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Comments by Susan - 21 Apr 2008

In Reference to: 13 April 2008 - When Is a Church Not a Church?

Dear Frank,

"Amen" to your sermon! Beautiful.

Perhaps you'll enjoy the ATTACHED "sermon" I recently prepared from the two books considered "the Pastor" in the Christian Science church -- the Holy Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures.

I read these citations aloud at a Wednesday evening testimony meeting at my church. Most adherents of this religion are, unfortunately, behind when it comes to recognizing the worth of animals, so it was bold of me to bring up the subject. Nonetheless, I received only one criticism. Others either admired and respected the message or didn't quite "get" it or kept quiet, perhaps letting it gel.

In any case, the leaven of Truth must inevitably raise the entire loaf, and I feel privileged to humbly play a small part in that rising process.

By the way, you might be interested to know that one of my fellow Christian Scientists became a vegan in November 2007, only a few short weeks after listening to me tell her about Gen 1:29,30 (verses she had never "seen" before). She was spiritually ready to embrace the message that because God loves all His creatures, so must His children, not only in word, but in deed.

Blessings to you and Mary,

Susan

P.S. I attend a C.S. church in California by phone from Houston. It's one of the more "progressive" churches in my denomination -- allowing dogs to join the services, for example. At least three of my fellow members are either partially or entirely vegetarian, though not yet vegan. Others will, I'm sure, follow suit sooner rather than later, desirous as they all are of being impelled by the Christ spirit in everything they do. :-)


BECOMING AS A LITTLE CHILD � BIG TIME!

Wednesday, March 26, 2008 ~ San Juan Capistrano Christian Science Society

The keynote for tonight�s readings is from Message to The Mother Church, 1901 p. 20 by Mary Baker Eddy: �Christian Science gives neither moral right nor might to harm either man or beast.�

Harmlessness is the hallmark of a child � of a humble childlike heart, isn�t it? Well, I hope that listening to tonight�s readings will give us all the opportunity to further practice �becoming as little children� -- becoming humble and harmless in our every thought and deed. Speaking of children, Jesus was only 12 when his parents �found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors,� where, Luke reports, �all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.� In fact, 12 is the age when a child who loves the precepts of the Bible and Science and Health can join The Mother Church -- The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, and can be elected a Reader in a Christian Science branch Church or Society such as this one.

Now let�s, as little children all, open our meeting by singing hymn #318 in The Christian Science Hymnal. (Later hymns: #218 #179 #58) I�ll be reading from the King James Version of the Bible.

Rom 8:19 the earnest ... the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

I John 4:4 (to 2nd ,) Ye are of God, little children,

Prov 8:32 hearken ... hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways.

I JOHN 3:11 this � this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

Gen 1:29 Behold, 30 ... Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Ps 145:9 The Lord is good to all and His tender mercies are over all of His works.

Eccl 3:19 yea (to 2nd :) ... yea, they have all one breath, so that man hath no preeminence above a beast: �.

Ex 20:1,13 And God spake all these words, saying, ... Thou shalt not kill.

Isa 11:6-9 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

Ps 36:6 O Lord, thou preservest man and beast.

Isa 1:11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offering of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, lambs, or he-goats.

Amos 5:22 Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.

Isa 1:13 (to ;) Bring no more vain oblations;

Matt 21:12 Jesus,13 � Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

I John 3:7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

I John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Matt 5:3 (to :), 5 (to :), 6 (to :), 7 (to :), 8 (to :), 3 for, 5 for, 6 for, 7 for, 8 for
Blessed are the poor in spirit: ... Blessed are the meek: ... Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: ... Blessed are the pure in heart: ... Blessed are the peacemakers: ... for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ... for they shall inherit the earth. ... for they shall be filled. ... for they shall see God. ... for they shall be called the children of God.

Matt 18:2-4 Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

II Cor 5:17 if � if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

James 4:6 God (to God), giveth God ... giveth grace unto the humble.

These related citations are from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy.

518:5-15 Genesis i. 29, 30. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
God gives the lesser idea of Himself for a link to the greater, and in return, the higher always protects the lower.

17:4-5 (to 2nd ;) Give us this day our daily bread; Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

67:23 Grace and Truth are potent beyond all other means and methods.

8:28-30 We should examine ourselves and learn what is the affection and purpose of the heart, for in this way only can we learn what we honestly are.

115:26-27 (to 2nd ,)
[a partial definition of] MORAL. Humanity, honesty, affection, compassion, �.

327:23-24 Moral courage is requisite to meet the wrong and to proclaim the right.

514:10-14, 18 Moral courage is "the lion of the tribe of Juda," the king of the mental realm. Free and fearless it roams in the forest. Undisturbed it lies in the open field, or rests in "green pastures ... beside the still waters."

