[Did you miss last Sunday’s services? They can still be found at Worship Archive – September 5th 2021.]
Sunday Services from Hillside Circuit for September 12th 2021:
Theme: Does your tongue confess Christ?
Occasion: 16th after Pentecost
Psalm 19
Proverbs 1: 20-33
James 3: 1-12
Mark 8: 27-38
[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.
This is my desire (I give you my heart).
Who is there like you?
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.
We Bow Down.
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 19
1 The heavens keep telling the wonders of God,
and the skies declare what he has done.
2 Each day informs the following day;
each night announces to the next.
3 They don’t speak a word,
and there is never the sound of a voice.
4 Yet their message reaches all the earth,
and it travels around the world.
In the heavens a tent is set up for the sun.
5 It rises like a bridegroom
and gets ready like a hero eager to run a race.
6 It travels all the way across the sky.
Nothing hides from its heat.
7 The Law of the LORD is perfect; it gives us new life.
His teachings last forever,
and they give wisdom to ordinary people.
8 The LORD’S instruction is right;
it makes our hearts glad.
His commands shine brightly, and they give us light.
9 Worshipping the LORD is sacred;
he will always be worshipped.
All of his decisions are correct and fair.
10 They are worth more than the finest gold
and are sweeter than honey from a honeycomb.
11 By your teachings, LORD, I am warned;
by obeying them, I am greatly rewarded.
12 None of us know our faults.
Forgive me when I sin without knowing it.
13 Don’t let me do wrong on purpose, LORD,
or let sin have control over my life.
Then I will be innocent,
and not guilty of some terrible fault.
14 Let my words and my thoughts
be pleasing to you, LORD,
because you are my mighty rock and my protector.
Proverbs 1
20 Wisdom shouts in the streets wherever crowds gather.
21 She shouts in the marketplaces and near the city gates
as she says to the people,
22 “How much longer will you enjoy being stupid fools?
Won’t you ever stop sneering and laughing at knowledge?
23 Listen as I correct you and tell you what I think.
24 You completely ignored me and refused to listen;
25 you rejected my advice and paid no attention
when I warned you.
26 “So when you are struck by some terrible disaster,
27 or when trouble and distress surround you like a whirlwind,
I will laugh and make fun.
28 You will ask for my help, but I won’t listen;
you will search, but you won’t find me.
29 No, you would not learn,
and you refused to respect the LORD.
30 You rejected my advice and paid no attention
when I warned you.
31 “Now you will eat the fruit of what you have done,
until you are stuffed full with your own schemes.
32 Sin and self-satisfaction bring destruction and death
to stupid fools.
33 But if you listen to me, you will be safe and secure
without fear of disaster.”
James 3
1 My friends, we should not all try to become teachers. In fact, teachers will be judged more strictly than others. 2 All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body.
3 By putting a bit into the mouth of a horse, we can turn the horse in different directions. 4 It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction. 5 Our tongues are small too, and yet they brag about big things.
It takes only a spark to start a forest fire! 6 The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person’s entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself. 7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and sea creatures can be tamed and have been tamed. 8 But our tongues get out of control. They are restless and evil, and always spreading deadly poison.
9-10 My dear friends, with our tongues we speak both praises and curses. We praise our Lord and Father, and we curse people who were created to be like God, and this isn’t right. 11 Can clean water and dirty water both flow from the same spring? 12 Can a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs? Does fresh water come from a well full of salt water?
Mark 8
27 Jesus and his disciples went to the villages near the town of Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “What do people say about me?”
28 The disciples answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist or maybe Elijah. Others say you are one of the prophets.”
29 Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
“You are the Messiah!” Peter replied.
30 Jesus warned the disciples not to tell anyone about him.
31 Jesus began telling his disciples what would happen to him. He said, “The nation’s leaders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law of Moses will make the Son of Man suffer terribly. He will be rejected and killed, but three days later he will rise to life.” 32 Then Jesus explained clearly what he meant.
Peter took Jesus aside and told him to stop talking like that. 33 But when Jesus turned and saw the disciples, he corrected Peter. He said to him, “Satan, get away from me! You are thinking like everyone else and not like God.”
34 Jesus then told the crowd and the disciples to come closer, and he said:
If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. 35 If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me and for the good news, you will save it. 36 What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself? 37 What could you give to get back your soul?
