Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for February 4th 2024:
Lectionary Theme: Manifestation of God’s power
Occasion: 5th Sunday after Epiphany
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 147: 1-11, 20c
Isaiah 40: 21-31
1 Corinthians 9: 16-23
Mark 1: 29-39
[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 last week’s songs for Sunday morning service. I will try to upload this week’s songs as early as possible on Sunday. [Note: I wasn’t feeling very well and so I didn’t upload the song links after all.] Click or tap on a song to open it in YouTube.
Immortal Invisible.
Amazing grace (my chains are gone).
Great is the Lord.
Hide me now (Still).
Lord of all good.
How deep the Father’s love.
And can it be.
Now unto him.
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 147
1 Shout praises to the LORD! Our God is kind,
and it is right and good to sing praises to him.
2 The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem
and brings the people of Israel back home again.
3 He renews our hopes and heals our bodies.
4 He decided how many stars there would be in the sky
and gave each one a name.
5 Our LORD is great and powerful!
He understands everything.
6 The LORD helps the poor,
but he smears the wicked in the dirt.
7 Celebrate and sing!
Play your harps for the LORD our God.
8 He fills the sky with clouds and sends rain to the earth,
so that the hills will be green with grass.
9 He provides food for cattle
and for the young ravens, when they cry out.
10 The LORD doesn’t care about the strength of horses
or powerful armies.
11 The LORD is pleased only with those who worship him
and trust his love.
20c Shout praises to the LORD!
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Isaiah 40
21 Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
Isn’t it clear that God created the world?
22 God is the one who rules the whole earth,
and we that live here are merely insects.
He spread out the heavens
like a curtain or an open tent.
23 God brings down rulers and turns them into nothing.
24 They are like flowers freshly sprung up
and starting to grow.
But when God blows on them, they wilt
and are carried off like straw in a storm.
25 The holy God asks, “Who compares with me?
Is anyone my equal?”
26 Look at the evening sky! Who created the stars?
Who gave them each a name?
Who leads them like an army?
The LORD is so powerful that none of the stars
are ever missing.
27 You people of Israel, say, “God pays no attention to us!
He doesn’t care if we are treated unjustly.”
But how can you say that?
28 Don’t you know? Haven’t you heard?
The LORD is the eternal God, Creator of the earth.
He never gets weary or tired;
his wisdom cannot be measured.
29 The LORD gives strength to those who are weary.
30 Even young people get tired, then stumble and fall.
31 But those who trust the LORD will find new strength.
They will be strong like eagles soaring upward on wings;
they will walk and run without getting tired.
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1 Corinthians 9
16 I don’t have any reason to brag about preaching the good news. Preaching is something God told me to do, and if I don’t do it, I am doomed. 17 If I preach because I want to, I will be paid. But even if I don’t want to, it is still something God has sent me to do. 18 What pay am I given? It is the chance to preach the good news free of charge and not to use the privileges that are mine because I am a preacher.
19 I am not anyone’s slave. But I have become a slave to everyone, so that I can win as many people as possible. 20 When I am with the Jews, I live like a Jew to win Jews. They are ruled by the Law of Moses, and I am not. But I live by the Law to win them. 21 And when I am with people who are not ruled by the Law, I forget about the Law to win them. Of course, I never really forget about the law of God. In fact, I am ruled by the law of Christ. 22 When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can. 23 I do all this for the good news, because I want to share in its blessings.
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Mark 1
29 As soon as Jesus left the meeting place with James and John, they went home with Simon and Andrew. 30 When they got there, Jesus was told that Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever. 31 Jesus went to her. He took hold of her hand and helped her up. The fever left her, and she served them a meal.
32 That evening after sunset, all who were sick or had demons in them were brought to Jesus. 33 In fact, the whole town gathered around the door of the house. 34 Jesus healed all kinds of terrible diseases and forced out a lot of demons. But the demons knew who he was, and he did not let them speak.
35 Very early the next morning, Jesus got up and went to a place where he could be alone and pray. 36 Simon and the others started looking for him. 37 And when they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus replied, “We must go to the nearby towns, so that I can tell the good news to those people. This is why I have come.” 39 Then Jesus went to Jewish meeting places everywhere in Galilee, where he preached and forced out demons.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – January 28th 2024.]
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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