Presiding Minister Revd George Mwaura
Preacher Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering Music

Greetings and Welcome

Lift up your heads to the king of glory; seek the face of God and put aside all obstacles to his love.
Come, sisters and brothers, let us worship God together.

Hymn: Be thou my vision

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
be all else but naught to me save that thou art;
be thou my best thought in the day and the night,
both waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true Word;
be thou ever with me, and I with thee, Lord;
be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;
be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
be thou my whole armour, be thou my true might;
be thou my soul’s shelter, be thou my high tower:
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise:
thou mine inheritance now and always;
be thou and thou only the first in my heart;
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art!

High King of heaven, thou heaven’s bright Sun,
O grant me its joys after vict’ry is won;
great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

Irish (8th century)
tr. Mary Byrne (1880–1931)
versified Eleanor Hull (1860–1935)
CCL31580

Confession

God of our deliverance, thank you for sending those
who have been in the right place at the right time to help us in our hour of need.
Thank you for all those people of courage who risk their lives to serve others.
Help us too to be brave and to be people who take a stand for truth and grace.
But Lord, we confess that we have been proud and arrogant, selfish, and greedy.
We have neglected your will, ignored your truth and resisted your Spirit.
We have harmed ourselves, hurt others, and dishonoured you.
Forgive us, O God, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Restore to us the joy of your salvation and renew a right spirit within us.

[Silence is observed …  for personal confession]

God of grace and love, your forgiveness is freely given to us through the cross of Christ.
Thank you that you do not reject us in our weakness but welcome us;
you do not leave us in our bondage but set us free by your power.
Help us to receive your forgiveness with gratitude and humility,
and to share it with others with generosity and kindness.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

God of glory and majesty, we praise you for your greatness and goodness, your sovereignty and grace.
You are the King of kings and the Lord of lords, yet you are also the protector of the oppressed,
the avenger of the wronged and the deliverer of the persecuted.
You are faithful and compassionate, merciful, and forgiving, loving and good.
We praise you.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Psalm 124

Read by David Chapman

¹ If the Lord had not been on our side –
let Israel say –
² if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us,
³ they would have swallowed us alive
when their anger flared against us;
⁴ the flood would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over us,
⁵ the raging waters
would have swept us away.

⁶ Praise be to the Lord,
who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
⁷We have escaped like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

NIV®

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

Mark 9: 38–41

Read by Joy Chapman

Whoever is not against us is for us

³⁸ ‘Teacher,’ said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.’

³⁹ ‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said. ‘For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, ⁴⁰ for whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

[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 Robin Kyd

The Peace

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said, ‘Peace be with you.’
Then were they glad when they saw the Lord.

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

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Hymn: Broken for me

Broken for me, broken for you,
the body of Jesus, broken for you.

He offered his body, he poured out his soul,
Jesus was broken that we might be whole:

Broken for me, broken for you,
the body of Jesus, broken for you.

Come to my table and with me dine,
eat of my bread and drink of my wine:

Broken for me, broken for you,
the body of Jesus, broken for you.

This is my body given for you,
eat it remembering I died for you:

Broken for me, broken for you,
the body of Jesus, broken for you.

This is my blood I shed for you,
for your forgiveness, making you new:

Broken for me, broken for you,
the body of Jesus, broken for you.

Janet Lunt (b. 1954)
CCL31580

Holy Communion

The Thanksgiving

The Lord be with you
and also with you.

The Lord be with you
and also with you.

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

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

With joy we praise you, gracious Father, for you have created heaven and earth,
made us in your image, and kept covenant with us, even when we fell into sin.
We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection
opened to us the way of everlasting life.
Therefore, we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation
to proclaim the glory of your name saying together:

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

We give thanks to God that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, before he suffered,
gave us this memorial of his sacrifice, until he comes again.
At his last supper, the Lord Jesus took bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying:

This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said:

This cup is the new covenant between you and my father sealed in my blood;
drink from it always in remembrance of me.
Therefore, we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament:

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

Gracious God, send your Holy Spirit
so that this bread and cup may be for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May we and all your saints be united with Christ and remain faithful in hope and love.
Gather your whole church, O Lord, into the glory of your kingdom.

