Ike is Gone, Join Us in the Parlor Next Sunday!

Prime Timers is a St. Martin's Adult Christian Education (A.C.E.) group for people in the Prime of Life, ages 50-64. We now meet in the Parlor near the Church Offices from 10:15am to 11:00. The Parlor is a comfortable room, we have coffee and donuts, and Prime Timers is fortunate to call the Parlor our new home. We are starting a new course from the United Council of Churches titled The New Testament Community. While September was interrupted by Hurricane Ike, October is a journey through the book of Acts, and you are invited!

Prime Timers Celebrates Good News.

We celebrate Good News, but the Big News in Houston was a storm named Ike! Its two weeks after the event, most of us have our power restored, and in our group we were fortunate that it was mostly an inconvenience and not a disaster. 

Today Lynne gave thanks that we were all back together, and Pete reported he now has two new granddaughters, Piper and Montgomery.

Creating a Community of Servants

Our clergy mentor, Vice-Rector Ken Fields conducted class today, opening our time today with the book of Matthew by asking how many of us remember the 1928 Episcopal Prayer Book. The overwhelming quantity of Gospel lessons in this Book of Common Prayer were from Matthew! Matthew was written in the first century after Christ's death, when many of the people who actually experienced the events of Jesus' life had passed away. Matthew is something of a "User's Manual" for Christians.

Reverend Fields brought an historical perspective to our reading for today, from Matthew 20:17-28, where Jesus alludes to his death and hears a request from a mother for her sons to "sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." In the early church it was the woman of the house who prepared the table and began the service! Over the next centuries the church would of course become male dominated. The passage from Matthew is the second time Jesus refers to his death, and the woman asking for her son's to sit at Jesus right and left hand allows Jesus to make the point that his is a mission of service. Its startling to hear this request, as every week we repeat the Nicene Creed during the Holy Eucharist "he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father."

Paul created many of the early churches, and then tended to them, at the loss of his freedom and finally his life. His legacy is of course the many letters he sent to these churches. The episcopos, or bishop of the church was responsible for the spiritual part of the service, while the diakonos or deacon saw to the concerns of the congregation. This is the origin of the Prayers of the People, part of the Holy Eucharist.

Around 1050 there was a split in the church, along the lines of East and West. While the image of Christ on the cross became the symbol of the church in the west, with its emphasis on salvation, the image of the risen Christ with an empty cross symbolized the Eastern church. Further down the line the Reformation changed the church again, and today we are ever further away from the servant church referred to by Matthew in today's reading. 

Rev. Fields concluded class with a short benediction.

The Lesson for Sunday, October 5th is "Empowered to Be a Community"

Key Verse:  Acts 2:4

Focus of the Lesson: In our individualistic society, many people long for a sense of community. Where can we find resources to develop such community? At Pentecost, God provided spiritual power that brings together life's disjointed elements and bridges the gaps that divide people.

The reading is Acts 2:1-17 This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)

Background Scripture:  Acts 2

   ¹When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

   ⁵Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. ⁷Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? ⁸Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? ⁹Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" ¹²Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

   ¹³Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine."

   ¹⁴Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: "Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. ¹⁵These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning! ¹⁶No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
¹⁷" 'In the last days, God says,
   I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
   Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
   your young men will see visions,
   your old men will dream dreams.'

NIV