Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for April 5th 2026:
Lectionary Theme: The victory of Christ over death and sin
Occasion: Easter Sunday
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 114
Isaiah 25: 6-9
1 Corinthians 5: 6b-8
Luke 24: 13-49
Additional readings:
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 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.
Christ is Alive.
This Joyful Eastertide.
See what a morning.
At your feet we fall (I am he that liveth).
King of Kings, Majesty.
The strife is o’er.
Low in the grave he lay.
Thine be the Glory.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
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: From the Archives: Easter Sunday 2021
Sermons: From the Archives: Easter Sunday 2021
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 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.”
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1 Corinthians 5
6b Don’t you know how a little yeast can spread through the whole batch of dough? 7 Get rid of the old yeast! Then you will be like fresh bread made without yeast, and that is what you are. Our Passover lamb is Christ, who has already been sacrificed. 8 So don’t celebrate the festival by being evil and sinful, which is like serving bread made with yeast. Be pure and truthful and celebrate by using bread made without yeast.
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Luke 24
13 That same day two of Jesus’ disciples were going to the village of Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 As they were talking and thinking about what had happened, 15 Jesus came near and started walking along beside them. 16 But they did not know who he was.
17 Jesus asked them, “What were you talking about as you walked along?”
The two of them stood there looking sad and gloomy. 18 Then the one named Cleopas asked Jesus, “Are you the only person from Jerusalem who didn’t know what was happening there these last few days?”
19 “What do you mean?” Jesus asked.
They answered:
Those things that happened to Jesus from Nazareth. By what he did and said he showed that he was a powerful prophet, who pleased God and all the people. 20 Then the chief priests and our leaders had him arrested and sentenced to die on a cross. 21 We had hoped that he would be the one to set Israel free! But it has already been three days since all this happened.
22 Some women in our group surprised us. They had gone to the tomb early in the morning, 23 but did not find the body of Jesus. They came back, saying that they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. 24 Some men from our group went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. But they didn’t see Jesus either.
25 Then Jesus asked the two disciples, “Why can’t you understand? How can you be so slow to believe all that the prophets said? 26 Didn’t you know that the Messiah would have to suffer before he was given his glory?” 27 Jesus then explained everything written about himself in the Scriptures, beginning with the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets.
28 When the two of them came near the village where they were going, Jesus seemed to be going farther. 29 They begged him, “Stay with us! It’s already late, and the sun is going down.” So Jesus went into the house to stay with them.
30 After Jesus sat down to eat, he took some bread. He blessed it and broke it. Then he gave it to them. 31 At once they knew who he was, but he disappeared. 32 They said to each other, “When he talked with us along the road and explained the Scriptures to us, didn’t it warm our hearts?” 33 So they got right up and returned to Jerusalem.
The two disciples found the eleven apostles and the others gathered together. 34 And they learned from the group that the Lord was really alive and had appeared to Peter. 35 Then the disciples from Emmaus told what happened on the road and how they knew he was the Lord when he broke the bread.
36 While Jesus’ disciples were talking about what had happened, Jesus appeared and greeted them. 37 They were frightened and terrified because they thought they were seeing a ghost.
38 But Jesus said, “Why are you so frightened? Why do you doubt? 39 Look at my hands and my feet and see who I am! Touch me and find out for yourselves. Ghosts don’t have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
40 After Jesus said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 The disciples were so glad and amazed that they could not believe it. Jesus then asked them, “Do you have something to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of baked fish. 43 He took it and ate it as they watched.
44 Jesus said to them, “While I was still with you, I told you that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Books of the Prophets, and in the Psalms had to happen.”
45 Then he helped them understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them:
The Scriptures say that the Messiah must suffer, then three days later he will rise from death. 47 They also say that all people of every nation must be told in my name to turn to God, in order to be forgiven. So beginning in Jerusalem, 48 you must tell everything that has happened. 49 I will send you the one my Father has promised, but you must stay in the city until you are given power from heaven.
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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.
[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – March 29th 2026.]
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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