Welcome to the Prime Timers A.B.F.

We meet just about every Sunday in the Payne Education Center from 10:10am to 10:50, rooms 207-209.  July 2nd all the St. Martin's A.B.F. classes are combined into one for a speech by the Honorable Harold R. (Hal) DeMoss, Jr. in Bagby Parish Hall, Room C. Judge DeMoss is the Circuit Judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals-Fifth Circuit, and the title of his talk is “Do we really need a Wall of Separation between Church and State?”

Ben Welmaker taught class for two weeks in a row, on Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.

Prime Timers Good News

At the beginning of our class we set aside time for members to bring us their good news. For $1 you have the floor. Today Randy Riddell returned with another story of pickup trucks and his son. Last time he recounted a harrowing trip where the truck actually caught on fire! No one was hurt thanks to his son's actions. That truck was retired of course, but got replaced by another used truck, and returning to Houston from Asheville, North Carolina the truck started heating up. Thanks to some cool driving (pun intended) by his son they made it to Baton Rouge safe and sound, where a mechanic found a bad valve.

Randy's son is going into the Navy this fall, with Nuclear Propulsion Systems on Aircraft Carriers in his sights. I think we have the right person for the job, and maybe he will be able to afford a new pickup that won't have so many problems!

Skip Allen gave thanks that his term serving as an usher is over, so he can actually hear the sermons for a change!

Serving Responsibly

Ben Welmaker led another thoughtful class through the first letter of Paul to the Corinthians. The reading is 1 Corinthians 4:1-13. The lesson followed the text in sections, starting with--

You have forgotten what you are. Paul is reminding his subjects that they are servants of the word of Jesus, that they have fallen into the ways of pride and puffery. Ben used what could be our vocabulary word today, fiduciary, someone who holds something of value for someone else's benefit. This is a heavy responsibility as well as a position of great trust. Paul reminds his subjects--

You have violated your trust. You are trustees of the gospel, but you are not acting like it.

It's not all about you. Paul reminds his audience that its the Lord who judges you. You may think you are doing the right thing, your conscience may indeed be clear, but its the Lord who ultimately brings to light what is hidden in the darkness. You didn't write the gospel. Be patient and don't become judgmental, don't inflate your own importance by favoring one apostle over another.

You are an embarrassment.  The verses starting with verse eight heap sarcasm at the subjects, calling them rich and kings, while the apostles are poor, weak and in rags. These are exaggerations to make a point and are not meant to be historical facts. Once again Paul is reminding the Corinthians that they are straying from the real meaning of the gospel.

Get back to work. Paul speaks of working hard "with our own hands" (1 Corinthians 4:12). Following the exaggerations about riches and kings, poor and ragged, Paul speaks a series of traits "When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly."

And, I am sending Timothy to take some names! This occurs starting at verse 14, outside the scope of today's readings, but well worth reading. Paul takes a different tone to remind his listeners what is at stake. Ben reminded us that the Corinthians were a tribal community, where the leader is the King, with authority over the tribe. It is quite possible to have material success and only have authority over your own household, not extending out into the community. (1 Corinthians 4:20-21)  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit?

Then Ben led the class in a short benediction and dismissed the class.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leader

Our class is studying St. Paul's letters to the Corinthians. Here he is pictured on a stained glass window in the new St. Martin's Church.

Randy Riddell gave thanks for his son!

The conversion of Saul by Michelangelo, 1542-45. Fresco is in the Vatican.

The Lesson for Sunday, July 2nd is titled "Living in Relationships"

Key Verse:  1 Corinthians 7:7

Focus of the Lesson:  Relationships with others are a vital part of life. What kind of relationship is best for us? Focusing on human relationships, Paul gives advice to help Christians discern whether they should marry or stay single.

The reading is 1 Corinthians 7:2-15. This text is from the New International Version^®.

   2 But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. 5 Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that.

   8 Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. 9 But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

   10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband. 11 But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband. And a husband must not divorce his wife.

   12 To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If any brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy.

   15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace.

NIV®