Welcome to the Saint Martins Adult Bible Fellowship Prime Timers Web Page.

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 are once again hosting a covered dish, costume optional, Halloween Party this coming Saturday, October 28. Invitations are in the mail, but call 713-974-1490 if not received by Tuesday of this week. We are looking forward to seeing everyone for an absolutely wonderful evening of exciting spirit-filled fun!

Prime Timer Good News

Its official. The Henny Penny fund, currently at $453 will be donated to the Amistad Mission in Bolivia. It will make a tremendous difference in the lives of these underprivileged children.

At the beginning of class we devote time to hear members good news. It costs a dollar, yes the money we just gave to the Amistad Mission represents a lot of good news!

This week Randy Riddell reported, with some pride, attending his son's graduation from Great Lakes Naval Station. Randy's son was one of 1,048 graduating, and Randy was glad to see so many engaged in protecting his, and our, freedom.

Bobby Griffith Winner is a happy Grandparent and reports her 1st Grand Daughter is on the Dean's List and headed for a career in International Law. She also told us her mother, an anchor for her family during Hurricane Katrina, has got her blood pressure under control, and the cancer they found a while ago turned out to be benign.

Robin is a teacher and is celebrating being mentioned in Who's Who of American Women. Way to go Robin!

Promises, Promises, Promises

This week Ben Welmaker guided us through the promises made in 2 Samuel 7. He began by reading the verses before our lesson text as an introduction. David was fretting over whether he should build a temple to house the Ark of the Covenant, when God speaks to David and reminds him where he came from and who is responsible for his success. God then makes a number of promises to David.

Ben went through the promises, discussing whether or not they were fulfilled:

1. God promises to make David's name great.  Certainly this was fulfilled. After all David is a major figure in the Old Testament.

2. Israel is promised a home of its own. This is more problematic. In the short term this promise was realized, but as we have seen through history this is a story with many chapters.

3. God promises to establish David's dynasty. In Jesus this promise was certainly kept.

4. Your offspring will build my temple. Solomon does build the temple.

5. God will be his father, and he will be his son. He will be punished for wrongdoing, but His love will never be taken from him. Another promise fulfilled.

6. Finally, David's house and kingdom will endure forever. If we look at this from the view of Jesus lasting forever as far as we can see this indeed a promise kept.

Ben then read the from Isaiah 9:6-7: 

   ⁶For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

   ⁷Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

And Jeremiah 23:5-6:

   ⁵"The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.

   ⁶In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called:   The LORD Our Righteousness.

He concluded by reading from the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament, Matthew 1:1:

   ¹A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

Finally he read from Luke 1:29-33, after which he  dismissed the class.

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Mentor

Rev. B. Massey Gentry
mgentry@stmartinsepiscopal.org

Leaders

The photos in this column are from last year's Prime Timers Halloween Party. Hope to see you this Saturday at this year's.

Lee Ohrt came to last years Halloween Party in this colorful getup.

Former PrimeTimers Leader Skip Maryan is in Korea on business, but will be with us in spirit.

Maybe Caroline Maryan will wear that hat again at this years Prime Timers Halloween Party!

Bobbie Griffith-Winner and Louise Huck, with more hats.

Caroline Maryan with the Mad Hatter himself, Dr. Bill Moore and PrimeTimer leader Anne Berry.

Dorothy and the Rev. Bob Brown.

The Lesson for Sunday, October 29th is titled "God Answers Prayer"

Key Verse:  1 Kings 3:12

Background Scripture:  1 Kings 3

Focus of the Lesson:  Most people want to understand the world around them and learn to  make wise choices in it. What is the source of such wisdom? Solomon gained tremendous wisdom by asking God for it, and God granted his prayers.

The reading is 1 Kings 3:3-14. This text is from the New International Version^®.

   ³Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

   ⁴The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."

   ⁶Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

   ⁷"Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

   ¹⁰The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹²I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."

NIV®