Welcome to the Prime Timers Adult Bible Fellowship

We invite you to join the Prime Timers every Sunday in the Payne Education center, second floor, rooms 210-212 from 10:10 am until 10:50 am. The next two weeks, Palm Sunday and Easter, will be an abridged version on Palm Sunday and no meeting on Easter.

Anne Berry's grand-daughter Shelby celebrated her 9th birthday.

This past week on the Prime Timers...

Our speaker, Jackie Rose, keeps us informed about her journey of faith. She is entering the Perkins School of Theology to pursue a Masters of Theological Studies and this week was awarded a scholarship from the school. Congratulations Jackie!

Anne Berry had a blessing of a different kind, announcing her grand-daughter Shelby's 9th birthday. Anyone awake the last couple of days knows Houston is experiencing some wonderful weather the last couple of days and someone gave thanks for this!

We had several new and visiting people this week. George Kurk introduced us to his daughter, Sharon Smith, who lives on a farm outside of Fredericksburg. Maybe she can bring us news of the Rev. Richard Elwood! Steve and Marsha Davis are long time St. Martins members visiting the group and there were other guests as well.

The message of Paul

The subject this week was Judgment, how God judges us, how we judge others and how complicated this can become.

 If God's forgiveness is at one end of a spectrum, God's wrath is at the other. The first part of the passages from Romans 2 talks of judgment, warning us that by judging others you risk being judged yourself. This after receiving the open forgiveness of God.

There are two themes here, the theme of judgment and the theme of works, as in good or bad works. The second passage from Romans has been used to discriminate against Jews, as it seems to single them out in Romans 2:9 "There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek."

This set off the discussion with the warning that part of the "contradiction" comes from reading scripture out of context. Jim Nelson then added that if you haven't loved then despite your acts you have nothing.

Bill Akers reaffirmed the point that those with true faith will do good works. And George Laigle contributed the idea that different people have different capacities for these works and that all people can't be judged the same.

Jackie Rose added that stereotyping is a way to miss out on what people can really contribute.

Concluding, someone said to "Love the sinner and hate the sin."

Prime Timers Contact names and numbers

Co-Leaders

Paul's journeys in the Roman World are on our agenda this month.

George Kurk introduced his daughter Sharon Smith (r).

Steve and Marsha Davis are long time St. Martin's Parishioners visiting the Prime Timers.

How could anyone not be happy with our current weather!

The Lesson for Sunday, March 20 is titled "Justified by Faith"

Key Verse:  Romans 5:1

Focus of the Lesson:  Many people have experienced the joy of reconciliation after a once-loving relationship is shattered and then restored. How can we experience this reconciliation with God after we have sinned? Paul reminds us that Jesus has already achieved this for us by dying for us.

The reading is Romans 5:1-11, 18-21. This text is from the New Revised Standard Version.

1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, a 2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19 For just as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 But law came in, with the result that the trespass multiplied; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, just as sin exercised dominion in death, so grace might also exercise dominion through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.