The Wayside Chapel in front of St. Martin's is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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 4, are from Lectionary Year C, Proper 13: Hosea 11:1-11; Psalm 107:1-9, 43; Colossians 3:1-11 and Luke 12:13-21. The text is from the New Revised Standard Version. *

Hosea 11:1-11

¹When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
² The more I called them,
the more they went from me;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals,
and offering incense to idols.

³ Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
I took them up in my arms;
but they did not know that I healed them.
⁴ I led them with cords of human kindness,
with bands of love.
I was to them like those
who lift infants to their cheeks.
I bent down to them and fed them.

⁵ They shall return to the land of Egypt,
and Assyria shall be their king,
because they have refused to return to me.
⁶ The sword rages in their cities,
it consumes their oracle-priests,
and devours because of their schemes.
⁷ My people are bent on turning away from me.
To the Most High they call,
but he does not raise them up at all.

⁸ How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
⁹ I will not execute my fierce anger;
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and no mortal,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come in wrath.

¹⁰ They shall go after the Lord,
who roars like a lion;
when he roars,
his children shall come trembling from the west.
¹¹ They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt,
and like doves from the land of Assyria;
and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord.

Psalm 107:1-9, 43

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
those he redeemed from trouble
³ and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

⁴ Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to an inhabited town;
⁵ hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
⁶ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress;
⁷ he led them by a straight way,
until they reached an inhabited town.
⁸ Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wonderful works to humankind.
⁹ For he satisfies the thirsty,
and the hungry he fills with good things.

⁴³ Let those who are wise give heed to these things,
and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

Colossians 3:1-11

¹So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, ³for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

⁵ Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). ⁶On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. ⁷These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. ⁸But now you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. ⁹Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices ¹⁰and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. ¹¹In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Luke 12:13-21

¹³ Someone in the crowd said to him, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.’ ¹⁴But he said to him, ‘Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?’ ¹⁵And he said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’ ¹⁶Then he told them a parable: ‘The land of a rich man produced abundantly. ¹⁷And he thought to himself, “What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?” ¹⁸Then he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ²⁰But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” ²¹So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.’

* "New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
NRSV