He is risen, He is risen indeed! Alleluia, Alleluia!

You are invited to join our class each Sunday in the Payne Education Center from 10:10am to 10:50 in rooms 207-209.  Coffee and treats await you, along with some good old fashioned Bible Study. We hope you will join us!

Prime Timers Good News

The Prime Timers Good News chicken, Henny Penny, accepts dollars so that members can bring their good news to class. George Laigle told us that he prayed for rain on the new trees he planted on his property, and that three weeks later it did indeed rain! Elizabeth Sleeper brought the wonderful news that her husband Lockert had his operation for a crushed disk and is back home recuperating. Caroline Maryan reported that her son Andrew reported for Boot Camp in the Navy. Now this is the Maryan family so you know its not the end of the story! Andrew re-appeared at home at short time later. The Navy sent him home, but just to pick up his Social Security card! On another note from the Maryans, Caroline reported that husband Skip re-created John Travolta's Saturday Night Fever role for their daughter Allison. We understand there is video...

Max Kech appealed for more members to join in the reading program at Rusk Elementary School. This is a very rewarding program and Max would be happy to fill you in on all the details.

Where is Peace Found

Today's vocabulary word is enigma, something that is puzzling, ambiguous, or inexplicable; a riddle. Eerdman's Commentaries start out describing Ecclesiastes as an enigma, that it defies logical analysis.

Our reading can be looked at several ways. At a superficial level it sounds like the main theme is disillusionment, cynicism and despair. (Ecclesiastes 1:2) "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.   "Utterly meaningless!
     Everything is meaningless." 

The traditional view of the authorship of Ecclesiastes is that it is King Solomon. This is supported directly in the book (Ecclesiastes 1:12) I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. As with many topics in the bible, there is a lot of controversy over this subject! Click here: http://www.theology.edu/biblesurvey/eccles.htm
 We can move on knowing that the writer uses the literary device of a narrator or teacher as the "voice" driving the book, and that the book is a critique of secularism in Jewish religion; an exposition of the corruption Man brings to many of his endeavors.

This is the deeper message of the book, a condemnation of misguided human materialism, treating things as an end in themselves. Instead, the book proposes, the significance of the world is that it can be a window to the revelation of God's goodness and wisdom.

Getting more into the details of the reading, the Book of Ecclesiastes mentions the phrase "under the sun" twenty-nine times. This phrase refers to mans work on earth, or the burden of living on earth.

The reading then turns to the Book of John for a contrast to Ecclesiastes. The passage is appropriate for this week, one week after Easter, as it is about one of the appearances of Jesus after the crucifixion. Jesus says "Peace be with you" and then (John 20:23) "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." This reading then continues into the story of "Doubting Thomas" the subject of a wonderful sermon by our new Vice-Rector and the Prime Timers Mentor, the Rev. Massey Gentry.

In our discussion, George Laigle asked how does "not forgiving" fit into Jesus' forgiving of our sins. This is a very good question. The Catholic Church uses this line to justify its teaching that the key to purgatory lies in the hands of the priests.

Skip Maryan then delivered a benediction prior to closing the session.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leader

This is the Prime Timers! Photo taken on Palm Sunday, April 9, 2006.

Not wearing that coat, but bringing that smile, Elizabeth Sleeper told us husband Lockert had his operation and is recovering at home.

George Laigle prayed for rain, and got it!

Caroline Maryan suggested that there may be video of her husband Skip impersonating John Travolta doing "Staying Alive." Would you believe someone wearing a hat like that? Just kidding.

The Lesson for Sunday, April 30th is titled "Everything Has a Season"

Key Verse:  Ecclesiastes 3:1

Focus of the Lesson:  People want to believe these is a time for everything that occurs in life. How does God's time schedule relate to our lives? This text reveals that God does everything at the right time in our lives.

The reading is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 14-15. This text is from the New International Version^®.

1 There is a time for everything,
   and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.

14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

15 Whatever is has already been,
   and what will be has been before;
   and God will call the past to account.

NIV®