Worship Archive – September 17th 2023

Sunday Service from Connexion for September 17th 2023:

Audio Youth in Action 2023 Connexional Concluding Day on September 17th 2023.

Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for September 17th 2023:

Lectionary Theme: We belong to God.

Occasion: 16th Sunday after Pentecost

Lectionary readings:
Psalm 114
Exodus 14: 19-31
Romans 14: 1-12
Matthew 18: 21-35

[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.

Come, now is the time.
Beloved and blessed.
Father God I wonder.
He is exalted, the King is exalted.
He is Lord.
Here is love vast as the ocean.
My faith looks up to Thee.
Christ be beside me.

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:

Audio Children’s Address for Hillside Circuit on September 17th 2023 with Mr Arnold Mahonye.
Audio Children’s Song for Hillside Circuit on September 17th 2023.

Sermon:

Audio message for Hillside Circuit on September 17th 2023 with Mr Bellington Mudyawabikwa.

Bible readings:

Psalm 114

1 God brought his people out of Egypt,
that land with a strange language.
2 He made Judah his holy place and ruled over Israel.

3 When the sea looked at God, it ran away,
and the Jordan River flowed upstream.
4 The mountains and the hills skipped around like goats.

5 Ask the sea why it ran away
or ask the Jordan why it flowed upstream.
6 Ask the mountains and the hills
why they skipped like goats!

7 Earth, you will tremble,
when the LORD God of Jacob comes near,
8 because he turns solid rock into flowing streams
and pools of water.

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Exodus 14

19 All this time God’s angel had gone ahead of Israel’s army, but now he moved behind them. A large cloud had also gone ahead of them, 20 but now it moved between the Egyptians and the Israelites. The cloud gave light to the Israelites, but made it dark for the Egyptians, and during the night they could not come any closer.
21 Moses stretched his arm over the sea, and the LORD sent a strong east wind that blew all night until there was dry land where the water had been. The sea opened up, 22 and the Israelites walked through on dry land with a wall of water on each side.
23 The Egyptian chariots and cavalry went after them. 24 But before daylight the LORD looked down at the Egyptian army from the fiery cloud and made them panic. 25 Their chariot wheels got stuck, and it was hard for them to move. So the Egyptians said to one another, “Let’s leave these people alone! The LORD is on their side and is fighting against us.”
26 The LORD told Moses, “Stretch your arm toward the sea – the water will cover the Egyptians and their cavalry and chariots.” 27 Moses stretched out his arm, and at daybreak the water rushed toward the Egyptians. They tried to run away, but the LORD drowned them in the sea. 28 The water came and covered the chariots, the cavalry, and the whole Egyptian army that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them was left alive. 29 But the sea had made a wall of water on each side of the Israelites; so they walked through on dry land.
30 On that day, when the Israelites saw the bodies of the Egyptians washed up on the shore, they knew that the LORD had saved them. 31 Because of the mighty power he had used against the Egyptians, the Israelites worshipped him and trusted him and his servant Moses.

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Romans 14

1 Welcome all the LORD’S followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don’t criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours. 2 Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. 3 But you should not criticize others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone. 4 What right do you have to criticize someone else’s servants? Only their Lord can decide if they are doing right, and the Lord will make sure that they do right.
5 Some of the LORD’S followers think one day is more important than another. Others think all days are the same. But each of you should make up your own mind. 6 Any followers who count one day more important than another day do it to honour their Lord. And any followers who eat meat give thanks to God, just like the ones who don’t eat meat.
7 Whether we live or die, it must be for God, rather than for ourselves. 8 Whether we live or die, it must be for the Lord. Alive or dead, we still belong to the Lord. 9 This is because Christ died and rose to life, so that he would be the Lord of the dead and of the living. 10 Why do you criticize other followers of the Lord? Why do you look down on them? The day is coming when God will judge all of us. 11 In the Scriptures God says,
“I swear by my very life
that everyone will kneel down and praise my name!”
12 And so, each of us must give an account to God for what we do.

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Matthew 18

21 Peter came up to the Lord and asked, “How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?”
22 Jesus answered:
Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times! 23 This story will show you what the kingdom of heaven is like:
One day a king decided to call in his officials and ask them to give an account of what they owed him. 24 As he was doing this, one official was brought in who owed him fifty million silver coins. 25 But he didn’t have any money to pay what he owed. The king ordered him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all he owned, in order to pay the debt.
26 The official got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you every cent I owe!” 27 The king felt sorry for him and let him go free. He even told the official that he did not have to pay back the money.
28 As the official was leaving, he happened to meet another official, who owed him a hundred silver coins. So he grabbed the man by the throat. He started choking him and said, “Pay me what you owe!”
29 The man got down on his knees and began begging, “Have pity on me, and I will pay you back.” 30 But the first official refused to have pity. Instead, he went and had the other official put in jail until he could pay what he owed.
31 When some other officials found out what had happened, they felt sorry for the man who had been put in jail. Then they told the king what had happened. 32 The king called the first official back in and said, “You’re an evil man! When you begged for mercy, I said you did not have to pay back a cent. 33 Don’t you think you should show pity to someone else, as I did to you?” 34 The king was so angry that he ordered the official to be tortured until he could pay back everything he owed. 35 That is how my Father in heaven will treat you, if you don’t forgive each of my followers with all your heart.

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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Services? They can now be found at Worship Archive – September 10th 2023.]