(There is no choir today.)

Preacher: Grace Hunting
Celebrant: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering Music

Welcome

As we come to worship, let us think about what it means to be free.
As we come to worship, let us remember what it feels like when people see our needs.
As we come to worship, let us consider how we can respond to the needs of those around us.

[Silence]

Welcome to the house of God.
We have come from all the corners of the earth.

Welcome to the hospitality of God.
We come as we are; we bring our life, our stories, our journey.

Welcome, brothers and sisters.
We are the rainbow people of God.

Welcome, chosen people.
May God our companion bind us in his love.

Amen

Hymn: All are welcome (Let us build a house)

Let us build a house where love can dwell
and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell
how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions,
rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome,
all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where prophesy speak,
and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek
to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness
and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, …

Let us build a house where love is found
in water, wine and wheat:
a banquet hall on holy ground
where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus,
is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:
All are welcome, …

Marty Haugen (b. 1950)
CCL31580

Confession

O God, all people are part of your created order,
all are worthy of love and respect, care and attention, justice and equality.
Forgive us if our prejudice excludes people.
Forgive us if our views are entrenched and misguided.
Forgive us if we fail to see people as equals.
Forgive us if in our zeal to worship we exclude so many.
Forgive us for our excuses that stop us responding to the needs of others
and to your command to love as you love us.

[Silence]

We do not understand how you can forgive us again and again, Lord,
yet we have again confessed our failings, our shortcoming, our wrongdoings, our sins
and your promise still stands: ‘My child, go in peace, your sins are forgiven.’
So, let us go and serve the Lord.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
we can never see you in all your fullness, all your glory, all your majesty.
Your greatness is beyond our understanding, your deeds beyond our imagining,
your love beyond our deepest yearning.
You are the God we adore – certain, secure and sure.
You are God from one generation to the next, not waning or changing, but forever our God.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Hebrews 12: 18–29

Read by Kate Abrahams

The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy

¹⁸ You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰ because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.’ ²¹ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’

²² But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ ²⁷ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’

NIV®

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Luke 13: 10–17

Read by Chibby Chima-Okoro

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath

¹⁰ On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, ¹¹ and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ ¹³ Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

¹⁴ Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, ‘There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.’

¹⁵ The Lord answered him, ‘You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? ¹⁶ Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?’

¹⁷ When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

NIV®

This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our light.

Meditation

By Grace Hunting

[Silence]

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in the Creator:
the maker of all things

We believe in the Son:
the redeemer of our broken world

We believe in the Spirit:
The sacred wind that binds all things together in the family of God.

Creator Father, beloved Son and living Spirit.

Amen

Prayers and Intercessions

Led by Rosemary Kearsey

The Peace

Peace to you from God, who is our Father.
Peace from Jesus Christ, who is our peace.
Peace from the Holy Spirit, who gives us life.

The peace of God be always with you.
and also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Hymn: Be still, my soul

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side;
bear patiently the cross of grief and pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend,
through thorny ways, leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake,
all now mysterious, shall be clear at last.
Be still, my soul: the tempests still obey
his voice, who ruled them once on Galilee.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
when we shall be for ever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
sorrow forgotten, love’s pure joy restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Katharina von Schlegel (1697–1768)
tr. Jane L. Borthwick (1813–1897)
CCL31580

Holy Communion

The Thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made.
It will become for us the bread of life.

Blessed be God for ever.

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink.

Blessed be God for ever.

The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.

Lift up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give thanks and praise.

Almighty God, good Father to us all, your face is turned towards your world.
In love you gave us Jesus your Son to rescue us from sin and death.
Your Word goes out to call us home to the city where angels sing your praise.
We join with them in heaven’s song:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

We bless the name of Jesus, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
whose brokenness and suffering makes love real,
who on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,

Take, eat. This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

After supper he took the cup saying,

Drink from this, all of you, this is my blood given for you.
Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

This is the mystery of our faith.

Christ has died:
Christ is risen:
Christ will come again.

Therefore, as we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we acknowledge brokenness as a path to truth.
We long for the bread of tomorrow: eternally broken and so able to nourish.
We long for the new wine of the kingdom: continuously poured out that thirst may be quenched.

Send your Spirit on us now,
that by these gifts we may feed on Christ with opened eyes and hearts on fire.
May we and all who share this food offer ourselves to live for you
and be welcomed at your feast in heaven, where all creation worships you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

Blessing and honour and glory and power
be yours forever and ever.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

The Communion

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.

Though we are many, we are one body,
because we all share in one bread.

Amen

Post Communion Prayer

Eternal Father, we thank you for nourishing us with these heavenly gifts:
may our communion strengthen us in faith, build us up in hope,
and make us grow in love; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Notices

Cornerstone Youth: Sunday School summer break

Sunday School in church is taking a break for the month of August, restarting on Sunday 4 September 2022. During August, activity packs for children to use during services will be available.

The Ministerial Leadership Team

Offering

‘God loves a cheerful giver’

Thanks to your generous giving we can be an Oasis of Hope to Milton Keynes.

Please keep supporting our mission!

If you are at our worship service in the church building and would like to make an offering, please place your offering in the basket at the door to the worship area. If you can’t find it, please ask the stewards.

There are many different ways to give: online, telephone banking or by cheque. For more information how to give please visit the Cornerstone website (www.cornerstonemk.co.uk) or contact: steward.cccmk@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support. It is much appreciated.

Final Prayer

Heavenly God, as we go from here give us the compassion we need to meet people’s needs,
help us to make time for those around us,
and may this community be a place of love and freedom for all.

Amen

Hymn: Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks with a grateful heart.
Give thanks to the Holy One.
Give thanks because he’s given Jesus Christ, his Son. [Repeat]

And now let the weak say ‘I am strong’,
let the poor sat ‘I am rich’,
because of what the Lord has done for us. [Repeat]

Give thanks.

Henry Smith (b. 1952)
CCL31580

Blessing

The Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
teach you to walk in his way more trustfully,
to accept his truth more faithfully, and to share his life more lovingly;
that by the power of the Holy Spirit
you may come as one family to the kingdom of the Father.
And the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you today and always

Amen

The Dismissal

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ.

Amen