A separate video feed of the choir is available here.

Led by: Revd George Mwaura and Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering Music

Opening Responses

Morning has broken!
We gather to greet the new day by praising God.

God created us for relationship with God, one another, and the earth.
Let us honour those relationships today and every day.

We seek to care for our brothers and sisters around the world and for God’s good Creation.
Let us honour those relationships today and every day.

Let us commit to new ways of honouring God’s Creation as a means of sharing Jesus’ transforming love.
And let us seek God’s grace, justice and mercy for all.

Amen

Greetings, Welcome and Introduction

Hymn: The earth is the Lord’s (Psalm 24)

The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.
The earth is the Lord’s, the work of his hands.
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,
and all things were made for his glory.

The mountains are his, the seas and the islands,
the cities and towns, the houses and streets:
let rebels bow down and worship before him,
for all things were made for his glory.

[Repeat both verses]

The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.
The earth is the Lord’s, the work of his hands.
The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,
and all things were made, yes, all thing were made,
and all things were made for his glory.

Graham Kendrick (b. 1950)
CCL31580

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Confession

Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, how majestic is your name in all the earth.
You dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish again.
In your hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.
Thank you for the abundance and variety.
Forgive us for the ways in which we contribute to the disfigurement and destruction of your Creation.
Transform our hearts and minds, that we may place the welfare of your earth and your people
before our fleeting desires.
Embolden us to give voice to the voiceless in our communities and ecosystems,
and grant us divine wisdom that we may replace systems of destruction and oppression
with systems of justice and sustainability.

Blessed be your name, Creator God.
Blessed be God for ever!

Kyrie

Prayer of the Week

Creator God, who brought your people into a productive earth,
and sends showers of blessing that the earth shall yield its increase;
flourish within us your gift of faith that, in our worship, our churches and communities,
we may honour and renew your creation and join in obedience with others
and the created universe to give glory and praise to Jesus Christ,
the first born of all creation.

Amen

Genesis 1: 24–27

Read by Cheryl Montgomery

²⁴ And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock,
the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’
And it was so.
²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds,
and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.
And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’

²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

NIV®

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

Act of Eco Commitment

After the floods account in Genesis, Noah made sacrifice to God,
and God said in his heart: ‘I will never again curse the ground because of humankind.’

As we offer our own sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving,
we pledge ourselves to honour the everlasting covenant between God, the creator of all things who loves the world, and the creation that responds in joyful praise.

Amen

Colossians 1: 15–20

Read by Adrian Boynton

The Supremacy of the Son of God

¹⁵ The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

NIV®

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

Eco Church Presentation: Part 1

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
are sent from heaven above,
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
for all his love.

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
are sent from heaven above,
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
for all his love.

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

Eco Church Presentation: Part 2

One–One Discussions

Considering these points:

• One thing you could do in your personal life to care for creation.
• One thing that you think the church could do to care for creation.

Prayers of Intercession

Led by Tabbie Macharia

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.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

Sharing Peace

When people come together, then change will come and we can achieve almost anything.
So instead of looking for hope and peace, start creating it.
Let there be peace on earth and let it start with you.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be always with you!
And also with you!

Let us greet another as a sign of God’s peace.

Hymn: For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
pleasures pure and undefiled:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For each perfect gift of divine
to our race so freely given,
joys bestowed by love’s design,
flowers of earth and fruits of heaven:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For thy church which evermore
lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on every shore
her pure sacrifice of love,
Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

F.S. Pierpoint (1835–1917)
CCL31580

Notices and Offertory Prayers

All Things Wild and Wonderful’ – Eco-workshop for young people

9.30 am – 12.00 pm Saturday, 9 July 2022 at Cornerstone

An action-packed morning of craft activities, games and gardening. Come dressed in suitable clothes: it could get messy!

Pyramid Rock!

