Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for April 6th 2025:
Lectionary Theme: Anointed to shame the devil
Occasion: 5th Sunday in Lent
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 126
Isaiah 43: 16-21
Philippians 3: 4b-14
John 12: 1-8
[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.
Ah! Lord God.
He gave me beauty for ashes.
Father we love you.
O safe to the Rock.
Where shall my wondering soul.
God sent his Son (because he lives).
God bless Africa.
Prayers:
You can also 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:
[No Children’s Address was received this week.]
Sermon:
Bible readings:
Psalm 126
1 It seemed like a dream when the LORD brought us back
to the city of Zion.
2 We celebrated with laughter and joyful songs.
In foreign nations it was said,
“The LORD has worked miracles for his people.”
3 And so we celebrated
because the LORD had indeed worked miracles for us.
4 Our LORD, we ask you to bless our people again,
and let us be like streams in the Southern Desert.
5 We cried as we went out to plant our seeds.
Now let us celebrate as we bring in the crops.
6 We cried on the way to plant our seeds,
but we will celebrate and shout as we bring in the crops.
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Isaiah 43
16 I am the one who cut a path through the mighty ocean.
17 I sent an army to chase you with chariots and horses;
now they lie dead, unable to move.
They are like an oil lamp with the flame snuffed out.
18 Forget what happened long ago! Don’t think about the past.
19 I am creating something new. There it is! Do you see it?
I have put roads in deserts, streams in thirsty lands.
20 Every wild animal honours me, even jackals and owls.
I provide water in deserts
streams in thirsty lands for my chosen people.
21 I made them my own nation, so they would praise me.
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Philippians 3
4b Others may brag about themselves, but I have more reason to brag than anyone else. 5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old, and I am from the nation of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Hebrew. As a Pharisee, I strictly obeyed the Law of Moses. 6 And I was so eager that I even made trouble for the church. I did everything the Law demands in order to please God.
7 But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. 8 Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ 9 and to know that I belong to him. I could not make myself acceptable to God by obeying the Law of Moses. God accepted me simply because of my faith in Christ. 10 All I want is to know Christ and the power that raised him to life. I want to suffer and die as he did, 11 so that somehow I also may be raised to life.
12 I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. 13 My friends, I don’t feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. 14 I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done.
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John 12
1 Six days before Passover Jesus went back to Bethany, where he had raised Lazarus from death. 2 A meal had been prepared for Jesus. Martha was doing the serving, and Lazarus himself was there.
3 Mary took a very expensive bottle of perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet. She wiped them with her hair, and the sweet smell of the perfume filled the house.
4 A disciple named Judas Iscariot was there. He was the one who was going to betray Jesus, and he asked, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor?” 6 Judas did not really care about the poor. He asked this because he carried the moneybag and sometimes would steal from it.
7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone! She has kept this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor with you, but you won’t always have me.”
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – March 30th 2025.]
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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