrote to the Philippians in verse 3:14.
What are the "formations" of spirit in citation S28? Mary Baker Eddy is asking a lot of us, but the end result is excellent, that “sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.”
What is reality (S29)?
How are you witnessing those six qualities in your everyday experience?
