Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for August 16th 2026:
Lectionary Theme: God is for us all
Occasion: 12th Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 67
Isaiah 56: 1,6-8
Romans 11: 1-2a,29-32
Matthew 15: 10-20,21-28
[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.
Alleluia, Alleluia, give thanks.
Praise the Lord!
All heaven declares.
What shall we offer our good Lord.
At the name of Jesus.
We have a gospel to proclaim.
Now unto Him.
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 67
1 Our God, be kind and bless us! Be pleased and smile.
2 Then everyone on earth will learn to follow you,
and all nations will see your power to save us.
3 Make everyone praise you and shout your praises.
4 Let the nations celebrate with joyful songs,
because you judge fairly and guide all nations.
5 Make everyone praise you and shout your praises.
6 Our God has blessed the earth with a wonderful harvest!
7 Pray for his blessings to continue
and for everyone on earth to worship our God.
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Isaiah 56
1 The LORD said: Be honest and fair!
Soon I will come to save you;
my saving power will be seen everywhere on earth.
6 Foreigners will follow me. They will love me
and worship in my name;
they will respect the Sabbath and keep our agreement.
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain,
where they will celebrate in my house of worship.
Their sacrifices and offerings will always be welcome
on my altar.
Then my house will be known as a house of worship
for all nations.
8 I, the LORD, promise to bring together my people
who were taken away, and let them join the others.
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Romans 11
1 Am I saying that God has turned his back on his people? Certainly not! I am one of the people of Israel, and I myself am a descendant of Abraham from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not turn his back on his chosen people.
29 God doesn’t take back the gifts he has given or forget about the people he has chosen.
30 At one time you Gentiles rejected God. But now Israel has rejected God, and you have been shown mercy. 31 And because of the mercy shown to you, they will also be shown mercy. 32 All people have disobeyed God, and that’s why he treats them as prisoners. But he does this, so that he can have mercy on all of them.
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Matthew 15
10 Jesus called the crowd together and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. 11 The food that you put into your mouth doesn’t make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.”
12 Then his disciples came over to him and asked, “Do you know that you insulted the Pharisees by what you said?”
13 Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Stay away from those Pharisees! They are like blind people leading other blind people, and all of them will fall into a ditch.”
15 Peter replied, “What did you mean when you talked about the things that make people unclean?”
16 Jesus then said:
Don’t any of you know what I am talking about by now? 17 Don’t you know that the food you put into your mouth goes into your stomach and then out of your body? 18 But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God. 19 Out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, vulgar deeds, stealing, telling lies, and insulting others. 20 These are what make you unclean. Eating without washing your hands will not make you unfit to worship God.
21 Jesus left and went to the territory near the cities of Tyre and Sidon. 22 Suddenly a Canaanite woman from there came out shouting, “Lord and Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is full of demons.” 23 Jesus did not say a word. But the woman kept following along and shouting, so his disciples came up and asked him to send her away.
24 Jesus said, “I was sent only to the people of Israel! They are like a flock of lost sheep.”
25 The woman came closer. Then she knelt down and begged, “Please help me, Lord!”
26 Jesus replied, “It isn’t right to take food away from children and feed it to dogs.”
27 “Lord, that’s true,” the woman said, “but even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.”
28 Jesus answered, “Dear woman, you really do have a lot of faith, and you will be given what you want.” At that moment her daughter was healed.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Service? It can now be found at Worship Archive – August 9th 2026.]
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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