[Did you miss last Sunday’s services? They can still be found at Worship Archive – May 30th 2021.]
Sunday Services from Connexion for June 6th 2021:
Sunday Services from Hillside Circuit for June 6th 2021:
Theme: Doing the will of God
Occasion: 2nd after Pentecost
Psalm 130
1 Samuel 8: 4-11, 16-20
2 Corinthians 4: 13 – 5: 1
Mark 3: 20-35
[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, or go to the Songs for worship webpage to find them embedded.
Lord I lift your name on high.
If I were a butterfly.
Let the weak say I am strong.
Purify my heart.
Father I place into your hands.
When we walk with the Lord (Trust and obey).
In my life Lord, be glorified.
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:
Sermons:
Bible readings:
Psalm 130
1 From a sea of troubles I call out to you, LORD.
2 Won’t you please listen as I beg for mercy?
3 If you kept record of our sins, no one could last long.
4 But you forgive us, and so we will worship you.
5 With all my heart, I am waiting, LORD, for you!
I trust your promises.
6 I wait for you more eagerly
than a soldier on guard duty waits for the dawn.
Yes, I wait more eagerly
than a soldier on guard duty waits for the dawn.
7 Israel, trust the LORD! He is always merciful,
and he has the power to save you.
8 Israel, the LORD will save you from all of your sins.
1 Samuel 8
4 One day the nation’s leaders came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said, “You are an old man. You set a good example for your sons, but they haven’t followed it. Now we want a king to be our leader, just like all the other nations. Choose one for us!”
6 Samuel was upset to hear the leaders say they wanted a king, so he prayed about it. 7 The LORD answered:
Samuel, do everything they want you to do. I am really the one they have rejected as their king. 8 Ever since the day I rescued my people from Egypt, they have turned from me to worship idols. Now they are turning away from you. 9 Do everything they ask, but warn them and tell them how a king will treat them.
10 Samuel told the people who were asking for a king what the LORD had said:
11 If you have a king, this is how he will treat you. He will force your sons to join his army. Some of them will ride in his chariots, some will serve in the cavalry, and others will run ahead of his own chariot.
16 The king will take your slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and make them do his work. 17 He will also take a tenth of your sheep and goats. You will become the king’s slaves, 18 and you will finally cry out for the LORD to save you from the king you wanted. But the LORD won’t answer your prayers.
19-20 The people would not listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want to be like other nations. We want a king to rule us and lead us in battle.”
2 Corinthians 4
13 In the Scriptures it says, “I spoke because I had faith.” We have that same kind of faith. So we speak 14 because we know that God raised the Lord Jesus to life. And just as God raised Jesus, he will also raise us to life. Then he will bring us into his presence together with you. 15 All of this has been done for you, so that more and more people will know how kind God is and will praise and honour him.
16 We never give up. Our bodies are gradually dying, but we ourselves are being made stronger each day. 17 These little troubles are getting us ready for an eternal glory that will make all our troubles seem like nothing. 18 Things that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That’s why we keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen.
(Chapter 5)
1 Our bodies are like tents that we live in here on earth. But when these tents are destroyed, we know that God will give each of us a place to live. These homes will not be buildings that someone has made, but they are in heaven and will last forever.
Mark 3
20 Jesus went back home, and once again such a large crowd gathered that there was no chance even to eat. 21 When Jesus’ family heard what he was doing, they thought he was crazy and went to get him under control.
22 Some teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem and said, “This man is under the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons! He is even forcing out demons with the help of Beelzebul.”
23 Jesus told the people to gather around him. Then he spoke to them in riddles and said:
How can Satan force himself out? 24 A nation whose people fight each other won’t last very long. 25 And a family that fights won’t last long either. 26 So if Satan fights against himself, that will be the end of him.
27 How can anyone break into the house of a strong man and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.
28 I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. 29 But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.
30 Jesus said this because the people were saying that he had an evil spirit in him.
31 Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside. Then they sent someone with a message for him to come out to them. 32 The crowd that was sitting around Jesus told him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside and want to see you.”
33 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 34 Then he looked at the people sitting around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 35 Anyone who obeys God is my brother or sister or mother.”
