[PYCL: Try a Science experiment in class. (1) Find delight in obedience! (2) ]
Possible Younger Class Lessons for the Christian Science Bible Lesson on
“Christian Science”
for July 1, 2018
by Kerry Jenkins, CS, House Springs, MO
kerry.helen.jenkinmail.com (314) 406-0041
Pycl #1: Think about what laws are. Are there different kinds of laws? For example, there are traffic laws, maybe some laws in our homes. Then there are laws like gravity. If you don't believe in traffic laws and you decide that you are not going to obey them, you are likely to run into trouble. Talk about what kind of trouble. If you don't believe in the law of gravity it doesn't matter, it still applies (except when Jesus walked on water of course!). You might run a red light and have nothing happen, but you won't be able to jump off the roof of your house and have "nothing happen". You could try a little experiment in class such as handing each student a pencil and asking them to drop them on the floor. Did any of the pencils rise to the ceiling of their own accord?
Now you can introduce the theme of this week's lesson about Christian Science and how it is the law of Love. It is because it is rooted in law that we can heal, that Jesus healed. It applies to everyone, not just those calling themselves Christian Scientists. Knowing that it is a law opens up infinite possibilities for good. In the way that the realization that gravity opens certain possibilities regarding flight and so on, the law that undergirds Christian Science works in similar ways. Check out citation S9 for Mrs. Eddy's statement that speaks to this fact.
Pycl #2: Why does following God's law bring "delight"? Again, you can go to how laws help us to live in harmony. Traffic laws help us to live in harmony with one another and share the roadways. Courts keep disagreements from becoming lethal. In the Bible there are laws, what are they? Of course there are the Ten Commandments. Jesus also gave us some laws. He told us that we need to love one another. Can you see how that might make things more "delightful" if we obey it? What about "Bless those that curse you"? When you look at the kinds of "laws" that Jesus told us to follow in the Sermon on the Mount, how do they bring delight into your life? You can also look at one of the many translations that use the word "happy" in place of "blessed".
Pycl #3: Christian Science isn't a complicated and "hard to understand thing". It is the law of Love to all mankind. Would Love make Her law too hard to follow or benefit from? Explore the statements in this week's lesson that share how the law is within us, close to us… citations B1, B6, B7, B12, B21, and S22 and S27. You can find more, and they don't have to use the words "in your heart", but simply imply that they are near or accessible to all. A comforter is one who is able to comfort us, make us feel the presence of Love. This at least feels close. How do Christian Science and the laws it embodies help us feel comforted? How is this like how our mom or dad might comfort us?
Pycl #4: What makes a person Christian? What makes a religion Christian?
Pycl #5: What kind of law does Nicodemus follow? How is Jesus telling him that he must learn to understand God? Will the laws of traditional church lead him to understand God if he is looking at law as a material way to obey God? Law has to spring from Love to be a real law. One law of Christian Science is the law that helps us see that we are spiritual creations of Love. This knowledge is born of daily, freshly gleaned understanding about God and man.
Like the Children of Israel who gathered Manna each day, so we have to go out and collect the infinite supply that is ours each day. In so doing we are newborn in our understanding of ourselves and God! When the Children of Israel gathered Manna, they had to gather just the right amount for their family each day. They couldn't gather more and save it. They found that the extra would rot and stink! In this way they had to learn to trust in the fresh food of God's daily supply. In the same way we can rely on Christian Science for fresh, healing ideas each day.
Pycl #6: Check out the story of the woman bent over for eighteen years. She was healed in the church on the Sabbath day. Jesus didn't hesitate to put the law of Love ahead of any human law. Are there ways today that we can be tempted to put a human law in front of the law of Love. Do we have false opinions about people or activities that could, maybe figuratively cause someone to be "bowed together"?
Isn't anger and resentment against someone the kind of thing that burdens them, makes them feel laden down? We want to keep our understanding of our fellow church goers fresh and light and Christlike! You could have one student load a small pack with heavy things. Label the stones, or whatever you use, with the children. What would their burdens be? You can make the pack quite heavy. How does the law of Love destroy these false burdens? What "laws" do we have that are like the laws that the synagogue ruler wanted to hold up as a reason not to heal the woman? Do we sometimes let fear stop us from helping someone when we could pray for them?
Pycl #7: How does the law of Love destroy fear? Use a light to illustrate how light and darkness cannot mix. In the same way Love and fear don't mix. Love destroys fear by helping us understand that God's all-power is governing, leaving no room for failure. Why is this an essential step in healing (ridding thought of fear)?
Pycl #8: Read and discuss the day of Pentecost. How is this Holy Ghost the same thing that speaks to every heart the Science of Christ that heals? Visit together about how Christian Science speaks to us in just the language we need to hear it in. We are able to understand it because it is the very language of Love.
Pycl #9: How can we be salt? How can we be a light on a hill? What does this have to do with our lesson on Christian Science?
Have a great time in Sunday School!
