Welcome to Kathy's blog!

Hi everyone, Welcome to the blog called Bible Insights for Christian Science Families (bibleinsightscs.com) is finally set up on Principia's domain and will be coming out from that source now. There isn't anything you have to do to stay on the blog. I have entered your email into the distribution list for it. If you do not want to be there, just unsubscribe.

On the right side there is a place for people to enter their email addresses. If you know of someone who would like to be on it, just enter their email.

You may receive one more general notice when we email a large group of people and invite them to join it. If you are already on the list, just ignore that email.

This blog and the signup for it are separate from all other Principia mailings. If you unsubscribe from this one, you will still be on Principia's mailing list unless you tell them differently.

With Love,

Kathy

Ideas for Studying the Lesson on "Love" for July 31, 2016

Dear Friends, Here is research on some of the stories in this week's Lesson on "Love."

Research on David and Saul

Map of David eluding Saul

Before this stone was discovered, David was not thought of as actually existing except in biblical sources. There was no other extra-biblical source of his existence and some scholars felt like he was just a mythical person in Israel's history. This archeological discovery changed everything!

Discovery of the Tel Dan Stele

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Research on the Woman with the Issue of Blood

Research on the Raising of Dorcus by Peter

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"The healing will grow more easy and be more immediate as you realize that God, Good, is all and Good is Love. You must gain Love, and lose the false sense called love. You must feel the Love that never faileth,--that perfect sense of divine power that makes healing no longer power but grace. Then you will have the Love that casts out fear, and when fear is gone doubt is gone and your work is done. Why? Because it never was undone." (L08565 letter from MBE, We Knew MBE - p. 90)

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Worksheet on the Greek words for "Love."

Blank worksheet for Greek words on "Love"

Ideas on the concept of "Love"

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In thinking about loving one's enemies, here is an article I wrote several years ago that speaks to that subject. It was written after I had gone through the fire of an experience with a person who I didn't get along with. For me, this was one of the most growing times I've ever had. A physical healing and this article were two of the fruits that came from this experience.

"There is no enemy," Kathryn L. Merrill, May 2012, CSJ

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CHILDREN'S IDEAS:

Jesus walks on the water

Standing Porter

Stickers that tell Bible stories

Hope these ideas are helpful!

Kathy

 

 

Ideas to study for the Lesson on "Truth," July 24, 2016

Dear Friends, When reading the Old Testament, the original language was written in Hebrew. The New Testament was written originally in Greek. On page 24 of S&H, Mrs. Eddy tells us why we need to be familiar with the original language of the Scriptures and why we need to learn how to look up words in these original texts. From time to time, I will share with you some of the main words in the Lesson in Greek and Hebrew (The bold and underlines are mine in the following paragraph from page 24 in S&H are mine.)

    Acquaintance with the original texts, and willingness to give up human beliefs (established by hierarchies, and instigated sometimes by the worst passions of men), open the way for Christian Science to be understood, and make the Bible the chart of life, where the buoys and healing currents of Truth are pointed out. (SH 24:4) 

Word Study for the Lesson on Truth

Ps 119 The Way of Truth responsive reading

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Sometimes the Lesson has a theme that runs through it. For me, this week's Lesson is "way or path".  Please know that you may see something totally different. Whatever makes sense and inspires you is the best way to think about it.

The Way: Jesus' followers were called the "followers of the Way' long before they were ever called Christians. That term is used 18 times in the Lesson. Path is also used. The terms 'lead' and 'teach' might be lesser themes.

