Sunday, April 12th, 2026 Roundtable
Health We Must Have
This week’s Lesson Sermon Subject: Are Sin, Disease, And Death Real?
Click here to play the audio as you read:
Morning Prayer
I need to know every moment that God is the only Mind, the only intelligence and source of wisdom and power. Therefore, no other claims to power or mind can rule me or be manifested in my life or conduct. Be watchful and demonstrate that Truth and Love can and do triumph over every obstacle that confronts us and vanquish every temptation that assails us. In this critical time we must draw nearer to God and prove Him to be an ever-present help in time of trouble. Mortal mind cannot embrace me in the claim of poverty; in the claim of matter or fear. All this is mesmerism and cannot embrace me in it.
What a glorious inheritance is ours through the understanding of omnipotent Love. We cannot want to have a more sweet assurance than this — ‘Peace be still’ to all error. At this moment there is harmony throughout the universe, for God’s law is harmony. At this moment each idea is in its rightful place and is satisfied and contented. As each idea is the expression of God’s being, and each idea reflects Life, Truth, and Love, therefore each idea reflects and expresses health, harmony and activity here and now.
from Essays and Other Footprints, (the “Red Book”), by Mary Baker Eddy, page 78
Daily Watch
6 — WATCH lest the old theological teaching and training as to what constitutes sin, prevent you from realizing that fundamentally sin is cause, rather than effect, wrong thinking rather than wrong acting. The primary sin is sin against the Holy Ghost, or against that which unites man to his Maker. What the world calls sin is the outward result of this fundamental belief, or error of yielding to mesmerism.
What the world calls sin does not shut man off from God as effectually as what the world calls goodness, which is largely self-righteousness. When a mortal finds that his actions are sinful, he is apt to become dissatisfied with himself and with material existence, so that he yearns for God; whereas the self-satisfied follower of creeds and doctrines feels very little spiritual hunger, or dissatisfaction with matter. We conclude, therefore, that self-righteousness is the more dangerous state of thought as far as spiritual growth is concerned. No one eats until he is hungry. Hence the attitude of the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees of today precludes any definite spiritual hunger, which causes mortal man to reach out for the divine.
Self-righteousness may be called the sin against the Holy Ghost, since it is a sin against man’s spiritual nature, and is far more serious than those sins against society, for which mortal mind has decreed punishment. The most dangerous sin from God’s standpoint must be that which tempts man the most to be satisfied, and to feel secure apart from God.
Discussion points
“For She Loved Much” by Louise Smith Glanville
The effect of this Science is to stir the human mind to a change of base, on which it may yield to the harmony of the divine Mind.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 162
Golden Text: Psalm 42 : 11
“Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
COUNTENANCE: Literally, the contents of a body; the outline and extent which constitutes the whole figure or external appearance. Appropriately, the human face; the whole form of the face, or system of features; visage. Webster 1828
The concept of countenance in the Bible serves as a powerful metaphor for the inner life of both humans and the divine. It reveals emotions, character, and spiritual states, and it is a means by which God’s favor and presence are communicated to His people. Through the study of countenance, believers are reminded of the importance of aligning their inner lives with God’s will, so that their outward expressions may reflect His grace and truth. Bible Hub
“I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God.”— Psalm xlii. 11.
“…who is the health of my countenance and my God.” God’s countenance is our help, and he himself is the health of our countenance. The best help a man can have in time of trouble is the countenance of God. If he feels that he enjoys the divine love, and that he is acceptable with the Lord, he becomes at once strong to bear, or dare, or do. Ask the presence of God with thee, child of God, and thou mayest then descend into a lion’s den, traverse a fiery furnace, or pass through the iron gates of death. A look from the Lord is life and strength to his people…
The great thing to be desired by all of us is that we may, in spirit, soul, and body, be whole, that is to say holy, for holiness is in very truth the wholeness of our entire manhood. [Charles Surgeon 3/28/1875 Scripture on Psalms 42:11]
Psalm 17:15
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Responsive Reading: Psalm 103 : 2-6, 10, 11, 17, 18
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;
5. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.
10. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
17. The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
18. To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
You cannot make me believe that I cannot heal; nor can you prevent me from healing. (Three times a day, if not more.) (page 30)
Christian Scientists must work daily to annul the prayers of the unrighteous, those who unrighteously pray that the Christian Science prayers cannot heal the sick. (page 34)
from Things to handle daily, from Watches, Prayers, and Arguments given by Mary Baker Eddy
God Is Individual Consciousness by Bicknell Young
Day, from Collected Writings by Bicknell Young, page 79
Temple. Body; the idea of Life, substance, and intelligence; the superstructure of Truth; the shrine of Love; a material superstructure, where mortals congregate for worship.
from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy, page 595
Business Problem Solved
An example: I had two students, a man and his wife. The man was a business man, and he had lost some money in speculation, and his business was dull. He was a manufacturer and retailer. He was not making expenses, and had been blue for a long time and I knew it. He and his wife came to me, one day. The corners of his mouth were down, and both looked blue. The wife was distressed because the husband was so fearful. They told me the story of all their seeming troubles and fears. I said, “I want you to go home and make a demonstration, just for today — get happy today. We have had this same phase of error to meet at our house. For example, my wife and I will stay in the house for some days, and there will be a procession of people come and they will pour into our ears, from morning till night, more tales of woe than we can count. We will go out to dinner with a feeling of depression ourselves; and then we recognize it and we will declare to the contrary, and begin to say certain truths to each other; and we keep at it until presently we do get to be happy, overcoming the claim. Now Mr. Retailer and Manufacturer, you have a good home, plenty to eat and plenty of good clothes to wear. Your business won’t fail tonight, or before tomorrow. You go home, and get happy today, and say all the pleasant things you possibly can to your children and to every living creature around you. I want you to declare, ‘I am not afraid, and I am happy,’ and stick to it.”
Mesmerizing One’s Business
I said to the man, “You are mesmerizing your business clear up to the eyes. What is your trade? Your trade is thought, before it is trade. Somebody has got to think about trading at your store before you get any trade at all. Your trade is thought. Now if you are exercising fear for your trade, and directing fear to your trade, don’t you see that you are mesmerizing it? How can you get trade on such terms? How could you expect to heal your patient if you did not do anything else but be afraid that you could not heal him all the time? He could get nothing but fear from you. Now do let the poor trade alone, and let it get well. Go home and resist this fear, just for today. Do as I tell you, just 24 hours.” In about a month’s time I saw this same man and asked him how everything was. He said, “Business is immense; shows an increase of 40 percent.” Now can you see that that man mesmerized his own trade, his own business? He was doing the very worst thing he could have done, until I corrected him. He was simply reflecting error, reflecting mortal mind, all the time.
from Teaching and Addresses on Christian Science by Edward A. Kimball