Sunday Services from Connexion for July 19th 2020:
Sunday Services from Hillside Circuit for July 19th 2020:
Date: July 19th
Occasion: 7th After Pentecost
Psalm 139
Old Testament: Genesis 28: 10-19a
Letter: Romans 8: 12-25
New Testament: Matthew 13: 24-30; 36-43
[Click or tap on a Bible reference above to go down the page to the Bible reading and then click or tap on Back to top to come back here.]
Theme: Meeting God in judgment
Here are the songs for Sunday morning service. Click or tap on a song to open it in YouTube.
As the deer pants for the water.
Refiner’s Fire (Purify my heart).
Be Thou my vision.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.
If you would also like to use prayers from the Methodist Service Book, they can be found at the Prayers for worship webpage.
Psalm 139
1 You have looked deep into my heart, LORD,
and you know all about me.
2 You know when I am resting or when I am working,
and from heaven you discover my thoughts.
3 You notice everything I do and everywhere I go.
4 Before I even speak a word,
you know what I will say,
5 and with your powerful arm
you protect me from every side.
6 I can’t understand all of this!
Such wonderful knowledge is far above me.
7 Where could I go to escape
from your Spirit or from your sight?
8 If I were to climb up to the highest heavens,
you would be there.
If I were to dig down to the world of the dead
you would also be there.
9 Suppose I had wings like the dawning day
and flew across the ocean.
10 Even then your powerful arm
would guide and protect me.
11 Or suppose I said, “I’ll hide in the dark
until night comes to cover me over.”
12 But you see in the dark
because daylight and dark are all the same to you.
13 You are the one who put me together
inside my mother’s body,
14 and I praise you
because of the wonderful way you created me.
Everything you do is marvellous!
Of this I have no doubt.
15 Nothing about me is hidden from you!
I was secretly woven together
deep in the earth below,
16 but with your own eyes
you saw my body being formed.
Even before I was born, you had written in your book
everything I would do.
17 Your thoughts are far beyond my understanding,
much more than I could ever imagine.
18 I try to count your thoughts,
but they outnumber the grains of sand on the beach.
And when I awake, I will find you nearby.
19 How I wish that you would kill
all cruel and heartless people and protect me from them!
20 They are always rebelling and speaking evil of you.
21 You know I hate anyone who hates you, LORD,
and refuses to obey.
22 They are my enemies too, and I truly hate them.
23 Look deep into my heart, God,
and find out everything I am thinking.
24 Don’t let me follow evil ways,
but lead me in the way that time has proven true.
Genesis 28
10 Jacob left the town of Beersheba and started out for Haran. 11 At sunset he stopped for the night and went to sleep, resting his head on a large rock. 12 In a dream he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.
13 The LORD was standing beside the ladder and said:
I am the LORD God who was worshipped by Abraham and Isaac. I will give to you and your family the land on which you are now sleeping. 14 Your descendants will spread over the earth in all directions and will become as numerous as the specks of dust. Your family will be a blessing to all people. 15 Wherever you go, I will watch over you, then later I will bring you back to this land. I won’t leave you – I will do all I have promised.
16 Jacob woke up suddenly and thought, “The LORD is in this place, and I didn’t even know it.” 17 Then Jacob became frightened and said, “This is a fearsome place! It must be the house of God and the ladder to heaven.”
18 When Jacob got up early the next morning, he took the rock that he had used for a pillow and stood it up for a place of worship. Then he poured olive oil on the rock to dedicate it to God, 19 and he named the place Bethel.
Romans 8
12 My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. 13 If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God’s Spirit you say “No” to your desires. 14 Only those people who are led by God’s Spirit are his children. 15 God’s Spirit doesn’t make us slaves who are afraid of him. Instead, we become his children and call him our Father. 16 God’s Spirit makes us sure that we are his children. 17 His Spirit lets us know that together with Christ we will be given what God has promised. We will also share in the glory of Christ, because we have suffered with him.
18 I am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. 19 In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. 20 Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope 21 that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. 22 We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.
