[Did you miss last Sunday’s services? They can still be found at Worship Archive – November 8th 2020.]
Sunday Services from Connexion for November 15th 2020:
Sunday Services from Hillside Circuit for November 15th 2020:
Theme: God gives resources for every challenge
Occasion: 6th Sunday before Christmas
Psalm 123
Old Testament: Judges 4: 1-7
New Testament: 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-11
Gospel: Matthew 25: 14-30
[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.
Ah Lord God.
Immortal, Invisible.
The Lord’s my Shepherd; I’ll not want.
Give thanks with a grateful heart.
All praise to our Redeeming Lord.
O worship the King.
Now unto Him.
Prayers:
You can listen and join in with prayers from the Methodist Service Book, they can be found at the Prayers for worship webpage.
Sermons:
Bible readings:
Psalm 123
1 Our LORD and our God,
I turn my eyes to you, on your throne in heaven.
2 Servants look to their master, but we will look to you,
until you have mercy on us.
3 Please have mercy, LORD!
We have been insulted more than we can stand,
4 and we can’t take more abuse
from those proud, conceited people.
Judges 4
1 After the death of Ehud, the Israelites again started disobeying the LORD. 2 So the LORD let the Canaanite King Jabin of Hazor conquer Israel. Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, lived in Harosheth-Ha-Goiim. 3 Jabin’s army had nine hundred iron chariots, and for twenty years he made life miserable for the Israelites, until finally they begged the LORD for help.
4 Deborah the wife of Lappidoth was a prophet and a leader of Israel during those days. 5 She would sit under Deborah’s Palm Tree between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, where Israelites would come and ask her to settle their legal cases.
6 One day, Barak the son of Abinoam was in Kedesh in Naphtali, and Deborah sent word for him to come and talk with her. When he arrived, she said:
I have a message for you from the LORD God of Israel! You are to get together an army of ten thousand men from the Naphtali and Zebulun tribes and lead them to Mount Tabor. 7 The LORD will trick Sisera into coming out to fight you at the Kishon River. Sisera will be leading King Jabin’s army as usual, and they will have their chariots, but the LORD has promised to help you defeat them.
1 Thessalonians 5
1 I don’t need to write you about the time or date when all this will happen. 2 You surely know that the LORD’S return will be as a thief coming at night. 3 People will think they are safe and secure. But destruction will suddenly strike them like the pains of a woman about to give birth. And they won’t escape.
4 My dear friends, you don’t live in darkness, and so that day won’t surprise you like a thief. 5 You belong to the light and live in the day. We don’t live in the night or belong to the dark. 6 Others may sleep, but we should stay awake and be alert. 7 People sleep during the night, and some even get drunk. 8 But we belong to the day. So we must stay sober and let our faith and love be like a suit of armour. Our firm hope that we will be saved is our helmet.
9 God doesn’t intend to punish us, but to have our Lord Jesus Christ save us. 10 Christ died for us, so that we could live with him, whether we are alive or dead when he comes. 11 That’s why you must encourage and help each other, just as you are already doing.
Matthew 25
14 The kingdom is also like what happened when a man went away and put his three servants in charge of all he owned. 15 The man knew what each servant could do. So he handed five thousand coins to the first servant, two thousand to the second, and one thousand to the third. Then he left the country.
16 As soon as the man had gone, the servant with the five thousand coins used them to earn five thousand more. 17 The servant who had two thousand coins did the same with his money and earned two thousand more. 18 But the servant with one thousand coins dug a hole and hid his master’s money in the ground.
19 Some time later the master of those servants returned. He called them in and asked what they had done with his money. 20 The servant who had been given five thousand coins brought them in with the five thousand that he had earned. He said, “Sir, you gave me five thousand coins, and I have earned five thousand more.”
21 “Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”
22 Next, the servant who had been given two thousand coins came in and said, “Sir, you gave me two thousand coins, and I have earned two thousand more.”
23 “Wonderful!” his master replied. “You are a good and faithful servant. I left you in charge of only a little, but now I will put you in charge of much more. Come and share in my happiness!”
24 The servant who had been given one thousand coins then came in and said, “Sir, I know that you are hard to get along with. You harvest what you don’t plant and gather crops where you haven’t scattered seed. 25 I was frightened and went out and hid your money in the ground. Here is every single coin!”
