Responsive Reading: Isaiah 42 : 2-7 • Isaiah 14 : 27

2.     He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

3.     A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

4.     He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

5.     Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:

6.     I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

7.     To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

27.     For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?

1. Isaiah 43 : 1 (now)-3 (to :), 4 (to :), 5, 7 (for I)

1     …now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

2     When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

3     For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour:

4     Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee:

5     Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;

7     …for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

2. Isaiah 14 : 24 (Surely)

24     Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

3. Luke 1 : 5-16, 18, 19, 24 (to 1st ,), 26-32, 34-42, 46-49

5     There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judæa, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

6     And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

7     And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

8     And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,

9     According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

10     And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

11     And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

12     And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

13     But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

14     And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

15     For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.

16     And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

18     And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

19     And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

24     And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived,

26     And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27     To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28     And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29     And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30     And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31     And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32     He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

34     Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35     And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36     And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

37     For with God nothing shall be impossible.

38     And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

39     And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;

40     And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

41     And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

42     And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

46     And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

47     And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

48     For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

49     For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

1. 180 : 25-27

When man is governed by God, the ever-present Mind who understands all things, man knows that with God all things are possible.

2. 332 : 23 (Jesus) (to .), 26-29

Jesus was the son of a virgin. … Mary's conception of him was spiritual, for only purity could reflect Truth and Love, which were plainly incarnate in the good and pure Christ Jesus.

3. 29 : 14-1

Those instructed in Christian Science have reached the glorious perception that God is the only author of man. The Virgin-mother conceived this idea of God, and gave to her ideal the name of Jesus — that is, Joshua, or Saviour.

The illumination of Mary's spiritual sense put to silence material law and its order of generation, and brought forth her child by the revelation of Truth, demonstrating God as the Father of men. The Holy Ghost, or divine Spirit, overshadowed the pure sense of the Virgin-mother with the full recognition that being is Spirit. The Christ dwelt forever an idea in the bosom of God, the divine Principle of the man Jesus, and woman perceived this spiritual idea, though at first faintly developed.

Man as the offspring of God, as the idea of Spirit, is the immortal evidence that Spirit is harmonious and man eternal. Jesus was the offspring of Mary's self-conscious communion with God.

4. 31 : 4-11

Jesus acknowledged no ties of the flesh. He said: "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven." Again he asked: "Who is my mother, and who are my brethren," implying that it is they who do the will of his Father. We have no record of his calling any man by the name of father. He recognized Spirit, God, as the only creator, and therefore as the Father of all.

5. 63 : 5-11

In Science man is the offspring of Spirit. The beautiful, good, and pure constitute his ancestry. His origin is not, like that of mortals, in brute instinct, nor does he pass through material conditions prior to reaching intelligence. Spirit is his primitive and ultimate source of being; God is his Father, and Life is the law of his being.

6. 506 : 18-21

Spirit, God, gathers unformed thoughts into their proper channels, and unfolds these thoughts, even as He opens the petals of a holy purpose in order that the purpose may appear.

7. 507 : 3-6, 15-8

Spirit duly feeds and clothes every object, as it appears in the line of spiritual creation, thus tenderly expressing the fatherhood and motherhood of God.

The universe of Spirit reflects the creative power of the divine Principle, or Life, which reproduces the multitudinous forms of Mind and governs the multiplication of the compound idea man. The tree and herb do not yield fruit because of any propagating power of their own, but because they reflect the Mind which includes all. A material world implies a mortal mind and man a creator. The scientific divine creation declares immortal Mind and the universe created by God.

Infinite Mind creates and governs all, from the mental molecule to infinity. This divine Principle of all expresses Science and art throughout His creation, and the immortality of man and the universe. Creation is ever appearing, and must ever continue to appear from the nature of its inexhaustible source. Mortal sense inverts this appearing and calls ideas material. Thus misinterpreted, the divine idea seems to fall to the level of a human or material belief, called mortal man. But the seed is in itself, only as the divine Mind is All and reproduces all — as Mind is the multiplier, and Mind's infinite idea, man and the universe, is the product. The only intelligence or substance of a thought, a seed, or a flower is God, the creator of it. Mind is the Soul of all. Mind is Life, Truth, and Love which governs all.

8. 263 : 1-14, 20 only

Mortals are egotists. They believe themselves to be independent workers, personal authors, and even privileged originators of something which Deity would not or could not create. The creations of mortal mind are material. Immortal spiritual man alone represents the truth of creation.

When mortal man blends his thoughts of existence with the spiritual and works only as God works, he will no longer grope in the dark and cling to earth because he has not tasted heaven. Carnal beliefs defraud us. They make man an involuntary hypocrite, — producing evil when he would create good, forming deformity when he would outline grace and beauty, injuring those whom he would bless.

There can be but one creator, who has created all.

9. 516 : 9-23

God fashions all things, after His own likeness. Life is reflected in existence, Truth in truthfulness, God in goodness, which impart their own peace and permanence. Love, redolent with unselfishness, bathes all in beauty and light. The grass beneath our feet silently exclaims, "The meek shall inherit the earth." The modest arbutus sends her sweet breath to heaven. The great rock gives shadow and shelter. The sunlight glints from the church-dome, glances into the prison-cell, glides into the sick-chamber, brightens the flower, beautifies the landscape, blesses the earth. Man, made in His likeness, possesses and reflects God's dominion over all the earth. Man and woman as coexistent and eternal with God forever reflect, in glorified quality, the infinite Father-Mother God.

10. 517 : 30-31

Divine Love blesses its own ideas, and causes them to multiply, — to manifest His power.

11. 68 : 27-2

Christian Science presents unfoldment, not accretion; it manifests no material growth from molecule to mind, but an impartation of the divine Mind to man and the universe. Proportionately as human generation ceases, the unbroken links of eternal, harmonious being will be spiritually discerned; and man, not of the earth earthly but coexistent with God, will appear.