Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for February 22nd 2026:
Lectionary Theme: Obedience to God in face of temptations
Youth Sunday Theme: Remain in Christ
Occasion: 1st Sunday in Lent
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 32
Genesis 2: 15-17; 3: 1-7
Romans 5: 12-19
Matthew 4: 1-11
Youth Sunday readings:
Isaiah 43: 1-2
2 Corinthians 4: 8-9
John 15: 1-17
[Click or tap on a Bible reference above to jump down the page to the Bible reading to read it for yourself (and/or to listen to it) and then click or tap on Back to top to come back here.]
Songs:
Here are the songs for Sunday morning service. Click or tap on a song to open it in YouTube.
To the praise of his glorious grace.
Shona 232. Nguva yakanakasisa.
Ndebele 18. Baba ulilanga lethu.
As the deer.
Iwo huvepo.
Shona 181. Hoyo mushandire waShe
Ndebele 241. Umalusi nguJehova.
God bless Africa.
Prayers:
You can listen and join in with prayers from the English Methodist Service Book. They can be found at the Prayers for worship webpage.
Children’s Address:
Sermon:
Bible readings:
Psalm 32
1 Our God, you bless everyone
whose sins you forgive and wipe away.
2 You bless them by saying,
“You told me your sins, without trying to hide them,
and now I forgive you.”
3 Before I confessed my sins, my bones felt limp,
and I groaned all day long.
4 Night and day your hand weighed heavily on me,
and my strength was gone as in the summer heat.
5 So I confessed my sins and told them all to you.
I said, “I’ll tell the LORD each one of my sins.”
Then you forgave me and took away my guilt.
6 We worship you, LORD, and we should always pray
whenever we find out that we have sinned.
Then we won’t be swept away by a raging flood.
7 You are my hiding place! You protect me from trouble,
and you put songs in my heart
because you have saved me.
8 You said to me, “I will point out the road
that you should follow.
I will be your teacher and watch over you.
9 Don’t be stupid like horses and mules
that must be led with ropes to make them obey.”
10 All kinds of troubles will strike the wicked,
but your kindness shields those who trust you, LORD.
11 And so your good people should celebrate and shout.
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Genesis 2 & 3
2: 15 The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. 16 But the LORD told him, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, 17 except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!”
3: 1 The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the LORD God had made. One day it came to the woman and asked, “Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
2 The woman answered, “God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, 3 except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to touch it. If we do, we will die.”
4 “No, you won’t!” the snake replied. 5 “God understands what will happen on the day you eat fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done, and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does.”
6 The woman stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasty. She wanted the wisdom that it would give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to him, and he ate it too. 7 Right away they saw what they had done, and they realized they were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves.
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Romans 5
12 Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die. 13 Sin was in the world before the Law came. But no record of sin was kept, because there was no Law. 14 Yet death still had power over all who lived from the time of Adam to the time of Moses. This happened, though not everyone disobeyed a direct command from God, as Adam did.
In some ways Adam is like Christ who came later. 15 But the gift that God was kind enough to give was very different from Adam’s sin. That one sin brought death to many others. Yet in an even greater way, Jesus Christ alone brought God’s gift of kindness to many people.
16 There is a lot of difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gift. That one sin led to punishment. But God’s gift made it possible for us to be acceptable to him, even though we have sinned many times. 17 Death ruled like a king because Adam had sinned. But that cannot compare with what Jesus Christ has done. God has been so kind to us, and he has accepted us because of Jesus. And so we will live and rule like kings.
18 Everyone was going to be punished because Adam sinned. But because of the good thing that Christ has done, God accepts us and gives us the gift of life. 19 Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners. But Jesus obeyed him and will make many people acceptable to God.
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Matthew 4
1 The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could test him. 2 After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and nights, he was very hungry. 3 Then the devil came to him and said, “If you are God’s Son, tell these stones to turn into bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say:
‘No one can live only on food.
People need every word that God has spoken.’ “
5 Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. 6 The devil said, “If you are God’s Son, jump off. The Scriptures say:
‘God will give his angels orders about you.
They will catch you in their arms,
and you won’t hurt your feet on the stones.’ “
7 Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don’t try to test the Lord your God!’ “
8 Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. 9 The devil said to him, “I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus answered, “Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:
‘Worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.’ “
11 Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.
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Isaiah 43
1 Descendants of Jacob, I, the LORD, created you
and formed your nation.
Israel, don’t be afraid. I have rescued you.
I have called you by name; now you belong to me.
2 When you cross deep rivers, I will be with you,
and you won’t drown.
When you walk through fire, you won’t be burned
or scorched by the flames.
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2 Corinthians 4
8 We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. 9 In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again.
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John 15
1 Jesus said to his disciples:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts away every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit. But he trims clean every branch that does produce fruit, so that it will produce even more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of what I have said to you.
4 Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me. 5 I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without me. 6 If you don’t stay joined to me, you will be thrown away. You will be like dry branches that are gathered up and burned in a fire.
7 Stay joined to me and let my teachings become part of you. Then you can pray for whatever you want, and your prayer will be answered. 8 When you become fruitful disciples of mine, my Father will be honoured. 9 I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you. 10 If you obey me, I will keep loving you, just as my Father keeps loving me, because I have obeyed him.
11 I have told you this to make you as completely happy as I am. 12 Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you. 13 The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them. 14 And you are my friends, if you obey me. 15 Servants don’t know what their master is doing, and so I don’t speak to you as my servants. I speak to you as my friends, and I have told you everything that my Father has told me.
16 You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name. 17 So I command you to love each other.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – February 15th 2026.]
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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