26 The master of the servant told him, “You are lazy and good-for-nothing! You know that I harvest what I don’t plant and gather crops where I haven’t scattered seed. 27 You could have at least put my money in the bank, so that I could have earned interest on it.”
28 Then the master said, “Now your money will be taken away and given to the servant with ten thousand coins! 29 Everyone who has something will be given more, and they will have more than enough. But everything will be taken from those who don’t have anything. 30 You are a worthless servant, and you will be thrown out into the dark where people will cry and grit their teeth in pain.”
Text version of message for Hillside Circuit on November 15th 2020 in English, with Dr Christine Tenga:
I greet you all sisters and brothers in the comfort of your homes, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit Amen.
Let us read Psalm 123 as our Call to Worship.
Let us come into the presence of God in prayer.
We praise and thank you God our Father this morning for the gift of life. We thank you for your goodness and kindness which you always show to us. We acknowledge all your attributes through the things around us. We marvel at your power, knowledge and wisdom beyond our understanding when we look at the sun, the moon ant the stars. We thank you for rain and still ask for more to bring life to your creation.
Lord God bless each and everyone who will listen to your word as you use me as your servant.
Amen.
Let us sing or say the Lord’s Prayer after which we can sing from H&P No 66 to worship and draw ourselves close to God. “Great is Thy Faithfulness O God my Father.”
The theme of the sermon is: GOD GIVES RESOURCES FOR EVERY CHALLENGE.
The meaning of the word resource from the Dictionary is said to be a means available to achieve an end or a means to fulfil a function. Resources can be in the form of financial wealth or riches in assets or stock or supply that can be drawn on to achieve something.
As I read from the Judges passage, I realised that people can also be resources. We then speak of Human resources or man power.
Christians with their God given talents and gifts are God’s resources. The Holy Spirit gives gifts such as counselling, teaching, preaching, praying and singing.
What is a Challenge? It is a difficult task which needs strength to solve.
Our theme is, God gives resources for every challenge.
From the passage in Judges, Israelites had challenges. They were failing to do good before the eyes of God they did evil things which angered God. He punished them by subjecting them to foreign rule. Each and every time Christians fail to do good instead they do evil things. The Apostle Paul mentioned once that he found himself doing what he didn’t want to do. The Israelites were enslaved and oppressed and their dignity compromised. They no longer had freedom. With oppression comes hunger, poverty insecurity, lack of freedom. Israelites could not worship and celebrate festivals nor offer sacrifices freely to their God.
They cried out to God. When we face such challenges we need to go to God, He will provide resources. In Psalm 123 the Psalmist said that he looks to God as a slave looks to the hand of his master. We look to God not as slaves but as His children.
At that time God used Deborah a prophetess, a wife, a mother a judge who used to settle disputes among Israelites in her court to conquer the Canaanite army led by Sisera. She was told to command Barak and 10 000 men from the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali to go and fight and God would hand Sisera into their hands. They did and freed the Israelites
Just like Deborah God will give you talents so that you serve Him. God can use who ever He chooses to accomplish his desires. At that time God used a woman and men. Sometimes women are looked down upon when important decisions are made, be it in churches or in the circular world. Some churches do not even allow women to preach or hold leadership position. In God’s service we are the same. We need women like Deborah who can stand and use their talents and stop oppression which we see everywhere. She was God fearing and trusted God’s word. The word of God is a powerful resource which Christians can use to face any challenge. Deborah together with Barak and 10 000 men overcame the foreign army by listening to God’s word. Peace was bestowed. Our world has no peace; in our Christian circles also there is no peace , lets cry out to our God He will provide necessary resources.
Humanity is under bondage of sin. We need prayer warriors to intercede. I recently heard of something that shocked me. Someone out there talking of contraceptives to be given to young girls of 16 years. That is oppression of children. We need Deborahs who can stand before children’s lives are destroyed. This is evil doing and must be stopped. Children must be taught good morals. Christian women must rise and seek guidance from God.
In the passage of Matthew, God is the master and we are the servants. Here we are shown that God gives to some more talents than others but we are all expected to serve God with what ever we have and the more your serve with your resources God adds more but if you are lazy, in the end He will take away what ever you have. We need to help others. Our service to others must bring them to God for salvation.