23 The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. This means that our bodies will also be set free. 24 And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. 25 However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it.
Matthew 13
24 Jesus then told them this story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and scattered weed seeds in the field and then left.
26 When the plants came up and began to ripen, the farmer’s servants could see the weeds. 27 The servants came and asked, “Sir, didn’t you scatter good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?”
28 “An enemy did this,” he replied.
His servants then asked, “Do you want us to go out and pull up the weeds?”
29 “No!” he answered. “You might also pull up the wheat. 30 Leave the weeds alone until harvest time. Then I’ll tell my workers to gather the weeds and tie them up and burn them. But I’ll have them store the wheat in my barn.”
36 After Jesus left the crowd and went inside, his disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the story about the weeds in the wheat field.”
37 Jesus answered:
The one who scattered the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seeds are the people who belong to the kingdom. The weed seeds are those who belong to the evil one, 39 and the one who scattered them is the devil. The harvest is the end of time, and angels are the ones who bring in the harvest.
40 Weeds are gathered and burned. That’s how it will be at the end of time. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather from his kingdom everyone who does wrong or causes others to sin. 42 Then he will throw them into a flaming furnace, where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain. 43 But everyone who has done right will shine like the sun in their Father’s kingdom. If you have ears, pay attention!
Today’s message in English, with Mrs T Chigwada.
MEETING GOD IN JUDGMENT
Good morning saints of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth! At your service this morning is your Preacher Mrs. Tracey Chigwada from the Hillside Circuit of Bulawayo District.
Readings: Psalm 139; Genesis 28:10-19a, Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30; & 36-43
The theme for the day ‘Meeting God in Judgment’ is the firm warning and assurance that each and every one of us shall one of these days meet God face to face to be judged. The good news and the bad news about this fact is that in the Kingdom of God while we are still alive, God does not compel us to turn to Him. He leaves us to make that choice for ourselves, yet lets us realize that one of these days we will be called upon to account for our deeds. Put another way, while you can run away from the things that may be troubling you, you cannot hide from being caught up by the consequences of your choices. While still alive each and every one of us is literally given enough rope to hang themselves. The good news is that some will use that rope to trace their way back to God, the giver of the rope while the bad news is that some will actually use the rope to hang themselves. The rope, the leeway, the opportunity and the room to manoeuvre are given because God does not take any pleasure in the death of the wicked, no wonder the weeds and wheat are allowed only for some time though to thrive together pending harvest when these shall be permanently separated never to meet again.
Genesis 28:10-19 gives us Jacob who can afford to sleep at some lone place using a stone for a pillow. This sure is an abnormal man so God interrupts His sleep because some of us are only reasonable when we are asleep. As long as we are awake, all we do is think of who, and how to cheat the way Jacob had done all his life. He is running away from Esau and Isaac whom he had cheated and he does not feel any remorse or have the fear of God in him for His action but only until he has that dream. Jacob may pick a stone for a pillow and sleep and ignore God but God would slip quietly and unseen into Jacob’s camp and invade Jacob’s dreams. Jacob learned that the God of Abraham his grandfather and the God of Isaac his father could become the God of even Jacob himself. He learned moreover that there was such a place as heaven, and that heaven is not only an actual place, it is an accessible place. Centuries later in talking to Nathaniel, the Lord Jesus identified Himself as the ladder Jacob saw. He is the link between earth and heaven, for as God and man, He bridges the immeasurable distance between Deity and humanity, heaven and earth. We can approach God and reach God only through Him. When Jacob woke up he was from that moment on, a saved man. He took the stone he had used as a pillow and set it up as a pillar. He poured oil upon it to sanctify it and called the place Bethel changing it from Luz. Luz means ‘separation’ and Bethel means ‘house of God’. The man who had been far off separated from God by sin and wicked works was now brought near. The rope that he had been given early on in life was the link that led him back to God and the weeds that had been a part of him did not set root but were replaced by wheat when God in His infinite grace offered Jacob who had been running away from his own father’s house His own house to live in. For this reason Jacob was to be the first person to ever make a vow before God.