9.00 am – 12.00 noon Monday–Friday, 1–5 August 2022
Christ the Sower School, 24 Singleton Drive, Grange Farm, MK8 0PZ

The Pyramid Rock Summer Holiday Club is being held by the Watling Valley Partnership at the Christ the Sower School 9.00 am – 12.00 noon Monday–Friday 1–5 August 2022. Cornerstone children are invited, as Cornerstone folk are helping with the holiday club. Booking is essential as spaces are limited: first come, first served.

Information and booking is available on the Watling Valley Partnership website at: https://watlingvalley.org.uk/blog/103936.

Nerys Steeds

Advance Notice: Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

The Milton Keynes Interfaith Arts and Culture Community Organisation is organising further celebrations in October for the Platinum Jubilee. Here is the proposed programme of events:

Thursday, 6 October 2022

Inside the Cornerstone Worship Area there will be a youth orchestra and fusion of music performed. Then there will be some speeches led by Lord Lieutenant, High Sheriff, and community members.

At 8.15 pm we will come out and see the church illuminated with beautiful colours and art works projection on the church symbolising UNITY.

Saturday, 8 October 2022

We will have in the evening from 6.00 pm the projection art display again and community digital parade from the church to the train station where there will be a live music band reflecting the Commonwealth which our Her Majesty the Queen is passionate about.

Revd George

Nominations to the PCC

The Church of England and the Dioceses of Oxford have adopted a policy of inclusion and diversity in their practice. As an Anglican parish in an LEP we want to lead by example and implement the same policy. This policy has also been recommended by the Cornerstone Committee of Social Justice.

To implement inclusion and diversity in our PCC it would mean the following:

As much as possible, our aims are that:

1          Our new PCC will have an equal representation of women

2          Our new PCC will have a significant representation of members from our international congregation.

3          Our new PCC should give preference and opportunity to people who for the first time are willing to serve in the church.

We are asking you to prayerfully consider these three criteria as a priority when you nominate somebody.

The six newly elected members will join the two churchwardens and the two Deanery Synod representatives to form the new PCC, chaired by the Anglican incumbent.

The election process will be overseen by Ann Wilson (churchwarden) and Mark Okor (Administrator). I will reprieve from the process.

Ade Adeyemi (a former Chair of Ecumenical Council) will give the external certification of the results in case we need to have a vote.

All the official correspondence and information sent to you regarding this process will get to you only by Mark Okor, the Administrator of the Church.

Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga
Anglican Incumbent

Offering

‘God loves a cheerful giver’

Thanks to your generous giving we can be an Oasis of Hope to Milton Keynes.

Please keep supporting our mission!

If you are at our worship service in the church building and would like to make an offering, please place your offering in the basket at the door to the worship area. If you can’t find it, please ask the stewards.

There are many different ways to give: online, telephone banking or by cheque. For more information how to give please visit the Cornerstone website (www.cornerstonemk.co.uk) or contact: steward.cccmk@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support. It is much appreciated.

Closing Prayer

Gracious God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters
with all that you created and said behold it is good.

Amen

Hymn: Ye that know the Lord is gracious

Ye that know the Lord is gracious,
ye for whom a corner-stone
stands, of God elect and precious,
laid that ye may build thereon,
see that on that sure foundation
ye a living temple raise,
towers that may tell forth salvation,
walls that may re-echo praise.

Living stones, by God appointed
each to his allotted place,
kings and priests by God anointed,
shall ye not declare his grace?
Ye, a royal generation,
tell the tidings of your birth,
tidings of a new creation
to an old and weary earth.

Tell the praise of him who called you
out of darkness into light,
broke the fetters that enthralled you,
gave you freedom, peace and sight:
tell the tale of sins forgiven,
strength renewed and hope restored,
till the earth, in tune with heaven,
praise and magnify the Lord.

C.A. Alington (1872–1955)
CCL31580

Blessings

May we live mindfully through our days
praying for and working on behalf of all whose lives are impacted by our own.
Go forth to share the light of Christ with all of Creation,
and the blessings of God our Creator, Jesus the Saviour and Holy Spirit as the sustainer
be with you today and always

Amen

The Dismissal

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

Amen

Song

May God’s blessing surround you today,
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.

© 1982 Cliff Barrows
CCL31580