Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for April 20th 2025:
Lectionary Theme: The cross brought universalism
Occasion: 1st Sunday of Easter
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 114
Isaiah 65: 17-25
Acts 10: 34-43
John 20: 1-18; 19-31
[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.
Come people of the risen King.
This Joyful Eastertide.
See what a morning.
Low in the grave he lay.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
Because He lives.
Thine be the Glory.
My peace.
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 114
1 God brought his people out of Egypt,
that land with a strange language.
2 He made Judah his holy place and ruled over Israel.
3 When the sea looked at God, it ran away,
and the Jordan River flowed upstream.
4 The mountains and the hills skipped around like goats.
5 Ask the sea why it ran away
or ask the Jordan why it flowed upstream.
6 Ask the mountains and the hills
why they skipped like goats!
7 Earth, you will tremble,
when the LORD God of Jacob comes near,
8 because he turns solid rock into flowing streams
and pools of water.
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Isaiah 65
17 I am creating new heavens and a new earth;
everything of the past will be forgotten.
18 Celebrate and be glad forever!
I am creating a Jerusalem, full of happy people.
19 I will celebrate with Jerusalem and all of its people;
there will be no more crying or sorrow in that city.
20 No child will die in infancy;
everyone will live to a ripe old age.
Anyone a hundred years old will be considered young,
and to die younger than that will be considered a curse.
21 My people will live in the houses they build;
they will enjoy grapes from their own vineyards.
22 No one will take away their homes or vineyards.
My chosen people will live to be as old as trees,
and they will enjoy what they have earned.
23 Their work won’t be wasted,
and their children won’t die of dreadful diseases.
I will bless their children and their grandchildren.
24 I will answer their prayers before they finish praying.
25 Wolves and lambs will graze together;
lions and oxen will feed on straw.
Snakes will eat only dirt! They won’t bite
or harm anyone on my holy mountain.
I, the LORD, have spoken!
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Acts 10
34 Peter then said:
Now I am certain that God treats all people alike. 35 God is pleased with everyone who worships him and does right, no matter what nation they come from. 36 This is the same message that God gave to the people of Israel, when he sent Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, to offer peace to them.
37 You surely know what happened everywhere in Judea. It all began in Galilee after John had told everyone to be baptized. 38 God gave the Holy Spirit and power to Jesus from Nazareth. He was with Jesus, as he went around doing good and healing everyone who was under the power of the devil. 39 We all saw what Jesus did both in Israel and in the city of Jerusalem.
Jesus was put to death on a cross. 40 But three days later, God raised him to life and let him be seen. 41 Not everyone saw him. He was seen only by us, who ate and drank with him after he was raised from death. We were the ones God chose to tell others about him.
42 God told us to announce clearly to the people that Jesus is the one he has chosen to judge the living and the dead. 43 Every one of the prophets has said that all who have faith in Jesus will have their sins forgiven in his name.
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John 20
1 On Sunday morning while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2 She ran to Simon Peter and to Jesus’ favourite disciple and said, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb! We don’t know where they have put him.”
3 Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 They ran side by side, until the other disciple ran faster than Peter and got there first. 5 He bent over and saw the strips of linen cloth lying inside the tomb, but he did not go in.
6 When Simon Peter got there, he went into the tomb and saw the strips of cloth. 7 He also saw the piece of cloth that had been used to cover Jesus’ face. It was rolled up and in a place by itself. 8 The disciple who got there first then went into the tomb, and when he saw it, he believed. 9 At that time Peter and the other disciple did not know that the Scriptures said Jesus would rise to life. 10 So the two of them went back to the other disciples.
11 Mary Magdalene stood crying outside the tomb. She was still weeping, when she stooped down 12 and saw two angels inside. They were dressed in white and were sitting where Jesus’ body had been. One was at the head and the other was at the foot. 13 The angels asked Mary, “Why are you crying?”
She answered, “They have taken away my LORD’S body! I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 As soon as Mary said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not know who he was. 15 Jesus asked her, “Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener and said, “Sir, if you have taken his body away, please tell me, so I can go and get him.”
16 Then Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him, “Rabboni.” The Aramaic word “Rabboni” means “Teacher.”
17 Jesus told her, “Don’t hold on to me! I have not yet gone to the Father. But tell my disciples that I am going to the one who is my Father and my God, as well as your Father and your God.” 18 Mary Magdalene then went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord. She also told them what he had said to her.
19 The disciples were afraid of the Jewish leaders, and on the evening of that same Sunday they locked themselves in a room. Suddenly, Jesus appeared in the middle of the group. He greeted them 20 and showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they became very happy.
21 After Jesus had greeted them again, he said, “I am sending you, just as the Father has sent me.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they will be forgiven. But if you don’t forgive their sins, they will not be forgiven.”
24 Although Thomas the Twin was one of the twelve disciples, he wasn’t with the others when Jesus appeared to them. 25 So they told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But Thomas said, “First, I must see the nail scars in his hands and touch them with my finger. I must put my hand where the spear went into his side. I won’t believe unless I do this!”
26 A week later the disciples were together again. This time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came in while the doors were still locked and stood in the middle of the group. He greeted his disciples 27 and said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands! Put your hand into my side. Stop doubting and have faith!”
28 Thomas replied, “You are my Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said, “Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!”
30 Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. If you have faith in him, you will have true life.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – April 13th 2025.]
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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