Come visit with us in St. Martin's parlor!

Prime Timers, a St. Martin's Adult Christian Education (A.C.E.) group, also known as an ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship), is for people in the Prime of Life, ages 50-64, but don't worry, we don't check. Class meets in the Parlor near the Church Offices each Sunday from 10:15am to 11:00. We are following a course of study from the United Council of Churches titled The New Testament Community. You are invited to join us as we explore "Human Commitment" with readings from the Old Testament.

The Prime Timers Celebrate Chinese New Year!

 

This fellow joined the Prime Timers for dinner at Vietopia, celebrating the Chinese New Year, the year of the Ox. 

 

Lee and Oakley are surprised!

Make up your own caption for this one of George, the dragon and Lee. 

 

Marty, Anne, Elizabeth and George about to be eaten by a scary dragon! Well, maybe not. Many thanks to Maurice Bass for taking the photos above!

Each month the Prime Timers get together for dinner at an area restaurant. This month was special, celebrating Chinese New Year at Vietopia restaurant. Even though we don't have any Chinese members so far we all had a great time.

Prime Timers Celebrate Good News!

We celebrate our members Good News at Prime Timers with a $1 contribution to Henny Penny, our Good News chicken. Periodically Henny donates the money she collects to a worthy charity, currently the Amistad Mission in Bolivia.  It was our teacher Donn's birthday, and our member Larry celebrated his 85th! I told you we don't check ages! Marie said she was still celebrating her birthday, and a special party arranged by her children. Lynn then read some more birthdays in February, even though the people were not present.

Nathan Challenges David

Donn Fullenweider taught class today, leading us in a discussion of King David in his later years. As he likes to do, Donn filled in some historical background. The events we discussed happened about a thousand years before Jesus. King David sleeps with Bathsheba, wife of Uriah the Hittite, and Bathsheba becomes pregnant. In order to conceal this David sends for Uriah, who is with the Israelite army at the siege of Rabbah, so that he might sleep with her and provide cover. Uriah refuses so David orders Uriah's commander Joab to abandon Uriah in the field. Uriah is killed, David marries Bathsheba, but David's actions anger God.

Donn is reading James Kugel's book "How to Read the Bible". This book contrasts ancient Bible scholarship, that considers the Bible a perfect book and modern biblical scholarship, that tries to find the actual historical story and archeological evidence behind the writing in the Bible. Kugel tells us that the size of King David's army might be somewhat exaggerated in the Biblical account, that David's army was more like a band of guerrillas!

Another thing that struck Donn was that the Israelites were a musical people. The eight string lyre was the instrument of choice.

At any rate, our reading today concerned Nathan, a prophet in King David's court, who by means of a parable shows David that he did a very bad thing in sleeping with Bathsheba and having Uriah killed. David's first child by Bathsheba dies, although the second becomes Solomon.

The Psalm associated with this event is Psalm 51. Donn read part this moving verse this morning, but here is the whole Psalm:

¹ Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

² Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

⁴ Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

⁵ Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

⁶ Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

⁷ Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

⁸ Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

⁹ Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

¹⁰ Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

¹¹ Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

¹³ Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

¹⁴ Save me from bloodguilt, O God,
the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

¹⁶ You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise.

¹⁸ In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.

¹⁹ Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Donn noted that David says he only sinned against God, not against Uriah. Naturally the next question is to the class:  do you have situations where you are the sinner? George commented that when he has sinned he was usually punished pretty quickly, he did not have to wait until he got to heaven! Another member worked for years in the New York area in trauma wards, where she came into contact with prostitutes. Time and again she found that these women did not choose this life, that circumstances led to a downward spiral leading to what amounted to a form of slavery.

The wonderful series "This I Believe" is being revived by National Public Radio. This series began in the 1950's on Edward R. Murrow's radio program. This was mentioned as class discussion turned to why people do bad things. The anthropologist Margaret Mead believed "...that a newborn infant from the most primitive tribe in New Guinea is as intrinsically capable of graduation from Harvard, or writing a sonnet or inventing a new form of radar as an infant born on Beacon Hill." You can read the entire essay by clicking here.

Donn concluded class with a short benediction, from  Luke 1:38:  Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.

The Lesson for Sunday, February 15th,  is "Esther Risks Her Life"

Key Verse:  Esther 4:16

Focus of the Lesson: Some persons are willing to make commitments that break rules and may imperil themselves. To what do people commit even at personal risk? Queen Esther was willing to sacrifice her life for the people of God.

The reading is Esther 4:1-3, 9-17. This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)

Background Scripture:  Esther 4, Esther 5, Esther 6 and Esther 7

   ¹When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. ²But he went only as far as the king's gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. ³In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

   ⁹Hathach went back and reported to Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰Then she instructed him to say to Mordecai, ¹¹"All the king's officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life. But thirty days have passed since I was called to go to the king."

   ¹²When Esther's words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³he sent back this answer: "Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"

   ¹⁵Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶"Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

   ¹⁷So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther's instructions.

NIV