He is Risen!  He is risen indeed.

Prime Timers is a St. Martin's Adult Bible Fellowship (A.B.F.) geared towards people in the Prime of Life, ages 50-64. We meet in the Payne Education Center in rooms 207-209 from 10:15am to 10:50. Whatever your age, if you want to explore the Bible in a course organized by the United Council of Churches you are welcome to join us.

The St. Martin's A.B.F.'s are back in session!

All the St. Martin's A.B.F.'s (Adult Bible Fellowships) participated in a Lenten series of lectures by our clergy and others. This series was excellent, I hope you were able to attend some or all of the sessions. Now we pick up our course material with a new unit titled "The Covenant in Exile." Its a great time to join a St. Martin's ABF! In April our readings come from the Old Testament Book of Daniel, "...a man capable of receiving divine communication through the intermediation of angels regarding the future destiny of the world." (from the Harper Collins Bible Commentary, p 623.) If you can't wait, the reading for next week is at the bottom of this page!

Josiah Renews the Covenant

Ben Welmaker began his exploration of King Josiah's re-connecting with the Lord in 2 Chronicles 34 with several passages from Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy 6:13-17 we are told to serve the Lord, not to take His name in vain or to worship other gods. In Deuteronomy 28:15-24 if we don't obey the Lord your God we are inviting big trouble! However, in Deuteronomy 30:1-10 if you come to your senses and follow the word of the Lord you will prosper! Finally in Psalm 119:25-32 we humbly return to the Lord, asking for strength and (Psalm 119:32) "I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free."

Ben is fond of using the metaphor of a clock to describe how at twelve o'clock we are in sync or at peace with the Lord, then at three o'clock we rebel, leading to six o'clock and terrible consequences, until at nine o'clock we repent and finally back at twelve we are once more in good grace with God. King Josiah is firmly at twelve o'clock as he reforms the Temple, and renews the covenant with the Lord, promising (2 Chronicles 34:31) "...to follow the Lord keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul."

The Lesson for Sunday, April 6th is "Daniel Keeps Covenant in a Foreign Land"

Key Verse:  Daniel 1:8

Focus of the Lesson: When persons are thrust into situations foreign to their values and convictions, they often face the pressure to conform. How can they keep true to who they are? Daniel and his friends offer examples of persistence in keeping true to their convictions while adapting to a foreign land.

The reading is Daniel 1:8-20. This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)

Background Scripture:  Daniel 1

    ⁸But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. ⁹Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, ¹⁰but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."

   ¹¹Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, ¹²"Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. ¹³Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." ¹⁴So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days.

   ¹⁵At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. ¹⁶So the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead.

   ¹⁷To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.

   ¹⁸At the end of the time set by the king to bring them in, the chief official presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king's service. ²⁰In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.

NIV