Archive for Testimonies
Returned Blessings
Friends,
As the news on the economy continues to be challenging, the subject for this Wednesday’s readings is again the Economy: “Praying for the Poor.” For other supportive articles on the economy read the September 13 issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.
Last week we heard how one day a man found himself with no particular assignment for his work as a commercial appraiser, in other words, no paid commission to look forward to. Since he had time to give, he prayed to be of use to others. His prayer was humble, sincere, and open to God’s ideas. The thought came to call a friend of his, a pastor of a local church, to see if his grounds could use some sprucing up. The man enjoys landscaping, and was willing to share this skill with others. The pastor was pleased, and did have some work for him to do trimming bushes. When the man finished and returned home he found a new assignment waiting for him. God’s provision for the man had become evident as he was willing to love his neighbor.
Hope to see you Wednesday evening at 7:30,
John Holland, First Reader
Prayer “Delivers”
Friends,
The topic this Wednesday is “Back to School: Education of the Right Sort”
Last Wednesday a woman told of a dramatic change during the birth of her son. The doctor said the baby’s wrong position was causing her pain, and both he and her husband expressed fear. Her husband called a Christian Science practitioner who prayed with them using the song “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” Even the “itty bitty baby!” The birth was not about the baby or the mother so much as it was about God and His tender care of all. Immediately after this prayer the doctor noticed that the baby had changed position and was soon born harmoniously.
Hope to see you Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the Sunday School,
John Holland, First Reader
God Revives Our Senses.
Friends,
The topic this Wednesday is “Down with Depression and Loneliness”
Last Wednesday people told of healing of declining eyesight and a serious sudden physical attack among others. In the first, a woman feared her coming eye checkup would reveal more farsightedness and a worsening eye disease suggested earlier. She prayed with the Bible promise that God “revives” our sense of wholeness. The eye doctor found her eyesight unchanged and satisfactory. Signs of age related eye disease were no longer visible, and the eyes were described as those of a person 20 years younger. The other testifier said she was alone in a hotel room on a business trip when sudden serious pain attacked her. Through prayer she remembered that she was God’s image or reflection. She reasoned that wherever the reflection was, so was the original. Since she was present, so was God. This acceptance of God’s presence resulted in the symptoms’ gradual disappearance and she was able to complete her business plans.
Hope to see you Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the Sunday School,
John Holland, First Reader
A Teenager Finds Harmony While Traveling With Friends
Friends,
Our Guest Reader this Wednesday tells me, “This Wednesday being Bastille Day, my readings will offer a spiritual perspective on freedom from oppression.”
Last Wednesday we heard solutions through prayer of family and personal relationships. A woman described antagonism between her newlywed husband and her parents. Taking offense at a remark of her husband’s, her father banned him from their home. Seeking resolution, the young couple’s prayer filled them with a deep sense of God’s all-inclusive love. The father relented and the new husband was now welcomed.
A teenager testified to a harmonious three week trip on a boat where she had to sleep with thirteen new friends on the deck. Prayer helped her get along with all of them when their true nature as God’s children was revealed.
Hope to see you Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the Sunday School,
John Holland, First Reader
Healing of Addiction
Friends,
The topic this Wednesday is “Family Reunions: Our Real Relatives”
Last Wednesday we heard healings of painful walking, alcohol addiction, kidney stones and pain in both arms, all through spiritualization of thought. Before a trip overseas a man had a problem walking. He called a Christian Science practitioner for prayerful help and spiritualized his idea of legs and movement. He made the trip fine.
In another account, a greater sense of love for others was key to the woman’s freedom from alcohol. In a third account, the man became more aware of God’s love until the kidney stones were rejected from his body. Another man told of pain in one arm healed through persistent studying of passages from the Bible and Science & Health followed years later by pain in the other arm healed with confidence by the same process.
All were grateful for the role of Christian Science in these healings.
Hope to see you Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the Sunday School,
John Holland, First Reader
Independence!
June 28: This Wednesday our topic will be “Independence”– independence from all the ills that flesh is heir to.
