The Christ as Saviour, by El Greco, 1600, oil on canvas at the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh.

This is a Great Time to Join the Prime Timers!

You are invited to join us in the Parlor after the 9:15 service. We follow a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary, the three year cycle of readings from the Bible you hear at every church service. Next week's readings are right here, at the bottom of the page.

Prime Timer Good News!

A Prime Timer tradition is hearing what others are up to, and charging a dollar for the privilege! We donate the money we collect to charities supported by the church. Today George celebrates losing 15 pounds! Watch out George, this is the point where it starts to go the other way. Murray told us of the passing of the mother of a Priest at the Anglican church in Calgary, Canada where Murray is a member. She was 103 years old!

Take Up Your Cross

George Laigle led our group today as we read about Abraham and God's covenant with him, and us. In Genesis 17 God tells the faithful Abram, who is 99 years old, that he will now be called Abraham and that his barren wife Sarai, who is 90, will now be called Sarah, which means Princess, and that she will bear Abraham a child, Isaac. Whew! That is quite a bit to take in on a walk with God! Class notes that this is the common point in three religions: Jewish, Christian and Moslem. God tells Abraham he will be father of nations. According to David Barrett's World Christian Encyclopedia Muslims and Christians account for around 54% of the worlds population so you can say objectively that God's word came true.

Speaking of nations, George saw a presentation on Houston Demographics this past week, showing how the Hispanic population is growing and how it is only a matter of time to when we have a majority Hispanic population. According to the new 2010 census, White people account for 50.5% of Houston's population while Hispanic or Latino are 43.8%. Marty remarked how there are strong Hispanic populations in a band from Texas to California and all the projections have this growing in the future. In the Market Research business finding out what Hispanics like is a big concern right now.

From Mark we have Peter rebuking Jesus for talking of the coming suffering and Jesus saying (Mark 8:33) "...'Get behind me Satan! For your are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.'" Appropriate to our Lenten season Jesus in Mark is showing that his disciples do not understand what Jesus is teaching them! As we reflect on the message of Lent it is our time to consider if we understand what Jesus is teaching us as well.

From our class notes, Dr. Fred B. Craddock, minister of Cherry Log Christian Church in Cherry Log Georgia, wrote in The Christian Century (March 8, 2003):
“For the one who believes in the God who gives life to the dead, the Lenten journey is not only to Good Friday and Easter, but is also a revisiting of one’s own experience. Belief in this intersection of theology, Christology, and experience makes the traveler through Lent a pilgrim. Without this faith one is simply a tourist.”

Murray gave a short prayer to conclude class.

Lectionary readings

The Readings for Sunday, March 11th are from Lectionary Year Two, Lent 3-B, "Restoring True Worship": Exodus 20:1-17; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 and John 2:13-22. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Exodus 20:1-17

¹Then God spoke all these words:

² I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ³you shall have no other gods before me.

⁴ You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, ⁶but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷ You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

⁸ Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. ⁹For six days you shall labour and do all your work. ¹⁰But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

¹² Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³ You shall not murder.

¹⁴ You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵ You shall not steal.

¹⁶ You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

¹⁷ You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.

Psalm 19

To the leader. A Psalm of David.

¹ The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
² Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
³ There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
⁴ yet their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hidden from its heat.

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
⁸ the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
⁹ the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.

¹¹ Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.
¹² But who can detect their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
¹³ Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.

¹⁴ Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

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.

John 2:13-22

¹³ The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. ¹⁵Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’ ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ ¹⁸The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ ¹⁹Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ ²⁰The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ ²¹But he was speaking of the temple of his body. ²²After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

NRSV