Preacher and Presiding Minister:
Revd Geoffrey Clarke,
Moderator of URC East Midlands Synod

Led by Revd George Mwaura

Greetings

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 1: 7b

Look to the Lord and be strong; at all times seek God’s presence.

Psalm 105: 4

Call to Worship

God our source and guide and goal: you have made us in your image and set us in a world full of beauty;
you dwell in light unapproachable, yet you have come to be among us, full of grace and truth;
you are the power from on high, coming in wind and flame to work your wonders in our midst.

Gracious God, awaken us from sleep that we may worship you in spirit and in truth:
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Reprinted by permission from Worship from the United Reformed Church,
© The United Reformed Church, 2024

Hymn: God is our strength and refuge

God is our strength and refuge,
our present help in trouble;
and we therefore will not fear,
though the earth should change!
Though mountains shake and tremble,
though swirling floods are raging,
God the Lord of hosts
is with us evermore

There is a flowing river,
within God’s holy city;
God is in the midst of her –
she shall not be moved!
God’s help is swiftly given,
thrones vanish at his presence –
God the Lord of hosts
is with us evermore

Come, see the works of our maker,
learn of his deeds all-powerful:
wars will cease across the world
when he shatters the spear!
Be still and know your creator,
uplift him in the nations –
God the Lord of hosts
is with us evermore

Richard Bewes (1934–2019)
Psalm 46
CCL31580

Prayer of Confession and Assurance of Forgiveness

Let us confess our sins together and seek God’s forgiveness.

Almighty and merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole being,
nor loved our neighbours as ourselves.
We have shared in the sin of the Church and of the world,
and we have left undone the good you set before us.
In your mercy, forgive us, free us from the burden of the past,
and renew us in the likeness of Christ.

Amen

[Silence may be kept]

Kyrie

Hear the good news:
In Christ God is reconciling the world to himself.
In Christ there is a new creation; the old has passed away and the new has come.
Through Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven.

Amen

Thanks be to God.

Collect of the Day

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered by your Holy Spirit into one,
may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen

Reprinted by permission from Book of Common Order of the Church of Scotland,
© Panel on Worship of the Church of Scotland 1994.

Gloria!

Glory! Glory! Glory to God!
Glory! Glory! Glory to God!

Glory to God in the heights of the heavens.
Peace to God’s people, all people on earth.

Glory! …

Son of the Father, all glory and worship;
praise and thanksgiving to you, Lamb of God.

Glory! …

You take away the sin of the world;
have mercy on us, receive our prayer.

Glory! …

Seated in power at the right of the Father,
Jesus alone is the Lord, the Most High.

Glory! …

And with the Spirit of love everlasting,
reigning in glory for ever. Amen.

George Salazar (b. 1986)
Arranged: Paul Inwood (b. 1947)
CCL31580

Bible Readings

Exodus 17: 1–7

Read by Stuart Kean

Water from the rock

¹ The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, travelling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ² So they quarrelled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’

Moses replied, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?’

³ But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?’

⁴ Then Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.’

⁵ The Lord answered Moses, ‘Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶ I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’ So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷ And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarrelled and because they tested the Lord saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’

NIV®

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

Psalm 78: 1–4 & 12

¹ My people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
² I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old –
³ things we have heard and known,
things our ancestors have told us.
⁴ We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
his power, and the wonders he has done.

…

¹² He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
¹³ He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand up like a wall.
¹⁴ He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
¹⁵ He split the rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
¹⁶ he brought streams out of a rocky crag
and made water flow down like rivers.

NIV®

Matthew 21: 23–32

Read by Kate Abrahams

The authority of Jesus questioned

²³ Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. ‘By what authority are you doing these things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave you this authority?’

²⁴ Jesus replied, ‘I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ John’s baptism – where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?’

They discussed it among themselves and said, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will ask, “Then why didn’t you believe him?” ²⁶ But if we say, “Of human origin”– we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.’

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, ‘We don’t know.’

Then he said, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

The parable of the two sons

²⁸ ‘What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.”

²⁹ ‘“I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ ‘Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will, sir,” but he did not go.

³¹ ‘Which of the two did what his father wanted?’

‘The first,’ they answered.

Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

NIV®

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

Sermon: ‘False promises, quarrels and complaints …’

By Revd Geoffrey Clarke, Moderator of URC East Midlands Synod

Hymn: There’s a wideness in God’s mercy

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in his justice
which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows
are more felt than up in heaven;
there is no place where earth’s failings
have such kindly judgement given.

For the love of God is broader
then the measure of man’s mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.

But we make his love too narrow
by false limits of our own;
and we magnify his strictness
with a zeal he will not own.

There is plentiful redemption
in the blood that has been shed;
there is joy for all the members
in the sorrows of the Head.

There is grace enough for thousands
of new worlds as great as this;
there is room for fresh creations
in that upper home of bliss.

If our love were but more simple,
we should take him at his word;
and our lives would be all gladness
in the joy of Christ our Lord.