38 Don’t be ashamed of me and my message among these unfaithful and sinful people! If you are, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Text version of the Children’s Address for Hillside Circuit on September 12th 2021, with Rev Bekithemba Phiri:
Control Your Temper (Anger):
There once was a little boy who had a very bad temper. His father decided to hand him a bag of nails and said that every time the boy lost his temper, he had to hammer a nail into the fence.
On the first day, the boy hammered 37 nails into that fence.
The boy gradually began to control his temper over the next few weeks, and the number of nails he was hammering into the fence slowly decreased.
He discovered it was easier to control his temper than to hammer those nails into the fence.
Finally, the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father the news and the father suggested that the boy should now pull out a nail every day he kept his temper under control.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.
“you have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound is still there.”
Moral of the story:
Control your anger, and don’t say things to people in the heat of the moment, that you may later regret. Some things in life, you are unable to take back.
Text version of the message for Hillside Circuit on September 12th 2021 in Ndebele, with Ms Sihle Sibanda:
Ndebele written sermon lihlangana lomtshumayeli USihle Sibanda
Ihubo lokunxusela 19
Amazulu ayakhuluma ngobukhulu bukaNkulunkulu lomkhathi utshumayela ngomsebenzi wezandla zakhe.
Olunye usuku lutshela olunye lobunye ubusuku buyatshumayeza obunye ukwazi…..
Ingoma 37
Isihloko Ulimi lwakho luyamvuma yini ukristu.?
Izifundo
Izaga 1v20 -33 loJakhobe 3v1-12 loMakho 8v27-38
Ukuhlakanipha kuyamemeza ukukubuza umbuzo okumele omunye lomunye aziphundulele. Koze kubenini lithanda ubuthutha? Koze kubenini lithokoza ngokudelela kwenu na? .liyakuzonda ukwazi ngoba liyiziphukuphuku ezingelakuqedisisa.lthi inkosi ngiyalibiza kanye lokulincenga kodwa akukho ozwayo.lizakubakhona ilanga okuzakubalokuhlupheka okuzakuza njengesivunguzane esithutsha ungasilindele silethe ubuhlungu losizi phezukweziqholo. Lapho lizaphaphama ngikhona lingibiza kanye lokungidinga kodwa uthi akayikusabela ngoba lidelelile ilizwi lakhe.
Labangifunayo abayikungifumana ngoba bengayikhethanga inkosi. Ithi lizakudla izithelo zokuhamba kwenu okulokungavumi inkosi, liphinde lisuthiswe ngamacebo enu ayize aphika uNkulunkulu, kodwa ongilalelayo kukhona ukuthokoza kuye njalo uvalo lokubi akalalo ngoba uyothiwa ngumntakaNkulunkulu.
UJakhobe uthi ubusisiwe ongakhubeki ngenkulumo yakhe ngoba ungumuntu opheleleyo phambi kwenkosi.Kumele siqaphele amazwi esiwakhipha ngemilomo yethu ukuze sifane lebhiza elifakwe amatomu aqondisa lomzimba walo.
Ulimi luncane kodwa isono olusenzayo sikhulu, lunjengo luthi lomentshisi olutshisa umhlaba wonke.Luyisitho esibi njalo esibulalayo lesingcolisa inhliziyo.Uthi uJakhobe umlomo munye kodwa ukhipha okubi lokuhle, okubi kumbe okubabayo kungeke kuveze okumnandi .
UMakho usitshela ngokuvuma kukaPetro okumele lathi sigoqe ilimi zethu sivume ukristu ngeqiniso ukuze simazi.Siyabona ulimi lukaPetro lukhalimela inkosi nxa ibatshela ukuthi izakufa iphinde ivuke.UJesu uyaphendula uthi buyela emuva satane ngoba ucabanga ngokwabantu hatshi ngokukababa.Umuntu ongithandayo kazidele athwale isiphambano angilandele, kodwa othanda ulimi lwakhe olubi uzakulahlekelwa yimpilo, kukanti olahlekelwa yikuphila ngenxa yolimi olulamatomu kababa evangeli uzakufumana ukusila. Kuleso laleso sizukulwane esonakeleyo olamahloni lami lami ngizakuba lamahloni laye abeselahlekelwa yikusila ngoba edelela inkosi.
Methodist Church: Hillside Circuit 