Resources are a means to an end. What is that end. The end is the kingdom of God which every Christian should look forward to. The Apostle Paul in Thessalonians speaks to the church about the second coming of Christ. Christians must not be taken by surprise since noone knows when he is coming. Since Christians know Christ they are in the light and not in the dark. Christians must continue doing good. They must have faith and love. They must wear the armour of God for protection against evil. Christians must encourage one another and continue to serve until Christ comes. Those who are doing good will live with him in the kingdom.
May God bless His Word.
Let us pray.
Our heavenly and loving God, we thank you for your word that instructs us to serve you and help others to know you and be saved as we use the resources that you give us.
Amen.
Text version of message for Hillside Circuit on November 15th 2020 in Ndebele, with Mrs Angela Penduka:
God Gives Resources For Every Challenge
U Jehova uyasipha Okudingekayo Kuzo Zonke Inkinga esihlangana Lazo
Masithandazeni Sizaphambi kobuso bakho somandla Mdali wezulu lomhlaba .Jejova wothando wena osivikelayo kuzo zonke izikhathi. Siyizoni Tixo sithethelele amacala ethu ungasijezisi ngolaka.Sibonga uthando osenzela lona mihla lemihla .Sibonga I zulu Jehova sithandaza Tixo ukuthi unise izulu lakho amadamu agcwale.Sivikele emkhuhlaneni yonke le Covd 19.Sibeka esandleni sakho abagulayo labafelweyo. Sithandazela ibandla lethu le Methodist church in Zimbabwe.
Vula inhliziyo zethu le ndlebe zethu u khulume lomunye lomunye olaleleyo ngalesi isikhathi.Talk into our situations Lord.
Sithandaza egameni likayise leleNdodana lelika Moya oyingcwele. Amen
Ngiyalibingelea lonke egameni lika yise lele Ndodana lelika Moya ongcwele Amen
Indaba ye Bhayibhili ngeyo thando luka Nkulunkulu alalo emuntwini kusukela ekuqaleni kuze kube emaphethelweni .UNkulunkulu wamenza umuntu wabaphezu kwazo zonke izidalwa .Kodwa simbona umuntu ehlamuka esona njalonjalo UNkulnkulu aze amjezise ngemva kwalokho akhale .Njengoba u Nkulunkulu eluthando abese mxolela amsindise.Udaba luka Adam lo Eva ensimini yase Eden ,u daba lukazamcolo lomkhumbi ka Noah ,ukukhululwa kuka Israel e Gipita lokuhlamuka kwakhe e Nkangala ,Ukuhlamuka kwama Khosi be Khonza okungo tixo kwezizweni.Ukuthatshwa kuka Israel yi Babylon loku khululwa kwake .Konke lokhu size sifike u Thixo ngothando lwakhe enikela indondana yakhe ukuba wonke okholwa kuye anga bhubhi abelokuphilaa okuna phakade
Sibale ku Judges 4 abako Israel besenza okubi I Nkosi ibanikela e sitheni esasisesabeka esilezinqola ezingamakhulu eziqinileyo .Wakhala e Nkosini u Israel INkosi yabezwa yabazwela.U Israel uyona phambi kweNkosi. Ukuze babone ukuba bayona I Nkosi iyaba nikela ezandleni zesitha babone ukuba bawonile bapheduke.Isiqokoqela yikuthi bayazi lapho abamele baphephele khona.Bayazi lapho okuvela u sizo lwabo.Nxa usona mzalwane uphephelaphi,uyaphenduka ngomoya wakho wonke na udinge usindiso.UNkulunkulu uyakuyeka unhlanhlathe kodwa unga tsholobela uyakujezisa uyasusa uthango lwakhe usale ungela kuvikelwa.Lapho okuvela abazi ukuzininiphisa bathi baba ngonile babuyele ekhaya badinage u sindiso. Impilo yakho mzalwane imele ikhanye ukuba ngeyokukhanyeni.Akubelomahluko kulabo abokukhanyeni ngoba bangabakhethiweyo be Nkosi Makubesobala ukuba siphila lo JESU onguye owaba yisicazululo sokukhipha umuntu edubeni lwe sono. Jesus Christ is the solution given to humanity to restore their relationship with God which was severed by sin .U Pawuli ukhuthaza ama kholwa e Thesalonika, u khuthaza mina lawe ukuba sifake isivikelo sesifuba sokholo lothando sithwale ekhanda ithemba lokusindiswa, ngani ngoba u Jesu uyeza. Ngakho kasihlae silokholo sethembekile sisenza u msebenzi we Nkosi. Singehlulwa yikidubeka lemikhuhlane lokuhlukunyezwa kwa lapha emhlabeni .Thina sihlomisiwe konke kuzo dlula. Masihlale ethembeni
U Israyeli esewonile u Nkulunkulu uya phakamisa u Deborah uprofetikazi a bike ku Baraki ukuba kaqoqe ibutho liye lwisa u Siseri olebutho eliqinileyo elesabekayo ukuze akhulule u Isizwe .
