Welcome to Advent and the St. Martin's Adult Bible Fellowship Prime Timers!

You are invited to join us in the Payne Education Center, rooms 207-209 each Sunday in between the 9 and 11am services from 10:10 to 10:50 Currently we are studying God's Living Covenant from the Old Testament. Coffee and snacks are provided at no cost!

Prime Timer Good News

Our class begins with time for members Good News. Pete Seale celebrated his third grandchild today, a girl named Piper. Today is Ben Welmaker's birthday and he has a son getting married in a few months.

Experiencing Forgiveness

Richard Cruse led the Prime Timers this morning on our journey through the Old Testament. The story today occurs around 538 BC, when King Cyrus conquers Babylon and feels the voice of God tell him to build a temple in Jerusalem.

Richard told the class that the account by Herodotus, the 5th century BC Greek historian closely follows the biblical text. King Cyrus is the only "non-anointed by God" figure in the Old Testament who achieves a great victory, and that he is a revered figure in Jewish literature. In one of those coincidences you just have to make note of, an opinion column by Charles Krauthammer is discussing how the comedy movie "Borat" (if you click the Borat link, keep in mind there is heavy sarcasm at work) paints evangelical Christians as boobs and Jew haters. Krauthammer's point is that "No nation since Cyrus the Great's Persia has done more for the Jews." Just look to the hatred coming from the Middle East, including the horror of a generation of children trained to glorify suicide bombing. Or the Anti-Semitism rampant in Europe. The column is definitely worth reading!

King Cyrus, according to the book of Ezra: (Ezra 1:11) "In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver." These were brought back to Jerusalem after King Nebuchadnezzar took them to Babylon and put them in the temple of one of his gods.

Richard then used several examples from Jesus to exemplify forgiveness. In Matthew 18:21-35 Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive his brother. Jesus replies "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." Then the parable following of the servant who can't pay his debts. He is forgiven by his master, but then goes and does not forgive his fellow servant. The first servant is sent for torturing by the master. This shows that with forgiveness there is the implied responsibility to forgive others yourself.

Finally Richard recalled Jesus on the cross, (Luke 23:34) 'Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."'

Discussion centered around forgiveness. The Lord's Prayer is certainly a reminder. Maybe because we have lawyers in the class, there were distinctions drawn between forgiveness and victimization, between condoning and tolerating. We agreed that there are times when forgiving is extremely difficult, as when harm is done to your family.

Richard read our Healing Prayer, followed by a short benediction, after which he dismissed the class.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leaders

Prime Timer teacher Ben Welmaker celebrates his birthday today! Happy Birthday Ben.

King Cyrus ended the Jews exile by building a temple in Jerusalem. This picture is from a vintage cigar box label!

An old Iranian portrait of King Cyrus.

The Cyrus Cylinder, created after he took Babylon, it recounts Cyrus' victories and merciful acts. It was discovered in 1879 in Babylon and today resides at the British Museum.

The Lesson for Sunday, December 3rd is titled "Seeking Reconciliation"

Key Verse:  Colossians 1:15-16

Focus of the Lesson:  People sometimes struggle with understanding who God is. Is there a means by which we can obtain this understanding? The Colossians passage affirms that Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, is both human and divine, and that he thus reveals God to us.

The reading is Colossians 1:15-23. This text is from the New International Version^®.

Background Scripture:  Colossians 1

   ¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

   ²¹Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. ²²But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— ²³if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

NIV®