[Did you miss last Sunday’s services? They can still be found at Worship Archive – July 25th 2021.]
Sunday Service from Connexion for August 1st 2021:
Sunday Services from Hillside Circuit for August 1st 2021:
Theme: A worthy life for the called
Occasion: 10th after Pentecost
Psalm 51: 1-12
2 Samuel 11: 26 – 12: 13a
Ephesians 4: 1-16
John 6: 24-35
[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.
I Am the Bread of Life.
Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord.
Still (Hide me now under your wings).
All I once held dear (Knowing 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:
Sermons:
Bible readings:
Psalm 51
1 You are kind, God! Please have pity on me.
You are always merciful! Please wipe away my sins.
2 Wash me clean from all of my sin and guilt.
3 I know about my sins,
and I cannot forget my terrible guilt.
4 You are really the one I have sinned against;
I have disobeyed you and have done wrong.
So it is right and fair for you
to correct and punish me.
5 I have sinned and done wrong since the day I was born.
6 But you want complete honesty,
so teach me true wisdom.
7 Wash me with hyssop
until I am clean and whiter than snow.
8 Let me be happy and joyful!
You crushed my bones, now let them celebrate.
9 Turn your eyes from my sin and cover my guilt.
10 Create pure thoughts in me
and make me faithful again.
11 Don’t chase me away from you
or take your Holy Spirit away from me.
12 Make me as happy as you did when you saved me;
make me want to obey!
2 Samuel 11 – 2 Samuel 12
26 When Bathsheba heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 Then after the time for mourning was over, David sent someone to bring her to the palace. She became David’s wife, and they had a son.
The LORD was angry at what David had done,
[Chapter 12]: 1 and he sent Nathan the prophet to tell this story to David:
A rich man and a poor man lived in the same town. 2 The rich man owned a lot of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had only one little lamb that he had bought and raised. The lamb became a pet for him and his children. He even let it eat from his plate and drink from his cup and sleep on his lap. The lamb was like one of his own children.
4 One day someone came to visit the rich man, but the rich man didn’t want to kill any of his own sheep or cattle and serve it to the visitor. So he stole the poor man’s little lamb and served it instead.
5 David was furious with the rich man and said to Nathan, “I swear by the living LORD that the man who did this deserves to die! 6 And because he didn’t have any pity on the poor man, he will have to pay four times what the lamb was worth.”
7 Then Nathan told David:
You are that rich man! Now listen to what the LORD God of Israel says to you: “I chose you to be the king of Israel. I kept you safe from Saul 8 and even gave you his house and his wives. I let you rule Israel and Judah, and if that had not been enough, I would have given you much more. 9 Why did you disobey me and do such a horrible thing? You murdered Uriah the Hittite by having the Ammonites kill him, so you could take his wife.
10 “Because you wouldn’t obey me and took Uriah’s wife for yourself, your family will never live in peace. 11 Someone from your own family will cause you a lot of trouble, and I will take your wives and give them to another man before your very eyes. He will go to bed with them while everyone looks on. 12 What you did was in secret, but I will do this in the open for everyone in Israel to see.”
13-14 David said, “I have disobeyed the LORD.”
Ephesians 4
1 As a prisoner of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. 3 Try your best to let God’s Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. 4 All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God’s people. 5 We have only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. 6 There is one God who is the Father of all people. Not only is God above all others, but he works by using all of us, and he lives in all of us.
7 Christ has generously divided out his gifts to us. 8 As the Scriptures say,
“When he went up to the highest place,
he led away many prisoners and gave gifts to people.”
9 When it says, “he went up,” it means that Christ had been deep in the earth. 10 This also means that the one who went deep into the earth is the same one who went into the highest heaven, so that he would fill the whole universe.
11 Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, 12 so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. 13 This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him.
14 We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. 15 Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head 16 of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love.
