Led by: Krou Assoua LLM
Preacher: Revd George Mwaura

Gathering Music

Call to Worship

Do not be afraid, for God is our shield and our great reward.
Just as Abraham trusted in the Lord’s promises, so we gather,
trusting that God counts our faith as righteousness.
We come in faith, believing God’s word and seeking God’s presence.

Jesus said, ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.’
We come not as strangers but as beloved children, welcomed by grace.

Let us worship God, who keeps every promise and calls us to live in hope, generosity, and expectation.
We worship with faith, ready for God’s surprising ways.

Amen

Greetings and Welcome

Opening Prayer

Gracious and faithful God, you have always kept your promises,
from Abraham in the desert to the disciples gathered around Jesus.
You tell us not to be afraid, reminding us that we are your beloved children
and that your kingdom is a gift, not a reward we have to earn.

As we gather here, quiet our anxious hearts.
Teach us to trust you, even when your promises seem distant or mysterious.
Help us keep our lamps burning, living each day with hope and attention to your presence.
Make us generous, alert, and ready for the ways you move among us.

Shape our faith so that, like Abraham, we may walk with you,
and like Christ, we may serve with open hands and expectant hearts.

We ask all this in the name of Jesus, our risen Lord.

Amen

Hymn: Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee;
thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not;
as thou hast been thou for ever wilt be:
Great is the faithfulness! Great is the faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand has provided,
great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy and love:
Great is the faithfulness! …

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Great is the faithfulness! …

Thomas Chisholm (1866–1960)
CCL31580

Thanksgiving and Confession Prayers

Unchanging God, we come before you with grateful hearts, remembering your promise to Abram,
that you are our shield, and our very great reward.

Thank you for your faithfulness across generations
for keeping your word even when we struggle to trust.

We praise you for the inheritance you promise,
not because of our strength, but because of your steadfast love.
Yet, Lord, we confess that we are often afraid.
Like Abram, we doubt your timing and your plans.

We worry about what we will possess, about our security, about the future.
We confess that we cling to our own understanding
and sometimes lose sight of your greater story at work.
Jesus, you remind us not to be afraid, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.
You call us to generosity and readiness, to trust rather than anxiety.

[Silence]

Forgive us when we hoard rather than share, when we are slow to open our hands or our hearts,
and when we are unprepared for your coming.
Cleanse us from all that keeps us from living as your faithful servants.

Thank you that your promises do not depend on our perfection, but on your grace.
Teach us to wait with hope, to give with joy, and to watch for you with expectation.
May your Spirit help us walk in trust and obedience, grateful for the gifts you give
and honest about the ways we fall short.
In your mercy, hear our prayer.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

God of promise and hope, you call us to trust you in all things
and to live as people who are ready and expectant for your kingdom.
Grant us faith like Abraham, that we may believe your word even when the future is uncertain.
Kindle in us the light of Christ, so that we may remain watchful, generous, and eager to serve.
May we find our true security, not in what we possess, but in your unfailing love,
as we ask through the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Genesis 15: 1–16

Read by David Chapman

The Lord’s covenant with Abram

¹ After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:

‘Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield,
your very great reward.’

² But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’ ³ And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to him: ‘This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.’ ⁵ He took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the sky and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.’ Then he said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’

⁶ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

⁷ He also said to him, ‘I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.’

⁸ But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I shall gain possession of it?’

⁹ So the Lord said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.’

¹⁰ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. ¹¹ Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

¹² As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. ¹³ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and ill-treated there. ¹⁴ But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions. ¹⁵ You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. ¹⁶ In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.’

NIV®

This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.And it’s from the old I travel to the new; …

Hymn: One more step along the world I go

One more step along the world I go,
one more step along the world I go;
from the old things to the new
keep me travelling along with you.
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
keep me travelling along with you.

Round the corners of the world I turn,
more and more about the world I learn;
all the new things that I see
you’ll be looking at along with me.
And it’s from the old I travel to the new; …

As I travel through the bad and good,
keep me travelling the way I should;
where I see no way to go
you’ll be telling me the way, I know.
And it’s from the old I travel to the new; …

Give me courage when the world is rough,
keep me loving though the world is tough;
leap and sing in all I do,
keep me travelling along with you.
And it’s from the old I travel to the new; …

You are older than the world can be,
you are younger than the life in me;
ever old and ever new,
keep me travelling along with you.
And it’s from the old I travel to the new;
keep me travelling along with you.

Sydney Carter (1915–2004)
CCL31580

Luke 12: 32–40

Read by Joy Chapman

³² ‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. ³³ Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. ³⁴ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Watchfulness

³⁵ ‘Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will make them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. ³⁸ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or towards daybreak. ³⁹ But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect 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

Prayers of Intercession

Led by Robin Kyd

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

Blessed are the peacemakers, says the Lord: they shall be called children of God.
We meet in the name of Christ and share his peace.

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

Let us offer to one another a sign of peace.

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

Notices

Card Reader / Payment of offerings by card

The card reader for donations will now be in the Reception Area for easier use. Please note that registering for gift aid on the card reader once increases your donations by 25% at no cost to you.

Thank you so much to everyone who gives to us regularly, whether it be by card payment, cash in the collection basket, our envelope scheme, by direct debit or our Parish Giving Scheme. Your generosity is much appreciated. All these gifts are blessed in our weekly services.

Forthcoming meetings

Ministerial Leadership Group – 1.30 pm Wednesday, 13 August 2025

Cornerstone Trading Directors’ meeting – 9.30 am Thursday, 21 August 2025

Concert: Music for a Summer Afternoon

Hymn: Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us

Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
o’er the world’s tempestuous sea;
guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
for we have no help but thee;
yet possessing every blessing,
if our God our Father be.

Saviour, breathe forgiveness o’er us:
all our weakness thou dost know;
thou didst tread this earth before us,
thou didst feel kits keenest woe;
lone and dreary, faint and weary,
through the desert thou didst go.

Spirit of our God, descending,
fill our hearts with heavenly joy,
love with every passion blending,
pleasure that can never cloy:
thus provided, pardoned, guided,
nothing can our peace destroy.

James Edmeston (1791–1867)
CCL31580

Blessings

My dear sisters and brothers, go back to your homes in faith,
trusting in the God who keeps every promise.

And may the blessings of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
descend and remain upon you today and always.

Amen

Dismissal

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

In the name of Christ, we will.

Amen