8th Sunday After Pentecost 

Today's message comes from the lectionary and includes 2 Samuel chapter 7 verses 1-14.

Pastor Kilam asks have you put God in a box? Are you reconstructing God's home for his glory or your own? In this passage does David want to build a house for God or himself? There are times when our grand human plans to do something for God are seen, after a night of prayer, to be a huge human distraction from what God is doing for us. That's what Nathan realized that night: God showed Nathan that David's building plans for God would interfere with God's building plans for David. It was David who wished to build a temple-house, but instead, God chose to build a greater dynasty-house. The marvelous plans for a house are magnificently more complex than David could have ever imagined. David will not construct a temple for God. However, God promises to build a lasting dynasty for David. Does God even need a temple to reach the people he seeks to minister? Remember the ministry of Jesus was outside of the temple anyway (2 Samuel 7:6). History would remind David (and us) that it has always been God helping us, not us helping God. Pastor Killam reminds us that God already has a home in our hearts. God lives not only in people but in our thoughts and our prayers. Even more importantly, God lives in our actions. So do you want God to have a home? We have to garner the timbers and stones that create God's house. What kind of home are you going to build?