Its your lucky day! You found the Prime Timers.

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!

 

Marty, Anne, and George watch as Elizabeth is 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.

The monthly dinner for February is this Tuesday, February 17, 6:30 pm at the Lemongrass Cafe, 5109 Bellaire Boulevard, 713-664-6698. http://www.lemongrass-cafe.com/.

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.  George celebrated his grand-children! He gave a 50 year old non-working tractor to them and darn if they didn't get it running and doing useful work. Donn gave thanks for Valentines day.

Esther Risks Her Life

Donn Fullenweider taught class today, leading us in a discussion of the Book of Esther. As he told us, this is the last book accepted into the Bible, occuring during a time when the Jews were under Persian rule, under King Ahasuerus, or Xerxes in Greek. The story of Esther and Mordecai is the basis of the Jewish festival Purim. On both the evening and morning of Purim (the fourteenth and fifteenth of the month of Adar or February-March) the entire book is read aloud. The book is the only book of the Hebrew Bible not mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Xerxes was the son of King Cyrus, and the subject of an opera by Handel. Although unrelated to the story of Esther, the opening of the opera has Xerxes singing an ode to a tree! The music is Handel's Largo, you can click here for a nice organ recital of this moving piece on YouTube!

As an introduction to Ahasuerus, Donn read this passage from James Kugel's book "How to Read the Bible" (p 645) "Ahasuerus is a pompous windbag, whose main concern in life is the endless stream of all-night drunken revels that he enjoys in the company of various members of his immense harem. When the DTs get so bad that he cannot fall asleep (Esther 6:1), he has his servants read to him from the official records of his own court, since affairs of state are so boring that, even in his infirm condition, their recitation has at least the potential to put him back to sleep."

The book of Esther is controversial, to say the least. Martin Luther (1483-1546) wished it had never been written. According to the New Oxford Annotated Bible, p 708, While the Persian King is mentioned 190 times, the God of Israel is never mentioned once! Neither are basic Jewish themes, such as the Law, covenant, prayer, dietary regulations, or Jerusalem. The book is an exaggeration and fiction, but deals with issues real to the times.

It is a book celebrating revenge, Esther and Mordecai against the evil Haman, who conspires to kill ALL the Jews and instead is hanged on a gallows he intended for Mordecai. Esther is a woman who risks death to do the right thing. While we will hopefully never be in her position, how many times in our lives did we turn away from the right thing in the name of expediency, or not wanting to cause trouble, or make trouble for ourselves. George brought up the example of the third cousin he visits in prison. This cousin murdered his mother, and as George describes it, has no one else. George visits this cousin every five weeks, and recently got him to read "Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis. It is a wrenching situation for George, but it sounds like he is really doing the right thing! Another member mentioned the Holocaust Museum in downtown Houston. Only one of us has visited this important memorial.

For meditation, here is the suggested reading from our course materials, Philippians 1:20-30:

²⁰I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²²If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

²⁷Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel ²⁸without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. ²⁹For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, ³⁰since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
 

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 22nd,  is "Isaiah Answers God's Call"

Key Verse:  Isaiah 6:8

Focus of the Lesson: Some people may be required to give up a way of life and to relocate in order to fulfill their commitment. How much are we willing to sacrifice for a commitment? Isaiah answered God's call to commitment by giving up everything and moving on.

The reading is Isaiah 6:1-8. This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)

Background Scripture:  Isaiah 6

   ¹In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³And they were calling to one another:
   "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory."

   ⁴At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

   ⁵"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

   ⁶Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

   ⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"

NIV