"Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:12)

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!

Get ready, the Houston Marathon is next week, January 30! This is the scene from last year.

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.

Prime Timers Go to Dinner!

Each month the Prime Timers gather for fellowship and a great meal at a local restaurant. This Tuesday, January 25, at 6:30pm we have reservations at Auntie Pastos at 5101 Bellaire Blvd. at Rice. This is in Bellaire, just past Rice Boulevard if you are coming from the east. It is on the south side of Bellaire Boulevard and on one of those sections that are divided. Please let Lynn Swaffar know if you are coming, she's at 281-495-3832.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, January 30th are from Lectionary Year One, Epiphany-4A, "The Blessed Life"

The Readings for this week are Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 and Matthew 5:1-12. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Micah 6:1-8

Hear what the Lord says:

¹Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
and let the hills hear your voice.
² Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord,
and you enduring foundations of the earth;
for the Lord has a controversy with his people,
and he will contend with Israel.

³ 'O my people, what have I done to you?
In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
⁵ O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.'

⁶ 'With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?'
⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Psalm 15

A Psalm of David.

¹ O Lord, who may abide in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy hill?

² Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right,
and speak the truth from their heart;
³ who do not slander with their tongue,
and do no evil to their friends,
nor take up a reproach against their neighbours;
⁴ in whose eyes the wicked are despised,
but who honour those who fear the Lord;
who stand by their oath even to their hurt;
⁵ who do not lend money at interest,
and do not take a bribe against the innocent.

Those who do these things shall never be moved.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

¹⁸ For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written,
'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.'
²⁰Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. ²²For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, ²³but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
²⁶ Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no one might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹in order that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.'

Matthew 5:1-12

¹When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ²Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
³ 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
⁵ 'Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
⁶ 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
⁷ 'Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
⁸ 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
⁹ 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
¹⁰ 'Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
¹¹ 'Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

NRSV