Thanks for visiting the St. Martin's Prime Timers A.B.F. web page.

Each Sunday in the Payne Education Center from 10:10am to 10:50 we meet in rooms 207-209.  You are invited for coffee, breakfast treats and readings from the "Wisdom Literature" of the Bible. Come on over and join us!

There is plenty of room for you at the Prime Timers!

Prime Timers Good News

For $1 you can tell us your good news at the beginning of our class. This morning Skip Maryan welcomed back Duncan Corbett, a member who has endured an extended time in the hospital. Welcome back from all of us!

Searched and Known By God

Skip Maryan began today's session with an apology! Last week we read Psalm 104, a psalm of praise to the Lord that a deeply grounded faith conquers fear. Skip was sorry for bringing up the difficult issue of whether we are lying when we say that "everything is all right," even to comfort a child. Skip's wife Caroline regaled him with positive hurricane stories all week as penance. In defense of Skip, this questioning was the first thing in the lesson guide we are following, but perhaps we should let it go with Psalm 104:1:
   Praise the LORD, O my soul.
     O LORD my God, you are very great;
   you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

On to new business, Skip reminded us that our lesson plan uses part of the whole to make its point and leaves the rest for further study. Case in point is today's selection from Psalm 139. You can click on the underlined word above to read the whole psalm. Use your "back" button to return here. This is another psalm of praise to God, who knows us intimately and is everywhere. The reference in Psalm 139:13 "you knit me together in my mother's womb" could easily be understood as DNA.

Line 7: "Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?" was used by nineteenth century commentators as evidence that the writer was a fugitive from God, aware of the danger of being a sinner. We are complicated creatures. We look not only at the physical body but also the mind. We are capable of great good and achievement as well as tremendous evil and self-deception. The psalm ends asking for knowledge, comprehension and life everlasting.

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Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leader

Stained Glass from the new Church North Portal reminding us that this is the season to renew our relationship with Jesus' teachings. This is the window of the Great Commission:  "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." (Mark 16:15)

We have one more week with the Psalms in our readings, but as Skip said last week there are five classes of Psalms, so here are some examples of the other types (click on the underlined word to read the whole Psalm!):

For a Psalm of communal lamentation there is Psalm 44. Especially verses 4-12 and 23-26.

Psalm 22 is an individual lament, the plight of the Righteous Sufferer. Woe is me is the message in verses 1-6

An example of a Royal Psalm is found in Psalm 20 Royal refers to prayers for the Temple or Court Ritual, the message here is "look well on us."

Finally in Psalm 54 we have a prayer of Thanksgiving. The message is the Lord has delivered me out of peril.

Max Kech then led the class in our healing prayer and Skip Maryan then delivered a benediction prior to closing the session.

The Lesson for Sunday, March 26th is titled "Worthy of Praise"

Key Verse:  Psalm 145:8

Focus of the Lesson:  People like to praise that which is worthy of praise. Why should we praise God? The psalmist says that God is great, abundantly good, gracious, merciful, abounding in love, almighty, and everlasting in power.

The reading is Psalm 145:1-13. This text is from the New International Version^®.

1 I will exalt you, my God the King;
    I will praise your name for ever and ever.

2 Every day I will praise you
   and extol your name for ever and ever.

3 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
   his greatness no one can fathom.

4 One generation will commend your works
    to another;
   they will tell of your mighty acts.

5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of
    your majesty,
   and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
    and I will proclaim your great deeds.

7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
   and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
    slow to anger and rich in love.

9 The LORD is good to all;
   he has compassion on all he has made.

10 All you have made will praise you, O LORD;
   your saints will extol you.

11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom
   and speak of your might,

12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts
   and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.

13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
   and your dominion endures through all generations.
The LORD is faithful to all his promises
   and loving toward all he has made.

NIV®