Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for October 29th 2023:
Lectionary Theme: Entrusted to speak the Word of God against all odds.
Occasion: 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 90: 1-6
Deuteronomy 34: 1-12
1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8
Matthew 22: 34-46
[Click or tap on a Bible reference above to jump down the page to the Bible reading to 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.
Be bold, be strong.
Ho ho ho hosanna.
My Jesus, my Saviour.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise.
We bow down.
The steadfast love.
Fight the good fight.
Seek ye first.
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:
Sermon:
Bible readings:
Psalm 90
1 Our LORD, in all generations you have been our home.
2 You have always been God
long before the birth of the mountains,
even before you created the earth and the world.
3 At your command we die and turn back to dust,
4 but a thousand years mean nothing to you!
They are merely a day gone by
or a few hours in the night.
5 You bring our lives to an end just like a dream.
We are merely tender grass
6 that sprouts and grows in the morning,
but dries up by evening.
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Deuteronomy 34
1 Sometime later, Moses left the lowlands of Moab. He went up Mount Pisgah to the peak of Mount Nebo, which is across the Jordan River from Jericho. The LORD showed him all the land as far north as Gilead and the town of Dan. 2 He let Moses see the territories that would soon belong to the tribes of Naphtali, Ephraim, Manasseh, and Judah, as far west as the Mediterranean Sea. 3 The LORD also showed him the land in the south, from the valley near the town of Jericho, known as The City of Palm Trees, down to the town of Zoar.
4 The LORD said, “Moses, this is the land I was talking about when I solemnly promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that I would give land to their descendants. I have let you see it, but you will not cross the Jordan and go in.”
5 And so, Moses the LORD’S servant died there in Moab, just as the LORD had said. 6 The LORD buried him in a valley near the town of Beth-Peor, but even today no one knows exactly where. 7 Moses was a hundred twenty years old when he died, yet his eyesight was still good, and his body was strong.
8 The people of Israel stayed in the lowlands of Moab, where they mourned and grieved thirty days for Moses, as was their custom.
9 Before Moses died, he had placed his hands on Joshua, and the LORD had given Joshua wisdom. The Israelites paid attention to what Joshua said and obeyed the commands that the LORD had given Moses.
10 There has never again been a prophet in Israel like Moses. The LORD spoke face to face with him 11 and sent him to perform powerful miracles in the presence of the king of Egypt and his entire nation. 12 No one else has ever had the power to do such great things as Moses did for everyone to see.
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1 Thessalonians 2
1 My friends, you know that our time with you wasn’t wasted. 2 As you remember, we had been mistreated and insulted at Philippi. But God gave us the courage to tell you the good news about him, even though many people caused us trouble. 3 We didn’t have any hidden motives when we won you over, and we didn’t try to fool or trick anyone. 4 God was pleased to trust us with his message. We didn’t speak to please people, but to please God who knows our motives.
5 You also know that we didn’t try to flatter anyone. God himself knows that what we did wasn’t a cover-up for greed. 6 We were not trying to get you or anyone else to praise us. 7 But as apostles, we could have demanded help from you. After all, Christ is the one who sent us. We chose to be like children or like a mother nursing her baby. 8 We cared so much for you, and you became so dear to us, that we were willing to give our lives for you when we gave you God’s message.
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Matthew 22
34 After Jesus had made the Sadducees look foolish, the Pharisees heard about it and got together. 35 One of them was an expert in the Jewish Law. So he tried to test Jesus by asking, 36 “Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus answered:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. 38 This is the first and most important commandment. 39 The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, “Love others as much as you love yourself.” 40 All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.
41 While the Pharisees were still there, Jesus asked them, 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose family will he come from?”
They answered, “He will be a son of King David.”
43 Jesus replied, “How then could the Spirit lead David to call the Messiah his Lord? David said,
44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord:
Sit at my right side
until I make your enemies into a footstool for you.’
45 If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be a son of King David?” 46 No one was able to give Jesus an answer, and from that day on, no one dared ask him any more questions.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – October 22nd 2023.]
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Entrusted to speak the Word of God against all odds: Deuteronomy 34: 1-12; 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-8; Matt 22: 34-46, with Mr Ivan Chigwada.
