The St. Martin's Adult Bible Fellowships welcome you.

Prime Timers is a St. Martin's Adult Bible Fellowship (A.B.F.) geared towards people in the Prime of Life, ages 50-64. We meet in the Payne Education Center in rooms 207-209 from 10:15am to 10:50. You are invited to explore the Bible with us in a course authored by the United Council of Churches.

The Prime Timers are studying the Old Testament, Restoration and Covenant Renewal.

Our readings in May are from Haggai and Nehemiah on rebuilding the Temple and renewing the covenant. If you can't wait, the reading for next week is at the bottom of this page!

Rebuilding the Wall 

Class was shortened this week due to the St. Martin's Annual Parish photo. All the ABF's let out early so everyone could participate. Ben Welmaker conducted class and made the most of the time he had. He framed the story of Nehemiah rebuilding the wall as characteristics of leadership. The Jews returned from exile to find their temple ruined and plundered, the wall protecting the city destroyed. Nehemiah oversees the rebuilding of the temple, but the people lived in a constant state of worry and fear while the wall remained down. Nehemiah goes about systematically arranging for the rebuilding of the wall, getting the sanction of the king, for instance, and letters to those involved for safe passage and acquiring of materials for the rebuilding.

Ben enumerated the characteristics of a good leader, starting with 1) Vision. Nehemiah has a vision of what needs to be done and why. 2) He has the deep conviction needed to see the project through (Nehemiah 1:4) "When I heard these things, I sat down and wept." 3) He uses prayer to begin the project. 4) Nehemiah develops a plan, (Nehemiah 2:7-9) and puts it into action. He is specific and detailed in his requests for letters and materials. 5) He encounters opposition from Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite, but is undeterred. Then 6) Nehemiah carefully gets the facts and details of what needs to be done, and 7) inspires others to follow his vision and solve the problem. (Nehemiah 2:17-18) Finally, 8) he is not afraid to confront evil, by calling is by its name and rejecting its power.

The Bible is filled with great stories like this, with lessons that hold up through millennia. Ben is reading William Manchester's books about Winston Churchill and read some passages from The Last Lion, Alone 1932-1940. Its a story of leadership from a man with no vision, Neville Chamberlin ("Peace in our time" after meeting with Hitler) to Churchill, the visionary leader. From page 505 "It was Britain's misfortune, and the world's, that the men at the helm of His Majesty's Government in 1939 had lost England's compass and, lacking the wisdom of Caesar, thought you could strike a deal by shaking hands with barbarians."

Here is Manchester describing Admiral Nelson before the Battle of Trafalgar, page 510 "He signaled his captains to form for the attack in two columns. Then:  Nelson went down to his cabin to compose a prayer.  'May the Great God whom I worship grant to my country and for the benefit of Europe a great and glorious victory...For myself, I commit my life to Him who made me, and may His blessing light upon my endeavors for serving my country faithfully.'"

Page 506:  After a German submarine got into Scapa flow and on October 13, 1939 sank Royal Oak taking down its captain and 833 sailors, Churchill wrote down these lines from the Irish poet Thomas Moore:

I feel like one
Who treads alone
Some banquet hall deserted,
Whose lights are fled,
Whose garlands dead,
And all but he departed.

Ben concluded class with a prayer.

The Lesson for Sunday, May 18th is "Up Against the Wall"

Key Verse:  Nehemiah 4:6

Focus of the Lesson: With every worthy cause come detractors, those who will ridicule or work against it. How can we carry on? Nehemiah and the Israelites found God's help to counteract the plots against them and to continue the work on the wall--finishing in record time.

The reading is Nehemiah 4:1-3, 6-9, 13-15; 6:15. This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)

Background Scripture:  Nehemiah 4--6

   ¹When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, ²and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, "What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?"

   ³Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, "What they are building—if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!"

   ⁶So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.

   ⁷But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. ⁸They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. ⁹But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.

   ¹³Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows. ¹⁴After I looked things over, I stood up and said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes."

   ¹⁵When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.

   ¹⁵So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days.

NIV