The St. Martins Prime Timers Adult Bible Fellowship welcomes you to our web page!

We meet each Sunday from 10:10am to 10:50 in rooms 207-207 of the Payne Education Center. Come join us for coffee, donuts, fellowship and the Book of Acts.

Caroline Maryan's wacky hat can only mean one thing:  the Maryans have lost their minds and are hosting another Prime Timers Party!

Yes, its the Prime Timers Halloween Party!

Prime Timer teacher Skip Maryan and his wife Caroline are graciously hosting this years Halloween Party on Saturday, October 29 at 7pm. RSVP to Caroline at 713-974-1490, or by email to maryanfamily@earthlink.net Please reply by October 25. To get to the Maryans from the church you go west on Woodway to Chimney Rock, turn right and then make a left two blocks later onto Bayou Glen Road. Bayou Glen ends at Green Tree Road. The Maryans are to the right at 6007.

Announcements

Jackie Rose distributed Five Friends cards. These are meant for you to write down five people you think could use a meaningful relation to God. You then pray for these people, and see what happens. Don't worry, there won't be a test!

Last week was Stewardship Sunday and this week is Makeup Stewardship Sunday, so if you have not made a pledge to the Church, now would be a good time to do something about it.

Good News!

Henny Penny is our Good News chicken. Donate a dollar to her and you get to tell us your Good News!

Our Mentor, the Rev. Rusty Goldsmith, reported that his son was just engaged, and the parents whole-heartedly embrace their future daughter-in-law.

Melissa Grant brought the Good News of a new Grandchild.

Finally, Caroline Maryan told us her son in the Navy's baby was baptized, and that today, October 23, was the 20th anniversary of their marriage!

Breaking the Gospel Barriers.

Today's vocabulary words are 1) centurion, a Roman soldier in charge of generally 60-80 men, not 100 as is popularly believed. Sixty of these groups constitutes 2) a legion. Six thousand fighting men is the maximum size of a legion. Julius Caesar's legions consisted of 3,500 men, for instance, and at times the number was reduced to 1,000 to curb the power of mutinous commanders. 3) is kosher, conforming to dietary laws; ritually pure.

Acts 10 is a vision within a vision. Cornelius is a Centurion in the Roman army who had embraced monotheism, was a devout and God-fearing man, and prayed to God regularly. He has a vision telling him to go and seek out Peter. He sends two of his servants to Joppa to do just this.

Peter also has a vision, and like he does many times in the Bible, questions what he is seeing and gets straightened out by God. His vision contained all sorts of animals, reptiles and birds. A voice tells him (Acts 10:13) "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." Peter responds that he would never eat anything impure or unclean, a reference to the Jewish dietary laws. The angel tells him (Acts 10:15) "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Peter then goes and meets with the Roman centurion's representatives.

Skip told us that what follows is called the "Pentecost of the Gentiles." Peter goes with Cornelius' representatives back to Caesarea and preaches to a large group of people, without the Jewish restrictions on association.

While today we can see The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) as a central part of our faith, back in Biblical times after Jesus' death many of the details were still being worked out. This was an exciting time. As Dr. Gipson pointed out in his sermon this week, there were 613 command-ments in the Jewish law. The idea that all people could be baptized, regardless of nation, culture or religion was a revolutionary idea, to say the least.

Jackie Rose led the class in our healing prayer. If you would like to take over the duties of healing prayer while Max Kech is in Colorado until the end of the year, please contact Jackie. Your duties will consist of reading the healing prayer and collecting the names of the people who have requested the prayers.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

The Rev. Maurice L. "Rusty" Goldsmith. D.D.
713/985-3831
rgoldsmith@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leader

Prime Timers preparing for battle, well, fortifying themselves with coffee and some wonderful breakfast treats.

Our mentor, the Rev. Rusty Goldsmith, with great news about his son.

Melissa Grant with a Grand announcement.

St. Peter figures in today's lesson. Here he is from the St. Martin's Stained Glass Window in the Chancel area of the main church.

 The Lesson for Sunday, October 30th is titled "Never Alone"

Key Verse:  Acts 12:7

Focus of the Lesson:  People need help in times of trouble. Where is the source of help for people who get in trouble because of their beliefs? The account of the angel sent to rescue Peter from prison and possible death shows us that God can help us endure persecution.

The reading is Acts 12:1-16. This text is from the New International Version.

   1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

   5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

   6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.

   8 Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

   11 Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."

   12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"

   15 "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."

   16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.


NIV®