Apostle St. John the Evangelist, by El Greco, 1610-14, Oil on canvas at the Museo del El Greco, Toledo

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was to have a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are still online here. The group disbanded but the readings below are being kept up to date.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, August 26 are from Lectionary Year B, Proper 16 Sunday closest to August 24: 1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43; Psalm 84 or Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18; Psalm 34:15-22; Ephesians 6:10-20 and John 6:56-69.. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New International Version.

1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10-11], 22-30, 41-43

¹ Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the LORD’s covenant from Zion, the City of David. ⁶ The priests then brought the ark of the LORD’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim. ¹⁰ When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the LORD. ¹¹ And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled his temple.

²² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven ²³ and said: “LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. ²⁴ You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today. ²⁵ “Now LORD, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ ²⁶ And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

²⁷ “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! ²⁸ Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, LORD my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. ²⁹ May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. ³⁰ Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

⁴¹ “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— ⁴² for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, ⁴³ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

Psalm 84 or 84:1-6

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!
    ² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
     my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
     and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—
     a place near your altar,
     LORD Almighty, my King and my God.

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
     they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
     whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs;
     the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

⁷ They go from strength to strength,
     till each appears before God in Zion.

⁸ Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty;
     listen to me, God of Jacob.

⁹ Look on our shield, O God;
     look with favor on your anointed one.

¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere;
     I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
     than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

¹¹ For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
     the LORD bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold from those
     whose walk is blameless.

¹² LORD Almighty,
     blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Joshua 24:1-2a,14-18

¹ Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. ² Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:

¹⁴ “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. ¹⁵ But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

¹⁶ Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! ¹⁷ It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. ¹⁸ And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.”

Psalm 34:15-22

¹⁵ The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
     and his ears are attentive to their cry;

¹⁶ but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
     to blot out their name from the earth.

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them;
     he delivers them from all their troubles.

¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted
     and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles,
     but the LORD delivers him from them all;

²⁰ he protects all his bones,
     not one of them will be broken.

²¹ Evil will slay the wicked;
     the foes of the righteous will be condemned.

²² The LORD will rescue his servants;
     no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Ephesians 6:10-20

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. ¹⁹ Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

John 6:56-69

⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

⁶⁰ On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” ⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! ⁶³ The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. ⁶⁵ He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.