Way: Greek is hodos: 3598

  • The way
  • A travelled road
  • Journey
  • Course of conduct
  • A way or manner of thinking, feeling, deciding
  • Progress

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Main themes: Golden Text: Lead, teach the truth to me

RR:  “I have chosen the way of truth” through your statues, judgments, law, commandment, precepts

1st: Way of the Rock – Truth --  to find salvation

2: Way of salvation through Christ Jesus (the human herald of Christ Truth)

3: Way of distinguishing Truth vs. error

4: Way of Childlikeness

5: Way of Christ Truth  brings – FREEDOM, physical and mental

6: Way of the Comforter or Divine Science

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Research on stories in the Lesson:

Research on the Nativity Story

Research on the Pool of Bethesda healing

Ideas on "Knowing the Truth"

Comforter Worksheet blank

Comforter Worksheet answers

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Slide Show for Healing of Bethesda:  Cut and paste the link into your URL.

file:///Users/kathrynneale/Dropbox/STOREHOUSE%20STORIES/louryn4%20stories/stories/t9uw6-pool-of-bethesda/index.html

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FOR CHILDREN:

This link has a game for matching up Bible people to who they are. It is a free download, but you have to go to the link itself.

Bible people Match up Game

Bible Fact Cards is a way to teach main ideas about the Bible to small children. A couple of the cards are ones we would not use because of the theology, but most of them are really good. This is a free download, if you go to their home page. Here is the link:

Bible Fact Cards

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Hope some of these ideas are helpful to you!

With love,

Kathy Merrill

Ideas for studying the Lesson on "Life," for July 17, 2016

ROUGH DRAFT FOR BLOG Dear friends,

Here is some research for the Lesson on "Life."

Why is the name of God so important to the Bible? In Scripture, God reveals Himself to us through His names. A name revealed important information about the individual or thing itself. A name often connotes purpose, authority, make up, and character . Because of the depth of God's character, He has various names that reflect the many ways He relates to humanity. For example, God is called Elohim (430 Elohiym in Hebrew)  in Gen. 1, the supreme God. He's revealed to Abraham as El Shaddai (7706 Shadday in Hebrew) when revealing Himself as the all-powerful Creator, the Almighty.   In Gen. 22:14 Jehovah Jireh (3070) -- God, the self existent one, the one true God,  the one who sees, Jehovah will see. And in Ex. 3, God reveals Himself to Moses in one of the most profound statements in Scripture --"I AM THAT I AM." (1961 hayah in Hebrew -- to exist, that which is). No longer is God the "I Was" God, (the God of your fathers), no longer is He the "I will be God," but now He is to be understood as "the great I AM." (SH 587:5)  I AM the one true, living God, NOW!

"When used of God, 'name' in the OT has a revelatory content. The name of God means primarily his revealed nature and character. .  . As expressing His essential nature, it implies the most complete divine self-disclosure, while the identification of name and person safeguards the unity of God . . . To know the name of God is to know God himself as he is revealed" (Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible 1.714).

Research on "I AM that I AM" Ex. 3

Jacob wrestles with the angel: Gen. 32

Gen 33. 1.4.8 to 10Jacob and Esau 400 men

Elisha heals Naaman: II Kings 5

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“Face to Face” biblically means the relationship of ‘original’ to ‘image.’

Perfect God, perfect man.

Original = God, “I AM”

Image = man, “I am

Being in the presence of God is 'face to face.' Being in front of, from before His face.

Articles to read on this subject: (Both articles are very inspiring. I’ve just given you a bit from each).

“Face to Face” by Gladys A. M. O’Connor, CSJ, October 1931

“It is recorded in the Gospel of Matthew that after Jesus had gone up into a high mountain—an exalted state of spiritual thinking—he was transfigured before three of his disciples whom he had taken with him. They, too, then saw the spiritual identity as a son of God, whose face shone as the sun with his exalted understanding of Life and Love, and whose purity was as a white raiment about him.

This spotless purity, into which no shadow of animality had ever entered, enabled Jesus to come into radiant communion with his Father. He was so conscious of divine Love's omnipotence, perfection, and nearness that he, as it were, saw God "face to face," and reflected in his countenance the matchless holiness, purity, and love which dwell forever in the divine Mind, and which had always been his as a son of God.”

