Uh oh, its the Saint Martins Adult Bible Fellowship Prime Timers Halloween Web Page!

We meet in the scary Payne Education Center, rooms 207-209 each Sunday in between the 9 and 11am services from 10:10 to 10:50 Currently we are studying God's Living Covenant from the Old Testament. Don't forget, ghosts, coffee and snacks are provided at all the St. Martin's ABFs!

Snack Lady Anna DuTerroil with French Maid and our gracious hostess Carolyn Maryan.

The Prime Timers Halloween Party!

Skip and Caroline Maryan hosted the Prime Timers Halloween Party Saturday, October 28. Skip is in Seoul, Korea so he gets a by on cleaning up afterwards!  It was a wonderful time for all and Carolyn deserves credit for making everyone feel at home, in fact she gave us all a tour of the whole house. The Maryan's are moving back to Virginia and their house is currently up for sale. We will all miss them.

Prime Timer Good News

The Prime Timers devote time at the beginning of each class to hear good news or thanks from our members. This week our Halloween party hostess, Carolyn Maryan gave thanks for her husband Skip, who is returning from Korea this Tuesday. Carolyn sings in the choir and couldn't say enough about the St. Martin's Children's Choir, who sang at the 9:00am service. Finally, Carolyn's sister, Cathy Pike,  will be giving a talk this Saturday, November 4 at the Daughter's of the King monthly meeting in Rooms 210-212 of the Payne Education Center. Cathy is a multi-talented woman who will be arranging flowers as she speaks, using flower arrangement as a metaphor for spiritual growth!

God Answers Prayer

Skip Allen taught class this week and began our Old Testament look at prayers answered by expanding on the story of Solomon. Right after today's reading, for instance, is the story of the baby and the two prostitutes. Solomon calls for a sword to split the baby in two so that both women can have a half! The words of each woman allow Solomon to determine the real mother and give the baby to her. Skip calls this the high point of the story of Solomon. As Solomon's reign continues, he builds the temple that allows Israel to obey the law of Deuteronomy 12 for the first time. Unfortunately he also marries many wives, and they entice him into worshiping foreign god's.  The Lord punishes Solomon for this.

In today's reading, we see Solomon at the beginning of his reign, humbly asking God for a discerning heart to govern his people. The Lord is pleased that Solomon is asking for wisdom and not for wealth or long life, or the death of his enemies. The Lord grants Solomon a wise and discerning heart (1 Kings 3:12) "so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be." He also gives Solomon riches, honor and long life.

All of this dialog occurs in a dream. Skip asked the class if any of us had heard the Lord in a dream. This led to a lively discussion in class about the nature of prayer and dreams. Everyone seems to have opinions on this! We agree on the power of prayer, and that God answers prayer. As to dreams, things are not quite so straightforward. Possibly the use of dreams to show the voice of the Lord is used by the author as a literary device to lend authority to the words attributed to God. After all, who controls your dreams?

Others spoke of miracles. In today's life its possible to forget that many things that we take for granted would be considered miracles not very long ago. What about small miracles? This Sunday in Houston the weather could not have been more perfect! A wonderful day to be outside, a great day to meet people at St. Martin's. Do we need fantastic miracles to believe in the power of God?

The talk of miracles reminded Skip Allen of a story about a man falling into a canyon, praying "Help me Lord", "Help Me Lord!" When a bush appears and the man grabs it he says "Never mind Lord!"

Max Kech read our Healing Prayer, followed by Skip reading a benediction and dismissing the class.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leaders

The photos in this column are from the Prime Timers Halloween Party this past Saturday. You can click on them to see a larger version! (If you click and the photo doesn't look much larger, try moving your mouse pointer away from the photo and then back over the bottom right corner. If an icon appears, clicking on it will allow you to see the photo at full size. This works in Internet Explorer 6.)

Melissa and John "Kinky" Grant.

Max "Geisha" Kech and Anne "Boa" Berry.

Katherine Given with Bobbie Griffith-Winner and French Maid Carolyn Maryan.

Hawaiian traveler's George and Elisabeth Laigle with Carolyn Maryan and Anne Berry

Donna and Lone Ranger Ben Welmaker.

The Lesson for Sunday, November 5th is titled "Depending on God's Power"

Key Verse:  1 Kings 18:39

Background Scripture:  1 Kings 18:20-39

Focus of the Lesson:  Sometimes we need to depend on a power greater than ourselves. What power can we depend on? At a very critical moment, Elijah depended on God's power, and he was not disappointed.

The reading is 1 Kings 18:20-24, 30-35, 38-39. This text is from the New International Version^®.

   ²⁰So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. ²¹Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
   But the people said nothing.

   ²²Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. ²³Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. ²⁴Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God."
   Then all the people said, "What you say is good."

   ³⁰Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. ³¹Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." ³²With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. ³³He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."

   ³⁴"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.
"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. ³⁵The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

   ³⁸Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

   ³⁹When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!"

NIV®