John 6
24 They saw that Jesus and his disciples had left. Then they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. 25 They found him on the west side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles, but because you ate all the food you wanted. 27 Don’t work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”
28 “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.
29 Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”
30 They replied, “What miracle will you work, so that we can have faith in you? What will you do? 31 For example, when our ancestors were in the desert, they were given manna to eat. It happened just as the Scriptures say, ‘God gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ “
32 Jesus then told them, “I tell you for certain that Moses wasn’t the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world.”
34 The people said, “Lord, give us this bread and don’t ever stop!”
35 Jesus replied:
I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty.
Text version of Children’s Address for Hillside Circuit on August 1st 2021, with Mrs Chiedza Chagudhuma:
I greet you all in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our topic today is A worthy life for the called.
Bible reading: John 6 verses 24-35
Summary
The Jews were seeking Jesus so that when they found him they could make him their King. Jesus knew that these people wanted him to be King not because they felt any spiritual need but because they thought that he had magical powers that could supply all their daily needs. Jesus pointed out to them that they were following him because they ate loaves of bread and fish and that’s temporal blessings. Jesus urged them to seek spiritual and eternal life that he offered. Eternal life is not something to be achieved but to be received by faith in Christ. The Jews missed the point that eternal life is Christ’s gift and were thinking in terms of achieving it by works. The Jews seek from Jesus the greater sign than the gift of manna in the desert. Jesus told them that the manna from the desert was not from Moses but from God. Sunday scholars we cannot earn eternal life by working for it as the Jews thought we can have it through believing in Jesus Christ. Jesus does not need to make food fall from heaven as in the days of Moses in order to prove his power. Boys and girls, Jesus is the bread of life meaning he came to give his life to the believers. Boys and girls when you are hungry you feel dizzy, thirsty, sleepy, tired, bored but when you eat something like bread you get your strength back and you start smiling. We have to believe in Jesus for he died on the cross. Jesus provides good health for us, school fees, food among others. May you memorize John 3:16 with the help of your guardians at home.
Let us pray together. Our Father who art in heaven..……….. Amen. Thank you stay safe.
Text version of message for Hillside Circuit on August 1st 2021 in English, with Mrs Gloria Machingambi:
I greet you all in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Let me welcome you to this service today where our theme says A worthy life for the called, drawn from the four readings given above, which I hope you have read already.
Let us pray,
Our Heavenly Father, we come before your throne of grace to praise you, worship and honour you. You are God the Almighty, who holds all things together and makes them work together for the good of those who love you, whom you called according to your purpose.
We thank you Father for your provision and protection until this day, we will rejoice and be glad in it. We thank you for this opportunity afforded to us to listen to your word. Teach us Lord, guide and empower us to the glory of your name.
We bring before you the sick, the bereaved, the hopeless, the weak and those that are depressed due to the pressures of this world. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our redeemer.
Amen.
2 Peter 1:12-13 reads
“So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body.”
It is with this in mind that today I preach to you the good news of Jesus Christ, to remind you and refresh your memories of how we are expected to live this worthy life that we were called to. In my research, I found out that Paul made Ephesus a centre for evangelism for about three years, and the church there flourished for some time, but later needed the warning of Revelation 2:1-7 especially verse 4 which reads
“Yet I hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love.”
This is a reminder to us all, that due to the pandemic and many other problems, we seem to have forgotten who we are and have wandered away from the Way.
Let me start by explaining who are the called, and as Paul says in Romans 1:5-6
“Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Christ.” Paul also addresses the people of Ephesus in the same manner and urges them to live this life. Most people seem to think that the called are only the Ministers, Preachers or Evangelists, but here Paul is talking of every Believer or every Christian, and it is you and I, included. These so called must be prisoners of the Gospel just like him, he had to leave his old way of living to live as expected by Christ, and is urging us all to live in a manner that is worthy of the calling we have received.
Now walking worthy of our calling sounds beautiful, but how do we do it? Ephesians 4:2 reads
“Be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Here Paul gives four traits to cling to and by looking at these, we can make strides in pursuing this calling.
