PSST: Live your faith and demonstrate eternal life
Possible Sunday School Topics for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
“Mortals and Immortals”
for November 13, 2022
by Lindsey Biggs, C.S of Maryland Heights, MO
540 460 3515 biggs.lindsey@gmail.com
P.S.S.T. for Golden Text
Faith and eternal life are big themes in this week’s Bible Lesson.
“Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.” (I Tim 6:12 NLT)
God has given each of us eternal life! This is the gift that God proved through Jesus Christ. We can each be so grateful for the good that Jesus expressed and demonstrated – setting a perfect model for us and showing us that we, too, can demonstrate the things that Jesus did.
Fighting for something could mean defending. So we want to defend all the good God has given us. We want to defend our God-inspired consciousness.
Hold tightly reminds me of where Mary Baker Eddy writes “cling steadfastly” (SH p. 495) allowing nothing but God’s likeness to abide in our thoughts.
“Defending” and “holding tightly” keep our thinking on the “straight and narrow way” that Jesus talks about which leads to life, health, and spiritual understanding. (Matthew 7:14)
We can tack the word “eternal” to any of the spiritual qualities that God has given us. Eternal joy, eternal freedom, eternal radiance, eternal intelligence, eternal supply, eternal purpose.
Understanding the eternality and immortality of our being gives us the Christ-like calm and poise to know that we are one with Christ and one with God.
P.S.S.T. for Responsive Reading
One of this Lesson’s mottos is: “the just shall live by faith:” (citation B3, Hebrews 10:38)
This could be a good one to memorize together!
In a similar statement Paul writes, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (II Corinthians 5:7)
What does this mean to walk by faith? What does it mean to not walk by sight? What type of sight is this passage referring to?
P.S.S.T. for Section 1 — Explore the meaning of “faith” together
See if your students can write a definition for faith together.
Hebrews gives us this definition of faith:
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (cit. B4, Hebrews 11:1)
That leads to another question: What is substance? What are we hoping for? I like to think of substance in terms of spiritual qualities: joy, peace, health, freedom, etc.
This TeenConnect article “Why didn’t I get the part?” is a neat one because the author learned a lot about faith and substance – spiritual qualities, following God, and giving unselfishly.
She writes, “prayer was about so much more than what I thought was best for me; it was about learning how to follow God, how to love Him more and serve Him better…Beneath my goal to be in the play had been a desire to share joy, express creativity, and to share my love of art. I got to do all those things and more. Nothing had stopped me from giving my God-given gifts. In fact, my very own special role in that play taught me that there are many ways for each of us to give, and God will always show us how and where and when we can do that best.”
In Section 3, Mary Baker Eddy describes faith this way:
“Life, Truth, and Love are the realities of divine Science. They dawn in faith and glow full-orbed in spiritual understanding.” (cit. S18, p. 298)
This Bible passage also gives us a hint on what faith is and where it comes from: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:…” (citation B1, 1 Cor 2:9)
P.S.S.T. for Section 2 – Students aren’t too young or too old
“Immortality, exempt from age or decay, has a glory of its own, — the radiance of Soul. Immortal men and women are models of spiritual sense, drawn by perfect Mind and reflecting those higher conceptions of loveliness which transcend all material sense.” (cit. S13, p. 247)
“Man in Science is neither young nor old.” (cit. S7, p. 244)
We never have to wait to know we are immortal and it brings with it many blessings! Although your students are probably not concerned with “aging” they can overcome the limits of age at every turn. They can’t be limited by age – they can’t be too young, inexperienced, etc. They have all the wisdom, spiritual insight, intelligence, and poise they need each moment. Right now they are the immortal complete spiritual ideas of God’s creating. So, they have access to the guidance and direction they need from their Father-Mother God. They have unlimited spiritual qualities to express and shine.
Students may enjoy this TeenConnect article: “Was I going to flunk?”
P.S.S.T. for Section 3 – Faith that grows into spiritual understanding
“Science reveals the glorious possibilities of immortal man, forever unlimited by the mortal senses.” (cit. S19, p. 288) Forever unlimited by mortal senses! Now that is a gift. To be free from limits – to live your true, real spiritual identity. That is freedom!
This statement from Science and Health is a great one for students to utilize when confronted with suggestions of any kind.
“When the illusion of sickness or sin tempts you, cling steadfastly to God and His idea. Allow nothing but His likeness to abide in your thought.
