Sunday 3rd May 2026 - Fifth Sunday of Easter

REFLECTION: 1 Peter 2:11-25 “Living as God’s people in the World”

What does it mean in our daily living to live as God’s holy people in the

world? It means turning from some things that we shouldn‘t do that

dishonour God. It means learning submission and obedience to Christ our

King. It will often involve being misunderstood and persecuted and we may

suffer for following Christ. But it also means living with the living hope of

Salvation, knowing that Christ himself bore our sins in his body on the cross

so that we might live for righteousness.

Here is an outline of this morning’s message.

1. Live as God’s people: (11-12)

a. Abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. (11)

b. Conduct yourselves honourably among the Gentiles (12)

c. That they may see your honourable deeds and glorify God (12)

2. Submit yourselves to others for the Lord’s sake (13-21)

a. For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution (13-

14)

b. Live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. (16)

c. If you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s

approval (18-21)

3. Follow Christ’s example of submission and obedience (21-25)

a. Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example (21)

b. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth (22-23)

c. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins,

we might live for righteousness (24-25)

To Think about:

Are there any sinful desires in your life that “wage war against the soul” and

need to be reined in? What are you prepared to do about it so that you might

grow in holiness?

Hymns:

TIS 223 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

TIS 260 Behold the Lamb of God

TIS 256 From heaven you came (the servant king)

TIS 215 You servants of God, your master proclaim.

THE MOTHER'S DAY HIGH tea will not be happening on May 9th as

previously announced but will be postponed to a later date which will be

announced shortly.

WEDNESDAY GROWTH GROUP

Continues on Wednesday at 7:30pm in the Parish Centre. For the next few

weeks we will be looking at the theme of prayer. All are welcome.

CONGRATULATIONS to our Vicar who graduated this week with a

Masters of Missional Leadership.

ARCHBISHOP'S VISIT AND CONFIRMATIONS

We will be blessed to have a visit from our new Archbishop, Ric Thorpe, on

Sunday August 2nd for a late Patronal Festival and a service of Baptisms and

Confirmations. We will be starting an Alpha course shortly as preparation

for those who wish to be baptized or confirmed on that date.

ST JAMES' GARDEN: Would you be interested in taking on the care and

maintenance of a section of the church gardens. Rusty has prepared a map

of the gardens and is looking for volunteers who are prepared to sign up to

care for a limited section of our gardens, taking on weeding, watering,

pruning etc. Please speak to Rusty or Graeme.

OUR FINANCES ARE TIGHT - CAN YOU HELP: Our treasurer will

give a detailed update in the next little while, but as all of the last invoices

for the building project and related equipment and furnishings come in, we

are really tight with our finances. Our giving has been low for some time,

which is why we had to let our curate go. Please pray for God's provision

for our finances and consider carefully how you can assist.

JUMBUNNA DAY OF PRAYER. This year’s Day of Prayer, for the

diocese for the world, etc., is Saturday 16 May at Glen Waverley Anglican

Church, 8am – 6pm. People can come and go at any time during these

hours. St James' will be leading the prayers between 3:30 and 4pm. It would

be great to see you there. If you would like to help leading the prayers,

please speak to Graeme.

LAWN MOWING ROSTER 9th May - Oyem & Rob

READINGS FOR NEXT SUNDAY – 10th May: Acts 17. 22-31;

Psalm 66. 7-19; 1 Peter 3.8-22; John 14. 15-21

THIS WEEK WE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR: Nigel, Jen, Glen,

Sherene, Gloria, Ron, Ruth, Mike, Amy, Cecil, Beryl, Paul, Fabian, Charles

& Marla.