Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for August 24th 2025:
Lectionary Theme: True worship and social justice
Occasion: 11th Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 103: 1-8
Isaiah 58: 9b-14
Hebrews 12: 18-29
Luke 13: 10-17
[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.
Praise my soul.
Lord make me a mountain.
As the deer.
Spirit of the living God.
Lord of all good.
It is God who holds the nations.
Fill Thou my life.
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:
[No Children’s Address was received today.]
Sermon:
Bible readings:
Psalm 103
1 With all my heart I praise the LORD,
and with all that I am I praise his holy name!
2 With all my heart I praise the LORD!
I will never forget how kind he has been.
3 The LORD forgives our sins, heals us when we are sick,
4 and protects us from death.
His kindness and love are a crown on our heads.
5 Each day that we live, he provides for our needs
and gives us the strength of a young eagle.
6 For all who are mistreated, the LORD brings justice.
7 He taught his Law to Moses
and showed all Israel what he could do.
8 The LORD is merciful! He is kind and patient,
and his love never fails.
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Isaiah 58
9b Don’t mistreat others or falsely accuse them
or say something cruel.
10 Give your food to the hungry and care for the homeless.
Then your light will shine in the dark;
your darkest hour will be like the noonday sun.
11 The LORD will always guide you
and provide good things to eat
when you are in the desert.
He will make you healthy.
You will be like a garden that has plenty of water
or like a stream that never runs dry.
12 You will rebuild those houses left in ruins for years;
you will be known as a builder and repairer
of city walls and streets.
13 But first, you must start respecting the Sabbath
as a joyful day of worship.
You must stop doing and saying whatever you please
on this special day.
14 Then you will truly enjoy knowing the LORD.
He will let you rule from the highest mountains
and bless you with the land of your ancestor Jacob.
The LORD has spoken!
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Hebrews 12
18 You have not come to a place like Mount Sinai that can be seen and touched. There is no flaming fire or dark cloud or storm 19 or trumpet sound. The people of Israel heard a voice speak. But they begged it to stop, 20 because they could not obey its commands. They were even told to kill any animal that touched the mountain. 21 The sight was so frightening that Moses said he shook with fear.
22 You have now come to Mount Zion and to the heavenly Jerusalem. This is the city of the living God, where thousands and thousands of angels have come to celebrate. 23 Here you will find all of God’s dearest children, whose names are written in heaven. And you will find God himself, who judges everyone. Here also are the spirits of those good people who have been made perfect. 24 And Jesus is here! He is the one who makes God’s new agreement with us, and his sprinkled blood says much better things than the blood of Abel.
25 Make sure that you obey the one who speaks to you. The people did not escape, when they refused to obey the one who spoke to them at Mount Sinai. Do you think you can possibly escape, if you refuse to obey the one who speaks to you from heaven? 26 When God spoke the first time, his voice shook only the earth. This time he has promised to shake the earth once again, and heaven too.
27 The words “once again” mean that these created things will someday be shaken and removed. Then what cannot be shaken will last. 28 We should be grateful that we were given a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And in this kingdom we please God by worshipping him and by showing him great honour and respect. 29 Our God is like a destructive fire!
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Luke 13
10 One Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in a Jewish meeting place, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by an evil spirit for eighteen years. She was completely bent over and could not straighten up. 12 When Jesus saw the woman, he called her over and said, “You are now well.” 13 He placed his hands on her, and right away she stood up straight and praised God.
14 The man in charge of the meeting place was angry because Jesus had healed someone on the Sabbath. So he said to the people, “Each week has six days when we can work. Come and be healed on one of those days, but not on the Sabbath.”
15 The Lord replied, “Are you trying to fool someone? Won’t any one of you untie your ox or donkey and lead it out to drink on a Sabbath? 16 This woman belongs to the family of Abraham, but Satan has kept her bound for eighteen years. Isn’t it right to set her free on the Sabbath?” 17 Jesus’ words made his enemies ashamed. But everyone else in the crowd was happy about the wonderful things he was doing.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – August 17th 2025.]
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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