“Face to face with God,” Mary Bretz Reed, CSJ, March 1987

"I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."  What a wonderful experience Jacob must have had to so glimpse what God is in His perfection, goodness, and omnipresence that he could see something of the unreality of the error he was struggling with—"a mortal sense," Mrs. Eddy explains, "of life, substance, and intelligence as existent in matter with its false pleasures and pains . . . ."  He was so spiritually uplifted that he called the place "Peniel" or "Face of God."

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Here is a link to a excellent talk on this story of Jacob by Kristy Christian. From www.diggingdeepernow.org

71716-blog-audio-final.mp3

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THE IDEAS BELOW ARE FOR CHILDREN AT HOME OR IN SUNDAY SCHOOL:

Children's Ideas to teach Naaman:  Copy and paste the URL into a browser.

http://www.concordianews.org/kids/2011/naaman/craft.htm

http://tractdepot.blogspot.com/2015/08/naaman-is-healed-craft-kit.html

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A chart to use in a discussion with children on the mental qualities of Jacob, whose name and character was changed to Israel. These are just to get you started on how to work with the attributes that Jacob was expressing. They are many more.

Qualities of Jacob blank for children

Qualities of Jacob answers for parents or teachers

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Moses' Chart: Purchase the book "Moses and the Law" by Kathy Merrill and Kristy Christian from www.biblosfoundation.org       Chart for Moses' Life 

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Crafts to teach Moses and the burning bush and "I Am that I AM"

Paste URL into your browser to teach Moses and the burning bush to children:

http://www.biblefunforkids.com/2013/09/moses-burning-bush.html

Screen Shot 2016-07-10 at 1.02.38 PM

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ideas for studying the Lesson on "Sacrament" for July 10, 2016

Dear friends, This blog is still in the rough draft stage, but I wanted to share some ideas with you for this week's lesson. Please know that we all study in our own ways, but sometimes it's helpful to just see how others dig deeper into the Bible. It gives us ideas for our own study.

WHY DO WE KNEEL AND PRAY IN THE COMMUNION SERVICE?

Praying in Communion Services: by Mrs. Eddy  CSJ August 1889 & quoted in Mrs. Hoag's article below:

"The sacrament shall be observed ... by a short interval of solemn and silent self-examination by each member, as to his or her fitness to be called a follower of Christ, Truth; as to his real state of love toward man, and fellowship and communion with Christ; as to whether he is gaining in the understanding and demonstration of Truth and Love, coming out from the world and being separated from error; growing less selfish, more charitable and spiritual, yea, walking worthy of his high calling.”

“One should turn into his consciousness with renewed carefulness the ever- searching light of Truth. Shall it not be a specific time for purging from one's thought all that is unworthy and untrue?”

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Article by Ella Hoag, Communion Services," Editorial, CSS, Vol. 21 (July 1919), p. 871.

"Communion Service" by Ella Hoag

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Word Study for Sacrament

Research on "John the Baptist proclaiming the Messiah"

Research on "The Last Supper"

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(One way to see more in the Lesson is to find a main idea in each section, if possible. These are my main ideas, but yours could look completely different.)

Here are some possible main themes of each section in the Lesson. 

Golden Text: Worship and bow down to God

Responsive Reading words of worship: praise, magnify, give thanks, seek, call  upon God, offer, pay vows, praise, bow the knees

Rewards or promises from our worship:  be strengthened by his Spirit; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye may be rooted and grounded in love; may be able to comprehend; to know the love of Christ; that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

How can we worship God?

Section 1:  Self-sacrifice (Lamb of God)

Section 2: Unselfed Love (feeding the multitude)

Section 3: Sacrament: Last Supper (through spiritual not ritualistic symbols - bread, cup, cross, etc.)

Section 4: "Not my will but thine be done." (Garden of Gethsemane)

Section 5: Morning Meal (Victory over death; resurrection)

Section 6: True worship is following Christ (doing signs and wonders, setting our affection on things above, promise to watch and pray to have the mind of Christ, etc.)

