Guest Preacher: Bishop Dr Joe Aldred, the Church of God of Prophecy
Led by Revd George Mwaura and Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering Music

Welcome

Gracious and loving God, we gather together today
in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to mark this Racial Justice Sunday.

Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayers for an end to racism.

Lord, in your grace,
open our hearts and provoke us to respond with action.

Lord in your righteous anger,
empower Your prophets to speak truth to power.

Lord, in your love,
bind us together in solidarity, with a shared vision
to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly towards an end to racism
and into your Kingdom of love made real here on earth.

[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

Gathering Prayer

We come from scattered lives to this place,
seeking unity in the Spirit,
seeking the grace of the Christ of all people,
seeking the peace of the God of All.
God’s people have gathered, in our glorious diversity and difference, as God created and intended.

Let us worship God together.

Amen

Hymn: The church’s one foundation

The church’s one foundation
is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is his new creation
by water and the Word;
from heaven he came and sought her
to be his holy bride,
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.

Elect from every nation,
yet one o’er all the earth,
her charter of salvation
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with every grace endued.

’Mid toil, and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great Church victorious
shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is one:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with thee.

S.J. Stone (1839–1900)
CCL31580

Confession

Loving God,
before you and your people I confess to my failings –
to the wounding of myself, of others and of our shared home.

Before you and your people I confess to my failings –
to my complicities in practices and systems that denigrate
and strip away the dignity of others.

Before you and your people I confess to my failings –
to getting in the way of love and hindering the furtherance of your Kingdom
of love, peace and justice for all.

Before you and your people I confess to my failings –
to the wounding of myself, of others and of our shared home.

Before you and your people I confess to my failings –
to my complicities in practices and systems that denigrate
and strip away the dignity of others.

Before you and your people I confess to my failings –
to getting in the way of love and hindering the furtherance of your Kingdom
of love, peace and justice for all.

[Silence]

May the ever-loving God forgive you.
May the suffering Christ sustain you.
May the Holy Spirit enrich you.

We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord

Amen

Hymn: Brother, sister, let me serve you

Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on a journey
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.

I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.

Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

Richard Gillard (b. 1953)
CCL31580

Prayer of the Week

Redeeming Christ, during your time on earth,
you were sought by people from all corners of the earth.
You listened to their cry for help, treated them with dignity, love and compassion,
and brought them healing and wholeness when they asked of you.
Grant us the wisdom as your church in our own time
to provide to all those who we encounter in society the help that they need
and the care that they require.
Guide us to respond to the invitation of the Holy Spirit to dream of a world made new,
where the poor are not forgotten
but given the opportunity to live and flourish with good health and equal prospects.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Amos 5: 18–27

Read by Robin Kyd

The Day of the Lord

¹⁸ Woe to you who long
for the day of the Lord!
Why do you long for the day of the Lord?
That day will be darkness, not light.
¹⁹ It will be as though a man fled from a lion
only to meet a bear,
as though he entered his house
and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him.
²⁰ Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light –
pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness?

²¹ ‘I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
²² Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
²³ Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
²⁴ But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!

²⁵ ‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
for forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
²⁶ You have lifted up the shrine of your king,
the pedestal of your idols,
the star of your god –
which you made for yourselves.
²⁷ Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,’
says the Lord, whose name is God Almighty.

NIV®

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

Luke 11: 37–52

Read by Pat Kyd

Woes on the Pharisees and the Experts in the Law

³⁷ When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. ³⁸ But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal.

³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But now as for what is inside you – be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

⁴² ‘Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practised the latter without leaving the former undone.

⁴³ ‘Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the market-places.

⁴⁴ ‘Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.’

⁴⁵ One of the experts in the law answered him, ‘Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.’

⁴⁶ Jesus replied, ‘And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.

⁴⁷ ‘Woe to you, because you build tombs for the prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. ⁴⁸ So you testify that you approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ Because of this, God in his wisdom said, “I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.” ⁵⁰ Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, ⁵¹ from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will be held responsible for it all.

⁵² ‘Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.’