Lapho siqondana lengxaki zalo umhlaba uNkulunkulu uyasi phakamisela izithunywa zakhe zizosikhipha enkingeni. Amakholwa ase Thesalonika sebe lokungahlaliseki ukholo lwabo luyehla ngenxa yokuba bebekhangelele ukuba uJesu uyeza masinya .U MPstoli Pauli isithunywa se Nkosi uya babhalela incwadi yokubakhuthaza. Bangaba khethiweyu baka Nkulunkulu bangabantwana bokukhanya mabangadedeli emuva. Lamhlanje u Pawuli ukhuluma lami lawe uthi ungadedeli emuva mzalwane. Kunengi esikhangelane lakho njengebandla kodwa lets keep focused on God not humanity not leaders nor the social media.
Kusobala ukuba in all generations past humanity has sinned against God ,God has come to their rescue by providing judges ,prophets His own son and apostles to warn them to rescue them from themselves and sin. So be assured that in all challenges you face you have resources from God. Ungafihli lokho I Nkosi ekuhlomise ngakho emhlabathini kusebenzise udumise I Nkosi. Use God given resources to His Glory.
Jesus Christ assurers us that we all gifted to do the work of God. Abacasisa ngemibhalo ye bhayibhili bayasitshela ukuba I talenta kwakuyisilinganiso kumbe imali. Wonke umuntu ulesilinganiso eseneleyo sokuba asebenzele I Nkosi. Isiqokoqela wazi amatalenta akho uwasebenzise,ungakhangeli abanye kumbe uvilaphe.Konke okumele sikwenze sisenzela u Nkulunkulu silawo amandla okukufeza avela ku Nkulunkulu udaba esilubale ku Matthewu olomfanekiso wemali luveza ukuba sonke sileziphiwo ezisilingeneyo okumele sanelise ukuzisebenzisa lokuzibongela kungela kukhonona loba ukulinganisa lezabanye.Isisebenzi esafihla imali emhlabathini simela sonke esehluleka ukubona lokusuthiseka ngezipho esilazo. Kukho konke ohlangana lakho mntwana wokukhanya yazi ukuba I Nkosi ikuhlomisile ngendlela zokudlula kikho. Masiqinisane ekholweni lwethu. Masisbenzele I Nkosi ngokuthembeka,sizongeniswa embusweni we Nkosi ngalolosuku olukhulu nxa U Jesu esiza ngokuphazima kweso
Ngiphetha bazalwane ngisithi
Masingesabi ukusebenzela I Nkosi sisesaba ukwehluleka ,ngoba I Nkosi isihlomisile.
Sonke silamatalenta esilawo masiwacingisise siwasebenzise .We have talents that are according to our prescribed abilities
U Nkulunkulu kathandi ukuba sicwile esoneni nxa sisona uyasijezisa ukuze sibone lapho esiphambuke khona. Nxa umuntu ephenduka uyathethelelwa aphiwe konke okudingekayo ukuze anqobe.Sibale e phakamisa u Deborah uku khulula u Israel sabona u Pauli e khuthaza amakholwa ase Thesalonika Kanye lathi.U Jesu uyeza masihlale silungiselele,sihambisa ivangeli .Singabi njengaba Farisi ababesazi imithetho kodwa bagqibela ulwazi emhlabathini ngokungafuni ukuba abezizweni (the Gentiles) basindiswe. Phezu kwakho konke u Tixo wasipha u Jesu Kristu ukuba abeyihlatshelo sokucina ukubuyisa thina zoni ku Nkulunkulu waze wasipha u Moya ongcwele ukuba ahlale lathi
Masiqinisane ngalezi izikhathi esikizo ezinzima, sazi ukuba u khona u Nkulunkulu olothando olukhulu osi hlomisayo ukuze sibe ngabanqobi
INkosi ibelathi isgcine isiphe ukuthula isikhanyisele
Amen
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 