St Martin's Church from the Cloister Garden

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, July 22 are from Lectionary Year B, Proper 11 Sunday closest to July 20: 2 Samuel 7:1-14a; Psalm 89:20-37; Ephesians 2:11-22 and Mark 6:30-34, 53-56. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New International Version.

2 Samuel 7:1-14a

¹ After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, ² he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.” ³ Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.”

⁴ But that night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying: ⁵ “Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in? ⁶ I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling. ⁷ Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” ’ ⁸ “Now then, tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. ⁹ I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth. ¹⁰ And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning ¹¹ and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies. “ ‘The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: ¹² When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ I will be his father, and he will be my son.

Psalm 89:20-37

²⁰ I have found David my servant;
     with my sacred oil I have anointed him.

²¹ My hand will sustain him;
     surely my arm will strengthen him.

²² The enemy will not get the better of him;
     the wicked will not oppress him.

²³ I will crush his foes before him
     and strike down his adversaries.

²⁴ My faithful love will be with him,
     and through my name his horn will be exalted.

²⁵ I will set his hand over the sea,
     his right hand over the rivers.

²⁶ He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
     my God, the Rock my Savior.’

²⁷ And I will appoint him to be my firstborn,
     the most exalted of the kings of the earth.

²⁸ I will maintain my love to him forever,
     and my covenant with him will never fail.

²⁹ I will establish his line forever,
     his throne as long as the heavens endure.

³⁰ “If his sons forsake my law
     and do not follow my statutes,

³¹ if they violate my decrees
     and fail to keep my commands,

³² I will punish their sin with the rod,
     their iniquity with flogging;

³³ but I will not take my love from him,
     nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.

³⁴ I will not violate my covenant
     or alter what my lips have uttered.

³⁵ Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
     and I will not lie to David—

³⁶ that his line will continue forever
     and his throne endure before me like the sun;

³⁷ it will be established forever like the moon,
     the faithful witness in the sky.”

Ephesians 2:11-22

¹¹ Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— ¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. ¹⁷ He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. ¹⁸ For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. ¹⁹ Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, ²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹ In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²² And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

³⁰ The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. ³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” ³² So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. ³³ But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

⁵³ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.