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More information about "Mary, John Mark's Mother" who perhaps shared her home for the Last Supper. That is what tradition tells us about her, but if her home was not the location for the Last Supper, the early Christians certainly used her home for gatherings during those early days.

Research on "Mary, the mother of John-Mark" the author of MARK

Map of Jerusalem showing the location of the Last Supper:

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Nazareth Village is a replica of Nazareth in Jesus' time. It is a place you can visit in Israel when you go on a tour. At the bottom of this paragraph there is a six and a half minute youtube video clip of an olive press during Jesus' day.

Gethsemane means 'oil press' in Greek (1068). The night of his crucifixion, Jesus was praying in Gethsemane, a garden filled with Olive trees on the Mt. of Olives. We can only imagine what kind of pressure and resistance he was under during the last hours of his life. The Adamic pressure of the world trying to convince him he was a mortal, the pressure of whose will he was going to obey, the crucifixion that he knew was coming, etc. Everything that he had preached and set forth was coming to a climax for himself and his followers.

As he prayed under this pressure, the oil comes forth -- the substance of true inspiration, gratitude, and charity,, and finally "not my will, but thine be done." The word for Messiah or Christ in Greek is "Christos" or anointed and it means to anoint, to heal, cleanse, feed, prepare for kings, priests, royalty, to set apart, to consecrate to a holy office, etc. The olive press is a symbol for this experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX-G7D9m6y8

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Sometimes I will offer ideas for different age levels on teaching the Bible to children. Here are a couple of ideas.

Idea for ages 2 - 6:

Gratitude Garden

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Use for children grades two to 6

FRAME AND FAVORITE STORY

Identify characters on the Old and New Testament

You can do this idea on a sheet of paper, or with younger children, find two small jewelry size boxes and write the names of the people on slips of paper and cut them out. Make one box for OT and the other for NT. Have the child tell you one thing about the character before they put it into the box.

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Hope these ideas are helpful!

Kathy

Ideas for studying the Lesson on "God" for July 3, 2016

Dear friends, [audio mp3="http://bibleinsightscs.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/08-Put-Your-Hand-In-The-Hand.mp3"][/audio]

Here are some ideas for deepening your study of the Lesson on "God."

For me, the Lesson seems to have the following pattern:

Section I:  What is God? Can we know Him?

Section II - VI:  How can we know Him? Through spiritual sense; prayer and abiding in the Tabernacle; through His law of healing; through serving Christ -- seeking Him as a disciple; though returning, rest and peace.

Know is a theme in the Lesson along with peace, still, calm, silent, still small voice, rest, quietness, listen, undisturbed, etc.

KNOW in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary is:

perceive with certainty

understand clearly

clear and certain perception of truth

to be taught

to distingish

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Research on "Elijah and the Still, Small Voice"

Research on "Jairus' Daughter"

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Student: Blank Sheet for "Priority Equation"

For Teacher: "Priority Equation explanation"

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"Be still and know that I am God." Ps 46:10  GOLDEN TEXT

still: rapha in Hebrew - 7503:  to relax, to be quiet, to let hands hang down,

Related root word: 7495: raphia in Hebrew: to heal, to be healed, to mend,

to cure, physician, thoroughly make whole, to make healthful

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know: yada in Hebrew - 3045: to perceive, find out and discern, discriminate, distinguish, acknowledge, consider, be acquainted with, etc.

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Peace: shalowm: 7965  "thoughts of peace"  Jer. 29:11 from Responsive Reading:   completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, safety, heath, prosperity

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Hope these ideas are helpful!

Kathy

Ideas for studying the Bible Lesson on "Christian Science" for June 26, 2016

Dear friends, There seem to be two major themes or threads running through the Lesson this week (and possibly more):                                                        Promise and Revelation.

I looked up the words in the 1828 Webster's Dictionary and here is what I found.

From the 1828 Webster's Dictionary: Promise and Revelation

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Research on The Shema:  "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one."

Research on the "Shema" Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one!"