Psalm 139 is the story we all want to hear. God is all seeing, all knowing, all powerful and everywhere present. He knows us, He is with us and His greatest gift to us is that He allows us to know Him. As long as we live His Spirit watches over us guarding and guiding, so whatever we do can never be hidden from Him.
This is where Paul picks up from, and he says those who are led by the Spirit of God are actually sons of God, who do not conform to the pressures and needs of the sinful nature. Sin and temptation must be resisted, by all means. Because we are children of God, we are heirs, heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus Chris, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.
As children of the Kingdom we might be in this world but not of this world, hence we cannot conform to the evil that is in the world. Because God is with us all the time, we can trust His Spirit who never abandons us or leaves us as He assists us to pray with and in our prayers to access God. Evil is prevalent in our fallen world and as such we shall be subject to trouble but God is able to turn every circumstance around for our long term good. Please note that God is not working to make us happy but to achieve His own purposes for us. His purpose for us is not and was not an afterthought hence He made us fearfully and wonderfully as said by the Psalmist. This is how God chose us or as other versions say, predestined us. God wants us to get close to Him in His house and has provided Christ to be the link and bridge between us and Him such that no matter what happens to us even if it is so bad, it cannot separate us from the love that Christ has for us. The weeds as in the forces of evil exist in the world but Christ’s love for us makes us victors and conquerors of all these forces.
Evil is a feature of this fallen world so the children of God should know that they will live in this world side by side with evil. This is so because the Devil operates in this realm looking for those to entice to join him in his activities. Jesus illustrates this aspect through teaching us about the parable of the weeds and the wheat as read from the Gospel of Matthew. To each of us the hard part is that the owner (the Son of Man) of the field (the world) allows the wheat (children of the Kingdom) and the weed (the children of the evil one) to get to maturity and only then will they be separated.
So God allows evil to thrive in His world! Yes, that is why there shall be a judgment day on which each of us will be rewarded or punished based upon what they would have been doing here on earth. But why allow the weeds and the wheat to co-exist for a time? Let us look around here in church. Can you tell a rumour monger from a person of integrity? No! Can you tell a murderer from a life saver? No! Can you tell a brilliant mathematician from a dull one? Can you tell a compassionate person from a cruel one? No! Can you tell a Christian from a Non-Christian? No! The church is full of human beings who all look human just like the next person. The weeds and the wheat look similar before reaching maturity. Similarly before that moment when each one of us decides to show their true colours no one can ever tell the truth about that person. What of the issue of uprooting? Jesus calls us to trust that he will separate the good from the bad on Judgement Day. We are being warned not to judge those we fellowship with, in case we hurt the good person when we prematurely rebuke their friend. We have to let sleeping dogs lie until the right time comes. At that point with God’s grace we will call the bad and the good to order while remembering that it is God’s prerogative to judge. When Jesus says that there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, he is not saying this so that we might gloat, but that evil people might be warned, that is, all things that cause stumbling, all who create stumbling blocks and those who do iniquity, those who practice lawlessness, those who cause others to sin, tempters, faith-destroyers, those who become an impediment in the faith-journey of another person, those in rebellion against God’s law, unteachable spirit, those who practice immoral living, those who care not what Jesus wants them to do, those who do not love God and neighbour. All these, and some other undesirable behaviours, like weeds, retard spiritual growth. May we remember Paul’s charge to Timothy in 2Tim3:16&17 where he says, “ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
We need to recognize that we will serve either sin or Christ – impurity or righteousness. We are not able to serve two masters, but are free only to choose which master we will serve. Be like Joshua who said, “But as for me and my household we will serve The Lord!” The good news however is that “Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father” Matt. 13:43a Alleluiah!
As Jesus issued a call to hear and to take heed, He said “He who has ears let him hear,”
In The Name of The Father, The Son And The Holy Spirit. AMEN.
Today’s message in Shona, with Mr W Manyiwa.
