"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therfore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:16-30 - The Great Commission

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, October 23, are from Lectionary Year C, Sunday Closest to October 26- Proper 25: Joel 2:23-32; Psalm 65 or Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10,19-22; 2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18 and Luke 18:9-14. The text is from the New International Version *

Joel 2:23-32

²³ Be glad, people of Zion,
     rejoice in the LORD your God,

for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful.
     He sends you abundant showers,
     both autumn and spring rains, as before.

²⁴ The threshing floors will be filled with grain;
     the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.

²⁵ “I will repay you for the years
     the locusts have eaten—

the great locust and the young locust,
     the other locusts and the locust swarm —
     my great army that I sent among you.

²⁶ You will have plenty to eat, until you are full,
     and you will praise the name of the LORD your God,
     who has worked wonders for you;

never again will my people be shamed.

²⁷ Then you will know that I am in Israel,
     that I am the LORD your God, and that there is no other;

never again will my people be shamed.

    The Day of the LORD

²⁸ “And afterward,
     I will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
     your old men will dream dreams,
     your young men will see visions.

²⁹ Even on my servants, both men and women,
     I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

³⁰ I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth,
     blood and fire and billows of smoke.

³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. ³² And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.

Psalm 65

¹ Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
     to you our vows will be fulfilled.

² You who answer prayer,
     to you all people will come.

³ When we were overwhelmed by sins,
     you forgave our transgressions.

⁴ Blessed are those you choose
     and bring near to live in your courts!
     We are filled with the good things of your house,
     of your holy temple.

⁵ You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,
     God our Savior,
     the hope of all the ends of the earth
     and of the farthest seas,

⁶ who formed the mountains by your power,
     having armed yourself with strength,

⁷ who stilled the roaring of the seas,
     the roaring of their waves,
     and the turmoil of the nations.

⁸ The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
     where morning dawns, where evening fades,
     you call forth songs of joy.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
     you enrich it abundantly.
     The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain,
     for so you have ordained it.

¹⁰ You drench its furrows and level its ridges;
     you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

¹¹ You crown the year with your bounty,
     and your carts overflow with abundance.

¹² The grasslands of the wilderness overflow;
     the hills are clothed with gladness.

¹³ The meadows are covered with flocks
     and the valleys are mantled with grain;
     they shout for joy and sing.

or Sirach 35:12-17

¹² Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
     and as generously as you can afford.

¹³ For the Lord is the one who repays,
     and he will repay you sevenfold.

¹⁴ Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it;
     ¹⁵ and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice;

for the Lord is the judge,
     and with him there is no partiality.

¹⁶ He will not show partiality to the poor;
     but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged.

¹⁷ He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan,
     or the widow when she pours out her complaint.

or Jeremiah 14:7-10,19-22

⁷ Although our sins testify against us,
     do something, LORD, for the sake of your name.

For we have often rebelled;
     we have sinned against you.

⁸ You who are the hope of Israel,
     its Savior in times of distress,
     why are you like a stranger in the land,
     like a traveler who stays only a night?

⁹ Why are you like a man taken by surprise,
     like a warrior powerless to save?

You are among us, LORD, and we bear your name;
     do not forsake us!

¹⁰ This is what the LORD says about this people:
     “They greatly love to wander;
     they do not restrain their feet.

So the LORD does not accept them;
     he will now remember their wickedness
     and punish them for their sins.”

¹⁹ Have you rejected Judah completely?
     Do you despise Zion?

Why have you afflicted us
     so that we cannot be healed?

We hoped for peace but no good has come,
     for a time of healing but there is only terror.

²⁰ We acknowledge our wickedness, LORD,
     and the guilt of our ancestors;
     we have indeed sinned against you.

²¹ For the sake of your name
     do not despise us; do not dishonor your glorious throne.
     Remember your covenant with us and do not break it.

²² Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
     Do the skies themselves send down showers?

No, it is you, LORD our God.
     Therefore our hope is in you,
     for you are the one who does all this.

Psalm 84:1-6

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty!
    ² My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD;
       my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
     and the swallow a nest for herself,
     where she may have her young—
     a place near your altar, LORD Almighty,
     my King and my God.

⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
     they are ever praising you.

⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
     whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.

⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
     they make it a place of springs;
     the autumn rains also cover it with pools.

2 Timothy 4:6-8,16-18

⁶ For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

¹⁶ At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Luke 18:9-14

    The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ ¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ ¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Thanks to Bible Study Tools for today's text.