PYCLs – Show the dominion of simple math over “group-think”. Put on armor!
Bring to life the healing of the man in bed. Have no fear – even when things seem scary!
Possible Younger Class Lesson ideas for the Christian Science Quarterly Bible Lesson on
“ARE SIN, DISEASE, AND DEATH REAL?”
for Sunday, October 8, 2023
by Chris Gordon, of St. Louis area, MO
chrisgordon46@gmail.com • 314-477-1483
PYCL INTRODUCTION
With the subject of the lesson being a question, it might be good to ask the question to them. Are sin, disease, and death real? What does this mean to us? Sin, disease, and death aren’t ideas God has created. You will certainly get into citations, quotes, and stories that illustrate this, but it may help tie things together.
PYCL 1 – SHOW THE DOMINION OF SIMPLE MATH OVER “GROUP-THINK”
Pick a really simple math problem like 2+2, write it down and hand it to a student to solve. Imagine a friend told them it was wrong. Would they listen to that friend? What if their whole class told them their homework was wrong, then would they listen? No, we would know that the answer is correct. And if you wanted to check with someone, you would check with your teacher.
Romans (citations 10/11) tells us be not conformed to this world, do the good & perfect will of God, and that sin doesn’t have dominion/control over us! And just like we wouldn’t be afraid of our friends telling us our math is wrong, we don’t have to be afraid of sin telling us something is wrong.
Citation S11 from Science and Health (p. 231) tells us “to fear sin is to misunderstand the power of Love”.
Citation S10/242:15 also says“…let us labor to dissolve with the universal solvent of Love the adamant of error…” – we can wash away those unclean thoughts by listening to God, Love.
PYCL 2 – PUT ON ARMOR!
The Responsive Reading (RR), 1st Thessalonians 5:8 talks about armor – you can make a helmet and armor out of paper bags, cardboard, etc. You can talk about what actual armor is used for – to protect.
Should we wear big heavy armor to school each day, to sports games, to play outside, etc. to protect us from scary things? Of course not. But in 1st Thessalonians it says when I’m afraid I’ll trust you. Put on “the breastplate of faith and love, and a “helmet (of) hope…” (1st Thes. 5:8)
You can then decorate the armor you made with qualities, synonyms, etc to remind them of what is always protecting us. “”Pray without ceasing – we can know that God is with us every moment and every place. (1st Thes. 5:17/RR)
PYCL 3 – BRING TO LIFE THE HEALING OF THE MAN IN BED (citation B14/Luke 5:18-25)
There are lots of ways this can be done, but if possible, show them the work the man’s friends put in to get him on top of the roof and through it to Jesus . You can use Legos and put a small cloth over the top, you can use chairs and put a blanket over them as the roof, if you happen to have a really big box, but the idea is to help show them how hard the man’s (or stuffed animal’s) friends worked to get him to Jesus. Why?
Do you think they worked that hard just because Jesus was popular? No, they had faith – they knew God could heal him. Jesus didn’t pay attention to the scribes and Pharisees doubting; we too can declare the nothingness of sin when those around us think differently.
That healing wasn’t limited to Jesus either – citation S15/473:10 attributes the power to heal (both sin and sickness) to God.
To go back to the subject of the lesson, did Jesus see sin or sickness as being real, having control over the man?
PYCL 4 – HAVE NO FEAR – EVEN WHEN THINGS SEEM SCARY!
This is one of several examples of someone being raised from the dead in the Bible. In Acts 9, a group of friends are crying and remembering their friend Tabitha. They are showing all the lovely things she made, making it seem very real. But is Peter impressed by this? No! He simply tells her to arise, and she does.
Sometimes we’re in a situation where the material picture really wants to capture our attention. But 1st John 4:18/cit. B15 reminds us “perfect love casteth out fear.”
Is this going to always be as easy as it was for Peter? Probably not.
But Mary Baker Eddy points out in citation S22/410:14 that our trials make us stronger and that when things get tough, we can have a stronger faith and a purer love.
