Responsive Reading: Psalm 103 : 1-4, 13, 18, 20-22

1.     Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

2.     Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

3.     Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

4.     Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.

13.     Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

18.     To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

20.     Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

21.     Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

22.     Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul.

1. Matthew 4 : 23

23     And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

2. Luke 5 : 17 (to 3rd ,), 18 (to :), 19-25

17     And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by,

18     And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy:

19     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.

20     And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.

21     And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?

22     But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

23     Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?

24     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.

25     And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.

3. Matthew 14 : 22 (to 2nd ,), 23 (and when the)-33

22     And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side,

23     …and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

24     But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

25     And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

26     And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

27     But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28     And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

29     And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

30     But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31     And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

32     And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

33     Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

4. Matthew 17 : 1 (Jesus)-9 (to 4th ,), 14-20

1     Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

2     And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

3     And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

4     Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

5     While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

6     And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

7     And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

8     And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

9     And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man,

14     And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,

15     Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.

16     And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.

17     Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.

18     And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

19     Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20     And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

5. Acts 1 : 2 (after), 3, 7 (to 1st ,), 8 (ye shall receive) (to :), 9-11

2     …after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:

3     To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:

7     And he said unto them,

8     …ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:

9     And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

10     And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;

11     Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

6. Matthew 5 : 8

8     Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

7. Luke 17 : 21 (behold)

21     …behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

1. 120 : 4-6

Soul, or Spirit, is God, unchangeable and eternal; and man coexists with and reflects Soul, God, for man is God's image.

2. 30 : 19-25

As the individual ideal of Truth, Christ Jesus came to rebuke rabbinical error and all sin, sickness, and death, — to point out the way of Truth and Life. This ideal was demonstrated throughout the whole earthly career of Jesus, showing the difference between the offspring of Soul and of material sense, of Truth and of error.

3. 476 : 28-32

When speaking of God's children, not the children of men, Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you;" that is, Truth and Love reign in the real man, showing that man in God's image is unfallen and eternal.

4. 310 : 18 (We)-22

We are commonly taught that there is a human soul which sins and is spiritually lost, — that soul may be lost, and yet be immortal. If Soul could sin, Spirit, Soul, would be flesh instead of Spirit.

5. 481 : 28-32

Soul is the divine Principle of man and never sins, — hence the immortality of Soul. In Science we learn that it is material sense, not Soul, which sins; and it will be found that it is the sense of sin which is lost, and not a sinful soul. 

6. 273 : 24-28

Jesus walked on the waves, fed the multitude, healed the sick, and raised the dead in direct opposition to material laws. His acts were the demonstration of Science, overcoming the false claims of material sense or law.

7. 381 : 8-19

When infringing some supposed law, you say that there is danger. This fear is the danger and induces the physical effects. We cannot in reality suffer from breaking anything except a moral or spiritual law. The so-called laws of mortal belief are destroyed by the understanding that Soul is immortal, and that mortal mind cannot legislate the times, periods, and types of disease, with which mortals die. God is the lawmaker, but He is not the author of barbarous codes. In infinite Life and Love there is no sickness, sin, nor death, and the Scriptures declare that we live, move, and have our being in the infinite God.

8. 210 : 5-18

The Principle and proof of Christianity are discerned by spiritual sense. They are set forth in Jesus' demonstrations, which show — by his healing the sick, casting out evils, and destroying death, "the last enemy that shall be destroyed," — his disregard of matter and its so-called laws.

Knowing that Soul and its attributes were forever manifested through man, the Master healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, feet to the lame, thus bringing to light the scientific action of the divine Mind on human minds and bodies and giving a better understanding of Soul and salvation. Jesus healed sickness and sin by one and the same metaphysical process.

9. 477 : 6-7

Man is not a material habitation for Soul; he is himself spiritual.

10. 204 : 30 (The belief)-6

The belief that God lives in matter is pantheistic. The error, which says that Soul is in body, Mind is in matter, and good is in evil, must unsay it and cease from such utterances; else God will continue to be hidden from humanity, and mortals will sin without knowing that they are sinning, will lean on matter instead of Spirit, stumble with lameness, drop with drunkenness, consume with disease, — all because of their blindness, their false sense concerning God and man.

11. 9 : 17-21 (to 1st .)

Dost thou "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind"? This command includes much, even the surrender of all merely material sensation, affection, and worship.

12. 334 : 10 (The)-20

The invisible Christ was imperceptible to the so-called personal senses, whereas Jesus appeared as a bodily existence. This dual personality of the unseen and the seen, the spiritual and material, the eternal Christ and the corporeal Jesus manifest in flesh, continued until the Master's ascension, when the human, material concept, or Jesus, disappeared, while the spiritual self, or Christ, continues to exist in the eternal order of divine Science, taking away the sins of the world, as the Christ has always done, even before the human Jesus was incarnate to mortal eyes.

13. 171 : 4-16

Through discernment of the spiritual opposite of materiality, even the way through Christ, Truth, man will reopen with the key of divine Science the gates of Paradise which human beliefs have closed, and will find himself unfallen, upright, pure, and free, not needing to consult almanacs for the probabilities either of his life or of the weather, not needing to study brainology to learn how much of a man he is.

Mind's control over the universe, including man, is no longer an open question, but is demonstrable Science. Jesus illustrated the divine Principle and the power of immortal Mind by healing sickness and sin and destroying the foundations of death.

14. 307 : 25 (Truth)-30

Truth has no beginning. The divine Mind is the Soul of man, and gives man dominion over all things. Man was not created from a material basis, nor bidden to obey material laws which Spirit never made; his province is in spiritual statutes, in the higher law of Mind.

15. 208 : 20-24

Let us learn of the real and eternal, and prepare for the reign of Spirit, the kingdom of heaven, — the reign and rule of universal harmony, which cannot be lost nor remain forever unseen.

16. 590 : 1 (Kingdom)-3

Kingdom of Heaven. The reign of harmony in divine Science; the realm of unerring, eternal, and omnipotent Mind; the atmosphere of Spirit, where Soul is supreme.