Frederick William Faber (1814–1863)
CCL31580

Prayers of Intercession

Led by Adrian Boynton

Sharing Peace

Christ is our peace.
In him, quarrels are laid down, divisions are healed, and we are called to live as one people in grace.
The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.

Let us share with one another a sign of Christ’s peace.

Invitation to Communion

Let us celebrate this joyful feast.
People will come from east and west and north and south, and sit at table in the kingdom of God.

Luke 13: 29

Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’

‘Anyone who comes to me I will never turn away’.

John 6: 35, 37

Love is his word, love is his way

Love is his word, love is his way,
feasting with men, fasting alone,
living and dying, rising again,
love, only love is his way.

Richer than gold is the love of my Lord:
better than splendour and wealth.

Love is his way, love is his mark,
sharing his last Passover feast,
Christ at his table, Host to the Twelve,
love, only love is his mark.

Richer than gold …

Love is his mark, love is his sign,
bread for our strength, wine for our joy,
‘This is my body, this is my blood,’
love, only love is his sign.

Richer than gold …

Love is his sign, love is his news,
‘Do this’, he said, ‘lest you forget
all my deep sorrow, all my dear blood,’
love, only love is his news.

Richer than gold …

Love is his news, love is his name,
we are his own, chosen and called,
family, brethren, cousins and kin.
Love, only love is his name.

Richer than gold …

Love is his name, love is his law.
Hear his command, all who are his:
‘Love one another. I have loved you.’
Love, only love is his law.

Richer than gold …

Love is his law, love is his word:
love of the Lord, Father and Word,
love of the Spirit, God ever one,
love, only love is his word.

Richer than gold …

Luke Connaughton (1917–1979)
CCL31580

Eucharistic Prayer

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

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

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

[The prayer acknowledges the acts of God, leading into:]

Sanctus and Benedictus

Holy, most holy, all holy the Lord,
in power and wisdom for ever adored!
The earth and the heavens are full of your love;
our joyful hosannas re-echo above!

Blessèd, most blessèd, all blessèd is he
whose life makes us whole and whose death sets us free;
who comes in the name of the Father of light,
let endless hosannas resound in the height!

Michael Forster (1946–2023)

[The prayer continues with an invocation of the Holy Spirit and the remembrance of the Last Supper
leading into:]

Acclamations

Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:

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

[The prayer continues with an invocation of the Holy Spirit, leading into a doxology.]

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 Breaking of the Bread

Agnus Dei

The Communion

[Bread and wine are shared.]

Post Communion Prayer

God of a love stronger than death, you have given us new birth into a living hope
through the gift of your Son.
God with us, like a mother you have fed us with yourself and strengthened us for journeying ahead.
God of truth and power, you take our weakness and our sin and refashion us by grace.

Gracious God, may the love which bids us welcome at this table
gather all your children into one, in your eternal presence, whole and free at last.

Amen

Reprinted by permission from Worship from the United Reformed Church,
© The United Reformed Church, 2024

Notices and Offertory

Revd Sarah Eden-Jones’s Institution and Induction Service

7.00 pm Monday (28 September 2026)

Our new Minister, Revd Sarah Eden-Jones, will be instituted by Bishop Dave, Bishop of Buckingham, and inducted by the Archdeacon of Buckingham, Venerable Cassa Messervy at Cornerstone on Monday (28 September 2026). The Induction Service is scheduled for 7.00 pm. All members of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone are warmly invited to attend this Service. This Service will be live-streamed.

This will be a very special occasion in the life of our church, as we gather together to welcome Sarah and celebrate the beginning of this new chapter in her ministry among us. We are expecting a very full church, with around fifty guests coming with Sarah herself, as well as many of our own Congregation, visitors from other churches and a number of special guests and dignitaries, including several bishops, the Mayor of Milton Keynes and the Lord Lieutenant of Milton Keynes. Please arrive in good time.

Refreshments will be served in the Guildhall after the Service,

Prayer for the Week Ahead

Faithful God, as we enter this new week,
save us from empty promises, needless quarrels and constant complaint.
When the way is hard, help us to trust you,
as you brought water from the rock in the wilderness.
When you call us to serve, give us grace not merely to say ‘yes’,
but to live our ‘yes’ in faithful action.
Make us patient with one another, honest in our words, generous in our deeds
and attentive to your presence in every circumstance.
Lead us through the week ahead in the way of Christ
and make our lives a true response to your love.

Amen

Guide me, O thou great Redeemer

Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
hold me with thy powerful hand;
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
feed me now and evermore. (×2)

Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fiery cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through;
strong deliverer, strong deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield. (×2)

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside,
death of death, and hell’s destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side;
songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee. (×2)

Welsh, Willian Williams (1717–1791) tr. Peter and Willian Williams
CCL31580

Benediction

Go from this place trusting the God who brings water from the rock,
grace from our failures, and hope from the wilderness.
And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
be among us and remain with us, now and always

Amen

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

May God’s blessing surround you each day,
as you trust him and walk in his way.
May his presence within guard and keep you from sin.
Go in peace, go in joy, go in love.