Sunday 21st July 2024 – Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

 REFLECTION:2 Samuel 7:1-17 “The House of the Lord”

Have you ever planned to do something that seemed to be a good thing, but instead of it working out for you, a new door of opportunity opens up and you see that God has a

better plan? In today’s reading, we find that the Ark of the Covenant finally arrived in Jerusalem, but where will it reside? David has installed in a tabernacle tent, but he soon starts asking himself if a tent is really adequate for such a holy and divine presence, especially as he himself is now living in a palace. He proposes to build a house for God, but God’s response is that he has a better plan, and he will instead build an eternal house for David,

and he makes this a covenant promise. Here is an outline of today’s message.

1. David Wants to Build a House Worthy of the Lord

a. The Lord had given David rest from all his enemies around him (1-3)

b. Good intentions are not enough.

c. God Does Not Dwell in Man-Made Houses

2. The Son of David will build the house of the Lord (4-11)

a. When God says No.

b. He will be the one to build a house in my honour.

c. But what Son of David?

3. God will build the House of David. (12-29)

a. The Promise of the Messiah.

b. God’s generosity always surpasses ours.

To Think About:

If you had to design the perfect house for God, what would it look like?

HYMNS

TIS 158 God has spoken by his prophets

Psalm 89 I have made a covenant with my chosen

TIS 308 To us a child of royal birth

TIS 299 While shepherds watched

TALKS ON DANIEL

Bishop Paul Barker will be leading a series of three talks called “Faith under Trial”. He

will be speaking at Glen Waverley Anglican Church but the talks will be livestreamed.

They will take place on July 17, 24 &31 at 7.30pm. Our Wednesday group will be waiting

the livestream then talking about it afterward in the Super Room.

PATRONAL FESTIVAL/160TH ANNIVERSARY

On Sunday 28th of July we will be having a special 10am Patronal Day 160th Anniversary

service with the Archbishop. There will be no 8am service that day. There will be

confirmations in the service and the service will be followed by a brief turning of the sod

and blessing of the building project for the new Parish Centre. After church there will be a catered lunch in the Parish Hall. Please buy tickets in advance. The lunch will have a cost of $35 for adults and $10 for children.

HISTORIC PHOTOS

If you have historic photos of St James’ and its activities, please pass them onto the vicar so we can put together a brief presentation on the history of St James for our 160th anniversary next Sunday.

CONFIRMEES:

Those to be confirmed next Sunday are Martin Peters, Anna Peters, Mejwok Mel, Liam

Chambers and Kiden Lomuja. Please pray for them, that their confirmation might be a

great encouragement for them in their Christian faith.

CHURCH PRAYER MEETING

Monday 22nd

at 7pm in the Supper Room. All Welcome

NO 8AM SERVICE NEXT SUNDAY!

We wish to encourage folk from all our congregations to come together in one big

celebration of our 160th Anniversary with the Archbishop. Can everyone please make an

extra special effort to be on time next Sunday for a 10 am start.

BUILDING FUND

As we begin works on the new building, we put out the call for all of us to prayerfully

consider how we can help with this project which will be of great benefit to our church and to future generations. We are still needing to raise a considerable amount. The building fund account is listed at the end of the Pew sheet.

SUNDAY SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS

In Term 3 we are excited to be starting a new Sunday School curriculum based on The

Jesus Storybook Bible, and we are looking for more volunteers to serve by assisting in

Sunday School a few weeks each term. No lesson preparation or experience required, just a willingness to help out! Volunteers will need to do Levels 1 & 2 Child safe Training before

starting. Talk to Dianne or Anna for more details.

COME PRAY WITH US ON 27th JULY

Anglican Churches from right across our Jumbunna Region will be gathering at Glen

Waverly Anglican to pray for our churches, for growth, for more leaders to be raised up, for the Hope 25 campaign, for Australia and the for the world. St James is leading the time slot from 10:30 to 11:00am. We would love you to come and join with us in prayer. Different churches will each lead a 30 min time slot. It starts at 8am and finishes at 6pm.

READINGS FOR NEXT SUNDAY 28th July: Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 45; Psalm 126; Acts 11.27 & 12.3; Matthew 20.20-28

THIS WEEK WE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR:

Anglican Parish of St Thomas Burwood; Ministry with the Torres Strait Islander people

of Australia; Diocesan Finance; The Anglican Church in Japan; Glen Waverley Anglican

Church – Pastoral service; St Dunstan’s Camberwell – pastoral service; Baptism and

Confirmation Service - St Linus Merlynston with St Matthew’s Glenroy/Hadfield; Holy

Trinity Hampton – pastoral service; St Barnabas’- Confirmation service; Archbishop Philip

and all our Bishops in their ministry this week.