The theme for today, ‘Entrusted to speak the word of God against all odds’, which comes from 1 Thessalonians 2:4 makes us look at the adversity, brazen opposition, mistrust, rejection, persecution, treachery and other limitations faced by Moses, Paul and Jesus in their ministries, as you shall face the same or worse! To entrust is to assign the responsibility for something to someone and if something happens against all odds, it happens or succeeds although it seemed impossible or very unlikely. Moses, Paul and Jesus Christ, effectively accomplished the missions assigned to them, note I have not said they succeeded, and I will not say so, as this would imply that they were acting in their own power and of themselves! They did not! Since time immemorial many have never been interested in inconvenient facts, most are comfortable with hearing what they believe they must hear! Moses, Paul and Jesus were specialists at bringing inconvenient facts to their audiences! They thus met with opposition, and were only believed by a minority of their audience at each turn. Completing their missions always looked impossible and very unlikely.Moses wrote Psalm 90, where we got our call to worship plus the first 5 books of the Bible-Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus and Deuteronomy- commonly called the Pentateuch! We find some harsh words about the nature of man and God in these writings! Moses was led through that assignment by God the Holy Spirit, any harsh orders there should not be blamed on Moses who was just God’s ambassador to His people! Moses carried out his assignment with integrity! You are going to be called to do the same when speaking for God! You do so yet be sure you will lose friends!
Today’s scripture at Deuteronomy 34 is a beautiful climax of Moses’ life! Moses climbs up Mount Nebo on which he would die as told him by God at 32:48-50! The reason for his imminent death there and not in Canaan was given to him. With Moses’ death it literally becomes impossible for the freed slaves to see themselves entering the Promised Land! We err when we plan and lean on what God has not planned or said! Here is what God had said! Exodus 3:7-10 ‘The Lord said ‘I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt!’ Note Moses’ task! Moses was only called ‘to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.’ Did he do so? Yes he did! Did anyone believe him at the outset and throughout the mission? No! Does God call and entrust you and I to do His special everyday tasks? Yes He does and the Bible tells us so! Will we be cheered by anyone? No! Must we look for the cheers of man? No!
We wonder when we see Moses the stuttering shepherd and murderer transformed into an orator and great leader, forgetting that it is not about the individual but about the calling. We wonder on seeing John Newton the slave trader transformed into the Anglican priest who gave us the song ‘Amazing grace.’ Do not wonder, it is God who entrusts His emissaries! If God could call the prostitute of the Samaritan village of Sychar and make her the greatest missionary to her city, you oh local prostitute do not let anyone despise you or stop you from getting near God and into God’s house. Never allow anyone to look down on you! You are very special! If God could turn the thief on the cross, with just a few hours to live, into a powerful prayer warrior, local thief why listen to those who despise you by calling you silly names. Yes you stole from someone but there is the God in heaven, who you can turn to, and be powerfully enabled to march on, be it to prison or to heaven. God does not always rescue but assures you of eternity with Him! You are a child of God! Hey widow who are you to wallow in the misery of being despised by the next woman. You are valuable to God, who wants you to preach His word through your ability to act as the hospitable lady in the community like the widow of Zarepath. Go on and do that despite the odds, remember those who are despised by mankind are never the despised of the Lord God! If anything, God uses such to drive His message into the hearts of those he targets.
It is very well to speak about the famous people of the Bible and wonder. How does this affect us as ordinary Christians? Do you remember your very first prayer in public? It was not only short but it was an absolute disaster, you almost choked on your words. Child of God, do not panic and do not blame your-self for not praying like Revd Phiri. You are not Revd Phiri but are the beloved child of God who must realize that Christians are these people who shall at all times be asked to pray and preach! The Spirit of the Living God who inhabits the hearts of His children shall entrust you with the appropriate words to say to your audience! Trust in God and put yourself into His hands and all shall be well with you, you are here to do God’s business not your own, He knows how His business must be conducted!
Moses was the only person who ever spoke with God face to face. (Exodus 33:11; Numbers 12:8) He was called Israel’s greatest prophet. Yet even this great man was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because he disobeyed God (Numbers 20:12). No matter how good we are or how much we’ve done for God, we sometimes disobey Him. The result of our disobedience is that we will be disciplined. God disciplined Moses severely but still called him His friend. Is this a contradiction? No! When you experience the sting of God’s discipline, respond as Moses did. Don’t turn away in anger, embarrassment or resentment. Instead turn toward God with love, openness and a desire to do better in future and it shall be well with you for you will be in the hands of God! By God and with God you shall overcome a lot of adversity and go on to be remembered as a powerful witness to the glory of God! The impossible becomes routine!
