PSST: Live the victory of Life today!
Possible Sunday School Topics for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
“Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?”
for April 10, 2022
by Lindsey Biggs, C.S of Maryland Heights, MO
540 460 3515 biggs.lindsey@gmail.com
P.S.S.T. for Golden Text – Annihilate anything that is unlike Life!
. . . Death has lost the battle! (I Corinthians 15:54 CEV)
Life annihilates its opposite. Life is God. We want to get rid of anything that would try to kill our joy, our freedom, our ability to live fully and freely, and the light we have to shine.
Life includes vigor, freshness, freedom, joy!
We want anything unlike God to lose the battle! Selfishness, hatred, fear, disease, greed, lust, etc. can be squashed out and destroyed.
This week’s Lesson explores the many examples of God’s Word doing just that!
P.S.S.T. for Responsive Reading – God is our Shepherd
Psalm 23 is such a beautiful one to memorize. See if your students can print it out, paste it in a journal, and keep it with them in a meaningful way.
Consider sharing Mary Baker Eddy’s spiritual interpretation of the 23rd Psalm on page 578 of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. What deeper meaning can this give us of this Psalm?
The Song of the Syrian Guest by William Allen Knight is also a wonderful little book that dives deeper into the role of a shepherd and shows us God’s constant, intelligent care for us and all creatures.
P.S.S.T. for Section 1 — The seven synonyms for God
The seven synonyms are such a great way to learn more about God! They help God become so much bigger in our thinking – such as infinite Life, divine Love, eternal Mind, unconditional Love, etc.
Exploring the definition of God in the Glossary of Science and Health is such a great resource to share with Sunday School classes:
GOD. The great I AM; the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-acting, all-wise, all-loving, and eternal; Principle; Mind; Soul; Spirit; Life; Truth; Love; all substance; intelligence. (Science and Health, p. 587)
Recently, in a younger class, we made a synonym hanging mobile, which included each synonym for God (plus a few more that the kids thought of) hanging from strings and affixed to popsicle sticks. There are lots of great craft ideas and coloring pages for nearly every Bible story that can be found by searching online, if you are looking for these types of resources.
P.S.S.T. for Section 2 – Enoch looked beyond the senses
Who was Enoch?
“A son of Cain (Gen 4:27, J’s account) or of Jared (Gen 5:18, P’s version) and father of Methuselah (Gen 5:21). P’s statement that ‘God took him’ (Gen 5:24) – apparently to heaven and without death – strongly influenced later Hebrew notions of immortality and gave rise to a whole body of pseudepigraphal literature [a collection of religious books outside the Hebrew Bible canon] in which Enoch is a model of divine wisdom.” (The Old Testament, Stephen L. Harris, p. G-12)
Enoch has a similar legacy as Elijah – both figures were taken up by God to heaven.
“Enoch’s earthly life, undoubtedly long, is actually the shortest listed in the “book of the generations of Adam” (the fifth chapter of Genesis). Noah’s grandfather Methuselah lived for 969 years, and Noah for 950 (see 5:27; 9:29).” (Bible Lens, Christian Science Sentinel)
He proved that “man’s eternal Principle is ever-present Life.” (citation S9/ SH p. 312) He looked beyond the material senses to the spiritual sense of being.
“If Enoch’s perception had been confined to the evidence before his material senses, he could never have ‘walked with God,’ nor been guided into the demonstration of life eternal.” (citation S11/SH p. 214)
P.S.S.T. for Section 3 – God gives us confidence and cheer!
Why was Elijah fleeing Jezebel?
“Wife of King Ahab, Jezebel has introduced worship of the pagan god Baal in Israel and killed many Hebrew prophets. However, Elijah has recently demonstrated God’s power over Baal and then killed Baal’s prophets (see 18:21–40). Now Jezebel threatens to slay him, and the prophet runs for his life. Elijah chooses a wilderness area outside Beer-sheba, far to the south of Ahab’s kingdom. There he gives in to discouragement, disparaging himself and asking to die. But God sustains him with food and water, and apparently directs him to Mt. Horeb (about two hundred fifty miles or four hundred km away). That his life still holds great value is made evident in God’s subsequent messages (including the directive to anoint two kings and the prophet Elisha; see 19:9–16).” (Bible Lens, Christian Science Sentinel)
Elijah overcomes discouragement and hopelessness, and God feeds and sustains him.
God is always encouraging us, too!
Looking up encouragement in the Thesaurus can be really inspiring:
Assistance, backing, comfort, cheer, confidence, faith, fortitude, inspiration, reassurance, relief, invigoration, helpfulness, refreshment, supporting, reassuring, boost, hope, etc.
God, through His Christ, is always voicing good! The voice of encouragement saying “you can do it!”
Check out part of an explanation of Christ in Science and Health:
“Christ is the true idea voicing good, the divine message from God to men speaking to the human consciousness.” (Science and Health, p. 332)
So, which voice do we want to listen to? We can always choose the real voice that is encouraging us and causing us to go up even higher!
P.S.S.T. for Section 4 – Take a stand for your spiritual rights and find healing
Who was Hezekiah?
