"Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive." (Luke 20:38)

Do you think St. Martin's is such a big church that Adult Christian Education will just be lectures or cliques? Well, we have a place for you! Prime Timers is a small group at St. Martin's for Episcopalians aged fifty and above. Everyone can contribute and no one knows everything, so don't worry about anything! We are following a course of study based on the Revised Common Lectionary, the three year cycle of Bible readings used throughout the Anglican Communion and by many Protestant denominations worldwide. You are invited to join us in the Parlor near the church offices, Sunday after the 9:00am service, 10:15am to 11:00. Keep up to date with our Lectionary based readings at the bottom of this page!

The Calling of St. Matthew by Carravaggio, 1599-1600 for the Contarelli Chapel at San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. Following the tax collector theme from the last couple weeks, this depicts the story in Matthew 9:9 "As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him. "

Prime Timers Good News

The Prime Timers hear members Good News each week at the start of class. We charge a dollar and currently donate the money collected to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia. Lynn gave thanks for the great weather this Sunday!

Salvation Has Come to This House

Carol Hartland returns as the the Prime Timer teacher today as we explore Luke's story of the tax collector who gives away half his money! As we mentioned last week, the tax collector is an image that resonates in a negative way, from biblical times to the present. In Biblical times this person got to keep part of the taxes he collected, was generally a rich man, and was resented as a representative of the conquering Roman Empire. Now take this picture and imagine him running after Jesus, climbing a tree to get a better view! This sounds more like a little kid than an old sinner. Someone who was reborn by contact with Jesus!

Bishop Goodwin related the story of his own faith "reversal." When he was sixteen, Bishop Goodwin went on a serious search for Jesus, writing down what he felt was Jesus mission. Then came college and his mission in Ghana and generally forgetting about the intense searching of his teenage years. In his forties he returned home and his mother gave him a box of "his stuff" and there it was, his teenage writings and the realization that this was a checklist of things that he had accomplished. Bishop Goodwin recognizes how hard it is to make time for Jesus, time to listen instead of talk, time for quiet in the midst of all our distractions and noise. He feels it is worth the effort.

I think we all believe prayer is worth the effort, and Bishop Goodwin recommends a book by David Manuel, "Once Upon a Prayer" that can help on our journeys to a closer relation to God.

Edward F. Markquart is the retired Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Washington state. He writes "Jesus didn't simply come into Zacchaeus' house that day. Rather, Jesus got into Zacchaeus' ... heart ... that day. That's what changed him. No one is ever changed to be a generous person unless Jesus gets into your heart; and when Jesus gets into your heart, your life will be changed. The exact words do not matter; but Jesus in your heart does matter. It is his presence, not any special words, that changes us. When the Spirit is right, any words will do."

Carol concludes class with a short prayer.

The Readings for Sunday, November 7th are from Lectionary Year Three, Proper 27-C, "God's Ultimate Deliverance"

The Readings for this week are Haggai 1:15b--2:9; Psalm 145:1-5, 18-21 or 98; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17 and Luke 20:27-38. The text this week is from the New Revised Standard Version.

Haggai 1:15b--2:9

^15bIn the second year of King Darius,¹in the seventh month, on the twenty-first day of the month, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Haggai, saying: ²Speak now to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people, and say, ³Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing? ⁴Yet now take courage, O Zerubbabel, says the Lord; take courage, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; take courage, all you people of the land, says the Lord; work, for I am with you, says the Lord of hosts, ⁵according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt. My spirit abides among you; do not fear. ⁶For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; ⁷and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendour, says the Lord of hosts. ⁸The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. ⁹The latter splendour of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts.

Psalm 145:1-5, 18-21

Praise. Of David.

¹ I will extol you, my God and King,
and bless your name for ever and ever.
² Every day I will bless you,
and praise your name for ever and ever.
³ Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴ One generation shall laud your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
⁵ On the glorious splendour of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He fulfils the desire of all who fear him;
he also hears their cry, and saves them.
²⁰ The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹ My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and all flesh will bless his holy name for ever and ever.

Psalm 98

¹ O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvellous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gained him victory.
² The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
³ He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.

⁴ Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
⁵ Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
⁶ With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

⁷ Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
⁸ Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
⁹ at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

¹As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, ²not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. ³Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. ⁴He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God. ⁵Do you not remember that I told you these things when I was still with you?

¹³ But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. ¹⁴For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁵So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.
¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, ¹⁷comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

Luke 20:27-38

²⁷ Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him ²⁸and asked him a question, 'Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; ³⁰then the second ³¹and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. ³²Finally the woman also died. ³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her.'
³⁴ Jesus said to them, 'Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; ³⁵but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. ³⁶Indeed they cannot die any more, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. ³⁷And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. ³⁸Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.'

NRSV