[Did you miss last Sunday’s services and the Holy Week services? They can still be found at Worship Archive – March 28th 2021.]
Easter Monday message for Connexion for April 5th 2021:
Sunday Services from Connexion for April 4th 2021:
Sunday Services from Hillside Circuit for April 4th 2021:
Theme: Death swallowed up forever
Occasion: Easter Sunday
Psalm 114
Isaiah 25: 6-9
1 Corinthians 15: 1-11
John 20: 1-18
[Click or tap on a Bible reference above to jump down the page to the Bible reading to listen and/or read it for yourself 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, or go to the Songs for worship webpage to find them embedded.
Christ is alive.
This joyful Eastertide.
Low in the grave He lay.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
Thine be the glory.
My peace I give unto you.
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:
The Hare and His Many Friends
There lived a hare in a forest. He had many friends. He believed that they would help him in his danger.
One day, the hare was chased by a ferocious dog. He ran fast to save his life. On the way, he met his old friend, the bull, whom he asked to worry the dog and save his life. The bull said, “Friend, I’m very busy now.
I must meet my wife who is waiting for me on the bank of the river. You’ve many other friends in this forest. Any one of them will help you, I’m sure.” Saying so the bull left the hare now met another old friend, the horse, whom he asked to drive away the dog.
The horse said, “Friend, I am very busy now. I’m looking for my lost child in the forest. So, I am going, but I am sure, any other friend of yours will definitely help you.” The horse too galloped away.
The hare then requested to a few more friends, such as the buffalo, the zebra, and some other strong animals. But each one turned down his request on some plea or the other.
Now the dog was so near as to catch him. Finding no other way to save his life, the hare entered into a hole which he noticed nearby. As the dog did not see the hare, he went back.
Moral: One real friend is better than too many false friends.
Sermons:
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.
Isaiah 25
6 On this mountain the LORD All-Powerful will prepare
for all nations a feast of the finest foods.
Choice wines and the best meats will be served.
7 Here the LORD will strip away the burial clothes
that cover the nations.
8 The LORD All-Powerful will destroy the power of death
and wipe away all tears.
No longer will his people be insulted everywhere.
The LORD has spoken!
9 At that time, people will say, “The LORD has saved us!
Let’s celebrate. We waited and hoped –
now our God is here.”
1 Corinthians 15
1 My friends, I want you to remember the message that I preached and that you believed and trusted. 2 You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don’t, your faith was all for nothing.
3 I told you the most important part of the message exactly as it was told to me. That part is:
Christ died for our sins, as the Scriptures say.
4 He was buried, and three days later
he was raised to life, as the Scriptures say.
5 Christ appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.
6 After this, he appeared
to more than five hundred other followers.
Most of them are still alive, but some have died.
7 He also appeared to James,
and then to all of the apostles.
8 Finally, he appeared to me, even though I am like someone who was born at the wrong time.
9 I am the least important of all the apostles. In fact, I caused so much trouble for God’s church that I don’t even deserve to be called an apostle. 10 But God was kind! He made me what I am, and his wonderful kindness wasn’t wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God’s kindness at work and not me. 11 But it doesn’t matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.
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.
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 