One of the bells at St. Martin's Church. The Whitechapel Bell Foundry made the Liberty Bell and the hour bell in Big Ben.

Prime Timers

The Prime Timers were a Bible study group at St. Martin's for eight years. One of the goals of our founder, Jackie Rose, was to have a weekly web page for the group and all the pages are still online here. The group disbanded but the readings below are being kept up to date.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, June 24 are from Lectionary Year B, Proper 8 Sunday closest to June 29: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27; Psalm 130; 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 and Mark 5:21-43. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New International Version.

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27

¹ After the death of Saul, David returned from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days.

¹⁷ David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan, ¹⁸ and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):

¹⁹ “A gazelle lies slain on your heights, Israel.
        How the mighty have fallen!

²⁰ “Tell it not in Gath,
     proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,

lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad,
     lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

²¹ “Mountains of Gilboa,
     may you have neither dew nor rain,
     may no showers fall on your terraced fields.

For there the shield of the mighty was despised,
     the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil.

²² “From the blood of the slain,
     from the flesh of the mighty,

the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
     the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.

²³ Saul and Jonathan— in life they were loved and admired,
     and in death they were not parted.

They were swifter than eagles,
     they were stronger than lions.

²⁴ “Daughters of Israel, weep for Saul,
     who clothed you in scarlet and finery,
     who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.

²⁵ “How the mighty have fallen in battle!
     Jonathan lies slain on your heights.

²⁶ I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother;
     you were very dear to me.

Your love for me was wonderful,
     more wonderful than that of women.

²⁷ “How the mighty have fallen!
     The weapons of war have perished!”

Psalm 130

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;
    ² Lord, hear my voice.
     Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
     Lord, who could stand?

⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,
     so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
     and in his word I put my hope.

⁶ I wait for the Lord
     more than watchmen wait for the morning,
     more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the LORD,
     for with the LORD is unfailing love
     and with him is full redemption.

⁸ He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

⁷ But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

⁸ I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. ¹⁰ And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. ¹¹ Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. ¹² For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. ¹³ Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. ¹⁴ At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, ¹⁵ as it is written:

    “The one who gathered much did not have too much,
         and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Mark 5:21-43

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²² Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. ²³ He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. ³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” ³¹ “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” ³⁶ Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” ³⁷ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³ He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.