The Altar at St. Martin's Church

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, November 29 are from the Lectionary Year B First Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 and Mark 13:24-37. The text is from the Bible Study Tools - New International Version.

Isaiah 64:1-9

¹ Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
     that the mountains would tremble before you!

² As when fire sets twigs ablaze
     and causes water to boil,

come down to make your name known to your enemies
     and cause the nations to quake before you!

³ For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,
     you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.

⁴ Since ancient times no one has heard,
     no ear has perceived,

no eye has seen any God besides you,
     who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.

⁵ You come to the help of those who gladly do right,
     who remember your ways.

But when we continued to sin against them,
     you were angry. How then can we be saved?

⁶ All of us have become like one who is unclean,
     and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,
     and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

⁷ No one calls on your name
     or strives to lay hold of you;

for you have hidden your face from us
     and have given us over to our sins.

⁸ Yet you, LORD, are our Father.
     We are the clay, you are the potter;
     we are all the work of your hand.

⁹ Do not be angry beyond measure, LORD;
     do not remember our sins forever.
     Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.

Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18

¹ Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.
     You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

² before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
     Awaken your might; come and save us.

³ Restore us, O God;
     make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

⁴ How long, LORD God Almighty,
     will your anger smolder
     against the prayers of your people?

⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears;
     you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

⁶ You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,
     and our enemies mock us.

⁷ Restore us, God Almighty;
     make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

¹⁷ Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
     the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

¹⁸ Then we will not turn away from you;
     revive us, and we will call on your name.

¹⁹ Restore us, LORD God Almighty;
     make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴ I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— ⁶ God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. ⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. ⁸ He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Mark 13:24-37

Jesus said, ²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

    “ ‘the sun will be darkened,
         and the moon will not give its light;
   ²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
         and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that itis near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

³² “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴ It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. ³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.