Welcome to the St. Martin's Episcopal Church Prime Timers Adult Bible Fellowship Website!

We meet in the Payne Education Center, rooms 207-209 each Sunday in between the 9 and 11am services from 10:10 to 10:50 Currently we are studying God's Living Covenant from the Old Testament. Don't forget, coffee and snacks are provided at all the St. Martin's ABFs!

The Prime Timers Halloween Party!

Skip and Caroline Maryan hosted the Prime Timers Halloween Party Saturday, October 28. Skip is in Seoul, Korea so he gets a by on cleaning up afterwards!  It was a wonderful time for all and Carolyn deserves credit for making everyone feel at home, in fact she gave us all a tour of the whole house. The Maryan's are moving back to Virginia and their house is currently up for sale. We will all miss them.

This is Henny Penny, the Prime Timers Good News Chicken!

Prime Timer Good News

The Prime Timers Good News chicken, Henny Penny, is always happy to hear members news at the beginning of class. This chicken is also smart enough to charge a dollar for the privilege! In October the Prime Timers donated several years worth of Henny Penny money to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia.

This week Carolyn Maryan reports that they sold their house, in fact they received four bids. Also as reported last week Carolyn's sister Cathy Pike was here to talk, and arrange flowers, for the Daughters of the King meeting Saturday, November 4.

Depending on God's Power

Richard Cruse led the Prime Timers this week with the story of Elijah and the two bulls. He began with some context. King Ahab reigned as King of Israel from 874-853 BC. His wife was Jezebel, who at the time was seeing to the killing off of the Lord's prophets. Elijah is the prophet of the Lord who eventually leaves the world in a chariot of fire. Baal is one of the false God's being followed in Israel at the time.

Richard read from just before our reading for today, starting at 1 Kings 18:17, When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
   ¹⁸"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. ¹⁹Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

Elijah has the followers of Baal bring a bull and prepare it for a feast, and command Baal to light the fire. Baal fails the test.

Then he has the followers of the Lord prepare a similar bull, even having them cover it with water, and the Lord sure enough lights the fire, burns off the water and cooks the bull. The people fell down prostrate and said (1 Kings 18:39) "The LORD -He is God. The LORD -He is God."

This is the Old Testament, however, and its not the end of the story. Elijah has the prophets of Baal seized and executed! This is a jealous God, not tolerant of dissent.

Richard concluded the story with three points:

1) Don't try this at home.

2) He recalled a story from Rev. Graham where he asked God to start his coffee pot in the morning. God didn't comply.

and 3) he recalled the words of Jesus being tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:7) Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'

It is more interesting to consider what DIDN'T happen as a result of this story. Ahab didn't change his ways, he went on being one of the worst Kings of all time. Painted Jezebel went on with her cruel ways.

Class discussion was about the nature of miracles and how our understanding of this changes over time. We don't ask the Lord to light our Bar-B-Q because we know that would be trivial and it most likely wouldn't happen. When Richard asked what we would think if we saw the miracle in the story, we all agreed we would be skeptical and would be looking for the "trick" used to make it happen. Yet most of us have a story from our lives we would recount as a miracle.

The contrast between the harsh justice of the Old Testament and the compassion and forgiveness from Jesus in the New Testament is quite apparent in this reading. Our understanding has changed over time as our culture evolves and our technology advances.

Someone recalled a story of a family member desperately trying to have a child and the doctor telling her that her own body was killing the embryo. Out of the blue a neighbor offers to carry a child for them to term. Was this a miracle or a lucky random happening?

Max Kech read our Healing Prayer, followed by Richard dismissing the class.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leaders

The photos in this column are from the Prime Timers Halloween Party this past Saturday. You can click on them to see a larger version, suitable for printing!

Snack Lady Anna DuTerroil with French Maid and our gracious hostess Carolyn Maryan.

Melissa and John "Kinky" Grant.

Max "Geisha" Kech and Anne "Boa" Berry.

Katherine Given with Bobbie Griffith-Winner and French Maid Carolyn Maryan.

Hawaiian traveler's George and Elisabeth Laigle with Carolyn Maryan and Anne Berry

Donna and Lone Ranger Ben Welmaker.

The Lesson for Sunday, November 12th is titled "Seeking Renewal"

Key Verse:  2 Kings 23:3

Background Scripture:  2 Kings 22-23

Focus of the Lesson:  Life provides us with many opportunities for second chances and other forms of renewal. What spurs us to seek renewal? Reading the book of the covenant drove Josiah to lead the people in a magnificent ceremony of covenant renewal.

The reading is 2 Kings 22:8-10; 23:1-3, 21-23. This text is from the New International Version^®.

   ⁸Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. ⁹Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: "Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple." ¹⁰Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

    ¹Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. ²He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. ³The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD -to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

   ²¹The king gave this order to all the people: "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." ²²Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed. ²³But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the LORD in Jerusalem.

NIV®