When I first began attending Christian Science church services, I had been used to a minister delivering a sermon, the contents of which were previously unknown to me. It seemed peculiar to go to hear a Bible Lesson you had already read numerous times the week before. I soon found my answer. It was the preparation of thought on the weekly subject by those present that brought out the loving, healing atmosphere I felt during the service.
The Bible Lessons that are read in the Sunday services are found in the Christian Science Quarterly—Bible Lessons, published by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Massachusetts, and distributed throughout the world. One can subscribe to this periodical or buy it in any Christian Science Reading Room. As I began to read and study these Lessons, the Bible opened up to me with new life. A systematic study of the Bible, accompanied by correlative passages from the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, unfolds the spiritual import of the Word, which blesses and heals. The Scriptures, therefore, became a practical help to me in everyday life.
The Bible records that Christ Jesus spent all night in prayer to God, after which he healed the multitudes. See Luke 6:12-19. The prepared and spiritualized thought of the congregation acts as a transparency for the healing Christ, Truth, to shine through in the church service, making possible a Sabbath day of healing. The conscious awareness of the presence and power of Truth and Love blesses everyone who enters into the service.
