"'The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known." (John 1:17-18)

Prime Timers is a small group at St. Martin's for Episcopalians aged fifty and above. We are following a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary, the three year cycle of Bible readings used throughout the Anglican Communion and by many Protestant denominations worldwide. You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00. Keep up to date with our Lectionary based readings at the bottom of this page!

During December and January the Prime Timers class will be suspended several times as we celebrate the events of this wonderful time of year, however this page will continue to update the Lectionary readings class or no class.

The Nativity Stained Glass window at St. Martin's church.

Leonardo da Vinci, Studies for a Nativity, Pen and brown ink, on pink prepared paper, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Prime Timers Good News

The Prime Timers hear members Good News each week at the start of class. We charge a dollar and currently donate the money collected to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia. Lynn is just crazy about the great weather we are having in Houston right now, really some of the best weather in the country!

Jesus the Messiah

Carol Hartland leads the Prime Timers this Sunday with our last Advent lesson before Christmas. The Scripture is the story of Jesus birth from focusing on Joseph, from Matthew's account. Joseph appears at Jesus birth and is not mentioned again in the Bible! Matthew describes him as "a righteous man" (Matthew 1:19) as he deals with the problem of a pregnant wife out of wedlock. This is a situation with grave consequences in Jesus' time. Mary and Joseph are betrothed, parents generally arrange the marriage of their children and betrothal is a time where the legal part is completed but the couple continues to live with the parents until the marriage ceremony. Becoming pregnant in this time is reason enough for divorce, or even death!

Joseph is sensitive to Mary's situation and wants to quietly break off the marriage without publicly disgracing her, but of course events are about to take a world changing direction as an angel of the Lord gives Joseph the word that this is a virgin birth and in fact the child is from the Holy Spirit.

Carol asks us what jumps out at us from the Scripture reading and a class member mentions how he has a problem with Saints, because "he knows his own nature and wonders how anyone could meet those standards!" Marty mentions Mother Teresa, certainly on track to be sainted by the Catholic church. She expressed doubts about her faith late in life, even to the point of questioning the existence of God! Class allows that it is possible to be a saint, and that recognizing our own weaknesses is a good step in the right direction!

George brings up the example of "It's a Wonderful Life" the Frank Capra film from 1946 starring Jimmy Stewart as good hearted banker George Bailey, who through a series of misfortunes contemplates suicide, leading to the intervention of a guardian angel, and, well if you haven't seen this movie recently you'll have lots of opportunities this season! The enduring power of this movie is due in no small part to Jimmy Stewart's believable performance, but who hasn't been in a place where you question your own situation or God's will?

A class member says "we are all beggars, depending on God for everything." It makes you appreciate what you have a lot more when you realize that you can't take it with you, and just consider: you have air to breathe, water exists, there are lots of things to eat, and you didn't create any of it! This brought up the issue of "versions" of the Bible for everyone. Do you really need a Bible version to accomodate each and every situation? What is wrong with the Bible itself? Does Biblical scholarship and "historical Jesus" questing muddy the spritual message or provide another avenue to keep Christianity fresh?

Class discussion returns to a favorite subject: the sad state of the world. Someone suggests we need to make a point to elect good Christian leaders. Do they have a fuzzy position on abortion? If you add up all the people killed in wars they don't match the number of babies aborted. Since 1973 over 40 million babies have been aborted!

Well, it's Christmas after all, and if we "allow Jesus into our celebration" as Rev. Levensohn said today we are headed in the right direction. Ending on a positive note, class members compared notes on how they got their names! Being named after a relative is the most popular. Annette reveals how she is named after a poetess. The Social Security Administration maintains a database of babies names and their popularity by year. Click the link above to check you own name and year of birth! The list goes back to 1880! Last year the most popular female name was Isabella, no surprise given the popularity of the Twilight vampire movies.

Dorothy Day (November 8, 1897 – November 29, 1980) was an American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert. She has written:
"There is no use in saying that we've been born 2,000 years too late to welcome Christ. On the contrary, it is with the voices of our contemporaries that he speaks. With the eyes of store clerks and children, he looks at us. With the hands of slum dwellers and suburban housewives, he reaches out. He walks with the feet of the soldier and the tramp. With the heart of all in need, he longs for us to shelter him. And, the giving of shelter or food or welcome to anyone who asks or needs it, is giving to Christ and making room for his holiness to dwell within."

Carol concluded class with a short prayer.

The Readings for Sunday, December 26th are from Lectionary Year One, Christmas-1A, "God from God, Light from Light"

The Readings for this week are Isaiah 61:10--62:3; Psalm 147; Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7 and John 1:1-18. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Isaiah 61:10--62:3

¹⁰ I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
¹¹ For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.

¹For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
² The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
³ You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

Psalm 147

¹ Praise the Lord!
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.
² The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
³ He heals the broken-hearted,
and binds up their wounds.
⁴ He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.
⁵ Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is beyond measure.
⁶ The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
make melody to our God on the lyre.
⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
makes grass grow on the hills.
⁹ He gives to the animals their food,
and to the young ravens when they cry.
¹⁰ His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
¹¹ but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

¹² Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
¹³ For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children within you.
¹⁴ He grants peace within your borders;
he fills you with the finest of wheat.
¹⁵ He sends out his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
¹⁶ He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes.
¹⁷ He hurls down hail like crumbs—
who can stand before his cold?
¹⁸ He sends out his word, and melts them;
he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
¹⁹ He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
²⁰ He has not dealt thus with any other nation;
they do not know his ordinances.
Praise the Lord!

Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7

²³ Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. ²⁴Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,

⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. ⁶And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' ⁷So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

John 1:1-18

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being ⁴in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. ⁹The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. ¹²But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, ¹³who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵(John testified to him and cried out, 'This was he of whom I said, "He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me." ') ¹⁶From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

NRSV