Humility
The Ephesians and all Christians are to live in humility just like Christ. He was born in a humble manger, grew in humble surroundings, living a humble life, yet he had a tremendous impact and changed the lives of many.
We see David’s humility in his obedience to the prophet, he did not make excuses or lash out at the prophet Nathan when he gave him the bad news. Instead he acknowledged his sin and made it possible for him to experience God’s grace.
Psalm 51 is all about David’s prayer pleading for God’s mercy and restoration. Like David, we should always humble ourselves before God, with broken spirits and contrite hearts, our God will not despise us.
Gentleness
It is part of the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:23) and is important in the life of every Christian or believer. It helps not only to avoid unnecessary conflict, but demonstrates the love we are meant to display at all times.
Patience
Believers are to exhibit patience, another part of the fruit of the spirit. It is necessary if we are to show love to others.
Love
is the greatest of God’s gifts and Believers are to live with love towards one another, an action that benefits others. We see God’s love in sending the prophet Nathan to rebuke David. We see Paul’s love in the letters he wrote, teaching many nations. And above all, God’s love for the world that he gave His only son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.
In this scripture Paul describes the Christian unity that every saved believer regardless of talent or skill, Jew or Gentile, male or female is saved by the same faith in the same God. Each Christian is part of a single, universal family of believers in Jesus Christ. At the same time God gives different gifts to different people, so that they can serve the many roles needed to accomplish His purposes here on earth. Now rather than being concerned about what gifts we might lack, each Christian can rejoice in our unity and focus on serving God to the best of our ability.
God gave us different gifts, some to be prophets, some evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers, so that we prepare His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature. And as we grow towards maturity, we need to be humble, gentle and patient with each other and above all love one another.
I will give an example of a school, whereby some are still in grade 1,” where 10 minus 20”, it can’t. Some are in grade 4 where it can, some are now in secondary school, tertiary and university. Though they are at different levels but they are under the same system of education, they will all write examinations at one point. The students are supervised by the teachers who are supervised by the heads, who are also supervised by higher authorities. Each one of them has his or her role to play but they all need each other. The graduates should be gentle and patient with those in lower grades as they grow to their level and the lower grades should be patient, knowing that they don’t know yet what the higher levels know. It is so with the Body of Christ the Church, we must accept each other in our different roles, mature or immature, male or female, rich or poor. Christ is our redeemer and is head of all. If we are truly the children of God and His spirit lives in us, the four traits can be done without difficulty.
Jesus says in John 15:5
“I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.”
We can never be humble or gentle or patient or love enough if He is not in us. We should seek Him every time in prayer and worship. We read in John’s gospel that Jesus is the bread of life and only He can give eternal life. He humbled himself by coming down to earth to live as human though he was God, he died on the cross to rise again on the third day, and ascend to heaven to sit on the right hand of God the father to intercede for us. If we can only humble ourselves to believe in Him who was sent by God, we can never go hungry or thirsty because believing in Him is the indispensable work God calls us for.
In conclusion, I urge you all to this life of humility. People may look down upon us or despise us, but we must not be ashamed or be afraid to be prisoners of this gospel as Paul says it is foolishness to those that are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the the power of God. David retained his kingship because of his humility to Nathan the prophet. Paul the prisoner went through many hardships but in the end he says to Timothy
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
It seems he has forgotten all the hardships as he considers the glory that will be revealed to him and many others who believed in Christ.
Let us know that humility is not weakness but it is the power to achieve this worthy life for the called. If we continue to walk humbly before God, with all gentleness and patience, bearing with one another in love and making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace until the end, then Christ’s Glory will also be revealed to us and shall be with Him in eternity
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Let us pray- Lord God we thank you for your spoken word to us today. May it dwell in us and change our lives from the old to this worthy life that we were called to, in Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 