Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for May 3rd 2026:
Lectionary Theme: Looking up to Jesus in the face of persecution
Occasion: 5th Sunday of Easter
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 31: 1-5, 15-16
Acts 7: 55-60
1 Peter 2: 2-10
John 14: 1-14
[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 the songs for Sunday morning service. Click or tap on a song to open it in YouTube.
I know that my Redeemer lives.
O safe to the Rock.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Be still and know that I am God.
Hail thou once despised Jesus.
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds.
Fight the good fight.
My peace.
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:
[No Children’s Address was received today.]
Sermon:
Bible readings:
Psalm 31
1 I come to you, LORD, for protection.
Don’t let me be ashamed.
Do as you have promised and rescue me.
2 Listen to my prayer and hurry to save me.
Be my mighty rock
and the fortress where I am safe.
3 You, LORD God, are my mighty rock and my fortress.
Lead me and guide me,
so that your name will be honoured.
4 Protect me from hidden traps and keep me safe.
5 You are faithful,
and I trust you because you rescued me.
15 My life is in your hands.
Save me from enemies who hunt me down.
16 Smile on me, your servant. Have pity and rescue me.
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Acts 7
55 But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus standing at his right side. 56 Then Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”
57 The council members shouted and covered their ears. At once they all attacked Stephen 58 and dragged him out of the city. Then they started throwing stones at him. The men who had brought charges against him put their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 As Stephen was being stoned to death, he called out, “Lord Jesus, please welcome me!” 60 He knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don’t blame them for what they have done.” Then he died.
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1 Peter 2
2 Be like newborn babies who are thirsty for the pure spiritual milk that will help you grow and be saved. 3 You have already found out how good the Lord really is.
4 Come to Jesus Christ. He is the living stone that people have rejected, but which God has chosen and highly honoured. 5 And now you are living stones that are being used to build a spiritual house. You are also a group of holy priests, and with the help of Jesus Christ you will offer sacrifices that please God. 6 It is just as God says in the Scriptures,
“Look! I am placing in Zion
a choice and precious cornerstone.
No one who has faith in that one will be disappointed.”
7 You are followers of the Lord, and that stone is precious to you. But it isn’t precious to those who refuse to follow him. They are the builders who tossed aside the stone that turned out to be the most important one of all. 8 They disobeyed the message and stumbled and fell over that stone, because they were doomed.
9 But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done. The Scriptures say,
10 “Once you were nobody. Now you are God’s people.
At one time no one had pity on you.
Now God has treated you with kindness.”
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John 14
1 Jesus said to his disciples, “Don’t be worried! Have faith in God and have faith in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. 3 After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together. 4 You know the way to where I am going.”
5 Thomas said, “Lord, we don’t even know where you are going! How can we know the way?”
6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life!” Jesus answered. “Without me, no one can go to the Father. 7 If you had known me, you would have known the Father. But from now on, you do know him, and you have seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need.”
9 Jesus replied:
Philip, I have been with you for a long time. Don’t you know who I am? If you have seen me, you have seen the Father. How can you ask me to show you the Father? 10 Don’t you believe that I am one with the Father and that the Father is one with me? What I say isn’t said on my own. The Father who lives in me does these things.
11 Have faith in me when I say that the Father is one with me and that I am one with the Father. Or else have faith in me simply because of the things I do. 12 I tell you for certain that if you have faith in me, you will do the same things that I am doing. You will do even greater things, now that I am going back to the Father. 13 Ask me, and I will do whatever you ask. This way the Son will bring honour to the Father. 14 I will do whatever you ask me to do.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – April 26th 2026.]
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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