And now as our saviour taught us so we pray…

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.
Do not bring us to the time of trial
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

Post Communion Prayer

Eternal God, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ,
and you have fed us with spiritual food in the sacrament of his body and blood.
Send us now into the world in peace and grant us strength and courage
to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart.
Through Him who died for us.

Amen

Notices

Congregational Meeting

This Sunday (29 September 2024) following Morning Service in the Worship Area

There will be a Congregational Meeting on Sunday immediately after the church Service. It will be available by Zoom for those worshipping at home: a big TV screen will be set up in the Worship Area, with an individual tasked with watching the screen to ensure comments etc. are included. Joining details for the Zoom session have been included in this week’s email. The Agenda and documents have been circulated by email to the church mailing list.

Black History Sunday, 13 October 2024

The guest speaker at the morning Service will be Revd Guy Hewitt, Head of the Church of England’s Racial Justice Unit. Unfortunately, the bring and share lunch will not take place as the Guildhall is not available. Coffee after the Service will be served in the Café.

Harvest Celebration, 26–27 October 2024

This year, donations of food and/or money will go to the Milton Keynes Foodbank. There will be opportunity to present gifts during the Service on the Sunday.

Christian Aid Gaza Appeal

if you would like to support relief for the people of Gaza, we will have envelopes available over the next few weeks. On-line giving can be made at www.caid.org.uk/gazaresources or by telephone to 08080 005005.

Ecumenical Confirmation

Sunday, 24 November 2024 at Christ the Cornerstone

There will be Ecumenical Confirmation at Cornerstone on Sunday, 24 November 2024 with Bishop Steven. Confirmation evening classes are available at St Mary’s Wavendon and Watling Valley churches If you may be interested in confirmation, please contact one of our ministers.

Education and Worship Group

We are looking for people who could help plan the Learning for our Congregation and support the people who plan Worship. This would involve meeting to discuss Advent and Lent Bible studies, regular learning in All Age Worship and opportunities for enhancing Worship. We will raise this at the Congregational Meeting, but if you would like to discuss this further, please contact Cheryl, Revd George or Cathy Hampton.

Cheryl Montgomery

Cornerstone Prayer Network

Prayer is central to our Christian fellowship. The Cornerstone Prayer Network is here for people who have asked us to pray for them. Please send your prayer requests to cornerstonechurch.prayernetwork@gmail.com and the details will be passed on to the members of the Prayer Network. If your prayer request is for someone else, please check with them before sending details to the Cornerstone Prayer Network.

If you would like to become a member of the Cornerstone Prayer Network, please send your details by email to cornerstonechurch.prayernetwork@gmail.com, or speak to June Halstead after a Service in the church.

Offering

Final Prayer

Go! The service is ended, but our service in the world begins.
May God strengthen and encourage us as we go,
to live lives of gratitude, spilling over into loving responses of joyful caring.

Amen

Hymn: Follow me, follow me

Follow me, follow me,
leave your home and family,
leave your fishing nets and boats upon the shore.
Leave the seed that you have sown,
leave the crops that you’ve grown,
leave the people you have known and follow me.

The foxes have their holes
and the swallows have their nests,
but the Son of man has no place to lay down.
I do not offer comfort, I do not offer wealth,
but in me will all happiness be found.

Follow me, follow me, …

If you would follow me,
you must leave old ways behind.
You must take my cross and follow on my path.
You may be far from loved ones,
you may be far from home
but my Father will welcome you at last.

Follow me, follow me, …

Although I go away
you will never be alone,
for the Spirit will be there to comfort you.
Though all of you may scatter,
each follow his own path,
still the Spirit of love will lead you home.

Follow me, follow me, …

Blessing and Sending Out

As we go out, may we listen for God’s call, know his strength, see where he is leading us,
be faithful in doing his work and make way for his kingdom.

And the Blessings of God Almighty,
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
rest and remain upon us all today and always.

Amen

Dismissal

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

Amen