Tenderness accompanies all the might imparted by Spirit. The individuality created by God is not carnivorous, as witness the millennial estate pictured by Isaiah: � The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.

236:28-29 Jesus loved little children because of their freedom from wrong and their receptiveness of right.

323:32-2 Willingness to become as a little child and to leave the old for the new, renders thought receptive of the advanced idea.

452:10-11 When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new.

296:9-10 The old man with his deeds must be put off. Nothing sensual or sinful is immortal.

201:7 We cannot build safely on false foundations. Truth makes a new creature, in whom old things pass away and "all things are become new." Passions, selfishness, false appetites, hatred, fear, all sensuality, yield to spirituality, and the superabundance of being is on the side of God, good.

71:25 (to 2nd .) There is no sensuality in Spirit.

241:8-11 The sensualist's affections are as imaginary, whimsical, and unreal as his pleasures. Falsehood, envy, hypocrisy, malice, hate, revenge, and so forth, steal away the treasures of Truth.

142:16-24 Sensuality palsies the right hand, and causes the left to let go its grasp on the divine. As in Jesus' time, so to-day, tyranny and pride need to be whipped out of the temple, and humility and divine Science to be welcomed in. The strong cords of scientific demonstration, as twisted and wielded by Jesus, are still needed to purge the temples of their vain traffic in worldly worship and to make them meet dwelling-places for the Most High.

324:4 The purification of sense and self is a proof of progress. "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

241:24, 242:9 We should strive to reach the Horeb height where God is revealed; and the corner-stone of all spiritual building is purity. The baptism of Spirit, washing the body of all the impurities of flesh, signifies that the pure in heart see God and are approaching spiritual Life and its demonstration.
There is but one way to heaven, harmony, and Christ in divine Science shows us this way. It is to know no other reality � to have no other consciousness of life � than good, God and His reflection, and to rise superior to the so-called pain and pleasure of the senses.

337:14-16 Christian Christian Science demonstrates that none but the pure in heart can see God, as the gospel teaches.

225:16 A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping-post and slave market; but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator.

Below are the words of the four hymns sung that evening:

Hymn #318
Suffer the children to come to me,
This was the Master's tender plea;
Gentle and loving, they are mine,
Ah, will not ye who see this sign
Come unto me?

He who receiveth the Word as they,
Teachable, ready to choose my way,
He shall have peace of sin forgiven,
He shall in this wise enter heaven;
Come unto me.

See ye the lilies, how fair they grow,
Clothed in a glory kings ne'er know;
They, like the sparrows, praise the Lord,
Publish my call with clear accord,
Come unto me.

Hymn #218
O Life that maketh all things new,
The blooming earth, the thoughts of men;
Our pilgrim feet, wet with Thy dew,
In gladness hither turn again.

From hand to hand the greeting flows,
From eye to eye the signals run,
From heart to heart the bright hope glows,
The seekers of the Light are one:

One in the freedom of the truth,
One in the joy of paths untrod,
One in the heart's perennial youth,
One in the larger thought of God; �

The freer step, the fuller breath,
The wide horizon's grander view;
The sense of Life that knows no death, �
The Life that maketh all things new.

Hymn #179
Love one another, � word of revelation;
Love frees from error's thrall, � Love is liberation.
Love's way the Master trod;
He that loves shall walk with God.
Love is the royal way.

Love knows no evil, neither shade of sadness;
Love casts out every fear, lifts the heart to gladness.
Love heals our every ill,
All the law does love fulfill.
Love is our answered prayer.

Love now is dawning over every nation;
Showing true brotherhood, publishing salvation,
Love bids all discord cease.
Conquering hate, enthroning peace,
Love, Love alone is power.

Hymn #58
Father, we Thy loving children
Lift our hearts in joy today,
Knowing well that Thou wilt keep us
Ever in Thy blessed way.
Thou art Love and Thou art wisdom,
Thou art Life and Thou art All;
In Thy Spirit living, moving,
We shall neither faint nor fall.

Come we daily then, dear Father,
Open hearts and willing hands,
Eager ears, expectant, joyful,
Ready for Thy right commands.
We would hear no other voices,
We would heed no other call;
Thou alone art good and gracious,
Thou our Mind and Thou our All.

In Thy house securely dwelling,
Where Thy children live to bless,
Seeing only Thy creation,
We can share Thy happiness,
Share Thy joy and spend it freely.
Loyal hearts can feel no fear;
We Thy children know Thee, Father,
Love and Life forever near.

Go on to:  By Scott - 31 Mar 2013

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