Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for October 18th 2026:
Lectionary Theme: God’s sovereignty and our faithful response
Occasion: 21st Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 96: 1-9,10-13
Isaiah 45: 1-7
1 Thessalonians 1: 1-10
Matthew 22: 15-22
[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.
Holy, Holy, Holy.
Sing a new song unto the Lord.
I worship you almighty God.
Give thanks.
All to Jesus, I surrender.
Sing we the King.
Shalom to you.
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 96
1 Sing a new song to the LORD!
Everyone on this earth, sing praises to the LORD,
2 sing and praise his name.
Day after day announce, “The LORD has saved us!”
3 Tell every nation on earth, “The LORD is wonderful
and does marvellous things!
4 The LORD is great and deserves our greatest praise!
He is the only God worthy of our worship.
5 Other nations worship idols,
but the LORD created the heavens.
6 Give honour and praise to the LORD,
whose power and beauty fill his holy temple.”
7 Tell everyone of every nation,
“Praise the glorious power of the LORD.
8 He is wonderful! Praise him
and bring an offering into his temple.
9 Everyone on earth, now tremble
and worship the LORD, majestic and holy.”
10 Announce to the nations, “The LORD is King!
The world stands firm, never to be shaken,
and he will judge its people with fairness.”
11 Tell the heavens and the earth to be glad and celebrate!
Command the ocean to roar with all of its creatures
12 and the fields to rejoice with all of their crops.
Then every tree in the forest
will sing joyful songs 13 to the LORD.
He is coming to judge all people on earth
with fairness and truth.
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Isaiah 45
1 The LORD said to Cyrus, his chosen one:
I have taken hold of your right hand
to help you capture nations
and remove kings from power.
City gates will open for you; not one will stay closed.
2 As I lead you, I will level mountains
and break the iron bars on bronze gates of cities.
3 I will give you treasures hidden in dark
and secret places.
Then you will know that I, the LORD God of Israel,
have called you by name.
4 Cyrus, you don’t even know me!
But I have called you by name and highly honoured you
because of Israel, my chosen servant.
5 Only I am the LORD! There are no other gods.
I have made you strong, though you don’t know me.
6 Now everyone from east to west
will learn that I am the LORD.
No other gods are real.
7 I create light and darkness, happiness and sorrow.
I, the LORD, do all of this.
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1 Thessalonians 1
1 From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To the church in Thessalonica, the people of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that God will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
2 We thank God for you and always mention you in our prayers. Each time we pray, 3 we tell God our Father about your faith and loving work and about your firm hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 My dear friends, God loves you, and we know he has chosen you to be his people. 5 When we told you the good news, it was with the power and assurance that come from the Holy Spirit, and not simply with words. You knew what kind of people we were and how we helped you. 6 So, when you accepted the message, you followed our example and the example of the Lord. You suffered, but the Holy Spirit made you glad.
7 You became an example for all the LORD’S followers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 And because of you, the LORD’S message has spread everywhere in those regions. Now the news of your faith in God is known all over the world, and we don’t have to say a thing about it. 9 Everyone is talking about how you welcomed us and how you turned away from idols to serve the true and living God. 10 They also tell how you are waiting for his Son Jesus to come from heaven. God raised him from death, and on the day of judgment Jesus will save us from God’s anger.
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Matthew 22
15 The Pharisees got together and planned how they could trick Jesus into saying something wrong. 16 They sent some of their followers and some of Herod’s followers to say to him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest. You teach the truth about what God wants people to do. And you treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. 17 Tell us what you think! Should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”
18 Jesus knew their evil thoughts and said, “Why are you trying to test me? You show-offs! 19 Let me see one of the coins used for paying taxes.” They brought him a silver coin, 20 and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”
21 “The Emperor’s,” they answered.
Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” 22 His answer surprised them so much that they walked away.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Service? It can now be found at Worship Archive – October 11th 2026.]
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