Last Wednesday we heard two especially great healings: of poisoning and fear during danger. A man prayed specifically for his small dog who was then healed, despite the vet’s claim that the pet had been poisoned and would die. A woman remembered feeling no fear while on a free falling plane when she was a child flying alone. She said every Bible teaching from Sunday School sustained her until the pilot announced, “I’ve got it!!” and returned the plane to its proper altitude. She remembered knowing without a doubt that Love, God, was in control.
Hope to see you Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the Sunday School,
John Holland, First Reader
Severe Burns Healed, No Scars
Friends,
This Wednesday let’s persist in our prayers for the Oil Spill. The topic will be: “The Clean-Up Continues.”
Last week we heard about a summer healing of severe burns when two girls were frying with hot oil. The one sister affected was completely healed through prayer, with no scars even today.
Hope to see you Wednesday evening at 7:30 in the Sunday School,
John Holland, First Reader
Fearless Prayer and Grateful Singing
Last Wednesday there were testimonies on integrity. One man said he’d apparently been cheated by the dealer who sold him a car, because the tinted windows proved too dark to pass inspection, although there was no reference to any tinted windows on the invoice. He feared he’d been “bilked” with no way to prove that he’d not been the one to apply the tinting. But as he prayed to see more of God’s idea, the perfect man, he had a clearer sense of the dealer’s essential integrity. When he brought the car to the dealer for the inspection, they admitted the car should never have been sold as is. They offered to remove the faulty tinting, replace it with acceptable tinting, and give him a loaner car in the interim. All at no cost to him. This was indeed “acceptable” to this happy customer. Other testimonies included healing of physical ailments at home and on vacation.
This coming Wednesday’s readings were inspired by a testimony a few weeks ago. A woman told how an abnormal growth was healed through fearless prayer and grateful singing.
Let’s Sing and Be Healed on Wednesday,
John Holland, First Reader
OUR homes are “built on the rock”
Here we share some of the wonderful healings expressed last week at Wednesday’s service:
1. A man waiting for his flight from Rhode Island prayed to support two parents who were trying to get home to their children in flooded Nashville. Although their flight was going to be delayed or canceled, suddenly the announcement came for all to board, one hour ahead of the delayed schedule.
2. A mother prayed for her baby daughter whose illness seemed “scary.” The Bible passage “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” came to her thought. She strengthened her own faith in God, good, and saw all evidence of illness fade away quickly.
3. A woman whose husband died unexpectedly found courage and peace about traveling alone. She later was rescued on a lonely road by a man who offered to take her friend to the airport and then return to fill her empty gas tank. He said he’d been led by the Spirit to stop and investigate the problem, all the while she’d been praying to bear witness to Love’s answer for her.
4. A man was startled to find a large bird in his office. Praying to see that the bird was indeed free, and that Love would show the creature the way out, the man felt a deep love for the bird. Suddenly the bird saw an open window and flew out. The man vowed to love all others, both people and creatures, with this same pure love.
5. A woman recalled a time when her basement was flooded— and this on Christmas Eve, a Friday night, with a house full of family and house guests. As she prayed, her eyes were opened to the fact that her house was “built on the rock,” the Christly understanding of Love itself, and could not be violated by floods or catastrophes. She called the authorities, and amazingly, while they were at dinner, the crew came quietly and unplugged the lines. The water receded quickly and no damage was done.
Healing “incurable” disease
Friends,
You can read more on last week’s topic “Complaining, Criticizing, Judging — Termites in the Structure of Truth and Love” in the latest Christian Science Sentinel.
Last Wednesday a woman told of a healing of an incurable disease. She began by realizing that a dictionary defines “condemn” as “to render incurable.” Praying to be freed from condemning or judging she was completely healed. Two others described how prayer had changed their thought from criticizing a neighbor to forgiving her.
This week’s topic antidotes “complaint” with “Our gratitude is riches” –Hymns 249 & 250.
If you can’t make it, why not e-mail me a testimony as others have done and be included in the healing record of our church?
Hope to see you Wednesday evening,
John Holland, First Reader