Prepared by the First Reader, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Boulder Colorado. These citations from the Bible and from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, were read during this week’s Wednesday Testimony Meeting, held at 7:15 PM at 2243 13th Street (SW corner of 13th and Mapleton in Boulder). During these weekly meetings we also sing three hymns and have an informal period when members of the congregation share spiritual insights and give gratitude for healings that have occurred through prayer. These meetings are open to everyone. If you can’t make it in person, you can join remotely using Zoom—either on a computer, iPad, or smartphone—or by telephone. Using Zoom allows you to participate in the testimony part of the service. You cannot participate when using the old call-in number. To join by Zoom using a computer, iPad, or smartphone, click this link: Join Zoom Service Here. To join by Zoom using a telephone, dial 408-638-0968, then enter Zoom ID #862 1632 9966, then enter Zoom passcode 644700. To join using the old telephone call-in number, dial 720.452.6338, then enter 426-0773#.
Readings for Wednesday Evening Testimony Meeting
September 27, 2023
First Church of Christ, Scientist Boulder, Colorado
PDF: Readings_9_27_2023
Hymns: 49, 163, 561
The Bible (King James Version)
1. Psalms 86:5
For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
2. Mark 11:11 (to 1st ,), 17 (to 2nd ,), 25
And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, …
And he taught, saying unto them, …
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
3. Luke 5:17–26 (to 2nd ,)
And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judæa, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. ¶ And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, …
4. Matthew 6:9, 12
After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. …
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
5. Matthew 18:21–33
¶ Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. ¶ Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch as he had not to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants, which owed him an hundred pence: and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done. Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me: Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow-servant, even as I had pity on thee?
6. Luke 11:4 forgive (to 1st .)
… forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. …
7. Luke 6:36, 37
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
8. Luke 17:3, 4
¶ Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
9. John 8:1–11
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
10. Colossians 3:12, 13
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
11. Ephesians 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy
-
Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 6:17
“God is Love.” More than this we cannot ask, higher we cannot look, farther we cannot go. To suppose that God forgives or punishes sin according as His mercy is sought or unsought, is to misunderstand Love and to make prayer the safety-valve for wrong-doing.2. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 6:3–5, 7–12
Divine Love corrects and governs man. Men may pardon, but this divine Principle alone reforms the sinner. … Calling on Him to forgive our work badly done or left undone, implies the vain supposition that we have nothing to do but to ask pardon, and that afterwards we shall be free to repeat the offence.To cause suffering as the result of sin, is the means of destroying sin.
3. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 497:9 We
… We acknowledge God’s forgiveness of sin in the destruction of sin and the spiritual understanding that casts out evil as unreal. But the belief in sin is punished so long as the belief lasts.4. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 22:3
Vibrating like a pendulum between sin and the hope of forgiveness, — selfishness and sensuality causing constant retrogression, — our moral progress will be slow. Waking to Christ’s demand, mortals experience suffering. This causes them, even as drowning men, to make vigorous efforts to save themselves; and through Christ’s precious love these efforts are crowned with success.5. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 329:26 (only)
The pardon of divine mercy is the destruction of error.6. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 16:24; 17:6
Here let me give what I understand to be the spiritual sense of the Lord’s Prayer: …And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And Love is reflected in love;7. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 11:1–18 Jesus’
Jesus’ prayer, “Forgive us our debts,” specified also the terms of forgiveness. When forgiving the adulterous woman he said, “Go, and sin no more.”A magistrate sometimes remits the penalty, but this may be no moral benefit to the criminal, and at best, it only saves the criminal from one form of punishment. The moral law, which has the right to acquit or condemn, always demands restitution before mortals can “go up higher.” Broken law brings penalty in order to compel this progress.
Mere legal pardon (and there is no other, for divine Principle never pardons our sins or mistakes till they are corrected) leaves the offender free to repeat the offence, if indeed, he has not already suffered sufficiently from vice to make him turn from it with loathing. Truth bestows no pardon upon error, but wipes it out in the most effectual manner.
8. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 538:7
Radiant with mercy and justice, the sword of Truth gleams afar and indicates the infinite distance between Truth and error, between the material and spiritual, — the unreal and the real.9. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 339:1–2 The, 3
… The destruction of sin is the divine method of pardon. … Being destroyed, sin needs no other form of forgiveness. Does not God’s pardon, destroying any one sin, prophesy and involve the final destruction of all sin?10. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 248:29
Let unselfishness, goodness, mercy, justice, health, holiness, love — the kingdom of heaven — reign within us, and sin, disease, and death will diminish until they finally disappear.11. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy, p. 497:24 And
… 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.
Hymns from the Christian Science Hymnal
-
Christian Science Hymnal, No. 49
Dear Lord and Father of us all, / Forgive our foolish ways; / Reclothe us in our rightful mind; / In purer lives Thy service find, / In deeper reverence, praise.In simple trust like theirs who heard, / Beside the Syrian sea, / The gracious calling of the Lord, / Let us, like them, without a word / Rise up and follow thee.
Breathe through the pulses of desire / Thy coolness and Thy balm; / Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; / Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire, / O still small voice of calm.
Drop Thy still dews of quietness, / Till all our strivings cease; / Take from us now the strain and stress, / And let our ordered lives confess / The beauty of Thy peace.
2. Christian Science Hymnal, No. 163
Jesus, what precept is like thine: / Forgive, as ye would be forgiven; / If heeded, O what power divine / Would then transform our earth to heaven.So from our hearts must ever flow / A love that will all wrong outweigh; / Our lips must only blessings know, / And wrath and sin shall die away.
For it is Mind’s most holy plan / To bring the wanderer back by love; / Then let us win our brother man, / And glorify our God above.
3. Christian Science Hymnal, No. 561
Our heavenly Father-Mother Love abiding, / We worship You, We praise Your holy name. / Teach us Your children evermore to love You; / Your will be done in earth as heaven today. / Teach us Your children evermore to love You; / Your will be done in earth as heaven today.O give us grace to meet the coming morrow; / Forgive our debts as others we forgive. / You never lead Your children to temptation. / Deliver us from evil and from sin. / Yours is the kingdom, Yours the power and glory, / World without end, forevermore, Amen.