PYCL: Follow Jesus’ example of sincere worship… (3)
See every challenge (cup) as an opportunity… (4) Think inclusively. (5)
Possible Younger Class Lesson ideas for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“Sacrament”
for Sunday, July 11, 2021
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, of House Springs, MO
kerry.helen.jenkins@gmail.com • 314-406-0041
Pycl #1: Bring in some flat bread, pita bread or the like.
(You can share it in the end so you may want some jam or something to make it fun).
Explain the “feast of unleavened bread” and what the Passover stems from. You can be as detailed or as simple about it as you want, it is background here, but also it is mentioned in several places and is important in Biblical history.
Explain how the Children of Israel didn’t have time to let their bread rise and they had to cook it immediately.
Pita bread is similar to how it would have looked. If cooked long enough, or hot enough, it could also be more like a cracker!
Jesus referred to the “leaven of the Pharisees”, meaning that there was a sense of hypocrisy and insincerity in their worship generally. There was a desire to “be right” and follow dogmatic rules before a desire to work from a spiritually inspired basis. So, that is what it means in our Golden Text this week from 1 Cor. 5:8 where it tells us to “…keep the feast” with the “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” From here you can move to the next two Pycls!
Pycl #2: Check out the story of Hezekiah the king of Judah in the first section.
I recommend giving a thumbnail sketch of what is happening here. There is a good explanation for what is happening in this story in the Bible Lens in the Christian Science Sentinel for this week (July 5-11). I also address it in the metaphysical notes for this week’s lesson on the CedarS website.
It is so lovely that Hezekiah understood the need for sincere worship, he wanted to make it easy for all to praise and worship God and dispensed with some of the more challenging “rules” for celebrating Passover in order to make it possible for the most numbers to come together to worship. This is a good example of that “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”!
Pycl #3: List ways we can heal each day. Jesus set the finest example of sincere worship.
His mission of Christ healing was proof of his sincere desire to show us that God, Love, is completely good and expresses Himself as goodness and harmony, not as sickness, sin, or death. He showed us the path to follow and even told us to follow him!
I have found it useful to think of healing in terms of transforming thought, since this is at the root of all healing. We can sometimes get worried about the demand to heal if we think we have to constantly “come up with” things to heal that are physical, etc., (especially as children). With the idea of transforming thought, can we come up with a significant number of things that we could do each day that would be considered a healing practice? I love how this builds on last week’s lesson where we were learning so much about the identity and nature of God, because now we can use this deepened understanding to help us with answering this question.
Every time we see God around us and acknowledge that this is God expressed, we are transforming our thought and preparing it to receive more of the Christ healing presence that is always at hand. You might liken it to tending a garden. If you keep the soil ready to receive good seed, and you acknowledge this seed as it sinks into the ground, tend it, give gratitude to God for it, water it, weed it, etc.–eventually you will have a beautiful garden full of great vegetables and flowers. And like a garden, this is not a “one and done” activity!
We have to keep on acknowledging and recognizing God more and more around us to fill us with the confidence and assurance that Love is governing. We then see more and more evidence of this power in our own experience. So, compile a list of ways that we can heal throughout a given day. Check back on it next week and see if there are specific examples where you or your pupils were able to implement this. Keep on checking back each week!!
Pycl #4: See every challenge (cup) as an opportunity to take in the inspiration of Love!
Because this lesson is titled “Sacrament”, consider working with the Passover dinner in Section 3 and explaining the Biblical roots of the Sacrament of the “Eucharist” as it is celebrated in many Christian churches. How do Christian Scientists celebrate this Last Supper?
Check out what Mary Baker Eddy tells us about the elements of this Sacrament on p. 35 of Science and Health. Starting with line 25 she describes the Eucharist, the bread, the wine, the cup. Think together about the challenge, for example, that the “cup” represents.
What is that “cross” for us? What is this “cup” filled with? Wow! “The inspiration of Love”, not suffering, etc.
You can touch on the idea that every challenge (cup) that comes to us is an opportunity to take in the inspiration of Love, of God!
What does the inspiration of Love do for us?
Share some ways that God’s inspiration has brought healing to you!
Pycl #5: Help the children to always think in terms of inclusivity, like Jesus did.
What is Jesus telling us in citation B9/Luke 14:12-15 when he tells the Pharisees that they should invite the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind to dinner, rather than those who can return the favor? What is he really talking about here? He is probably not telling us that we can’t invite our friends and family for dinner, right? So, what is he saying? I am thinking he is encouraging us to reach out to serve those who are in need, searching, struggling. One way to think of this with children might be to speak of inclusivity.
Jesus took care of and preached to mostly those on the fringes of society. How are we reaching out to those who might be less popular, or marginalized in some way?
Can we notice when someone needs a hug or an encouraging word?
Can we consider that someone who is behaving in an unloving way might be struggling with something that we cannot know about?
Can we in any way support those who look like they might need some extra love and support?
Pycl #6: Let’s learn how to pray with sincerity.
Talk about the difference between sincerity and hypocrisy. We touched on that but talk through these words. Can you tell when someone is sincerely interested in talking to you? Are our casual statements to one another sincere, or just tossed off? Do we really see someone who is helping us in ways like the checkout person at a store? Do we look at them and see that they are an expression of God’s being?!!!
You will be surprised at how much more joyful and meaningful encounters with strangers become as we are more sincere in our dealings with one another. Praying with sincerity means that we are interested in knowing who Love is and are waiting to hear. We are not treating Love like a big “vending machine” into which we put our “quarters”/prayers, and receive a reward. The gift of healing is the byproduct of our growing love for and understanding of God!
Have a great week in Sunday School!