“The son of Ahaz and 14th king of Judah (c. 715 – 686 BCE), Hezekiah ruled during the Assyrian crisis when Sargon II and then Sennacherib overran Palestine. His reign was notable for the prophetic careers of Isaiah and Micah and for sweeping religious reforms, which included purging the Jerusalem Temple of non-Yahwistic elements (2 Kings 18 – 20; Isa 22:15 – 25, 36 – 39; 2 Chron. 29 – 32).” (The Old Testament by Stephen L. Harris, p. G-17)
Hezekiah reaches out to God for healing – he prays and petitions to God. He also affirms his innocence. Hezekiah was one of the good kings (and there weren’t that many good kings of Israel and Judah), so he knows he hasn’t done anything “wrong” to deserve this affliction. You could say he takes his case to the “Court of Spirit” (see the trial scene in Science and Health starting on page 430) where the spiritual rights of man are acknowledged and demonstrated.
With each healing we have, we can do the same. We can affirm our innocence, purity, and perfection as the spiritual image and likeness of God, and know our spiritual rights – to live a life of wellness, wholeness, and freedom for the glory of God.
P.S.S.T. for Section 5 – God’s love frees us from wrongdoing
Jesus often helped heal people of sin, bad habits, etc. by showing them who they really are as the loved and wonderful image and likeness of God. When people felt the love of God (which felt so good and natural to them), they just wanted to do better and be better. The love and goodness they felt from God was so much more real and satisfying to them than the wrong or bad habits they had thought would satisfy them.
Jesus didn’t spend a lot of time with guilt or condemnation. “Jesus aided in reconciling man to God by giving man a truer sense of Love, the divine Principle of Jesus’ teachings, and this truer sense of Love redeems man…” (citation S22/SH p. 6)
“If sin makes sinners, Truth and Love alone can unmake them.” (citation S20/SH p. 270)
This TeenConnect article is a helpful one:
“I never thought I would choose to stop drinking”
P.S.S.T. for Section 6 – Connect with your real Source and Life!
What are some qualities of Life? Vitality, activity, energy, renewal, freshness, newness, vigor, etc. Where does this Life come from? It comes from Spirit. We can know that Life is giving us the qualities that we need each moment to express Life, God. So, if we need energy for our sports, our alertness for our academics, God is supplying and enforcing those qualities in us each moment.
We don’t need to let any of these qualities come to an end. We can always reach out for a higher and new sense of God. We can have our joy renewed each day. Our supply can be renewed each day. Our understanding, our freshness, our ability to grow, progress, and expand each day, and, of course, our very Life.
Just like the flowers in the spring, we can enjoy seeing signs of freshness and renewal all around us.
Christ Jesus’ example teaches us a lot about Life – it’s vigor, everlasting, pure, abundant, and eternal nature. He tells us how to connect with our real Source of Life:
To keep/follow his teachings (citation B19/John 8:51)
To believe on him and continue in his Word (citation B19/John 8:31)
To know the only true God (citation B20/John 17:3)
To know (understand) who Jesus Christ is (and the role the Christ plays) (cit. B20/John 17:3)
P.S.S.T. for Section 7 – Peter prays for Tabitha
“Identification of Tabitha as a disciple (the only biblical instance of a female being given this designation) points to her standing as equivalent to that of the men in the community. Her worth is further manifested by the dispatching of two men to Peter with an urgent request for help…Whether or not Tabitha had been married, she was clearly associated with a group of women who lacked male support. At this period Christians commonly referred to one another as saints. Although the word saint certainly carried connotations of holiness, it was originally a term for followers of Christ in everyday life…” (Bible Lens, Christian Science Sentinel)
The book Stories of Healing, which is available in your local Christian Science Reading Room, has this to say about this Biblical account:
“They learned that Peter was nearby. Peter had a great understanding of God’s power to heal, so they sent for him to come and pray for Tabitha – and she was healed. When you need help, you can trust God, too. God’s love and care are always with you to comfort you and guide to the help you need…Peter learned from Jesus how to pray. He knew he needed to shut out thoughts that were not about life and goodness. He needed to let his thinking be filled with messages from God. Peter knew that God, who is Love, fills all space and was holding Tabitha in the safety of God’s love. Peter listened quietly, and God answered his prayer, as God always does, with happiness, peace, and healing. We can pray as Peter prayed and trust as Peter trusted. Then, we will hear God’s answers to our prayers, too.” (Stories of Healing, p. 207 and 210)
P.S.S.T. for Section 8 – How to heal
We are given clear instructions on how to heal ourselves and others!
“Always begin your treatment by allaying the fear of patients. Silently reassure them as to their exemption from disease and danger.” (citation S31/ SH p. 411) I love this word always. We are reassuring ourselves and others as to our complete safety, freedom and rights as spiritual ideas of God. We realize (make real to ourselves) that we are the spiritual ideas of God living in the Kingdom of peace and harmony. And we remind ourselves that we are only governed by the laws of God, good, and that these laws are omnipotent.
When we feel the calm, peace, and assurance of Love, then the discord melts itself away and we find ourselves well, whole, and free. The discord melts away with the sunlight of Truth shining in our consciousness.
P.S.S.T. for Section 9 – Service to God
How can we best serve God? This passage in Science and Health (citation S32) gives us an indication of how to do that…
“The Christian Scientist has enlisted to lessen evil, disease, and death…” (cit. S32/SH p. 450)
When someone enlists in the military they are signing up to be of service. In the same way we are “enlisted” each day to lessen the evils around us and bolster up the good. We do this by “…understanding their nothingness and the allness of God, or good.” (Ibid)
This is something we can do moment by moment, thought by thought. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be something your students take part in when they are at school, on the football field, riding the bus, etc. It’s making a conscious effort to choose the good, to destroy the error that comes to thought, and to see it’s nothingness. We have the tools to do so! Each student can be a strong force and power for good. They can trust and know they are fully equipped by God.
Enjoy your classes!