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Revd Dr Joe Aldred, Bishop of the Church of God of Prophecy

Choral Response

Question and Answer Session

With Revd George Mwaura and Revd Dr Joe Aldred

Hymn: For I’m building a people of power

For I’m building a people of power
and I’m making a people of praise,
that will move through this land by My Spirit,
and will glorify My precious Name.
Build Your Church, Lord,
make us strong, Lord,
join our hearts, Lord, through Your Son.
Make us one, Lord,
in Your Body,
in the Kingdom of Your Son.

Dave Richards
CCL31580

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 Cheryl Montgomery

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 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
and desires we live reconciled lives
with the earth and all its inhabitants.

May the peace of God be always with you.
and also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Notices

Racial Justice Sunday

This event marks the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Stephen Lawrence. We are pleased that Bishop Dr Joe Aldred has accepted our invitation to preach at the 10.00 am service. He has served in several capacities in the Pentecostal churches and structures; as well as ecumenically in Churches Together in England. He served as pastor and bishop in the Church of God of Prophecy in Ashford, Oxford and Sheffield; as well as an Associate Pastor in a Baptist Church in Handsworth, Birmingham. Bishop Joe has received several religious, community and national awards; including NSPCC Safety Award; Lambeth Palace Langton Award for Community Service. He is well known as a broadcaster, speaker, author and editor of several books. Although retired, within a voluntary capacity he is making valuable contributions to the work of some religious, as well as secular, agencies. Bishop Joe is Jamaican by birth, and married to Novelette, also Jamaican; she is a psychotherapist and chaplain.

A Racial Justice Sunday pack for 2023 has been prepared by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. It is available at https://cte.org.uk/racial-justice-sunday-2023/.

Glynne Gordon-Carter

Eco Church update

Next Sunday (19 February 2023) during the Notices, Cheryl will demonstrate how to analyse your carbon footprint by using the calculator of the World Wildlife Fund. If you have a tablet or smartphone, please bring it with you and make sure you are connected to the internet (but silent) until that part of the Service. If you want to have a look first, here is the link: https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/questionnaire.

The aim is to discover your climate impact and make one resolution to bring about change.

Cheryl Montgomery

Lent Studies 2023

This season we will be using materials from the Diocese of Oxford called ‘Come and See’, which will be available on line and from Cornerstone. The study is based on the Beatitudes. Participants are asked to sign up at https://oxford.anglican.org/come-and-see for a daily email from Oxford and there will be videos available each week. We shall also aim to have appropriate material from Cornerstone.

There are three groups – Tuesdays at 7.15 pm via Zoom led by Rosemary Kearsey, Wednesdays at 7.00 pm via Zoom with Revd George Mwaura and on Thursdays at 7.30 pm, which will be both in-person in Newport Pagnell and via Zoom, led by Stuart Kean. The Tuesday group starts on Tuesday, 21 February at 7.15 pm. The Wednesday group starts on 15 February at 7.00 pm (with a break for Ash Wednesday (22 February). The Thursday group starts at 7.30 pm on Thursday, 23 February. We are most grateful to Rosemary Kearsey for offering to lead the Tuesday group at short notice.

If you wish to join either the Tuesday group or the Wednesday group, please send an email to robin_kyd@yahoo.co.uk and he will add your name to the mailing list to receive the links to the Zoom sessions.

Cheryl Montgomery

Hymn: For the healing of the nations

For the healing of the nations,
Lord, we pray with one accord,
for a just and equal sharing
of the things that earth affords.
To a life of love in action
help us rise and pledge our word.

Lead us, Father, into freedom,
from despair your world release,
that, redeemed from war and hatred,
all may come and go in peace.
Show us how through care and goodness
fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,
let it from the earth be banned;
pride of status, race or schooling,
dogmas that obscure your plan.
In our common quest for justice
may we hallow life’s brief span.

You, Creator-God, have written
your great name on all mankind;
for our growing in your likeness
bring the life of Christ to mind;
that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find.

Fred Kaan (1929–2009)
CCL31580

Blessing

In a world where we have, in the past, enslaved and dehumanised others,
we go to treat each person with dignity and respect.

In a world where profit is valued more than human life,
we go to proclaim the priceless worth of each person.

In a world where the ugliness of racism and White supremacy is found,
we go to show that love conquers all social ills.

Go forth into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak;
help the afflicted; honour everyone;
love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.

And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.

Amen

Dismissal

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

Amen