Welcome to the Prime Timers A.B.F!

Class is held each Sunday from 10:10 am until 10:50 on the second floor of the Payne Education Center, Room 210-212. This quarter's theme is Called to be God's People and you are invited to come join us.

Caroline and Skip Maryan hosted the Prime Timers Christmas Party.

George and Leslie Mims directed the caroling.

The Prime Timers Christmas Party was great fun  this past Friday. Skip and Caroline Maryan hosted and are still cleaning up! This week's photos are from the party. Since there are some "crowd scenes" here and web photos tend to be small, this week all the photos are "clickable" taking you to an enlarged version. Use your browser "back" button to return. The backspace key works as well!

George got everyone into the act, including host Skip Maryan.

Wendy Fullenweider and Maxie Kech.

This photo is from George Mims position at the synthesizer. He had everyone take a bow!

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Co-Leaders

Caroling at the Christmas Party.

Craig Loomis (l) and George Laigle.

From left to right--Maud Ella and Rick Hartley, Lee Ohrt and George Kurk.

I promise you the Rev. Graham was not wearing reindeer antlers!

More carolers!

The Maestro, George Mims, at the synthesizer.

Responding to the Call

At the top of this weeks session our Clergy Mentor, the Rev. Dick Elwood, announced his plans to retire next January. This fit into our theme for the day of people being called by God at unusual times or places in that almost as soon as he finalized his plans for retirement the Rev. Elwood got the call to be an interim Rector at St. Barnabas in Fredericksburg! At least he gets a week off before beginning his new duties! The Rev. Rusty Goldsmith will be the newest St. Martin's staff member and joined our class for introductions and a brief visit.

Skip is fond of finding well trod pathways in the Old Testament. He notes how many of the stories involve 1) Faith or Trust in God, 2) a Response to the Call from God and 3) the ultimate Actions resulting from the Call. This led to a discussion where Prime Timers mentioned people fitting the pattern of unlikely people responding to the Call from God.

The Lesson for this Sunday, December 19 is titled "When the Unexpected Happens"

Key Verse:  Matthew 1:24

Focus of the Lesson:  People are often confronted by unexpected circumstances. How do we respond in these cases? What can we learn from Mary and Joseph, who responded to God's call by trusting God?

The reading is Matthew 1:17:25. This text is from the New International Version.

 17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”

24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.