The Methodist Church Hillside Circuit
Sunday service
Zviverengwa
Genesis 28 vs 10-19a
Romans 8 vs 12-25
Matthew 13 vs 24-30,36-43
Theme:Meeting God in judgement (Kusangana naMwari pamutongo)
Regai nditange nekutenda nyasha dzaMwari munguva yakaoma kudai apo denda reCorona radai kuita mbiri pasi rose asi chandinoziva nekuvimba ndechekuti kunyangwe chirwere ichi chikaita mukurumbira sei hakuna mbiri inokunda mbiri yaKristu uyo akapinda muguva guva rikati kwete ndatadza kukumedza ini saka mbiri yose ngaipiwe Zita riri pamusoro pemazita ose zita raJesu Kristu.
Padingindira randinaro nhasi regai nditi mukati medzimhuri munobuda vana vakawanda vachienda kuchikoro kunodzidza kwenguva yakati rebei,kana kotoro yava kunopera mudzidzisi anobva agadzira bvunzo dzichanyorwa nevana vose pozobuda zvishandwa zvevana zvichienderana nekubata nekuteerera kana mudzidzisi achidzidzisa ndopaunoona vamwe vana vachiuya nemufaro vamwe nekusuwa nekuti zvaanouya nazvo zvinoratidza zvawaifambira pamwedzi mitatu yapfuura.
Ndoo nhau iri kusimuka mubhuku ramavambo apo tinoona baba va Jacob vachishuvira mwanakomana wavo zvakanaka semubereki anotsvagira mwana wake chikoro chakanaka.
Ishuviro yemubereki wese kuti mwana wake aite zvakanaka tinonzwa bhaibheri richitiudza kuti Isaka anoraira Jacob kwekuroora mukadzi kwaye .Jacob nekuteerera baba vake anosimuka akananga Ku padhani Aramu kunozvitsvagira mukadzi nokuda kweropafadzo yaakanga apiwa nababa vake (blessing) anosvika pabheteri, anorarapo akatsamira dombo asi anorota hope achisangana naMwari, rega ndikubatsire mudikanwi hazvina basa kuti uripai kana papi Mwari anosanganika naye mhani, pauno roja ipapo ,paunoshanda ipapo,paupindira chechi ipapo Jehovah vanosanganika navo.
Chandinoziva ndechekuti when meeting God in judgement tinenge tambosangana naye parwendo rwehupenyu sezvakaita Jacob paanoziva kuti Jehovah vari panzvimbo anovaka aritari(alter) kuratidza kubvuma kusangana naIshe rega ndikubvunzewo mudikanwi iwe pawakasangana naMwari chii chawakamuitirawo.
Kana wasangana naMwari ukamupinza muhana mako bhaibheri rinoburitsa pachena kuti mweya wako unopupurirana nemweya waMwari kuti tiri vana vake, saka kana tava vana vehumambo tava vadyi venhaka yedenga, tavamo mukingdom yehumambo saka tava veroyal family asi wakaipa haazvifariri anobva auya ne mbeu yake yeshawi kuzokusha pakati pembeu yakanaka, pakupedzisira tinokuta humambo pozova nekuchema nekugeda-geda kwemeno nokuti kutonga ndekwemuridzi wemunda anoti regai zvikurirane tinozozviona pakukohwa apo zviyo zvichaiswa mudura zvochengetedzwa asi mashawi achaunganidzwa agopiswa . Asi ngatirege kutya nokuti tine murevereri wedu anova Jesu kristu uyo anoti ani nani anotenda kwaari haazofi asi achava nehupenyu husingaperi uye hakuna anoenda kuna baba asina kupfuura nekwandiri .
Ngatishingairei tiri muna Kristu kuti tisazofanana ne shawi rinozoshaya zvibereko pakupedzisira robva rakandwa muvivi remoto . Kristu anoburitsa pachena kuti tiri mukati memunda saka tiri mbeu inomiririra vana vehumambo,asi shawi ndevadhiyabhorosi.
Vadikanwi nyasha dzaMwari ngadzitichengete munguva ino yecorona kudai muzita rababa ,mwanakomana nera Mweya mutsvene Amen.
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 