St. Martin's Church from the balcony

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 27, are from Lectionary Year C, the Sunday closest to October 26, Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22; Psalm 84:1-6; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 and Luke 18:9-14. The text is from the New Revised Standard Version. *

Sirach 35:12-17

¹²Give to the Most High as he has given to you,and as generously as you can afford. ¹³For the Lord is the one who repays, and he will repay you sevenfold. ¹⁴Do not offer him a bribe, for he will not accept it ¹⁵and do not rely on a dishonest sacrifice; for the Lord is the judge, and with him there is no partiality. ¹⁶He will not show partiality to the poor; but he will listen to the prayer of one who is wronged. ¹⁷He will not ignore the supplication of the orphan, or the widow when she pours out her complaint.

Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22

⁷ Although our iniquities testify against us,
act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;
our apostasies indeed are many,
and we have sinned against you.
⁸ O hope of Israel,
its saviour in time of trouble,
why should you be like a stranger in the land,
like a traveller turning aside for the night?
⁹ Why should you be like someone confused,
like a mighty warrior who cannot give help?
Yet you, O Lord, are in the midst of us,
and we are called by your name;
do not forsake us!

¹⁰ Thus says the Lord concerning this people:
Truly they have loved to wander,
they have not restrained their feet;
therefore the Lord does not accept them,
now he will remember their iniquity
and punish their sins.

¹⁹ Have you completely rejected Judah?
Does your heart loathe Zion?
Why have you struck us down
so that there is no healing for us?
We look for peace, but find no good;
for a time of healing, but there is terror instead.
²⁰ We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord,
the iniquity of our ancestors,
for we have sinned against you.
²¹ Do not spurn us, for your name’s sake;
do not dishonour your glorious throne;
remember and do not break your covenant with us.
²² Can any idols of the nations bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Is it not you, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on you,
for it is you who do all this.

Psalm 84:1-6

To the leader: according to The Gittith. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
² My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

³ Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
⁴ Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.
Selah

⁵ Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
⁶ As they go through the valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.

2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18

⁶ As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. ⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

¹⁶ At my first defence no one came to my support, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them! ¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Luke 18:9-14

⁹ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: ¹⁰‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. ¹²I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” ¹³But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

* "New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved."
NRSV