Text version of Children’s Address for Hillside Circuit on June 6th 2021, with Mrs Ngonidzashe Mariga:
Today we are going to look at 2 stories from the Bible in trying to understand our theme: Doing the will of God. l am just going to briefly retell the stories assuming that you are familiar with them. If this may not be the case , may parents or guardians help in greater detail.
The story of Noah in brief:
Noah was loved by God for he was upright compared to the rest of mankind who lived during his time. God trusted him and asked him to build an Ark. God was grieved about the wickedness that was done by people and decided to wipe them out. Noah listened to God and with his family he built the Ark. This pleased God and Noah and his family were saved whilst the rest of mankind was destroyed.
The story of Jonah in brief:
Jonah was sent by God to Nineveh to preach against the wickedness that was done by people before God. Jonah did not listen to God and ran away heading for Tarshish. Aboard a ship to his own destination God sent a great wind that threatened to break the ship. Jonah was thrown in the sea and a big fish swallowed him. He stayed in the fish belly for 3 days and 3 nights. The fish later vomited him on dry land and Jonah made his way to preach as was instructed to him before.
From the above stories we saw that Noah did God’s will without hesitation. He was quick to accept and to deliver, whereas Jonah denied the will of God and tried to please himself though in vain.
Lessons:
Listening to God’s will and doing his will leads to blessings. Noah and his family were blessed and spared from death that wiped mankind .When you always do what God wants you get his love and protection.
Nothing can stop God’s will to be done in your life.
Even if one tries their will like what Jonah thought only God will win. He makes sure that his word gets fulfilled.
The Lord is loving and forgiving.
Once you realize that you did wrong, call upon God, he will forgive and embrace you. Jonah prayed in the fish stomach and God heard him. No matter how sinful you can be, remember to call God he will hear you and forgives.
From 2 Corinthians (read verses):
Paul is talking to the church in Corinth and reminding them not to forget to call upon God no matter how troubled and persecuted they can be. Lets always call upon the Lord, he will come to our aid and free us. He understands our weaknesses and will always help us. Instead of running away from God, let’s run to him even when things are bad.
Let’s pray.
Father we come before your throne of grace this morning. Thank you Lord for the gift of life and the forgiveness of all our sins. You have accepted us as your own and we are grateful to be called by your name. Thank you for today’s lesson. Teach us to listen to you Lord and help us to always do your will for on our own we are nothing. Help our parents and friends to love you and do your will. ln Jesus Christ name we pray. Amen.
Text version of message for Hillside Circuit on June 6th 2021 in English, with Mr Mishack Mugiyo:
Introduction
The will of God is exactly what we would choose for our lives if we had sense enough to choose it. God loves us more than we love our selves. He knows of greater possibilities and more success that we could achieve, if only we will seek and follow His plan.
You know what, God is more qualified to plot a course for our lives than we are. Just think about the advantage you would have if you had hand crafted a person to your own design and knew exactly what lay ahead of them through out every moment of their life.
Samuel story
The elders of Israel approached Samuel with a request. The elders where men who because of age and good reputation are where local leaders. A gathering of elders represented substantial authority that Samuel could not ignore. While he was not subject to their authority, their collective opinion carried weight.
The elders are concerned about leadership succession. Samuel had grown old and his sons had proven unfit to take over leadership.
Samuel had appointed judges to rule over particular regions but now the elders wanted a king, they were actually demanding that a king be appointed over them.
Israel now wanted a king like the nations that surrounded them. How often do we look at those around us and envy them, and wanted to be like them, many a time without considering if it is God’s will? One needs to always consider God’s will. We are called to be different from those that surround us.
God was the King of Israel, why did the elders want to promote a person into that role? Why did they want to be like other nations when the Lord had created them as a different people?
God is dismayed at this request and so is Samuel. However, God grants the people of Israel their will. Samuel is asked to warn them of the consequences. The king would take the best fields, vines and olive groves. He would take their sons and make them serve him. He would take part of their harvest for him self and give some to his officials. He would also take the best of their livestock. The Israelites are warned that they will one day cry for relief from the king they thought they needed.
