Sunday Service from Hillside Circuit for September 27th 2026:
Lectionary Theme: Divine call to repent
Occasion: 18th Sunday after Pentecost
Lectionary readings:
Psalm 25: 1-9
Ezekiel 18: 1-4, 25-32
Philippians 2: 1-13
Matthew 21: 23-32
[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.
Where shall my wondering soul begin.
One there is above all others.
Just as I am.
To God be the glory.
My song is love unknown.
Come, let us sing.
Lord of creation.
May the Lord Mighty God.
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:
Sermon:
Bible readings:
Psalm 25
1 I offer you my heart, LORD God, 2 and I trust you.
Don’t make me ashamed or let enemies defeat me.
3 Don’t disappoint any of your worshippers,
but disappoint all deceitful liars.
4 Show me your paths and teach me to follow;
5 guide me by your truth and instruct me.
You keep me safe, and I always trust you.
6 Please, LORD, remember,
you have always been patient and kind.
7 Forget each wrong I did when I was young.
Show how truly kind you are and remember me.
8 You are honest and merciful,
and you teach sinners how to follow your path.
9 You lead humble people to do what is right
and to stay on your path.
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Ezekiel 18
1 The LORD said:
2 Ezekiel, I hear the people of Israel using the old saying,
“Sour grapes eaten by parents leave a sour taste
in the mouths of their children.”
3 Now tell them that I am the LORD God, and as surely as I live, that saying will no longer be used in Israel. 4 The lives of all people belong to me – parents as well as children. Only those who sin will be put to death.
25 You people of Israel accuse me of being unfair! But listen – I’m not unfair; you are! 26 If good people start doing evil, they must be put to death, because they have sinned. 27 And if wicked people start doing right, they will save themselves from punishment. 28 They will think about what they’ve done and stop sinning, and so they won’t be put to death. 29 But you still say that I am unfair. You are the ones who have done wrong and are unfair!
30 I will judge each of you for what you’ve done. So stop sinning, or else you will certainly be punished. 31 Give up your evil ways and start thinking pure thoughts. And be faithful to me! Do you really want to be put to death for your sins? 32 I, the LORD God, don’t want to see that happen to anyone. So stop sinning and live!
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Philippians 2
1 Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God’s Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others. 2 Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person. 3 Don’t be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. 4 Care about them as much as you care about yourselves 5 and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought:
6 Christ was truly God.
But he did not try to remain equal with God.
7 He gave up everything and became a slave,
when he became like one of us.
8 Christ was humble. He obeyed God
and even died on a cross.
9 Then God gave Christ the highest place
and honoured his name above all others.
10 So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down,
those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.
11 And to the glory of God the Father
everyone will openly agree,
“Jesus Christ is Lord!”
12 My dear friends, you always obeyed when I was with you. Now that I am away, you should obey even more. So work with fear and trembling to discover what it really means to be saved. 13 God is working in you to make you willing and able to obey him.
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Matthew 21
23 Jesus had gone into the temple and was teaching when the chief priests and the leaders of the people came up to him. They asked, “What right do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered, “I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. 25 Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?”
They thought it over and said to each other, “We can’t say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn’t believe John. 26 On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That’s why we can’t say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize.” 27 So they told Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you who gave me the right to do what I do.”
28 Jesus said:
I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, “Go work in the vineyard today!” 29 His son told him that he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn’t go. 31 Which one of the sons obeyed his father?
“The older one,” the chief priests and leaders answered.
Then Jesus told them:
You can be sure that tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! 32 When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.
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[Did you miss last week’s Sunday Service? It can now be found at Worship Archive – September 20th 2026.]
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