[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – January 29th 2023.]
Sunday Service from Connexion for February 5th 2023:
Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for February 5th 2023:
Lectionary Theme: True worship of God
Occasion: 5th after Epiphany
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 112: 1-9
Isaiah 58: 1-12
1 Corinthians 2: 1-16
Matthew 5: 13-20
[Click or tap on a Bible reference above to jump down the page to the Bible reading to 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.
Immortal, invisible.
Come people of the risen King.
Bless the Lord O my soul.
Be lifted up.
Ho ho ho hosanna.
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven.
O for a thousand tongues to sing.
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 112
1 Shout praises to the LORD! The LORD blesses everyone
who worships him and gladly obeys his teachings.
2 Their descendants will have great power in the land,
because the LORD blesses all who do right.
3 They will get rich and prosper
and will always be remembered for their fairness.
4 They will be so kind and merciful and good,
that they will be a light in the dark
for others who do the right thing.
5 Life will go well for those who freely lend
and are honest in business.
6 They won’t ever be troubled,
and the kind things they do will never be forgotten.
7 Bad news won’t bother them;
they have decided to trust the LORD.
8 They are dependable and not afraid,
and they will live to see their enemies defeated.
9 They will always be remembered and greatly praised,
because they were kind and freely gave to the poor.
Isaiah 58
1 Shout the message! Don’t hold back.
Say to my people Israel:
You’ve sinned! You’ve turned against the LORD.
2 Day after day, you worship him
and seem eager to learn his teachings.
You act like a nation that wants to do right
by obeying his laws.
You ask him about justice,
and say you enjoy worshipping the LORD.
3 You wonder why the LORD pays no attention
when you go without eating and act humble.
But on those same days that you give up eating,
you think only of yourselves
and abuse your workers.
4 You even get angry and ready to fight.
No wonder God won’t listen to your prayers!
5 Do you think the LORD wants you to give up eating
and to act as humble as a bent-over bush?
Or to dress in sackcloth and sit in ashes?
Is this really what he wants on a day of worship?
6 I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the LORD.
Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
7 Share your food with everyone who is hungry;
share your home with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don’t turn away your relatives.
8 Then your light will shine like the dawning sun,
and you will quickly be healed.
Your honesty will protect you as you advance,
and the glory of the LORD
will defend you from behind.
9 When you beg the LORD for help,
he will answer, “Here I am!”
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.
1 Corinthians 2
1 Friends, when I came and told you the mystery that God had shared with us, I didn’t use big words or try to sound wise. 2 In fact, while I was with you, I made up my mind to speak only about Jesus Christ, who had been nailed to a cross.
3 At first, I was weak and trembling with fear. 4 When I talked with you or preached, I didn’t try to prove anything by sounding wise. I simply let God’s Spirit show his power. 5 That way you would have faith because of God’s power and not because of human wisdom.
6 We do use wisdom when speaking to people who are mature in their faith. But it isn’t the wisdom of this world or of its rulers, who will soon disappear. 7 We speak of God’s hidden and mysterious wisdom that God decided to use for our glory long before the world began. 8 The rulers of this world didn’t know anything about this wisdom. If they had known about it, they would not have nailed the glorious Lord to a cross. 9 But it is just as the Scriptures say,
“What God has planned for people who love him
is more than eyes have seen or ears have heard.
It has never even entered our minds!”
10 God’s Spirit has shown you everything. His Spirit finds out everything, even what is deep in the mind of God. 11 You are the only one who knows what is in your own mind, and God’s Spirit is the only one who knows what is in God’s mind. 12 But God has given us his Spirit. That’s why we don’t think the same way that the people of this world think. That’s also why we can recognize the blessings that God has given us.
13 Every word we speak was taught to us by God’s Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people. 14 That’s why only someone who has God’s Spirit can understand spiritual blessings. Anyone who doesn’t have God’s Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish. 15 People who are guided by the Spirit can make all kinds of judgments, but they cannot be judged by others. 16 The Scriptures ask,
“Has anyone ever known the thoughts of the Lord
or given him advice?”
But we understand what Christ is thinking.
Matthew 5
13 You are like salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.
14 You are like light for the whole world. A city built on top of a hill cannot be hidden, 15 and no one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lampstand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. 16 Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will praise your Father in heaven.
17 Don’t suppose that I came to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to do away with them, but to give them their full meaning. 18 Heaven and earth may disappear. But I promise you that not even a period or comma will ever disappear from the Law. Everything written in it must happen.
19 If you reject even the least important command in the Law and teach others to do the same, you will be the least important person in the kingdom of heaven. But if you obey and teach others its commands, you will have an important place in the kingdom. 20 You must obey God’s commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don’t, I promise you that you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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