The Lenten Season is beginning!

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 at St. Martin's, in rooms 207-209 from 10:15am to 10:50. This year Easter falls about as early as it can, March 23. The last time Easter was this early was in 1913! St. Martin's is consolidating all the A.B.F.'s into one big class, meeting in the Bagby Parish Hall during Lent with members of the clergy conducting the classes. The next official meeting of Prime Timers will be March 30. In the meantime this page will update the readings for our class from the National Council of Churches.

Summoned to Labor!

Ben Welmaker began our lesson by reading the first eight verses of Psalm 78. This was a good way to open a discussion of the importance of spreading God's word. Next he had us read examples of people in the Bible who answered God's call by saying "Here I am." Among these were Abraham in Genesis 22: 1,11, Jacob in Genesis 31:11, Moses in Exodus 3:4, Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:5, 6 and 8, the Psalmist in Psalm 40:7, Mary in Luke 1:38 and finally Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8.

The main lesson was the story in Luke 10:1-20 where Jesus sends the seventy two out two-by-two to prepare the way for him, kind of like ancient advance men, and reminiscent of the Billy Graham crusade. Ben went through the reading showing how Jesus carefully prepared his new apostles to venture into the world, their great joy as they returned with stories of miracles and casting out demons, and Jesus cautioning them not to rejoice in spirits submitting to them but that their names are written in heaven.

The Lesson for Sunday, February 10th is "Summoned to Repent!"

Key Verse:  Luke 13:3

Focus of the Lesson: As we look at our lives, we see things about us that we would like to change. How do we change our behavior so that we are better people? Jesus called people to repent and to allow God to transform their lives.

The reading is Luke 13:1-9. This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)

   ¹Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

   ⁶Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'

   ⁸" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "


NIV