“Let Christian Science, instead of corporeal sense, support your understanding of being, and this understanding will supplant error with Truth, replace mortality with immortality, and silence discord with harmony.” (cit. B16, p. 495)
What do we want to give up? What do we want to allow into our consciousness?
“The evidence of man’s immortality will become more apparent, as material beliefs are given up and the immortal facts of being are admitted.” (cit. S14, p. 428) What do we want to admit? When you go to the movie theater you need a ticket for admittance. So we only want to allow real/true thoughts that come from God to have that ticket for admittance in our consciousness.
I love this section’s exploration on faith. Faith is essential. Mary Baker Eddy describes here how faith is like seeing part of the sun, and spiritual understanding is like seeing the full sun. I love that explanation. “Life, Truth, and Love are the realities of divine Science. They dawn in faith and glow full-orbed in spiritual understanding.” (cit. S18, p. 298)
Bible Lens has this great research to add about B13 (John 10:7, 9):
“Christ Jesus uses familiar images to portray his tender care of his followers. Shepherds commonly protected their sheep at night by sleeping at the entrance or door of the sheepfold. Verse 9 expands this metaphor beyond protection to include welcome or permission for entry. By contrast, the Pharisees bar from the synagogue such individuals as the blind man Jesus had recently cured—and are themselves utterly closed to the Savior’s teachings (see chap. 9).
“The salvation spoken of,” a Bible expert observes, “refers to protection from the sheep’s enemies, here understood to be false teachers as typified by the Jewish opponents. Such teachers threaten death by keeping people from a true knowledge of God, who is himself the sole source of life.”
P.S.S.T. for Section 4 – Progress is the law of God
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (cit. B17, II Cor 5:17) It’s always the right time of year to put off the old and seek the new! New ways of doing things, new views of ourselves and others. What are some new habits that your students would like to cultivate? Now that they are nearing the completion of their first semester, what are some things they have found useful and what are some areas they would like to improve?
God’s “…compassions fail not. They are new every morning.” (cit. B15, Lamentations 3:22, 23)
Progress is the law of God, so they have the right to see and experience progress in all areas of life.
“Every step of progress is a step more spiritual.”
(The People’s Idea Of God — Its Effect on Health and Christianity, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 1:2)
P.S.S.T. for Section 5 – Don’t flinch! Stand confident and strong.
“Man, being immortal, has a perfect indestructible life.” (cit. S26, p. 209)
How does knowing that they have a perfect indestructible life help your students overcome fear and “fight the good fight”? How does this empower them in their demonstrations of Christ?
“…unflinching faith in God, in Life eternal.” (cit. S28, p. 426)
What does “unflinching faith” mean to your students?
What happens when someone throws a ball to you and you’re not ready? You flinch, right? Isn’t it a moment of doubt or of inadequacy?
Holding the banner of Christianity aloft with “unflinching faith” could mean not having a single doubt. Having absolute confidence and assurance. Having no faith in error.
This could even be a fun exercise to bring a ball to class and practice throwing and catching it without flinching. A great metaphor for how confident and steadfast we want to feel in our oneness with God.
Having a sound mind certainly helps with this! This statement is a great one for students:
“God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (cit. B19/ II Tim 1:7)
Consider exploring the story of Paul and Eutychus in the book Stories of Healing. It has a great paraphrase and retelling of this story. It also says, “By taking a stand for life, happiness, health, and safety, you will grow in your spiritual understanding and in your ability to prove God’s presence in your life.” (p. 229)
This book was just released in paperback (in addition to hardcover) and is available in your Christian Science Reading Room or you can order from the online shop.
P.S.S.T. for Section 6 – Immortality is inherent in you
Isn’t this wonderful? “Man in the likeness of God as revealed in Science cannot help being immortal.” (cit. S31, p. 81)
We can’t help being immortal! It is simply who we are. This truly is “good news”. It enables us to be free from limitation. Every situation that comes up is an opportunity to prove our immortality and eternal life – whether it’s eternal joy, eternal supply, immortal Mind, etc.
Here is a neat translation of citation B22:
“I have fought the good and worthy and noble fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith [firmly guarding the gospel against error].” (II Timothy 4:7/Amplified Bible)
What are some ways that your students are keeping the faith? What are some ways they have demonstrated Christian Science?
Enjoy your classes!