The conversion and calling of Saul of Tarsus-the poor sighted murderer- is this very unique miraculous event which for the benefit of Saul and you and I, brought to the fore the fact that Jesus and his people are a body and its parts. The Lord’s first words to Saul ‘I am Jesus whom thou persecutest’, stressed the fact that in touching His own, Saul was touching Him. In a remarkable way those words heralded therefore the great revelation that was to be given him of the mystery of the Church. But the Lord did not leave the matter there. He did not allow him to stay with the heavenly mystery. The command that immediately followed came right down to the practical consequences of such a revelation. ‘Rise up and enter into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.’ It shall be told thee! He must await instructions from those he hated. Apart from the very disciples he had set himself to destroy, Saul would be helpless; he would never know! God supernaturally transforms mere mortals into miracles!
Aware that he now was part of the Body of Christ Paul did not seek money, fame or popularity when sharing the Good News. At Thessalonika he and Silas who had been imprisoned at Philippi for preaching the word of God, just preached again as they demonstrated their sincere motive. In this day and age people do become involved in ministry for a variety of reasons, not all of them good or pure. When their bad motives are exposed, all of Christ’s work suffers. When you get involved in ministry do so out of love for Christ if you do, those you preach to will be changed by God and not by you, as they believe the message from God and not from you! When we witness for Christ, our focus should not be on the impression we make. As true ministers of Christ, we should point to Him, not to ourselves! We could do well to emulate this, remember Jesus said the kingdom of God belongs to those with the attitude of children! That Paul and his companions ‘were like children’ among the Thessalonians does not mean that they were immature or untrained. Rather Paul is making the point that like children they were honest, straightforward and without guile in their presentation of the gospel and of their lives.
The passage at Matthew 22:34-46 is also found at Mark 12:28-37 and Luke 20:39-44. Faced by opposition and rejection Jesus exposes the insincerity of the Jewish leaders via answering their question and then posing a question to them. The questioner was an honest Pharisee by Mark’s account of the incident. He comes out as a genuine enquirer who was prepared, at least, to accept Jesus as a good teacher. Did he believe, we know not, but we know that he and his colleagues were totally silenced at the end! The teachers of the law that they were became students of one greater than Moses!
Jesus answered his question by combining Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 and Leviticus 19:18. Of the Ten Commandments given to Moses (Exodus 20:1-17) the first four govern our attitude towards God and the remaining six our actions towards our neighbours. If we love God, our whole lives will be geared to worshipping Him and doing His will. If we genuinely love our neighbours we will be a positive living witness of the Gospel to them. Without the second the first is meaningless and without the first the second is impossible. Mark 12:30 reads ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Mark has four alls Matthew has three. We are called to ensure that our love for God measures up to Jesus’ standards and to think of our love for our neighbours given that on this Jesus says ‘All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.’ Is there any way that we could more actively love our neighbours? Find out and act!
Faced with Jesus’ question, the Jewish leaders’ extreme discomfort revealed their failure to understand the nature of the Messiah. At some point in our lives with God we were like these Jewish leaders. When we get to Jesus like these Jewish leaders He will teach us the truth since He is entrusted to always speak the very word of God without regard to the circumstances or the listeners. Jesus’ quotation of Psalm 110:1 shows the Messiah as both God and man. As David’s son He is man, but because David the king calls Him ‘Lord,’ He must be more exalted than David and therefore God. The Jews, looking for an earthly deliverer from Roman tyranny, could not conceive of a Heavenly One.
We, too, need to watch that we don’t have our eyes so firmly fixed on worldly things that we fail to see the spiritual. We often strive and struggle to work through a difficult situation when God longs to step in and work it out His way. Let us remember that He is God and so He can do all things. Worship Him, turn to Him FIRST and He will work things out either supernaturally or naturally, according to His will. The Jews’ failure was the failure to recognise Jesus as God. Never forget His greatness, His majesty and glory.
Clever tricks shall not stop the spreading of the Word of God! Sarcasm shall not stop the spreading of the Word of God! Opposition shall not stop the spreading of the Word of God! Despising others shall not stop the spreading of the Word of God! Appearing surprised like the Pharisees will not stop the spreading of the word of God! Our background and upbringing will not stop the spreading of the Word of God! The Lord God is not limited by time or circumstances! His Word just rolls on and on! Since nothing can stop the spreading of the word of God, do not be surprised upon seeing those God entrusts with spreading that Word doing so despite the odds staked against them! Theirs is the task; the message is God’s! He empowers them! It is that easy!
In the name of the Father, the name of the Son and the name of the Holy Spirit Amen! And Amen!
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Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 
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