6/20/99 Commitment and Focus on Christ
	Notes and references for Sunday, June 20, 1999 Matt 14:24-32 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. Peter should not have taken his focus off of Jesus. He looked down and became afraid. Too much doubt crept in. He could not stay committed to the Christ. But even when he started to sink, the Master came to him, right where he was at and lifted him up. S&H 254:16 During the sensual ages, absolute Christian Science may not be achieved prior to the change called death, for we have not the power to demonstrate what we do not understand. But the human self must be evangelized. This task God demands us to accept lovingly to-day, and to abandon so fast as practical the material, and to work out the spiritual which determines the outward and actual. Evangelize: to revive our commitment to Christ.(Webster) we need to revive our commitment to Christ (the divine manifestation of God...-that's what you reflect! His reflection.) Now don't forget those three verbs: ACCEPT, ABANDON and WORK OUT. That is what a treatment is. S&H 583:10 CHRIST. The divine manifestation of God, which comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error. My 262:1 God creates man perfect and eternal in His own image. Hence man is the image, idea, or likeness of perfection --an ideal which cannot fall from its inherent unity with divine Love, from its spotless purity and original perfection. Remember the stories from this morning: The room-mate who is having a nightmare right next to you and you wake up and see your room-mate dreaming-talking to themself, screaming, shaking, etc. Who is in the better position to see the unreality of the dream? You or the dreamer? That is what a practitioner does for us. Call a practitioner when you need to--don't hesitate. Kedging: when a sailor has run aground and his boat is stuck, he takes his anchor and drags it out to the deep. Then he goes back to the boat and pulls himself safely with the anchor's rope into the deep and out of trouble. Mrs. Eddy says we should cast our "anchor of hope past the veil of matter into the Shekiniah into which Jesus has passed before us". (S&H 40) She adds that this is our departure from the material into the spiritual! The snake and the rabbit hole! Remember, no matter how charming he is still a snake. Assignment for next week: (1) Study the connection between the Beatitudes and the Prodigal and Mrs. Eddy's three stages of growth. Go to the Archive section of the our web page and look it up "Growth in Christian Character". (2) I would like each of you to ask your parents how your family came into Christian Science originally. Bring the story to class and be ready to share it.
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