[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – November 27th 2022.]
Sunday Service from Connexion for December 4th 2022:
Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for December 4th 2022:
Lectionary Theme: Repent and prepare for the coming Messiah
Occasion: 2nd Sunday in Advent
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 72: 1-7
Isaiah 11: 1-10
Romans 15: 4-13
Matthew 3: 1-12
[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.
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry.
Christmas isn’t Christmas . . .
King of Kings, Majesty.
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.
Rejoice! The Lord is King.
As with Gladness.
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 72
1 Please help the king to be honest and fair
just like you, our God.
2 Let him be honest and fair with all your people,
especially the poor.
3 Let peace and justice rule every mountain and hill.
4 Let the king defend the poor, rescue the homeless,
and crush everyone who hurts them.
5 Let the king live forever like the sun and the moon.
6 Let him be as helpful as rain
that refreshes the meadows and the ground.
7 Let the king be fair with everyone,
and let there be peace
until the moon falls from the sky.
Isaiah 11
1 Like a branch that sprouts from a stump,
someone from David’s family will someday be king.
2 The Spirit of the LORD will be with him
to give him understanding, wisdom, and insight.
He will be powerful, and he will know
and honour the LORD.
3 His greatest joy will be to obey the LORD.
This king won’t judge by appearances or listen to rumours.
4 The poor and the needy will be treated with fairness
and with justice.
His word will be law everywhere in the land,
and criminals will be put to death.
5 Honesty and fairness will be his royal robes.
6 Leopards will lie down with young goats,
and wolves will rest with lambs.
Calves and lions will eat together
and be cared for by little children.
7 Cows and bears will share the same pasture;
their young will rest side by side.
Lions and oxen will both eat straw.
8 Little children will play near snake holes.
They will stick their hands into dens of poisonous snakes
and never be hurt.
9 Nothing harmful will take place
on the LORD’S holy mountain.
Just as water fills the sea,
the land will be filled with people
who know and honour the LORD.
10 The time is coming when one of David’s descendants will be the signal for the people of all nations to come together. They will follow his advice, and his own nation will become famous.
Romans 15
4 And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope. 5 God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ. 6 Then all of you together will praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
7 Honour God by accepting each other, as Christ has accepted you. 8 I tell you that Christ came as a servant of the Jews to show that God has kept the promises he made to their famous ancestors. Christ also came, 9 so that the Gentiles would praise God for being kind to them. It is just as the Scriptures say,
“I will tell the nations about you,
and I will sing praises to your name.”
10 The Scriptures also say to the Gentiles, “Come and celebrate with God’s people.”
11 Again the Scriptures say,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles.
All you nations, come and worship him.”
12 Isaiah says,
“Someone from David’s family will come to power.
He will rule the nations,
and they will put their hope in him.”
13 I pray that God, who gives hope, will bless you with complete happiness and peace because of your faith. And may the power of the Holy Spirit fill you with hope.
Matthew 3
1 Years later, John the Baptist started preaching in the desert of Judea. 2 He said, “Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven will soon be here.”
3 John was the one the prophet Isaiah was talking about, when he said,
“In the desert someone is shouting,
‘Get the road ready for the Lord!
Make a straight path for him.’ “
4 John wore clothes made of camel’s hair. He had a leather strap around his waist and ate grasshoppers and wild honey.
5 From Jerusalem and all Judea and from the Jordan River Valley crowds of people went to John. 6 They told how sorry they were for their sins, and he baptized them in the river.
7 Many Pharisees and Sadducees also came to be baptized. But John said to them:
You bunch of snakes! Who warned you to run from the coming judgment? 8 Do something to show that you have really given up your sins. 9 And don’t start telling yourselves that you belong to Abraham’s family. I tell you that God can turn these stones into children for Abraham. 10 An axe is ready to cut the trees down at their roots. Any tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into a fire.
11 I baptize you with water so that you will give up your sins. But someone more powerful is going to come, and I am not good enough even to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His threshing fork is in his hand, and he is ready to separate the wheat from the husks. He will store the wheat in a barn and burn the husks in a fire that never goes out.
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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