Presiding Minister: Revd George Mwaura
Preacher: Revd Lara Deen

Gathering Music

Call to Worship

Come, let us remember the Lord our God, the giver of every good gift.
We come with thankful hearts to worship God.

For the earth and its abundance, for seedtime and harvest, for daily bread and faithful love:
We give thanks to the Lord, whose goodness endures for ever.

Jesus calls us to seek God’s kingdom and to trust our heavenly Father.
We come to receive God’s grace and to share God’s gifts.

Come, let us worship with gratitude, generosity and joy.
To God be glory and praise.

Amen

Opening Prayer

Generous God, maker of heaven and earth,
we gather among the gifts of your creation to offer you, our worship.
Open our eyes to the wonder of ordinary things: the soil beneath our feet, the rain upon the fields,
the food upon our tables and the hands that bring it to us.
As we gather to worship, nourish us with your love and make us a thankful, generous people,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Hymn: All things bright and beautiful

All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small
all things wise and wonderful,
the Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,
each little bird that sings,
he made their glowing colours,
he made their tiny wings:

All things bright and beautiful, …

The purple-headed mountain,
the river running by,
the sunset and the morning
that brightens up the sky:

All things bright and beautiful, …

The cold wind in the winter,
the pleasant summer sun,
the ripe fruits in the garden,
he made them every one:

All things bright and beautiful, …

The tall trees in the greenwood,
the meadows where we play,
the rushes by the water
we gather every day:

All things bright and beautiful, …

He gave us eyes to see them,
and lips that we might tell
how great is God almighty,
who has made all things well:

All things bright and beautiful,
all creatures great and small,
all things wise and wonderful,
the Lord God made them all.

Cecil Frances Alexander (1818–1895)
CCL31580

Thanksgiving and Confession

Faithful God, we thank you for the earth that sustains us, for the rhythm of the seasons,
for sunlight and rainfall, and for the mystery of growth.
We thank you for farmers and fishers, gardeners and growers,
and all who process, transport, prepare and serve our food.
We thank you for those whose work is hidden, whose labour is demanding and whose reward is small.
For the harvest of human kindness, for friendship and community,
and for the love that has carried us through difficult days, we give you praise.

Yet, generous God, we confess that we have often enjoyed your gifts without remembering the Giver.
We have measured security by what we possess and stored up more while others have too little.
We have wasted food, taken the earth for granted
and turned away from suffering that calls for our response.
We have worried about tomorrow while overlooking the grace and responsibilities of today.

[Silence is kept.]

Merciful God, forgive us. Free us from greed, fear and indifference.
Teach us to receive with gratitude, to live with enough and to share with joy.
Renew our care for your creation,
and make our lives fruitful in justice, compassion and love; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Words of Grace

Hear the good news: in Jesus Christ,
God meets our repentance with mercy and opens before us the way of new life.
Trust in his forgiveness; receive his peace.
By the Holy Spirit, may we grow in gratitude and bear the fruit of love.

Thanks be to God.

Amen

Song: Harvest Samba

Cabbages and greens,
broccoli and beans,
cauliflower and roasted potatoes
taste so good to me.

It’s another Harvest Festival
when we bring our fruit and vegetables,
’cause we want to share the best of all
the good things that we’ve been given.
It’s another opportunity
to be grateful for the food we eat,
with a samba celebration to
say ‘Thank You’ to God the Father.

Apricots and plums
ripened in the sun,
oranges and yellow bananas:
good for everyone.

It’s another Harvest Festival …

Golden corn and wheat,
oats and sugar beet,
fluffy rice and tasty spaghetti –
wonderful to eat!

It’s another Harvest Festival …

Coffee, cocoa, tea,
growing nat’rally,
herbal plants and all kinds of spices –
very nice indeed!

It’s another Harvest Festival …

CCL31580

Prayer for the Young Church

Prayer for the Week

God of seedtime and harvest, go with us into the week ahead.
In our work, give us purpose; in our rest, give us peace; in our anxieties, give us trust.
Help us to notice the blessings of each day and the needs of those around us.
Keep us from hoarding what we can share, and from wasting what others need.
May our words sow kindness, our choices nurture justice and our hands bring comfort.
Teach us to seek your kingdom, trusting your faithful care; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

The Ministry of the Word

Deuteronomy 8: 7–18

Read by Kate Abrahams

⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land – a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; ⁸ a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig-trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

NIV®

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

Luke 12:16–30

Read by Suzanne Cheng

¹⁶ And he told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.”

¹⁸ ‘Then he said, “This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’”

²⁰ ‘But God said to him, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?”

²¹ ‘This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich towards God.’

Do not worry

²² Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. ²⁴ Consider the ravens: they do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! ²⁵ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? ²⁶ Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

²⁷ ‘Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you – you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them.

NIV®

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

Sermon

By Revd Lara Deen

Musical Meditation:
For the beauty of the Earth, version by John Rutter

Sung by the Choir

Affirmation of Faith

Let us affirm our faith together.

We believe in God the Father, maker of heaven and earth,
whose creation is good, whose gifts sustain us and whose love calls us to grateful living.

We believe in Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Lord, who proclaimed the kingdom,
welcomed the forgotten and shared bread with the hungry;
who died for our salvation, rose again to give us life and invites us to his table.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, who gives life, renews the Church and equips us to serve.
We believe that we are called into one body, to care for creation,
to seek justice and to love our neighbours.
We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen

Prayers of Intercession

Led by Don Head

Sharing the Peace

Christ is our peace. At his table, we come as one body, receiving one bread and sharing one hope.
May the peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also, with you.