The Israelites do not heed the warnings of the Lord and demand a king. God then tells the man of God to grant their wish and not long after Saul the Benjamite is anointed as the first king of Israel.
Dear children of God, be careful of the requests that you make to God, if they do not align to God’s will, you may think that your requests and decisions are the best but believe you me, as long as it is not Gods’ will they will be consequences.
The people of Israel rejected the will of God and rejecting the will of God may be the same as rejecting God.
Corinthians
In the book of Corinthians, the Apostle Paul speaks about believing, trusting and having faith. For us to be able to do the will of God we need to believe what God has planned for us, we need to trust God that His will prevail in our lives. Paul encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on Christ.to do the will of God we need to focus on Jesus Christ who will lead us and guide us in doing the will of the Father.
Mark
In the book of Saint Mark, we come across Jesus doing the will of His father, teaching the word of God, driving out demons and healing the sick. Jesus has just about started His ministry and perhaps His family has not yet understood what the will of God in His life is.
They come to a house He is ministering to many people. The bible tells us that His family thought that He was out of His mind. Sometimes when we do the will of God in our lives even the closest people in our lives may not understand us.
The teachers of the law on the other hand accuse Jesus of being possessed by demons. When we seek to do the will of God, we may be falsely labelled just like Christ was. Soldier on like Christ and accomplish what God has subscribed for your life.
It is my prayer that we learn and know what Gods will for our lives is. God’s will can be refused as in the case of the Israelite community. He will not always force. God wants us to choose, to love, to, obey and follow Him. He does not want us to be slaves that will do his will by force.
Let me leave you with just three things of how you may know that you are doing God’s will
1 God’s will will never contradict His word.
2 God ‘s will for your life will be accompanied by confirmation.
3 God ‘s will, will require you to depend on Him.
Conclusion
The Psalmist in chapter fifty-seven verse two says “I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfils His purpose for me”
The psalmist is making a plea to God that only God’s will take place in His life. It is my prayer as well that the will of the Lord and nothing else takes place in your life.
In the name of God, the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit amen.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus help us to know and to do your will, nothing more, nothing less and nothing else. Amen
Text version of message for Hillside Circuit on June 6th 2021 in Ndebele, with Rev Bekithemba Phiri:
06 NHLANGULA, 2021
IHUBO LOKUNXUSELA- 130
1 Ngiyakhuleka kuwe Nkosi ngisenzikini.
2 Nkosi, zwana ilizwi lami…
HYMN- 239
ISIHLOKO- UKWENZA INTANDO KANKULUNKULU
MAKO 3: 20-35
Yikwiyini intando kaNkulunkulu?
-yisifiso sikaNkulunkulu labantu, kumbe indlela uNkulunkulu afisa ukusebenza njalo labantu. Kumbe uhlelo lukaNkulunkulu labantu.
-lokhu kugoqela ukulalela lokwenza okuhlelwe nguThixo ngempilo zethu.
UJesu eqala ukwenza intando kaYise, abantu kabazange bamqedisise, ngoba bakhona abangayaziyo intando kaNkulunkulu lohlelo lwakhe. Bafuna ukumbamba bethi uphambene ngabakibo (okuyikuthi uma sesiqala ukwenza intando kaThixo) bakhona abangake bakuqedisisa emndenini wakini.
Intando kaNkulunkulu kayiholelwa ngamandla kamoya omubi (Belezebule inkosi yabangalungile, umoya omubi). Intando kaNkulunkulu iholelwa ngumoya kaNkukunkulu.
UJesu lapho abomdeni wakhe sebeze ukumlanda, uthi izihlobo zakhe yilabo abenza intando kaYise oseZulwini. Akhona amathuba lapho salahlwa khona ngabangane, yimndeni, ngenxa yokulandela lokufuna ukwenza intando kaThixo.
Ungabuyeli emuva, ngoba abenzanjalo yibo abahlobo bakaJesu, okukwenza ube ngumfowabo, lodadewabo kaJesu. Kakungabi lokunqabela ukwenza okufunwa nguThixo.
“Baba nxa ngilahlekayo mayenzeki ntando yakho”
(Hymn 239 Ndebele/Zulu Hymn book)
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 