Led by Revd George Mwaura

Gathering Music

Opening Sentences

Come and worship, you who would love God with all your heart.
Come and pray, you who would love God with all your soul.
Come and serve, you who would love God with all your strength.
Come and find peace, you who would love God with your entire mind.

In Jesus’ name, we come.

Welcome and Greetings

Hymn: Love divine, all loves excelling

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.
There we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above;
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

Finish then thy new creation:
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
CCL31580

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Confession

Inclusive and loving God, we thank you that your love knows no boundaries,
your compassion no limits and that you are never too busy to hear our prayers.
And, as we reflect on the parable of the Good Samaritan this morning
we rejoice at the promise of a kingdom where there is no division, and no fear.
Lord of truth and parables, as we draw near to you, open our ears to hear your word,
our hearts to receive your truth, our eyes to discern our neighbours’ need.
But Merciful God, we confess that we have not always loved you with our whole hearts,
nor have we loved our neighbours as ourselves.
We have walked past those in need, failing to show compassion.

Kyrie

Forgive us when we close our eyes to suffering or hold back mercy.
Renew us with your Spirit, so that we may live lives worthy of your calling,
bearing fruit in love, patience, and kindness.
And grant us the humility to walk back where we have walked by;
to embrace where we have cold-shouldered, and to trust where we have been afraid.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, the true friend of the fallen humanity.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Gracious God, you call us to love you with all our heart and to show mercy to our neighbours.
Grant us, by your Spirit, the wisdom and strength to walk in your ways,
to bear fruit in every good work, and to grow in the knowledge of your love.
Open our eyes to the needs around us, and make us quick to offer compassion,
that we may reflect the grace and forgiveness we receive in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Colossians 1: 1–14

Read by Solomon Pitan

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

² To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and prayer

³ We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, ⁴ because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people – ⁵ the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel ⁶ that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world – just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. ⁷ You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, ⁸ and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

⁹ For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

NIV®

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

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 hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.

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

Luke 10: 25–37

Read by Adrian Boynton

The parable of the good Samaritan

²⁵ On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

²⁶ ‘What is written in the Law?’ he replied. ‘How do you read it?’

²⁷ He answered, ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbour as yourself.”’

²⁸ ‘You have answered correctly,’ Jesus replied. ‘Do this and you will live.’

²⁹ But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half-dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. “Look after him,” he said, “and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.”

³⁶ ‘Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?’

³⁷ The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’

NIV®

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

Sermon

By Revd George Mwaura

[Silence]

Musical Meditation

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God,
begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.

Amen

Hymn: Help us to help each other, Lord

Help us to help each other, Lord,
each other’s cross to bear;
let each his friendly aid afford,
and feel another’s care.

Up unto thee, our living head,
let us in all things grow,
and by thy sacrifice be led
the fruits of love to show.

Touched by the lodestone of thy love
let all our hearts agree;
and ever towards each other move,
and ever move towards thee.

This is the bond of perfectness,
thy spotless charity.
O let us still, we pray, possess
the mind that was in thee.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
CCL31580

Prayers of Intercession

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

Sharing Peace

As Christ has reconciled us to God and called us to love one another, let us share his peace.
May we see in each other the neighbour Christ calls us to serve
and offer one another signs of God’s mercy and grace.

My dear friends, may the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be always with you.

And also with you.

Let us share peace with one another.

Notices

Wednesday Bible Study: The Letter to the Ephesians

Continues 7.00 pm Wednesdays, 16 & 23 July 2025 by Zoom

This week’s study (Wednesday, 16 July 2025) will focus on chapter 4.

Congregational Meeting

The Congregational Meeting will take place during Morning Service this Sunday (13 July 2025). The Congregation will be invited to discuss developments in work with children and young people, and also practical ideas for fundraising. The full Agenda and documents have been emailed to everyone on the church mailing list. A few printed copies of the Agenda and documents are available in Reception for those without access to email.

Pat Kyd, Cornerstone Church Secretary

New Bibles

I have recently had requests for Bibles suitable for dyslexic and neurodivergent people. I have been able to source these for them. More people are being diagnosed with these conditions and so I now have a small stock of suitable Bibles in the Cornerstone Shop to make it easier to read and understand God’s word.

Bob Collard

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.

Prayers for the City of Milton Keynes

Fridays at 12.30 pm in the Chapel

Our prayer sessions on Friday lunchtimes (12.30 pm) will continue throughout the summer. All are welcome to join us. We pray for the city of Milton Keynes, and the place of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone at its centre, as well as the wider world, and whatever concerns people may have at any time. These prayer sessions do not last beyond 1.00 pm.

Weekly attendance at these prayer sessions is usually around eight people, so there is plenty of room in the Chapel for more to join us. No need to book, just drop in!

We are always glad to add new leaders to our rota, so that we have a broad range of styles and so that no one is asked to lead prayers more than once a quarter. (We’re not there yet!) If you would like to have an opportunity to lead one of these sessions, please contact robin_kyd@yahoo.co.uk.

Robin Kyd

The live stream will end at this point.

Congregational Meeting

Offertory

Prayer

Gracious God, all abundance flows from your endless love.
We humbly present these offerings – both those given today and those already shared –
asking for your blessing as we build your kingdom through this church and beyond.
May these gifts serve your purpose and bring light to all corners of your world.

Amen

Hymn: Take my life, and let it be

Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee;
take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let the move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet, and let the be
swift and purposeful for thee.

Take my voice, and let it sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it thine,
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.

Frances Ridley Havergal (1836–1879)
CCL31580

Blessings

Lord, send us out to share the wine of kindness with those who are lonely;
to offer the oil of compassion to those who are hurting;
to cross boundaries of comfort, and to greet all as our neighbour in your name.

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

Amen

Dismissal

Church, go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

In the name of Christ, we will.

Amen