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Research on the "Woman Bowed Over" in Luke

Luke 13: 10-17 The Woman Bowed Over

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Research on the "Woman Taken in Adultery" 

Research on the "Woman Taken in Adultery" in John

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Hope these are helpful! I'll get in touch with you in late June or July to continue our Lesson Reading time for anyone who is in town!

With love,

Kathy

 

Ideas for the Lesson on "Soul and Body"

Dear friends, My name is Kathy Merrill, and as the Bible Coordinator for Principia School, I am excited to offer a new blog dedicated to Christian Science families who want to learn how to study the Bible more deeply and how to share what they learn with their children at home or in Sunday School.

The blog will have ideas on studying that week's Bible Lesson more deeply, and all kinds of teaching ideas for different grade levels. This will include going deeper with Hebrew and Greek definitions for words, ways to look at that week's Bible Lesson Sermon, resources of URL addresses to use when teaching young children, handouts to print out and use when studying, etc.

I hope you will find this blog useful and will share it with friends, grandparents, and others who might be interested in this subject and who are working in some way with our youth.

If you are interested in signing up for this FREE blog, just email me directly at kathy.merrill@principia.edu and I will enter you on the distribution list. You may unsubscribe at any time.

With love,

Kathy

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Ideas for studying "Soul and Body"

What is the "Shema"? Deut 6:4-6 and Matt. 22:37

Research on John 5.1-9 - Pool of Bethesda

Research on Romans 12.2 " Be not conformed"

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Copy  the link below and paste it to a URL line to see a slideshow of the "Pool of Bethesda"

https://www.storehouse.co/stories/t9uw6-pool-of-bethesda

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Ideas for discussion with Elementary and High School age students:

Research "Seek ye first"

 Priority Equation explanation

Ideas for teaching preschool age:

Here are some prayers to work with for very young children.  You can copy each prayer onto a small booklet page and create a prayer book to put beside their table at night. Practice the prayers before going to sleep.

Prayers for young children

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Lord’s Prayer Necklace instructions

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If you live in the Elsah/StL area, you might want to consider coming to Summer Session as a 'day student' to take a course given by me on "In Jesus' Times." It will be one hour each day and will include the context, background, geography, and the deeper study of the baptism of Jesus, the temptation, his healing and teaching,  Jesus' treatment of women, the Passion Week, etc. It should be very helpful to parents, Sunday School teachers, and Bible students.

Click here or copy and paste in your URL for more information:

Link for Summer Session

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Hope these ideas are helpful!

With love,

Kathy

 

 

 

 

Welcome to "Bible Insights for Christian Science Families"

Dear friends, This is a rough draft for a blog I am working on. I am using your email for  practice. Can you let me know if this kind of blog would be helpful to have at least during the summer months? Please don't pass this URL along yet. I am still working on it.

Kathy Merrill

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Here are some ideas for studying and teaching the Lesson on "Mortals and Immortals"

Look at citation 23 in S&H and see if this statement is the main idea of each section:

"Reality is spiritual, harmonious, immutable, immortal, divine, eternal." 335:27-28

1-spiritual

2-harmonious

3-immutable

4-immortal

5-divine and eternal

Two sheets for thinking about the verse "Know the truth"

Know the truth  (worksheet)

Know the truth explained (for parent or teacher)

Two sheets for "the definition of man in Science & Health"

def of man chart

asnwers to man worksheet

 

Research on the healing of the ten lepers

Research on the Tares and the Wheat

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Abraham worksheets for elementary-age students:

These flashcards come from the website: www.http://ourcountryroad.blogspot.com/search/label/Abraham

pg 1 of 3 Abraham flashcards

pg 2 of 3 Abraham flashcards

pg 3 of 3 Abraham flashcards

 

Questions about Abraham  (for discussion about the history of Abraham)

Family tree Abraham blank-2

Family-tree-Abraham-answers pdf

 

People in the Abraham Story 

People in the Abraham Story answers