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

Hymn: Now thank we all our God

Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done,
in whom this world rejoices;
who from our mother’s arms
hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessèd peace to cheer us;
and keep us in his grace,
and guide us when perplexed,
and free us from all ills
in this world and the next.

All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given,
the Son, and him who reigns
with them in highest heaven,
the one eternal God,
whom earth and heaven adore;
for thus it was, is now,
and shall be evermore.

Martin Rinkart (1586–1649)
tr. Catherine Winkworth
CCL31580

Holy Communion

God is here.
His Spirit is with us.

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

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

It is indeed right and good to give you thanks and praise, almighty God and Father,
through Jesus Christ your Son.
Through him you have created us in your own image and made us stewards of your good creation.
Through him you teach us to exult in the birds of the air, the lilies of the field,
the precious and life-giving crops of the earth.
Through him you free us from the slavery of sin,
giving him to die upon the cross and to rise again for our salvation.
Through him, you begin your work of new creation,
as we look for a new heaven and a new earth in which your righteousness dwells.

Therefore, we join with angels and archangels, and give voice to every creature under heaven,
for ever praising you and singing:

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

Lord, you are holy indeed, the source of all holiness;
grant that, by the power of your Holy Spirit, and according to your holy will,
these gifts of bread and wine may be to us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ;
who, in the same night that he was betrayed, took bread and gave you thanks;
he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way, after supper he took the cup and gave you thanks; he gave it to them, saying:
Drink this, all of you; this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus:
Dying you destroyed our death,
rising you restored our life:
Lord Jesus, come in glory.

And so, Father, calling to mind his death on the cross,
his perfect sacrifice made once for the sins of the whole world;
rejoicing in his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension, and looking for his coming in glory,
we celebrate this memorial of our redemption.
As we offer you this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, we bring before you this bread and this cup
and we thank you for counting us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you.

Send the Holy Spirit on your people and gather into one in your kingdom
all who share this one bread and one cup,
so that we, in the company of all the saints, may praise and glorify you for ever,
through Jesus Christ our Lord; by whom, and with whom, and in whom,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory be yours, almighty Father, for ever and ever.

Amen

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray

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

We break this bread to share in the body of Christ.
Though we are many, we are one body, because we all share in one bread.

Draw near with faith,

Receive the body of our Lord Jesus Christ which he gave for you, and his blood which he shed for you.
Eat and drink in remembrance that he died for you,
and feed on him in your hearts by faith with thanksgiving.

[Meal is shared,]

Notices and Offertory

Cornerstone Church Council

7.00 pm Tuesday, 20 October 2026 in the Small Hall

Cornerstone Church Council will meet at 7.00 pm on Tuesday, 20 October 2026 in the Small Hall. Items to be considered include Alpha Course, Safeguarding, Complaints Policy and the new Coordinating Group with the Trading Company.

Pat Kyd, Church Secretary

Weekly Prayer Sessions in the Chapel

We now have two weekly Prayer Sessions in the Chapel 9.30–10.00 am every Tuesday and Thursday. Everyone is welcome.

We also continue our Prayers for the City of Milton Keynes in the Chapel at 12.30 pm every Friday.

Cornerstone Contemporary Worship Band

We are hoping to start a Contemporary Worship Band to introduce different styles to our worship during services.

If you play a musical instrument or enjoy singing contemporary worship songs and would be interested in being part of the worship band, we would love to hear from you!

Please get in touch with Revd Lara Deen if you would like to be involved. Mobile: 07808 855478; Email : lara.deen@cornerstonemk.co.uk

We look forward to hearing from you.

Revd Lara Deen

Offertory Prayer

Generous God, all we have comes from you. Receive these gifts and our grateful hearts. Use them to feed the hungry, sustain your church, and help us care for your creation. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Hymn: We plough the fields, and scatter

We plough the fields, and scatter
the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God’s almighty hand;
he sends the snow in winter,
the warmth to swell the grain,
the breezes and the sunshine,
and soft refreshing rain.

All good gifts around us
are sent from heaven above,
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
for all his love.

He only is the maker
of all things near and far;
he paints the wayside flower,
he lights the evening star.
The wind and waves obey him,
by him the birds are fed;
much more to us his children,
he gives our daily bread.

All good gifts around us …

We thank thee then, O Father,
for all things bright and good:
the seed-time and the harvest,
our life, our health, our food.
No gifts have we to offer
for all thy love imparts,
but that which thou desirest,
our humble, thankful hearts.

All good gifts around us …

Matthias Claudius (1740–1815)
tr. Jane Montgomery Campbell (1817–1878)
CCL31580

Words of Mission

Go into the world remembering the Giver and live with gratitude.
Be mindful of your neighbour, and share with generosity.
Care for God’s creation and serve with wisdom and love.
Seek first God’s kingdom and let your lives bear the fruit of Christ’s peace.

Amen

Thanks be to God.

Blessing and Dismissal

May the God of every season deepen our gratitude;
may Jesus Christ, the bread of life, sustain our hope;
may the Holy Spirit make our lives fruitful in love;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
be among us and remain with us always.

Amen

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

Amen

Benediction

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.