[PSST: Turn to the Word for your God-Positioned Situation (GPS)—the beauty of being at-One!]
Possible Sunday School Topics (PSSTs) for The Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson:
“Doctrine of Atonement”
for October 11-17, 2021
prepared by Merrill Boudreaux, C.S.
pegasus6524@gmail.com • 314-308-1059
P.S.S.T. Golden Text (GT) Proverbs 30:5:
“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.”
Where do you find the word of God?
See the disciple John’s guidance in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life:..”
Where do you hear the word of God? See what Isaiah tells us in Isa. 30:21, “…and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”
How wonderful is it that we have a daily lesson sermon to help us turn to the word of God found in the scriptures and in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, for our ongoing aid?
See also Miscellaneous Writings 214:19:
“My students need to search the Scriptures and ‘Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,’ to understand the personal Jesus’ labor in the flesh for their salvation: they need to do this even to understand my works, their motives, aims, and tendency.”
Well then, we have our marching orders.
P.S.S.T. Responsive Reading (RR): There is a good scripture memorization in Proverbs 3:5 and continuing in Prov. 3:6: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
At the heart of this week’s lesson sermon is this guidance to acknowledge that we are one with God, that we can hear His voice, and follow His direction. Pray together as a class Mary Baker Eddy’s poem “Feed My Sheep” (Poems p.14, used in Christian Science Hymnal as 304-309, 573-576):
Shepherd, show me how to go
O’er the hillside steep,
How to gather, how to sow, –
How to feed Thy sheep;
I will listen for Thy voice,
Lest my footsteps stray;
I will follow and rejoice
All the rugged way.
Thou wilt bind the stubborn will,
Wound the callous breast,
Make self-righteousness be still,
Break earth’s stupid rest.
Strangers on a barren shore,
Lab’ring long and lone,
We would enter by the door,
And Thou know’st Thine own;
So, when day grows dark and cold,
Tear or triumph harms,
Lead Thy lambkins to the fold,
Take them in Thine arms;
Feed the hungry, heal the heart,
Till the morning’s beam;
White as wool, ere they depart,
Shepherd, wash them clean.
P.S.S.T. Section 1 – Are you a servant of the Lord as mentioned in citation B2/Psalms 119:140: “Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.”
Do you love the word of the Lord? See Science & Health 9:17-18: “Dost thou ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind’?”
If you were in Jesus’ presence, he would love you as stated in citation S3/SH 236:28-29.
Are you then willing to do your part as “child of God”? See citation S4/SH 323:32.
P.S.S.T. Section 2 – What was the word of God through Jesus in the scripture story in citation B7/John 8:1-12 that saved and healed the woman? “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” What was Jesus’ foundation for such a statement? He understood the woman’s oneness with God.
See Paul’s clarity on this as well, in Romans 8:1,2: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
P.S.S.T. Section 3 – If you were one of Jesus’ disciples, what power would you have? Citation B13/Luke 9:1,2,6 says, “Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. … And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where.”
It is not too late for you to be called a disciple of Jesus Christ. See Mary Baker Eddy’s explanation in Science & Health 271:11.
As we understand our oneness with God, we can accept the call to be disciples, and as Science & Health says on page 25 (lines 28-31), “We must go and do likewise, else we are not improving the great blessings which our Master worked and suffered to bestow upon us.”
P.S.S.T. Section 4 – As a disciple, we can also consider ourselves as a Christian soldier. Read together one of the students’ favorite hymns, #264 from the Christian Science Hymnal (words printed here):
Hymn 264
Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before. Christ, the royal Master, Leads against the foe; Forward into battle, See, his banners go.
REFRAIN: Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before.
Like a mighty army, Moves the Church of God; Brothers, we are treading Where the saints have trod; We are not divided, All one body we, One in hope and doctrine, One in charity.
REFRAIN
Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane, But the Church of Jesus Constant will remain; Gates of hell can never ‘Gainst that Church prevail; We have Christ’s own promise, And that cannot fail.
REFRAIN
Onward, then, ye people, Join our happy throng; Blend with ours your voices In the triumph-song; Glory, laud and honor Unto Christ the King; This through countless ages Men and angels sing.
REFRAIN
What does this hymn say about the result of our being one with God? Are you one of the happy throng? Why, or why not?
P.S.S.T. Section 5 – Read together the scripture adventure in citation B19/Acts 2. This is also a good role-play opportunity. Ask students, What are the key takeaways from this scripture story? Have you received the Holy Ghost? Has your heart burned with desire to know God better, and burned with joy as you felt the presence of God in your life? Perhaps students can share any experiences where they felt such joy.
P.S.S.T. Section 6 – There is a prayer of affirmation in citation B22/I Corinthians 14:33: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
How do you think you can apply this prayer at any point in your lives? To that end, we have a promise we make when reading the 6th Tenet from Science & Health (cit. S24/SH 497:24),
“6. And we solemnly promise to watch, and pray for that Mind to be in us which was also in Christ Jesus; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us; and to be merciful, just, and pure.”
Read it together.
Thus, as a child of God, a disciple of Jesus Christ, one with God, a Christian soldier, this is our “standpoint, from which to advance and destroy the human fear of sickness” (SH 412:1-4). This is the beauty of this lesson, our doctrine of at-one-ment.
