The Church of Christ the Cornerstone
Baptist Union / Church of England / Methodist Church / Roman Catholic Church / United Reformed Church
Call to worship Good morning my dear brothers and sisters on this second Sunday of Easter, wherever you may be, as we continue to worship and fellowship in exile. God is good! All the time. Indeed, God is good all the time, even in this time of pandemic. This is the Good News which we proclaim...
Show me your hands
I heard of a funny incident involving a child of one our ministers during these days of lockdown. A few weeks ago, his five-year-old son rushed in from playing outside at dinner time and sat at the table. His mother looked at him and said, ‘Young man, let me see your hands.’ The poor boy attempted to rub the dust and muck off on his khaki shorts before he held them up. His mother looked at them and asked, ‘How many times do I have to remind you that you must wash your hands before you eat? When your hands are dirty, they can carry corona germs and you could get sick. After we say grace, I want you to go to the kitchen and wash them.’ Obediently, after grace the little boy got up and headed to the kitchen, but halfway there, he stopped, turned and said to his mother, ‘Jesus and germs; Jesus and germs; that’s all I hear around here and I haven’t seen either of them!’
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Risen Lord, as we gather today, may we see you and hear you,
may we feel you and touch you, may we know your presence with us now.
As the disciples in the locked room reached out and touched you,
let us reach out and touch you today, living Lord Jesus.
Let us feel your scarred hands and feet.
Let us put our hands in your side.
Let us be still and know that you are our conquering Lord even in these troubled times
Amen.
Hymn: Now the green blade riseth Played and sung by Adrian Boynton, Director of Music Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain, wheat that in dark earth many days has lain; Love lives again, that with the dead has been: Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green. In the grave they laid...
The Lord appears to Elijah 11 The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the...
Dear Lord, like Mary we are sad and confused. Help us to look in the right place to find you: not in the empty tomb, not in the empty building that we think of as our church. You are everywhere, all about us, and in us. Help us to recognise you, when you come to meet us. When you call us by name, may we, like Mary, recognise you and turn to you. May we, too, like Mary, spread the good news: Jesus lives!
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I thought it might be helpful to turn our thoughts to John’s Gospel chapter 20, in preparation for our Gospel reading this coming Sunday morning.
Thomas said, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails on his hands, unless I put my finger into the place where the nails were, and my hand into his side, I will never believe it.’ Later, Jesus came and stood among them, saying, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Reach your finger here; look at my hands. Reach your hand here and put it into my side. Be unbelieving no longer, but believe.’ Thomas said, ‘My Lord and my God.’
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This lockdown period has given me renewed appreciation of how fortunate we are in Milton Keynes to have so many beautiful green spaces right on our doorstep. Here in Two Mile Ash we have woods, fields, gentle streams, a lovely park and within five or six minutes’ walk, the beautiful Lodge Lake.
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It was a Skype conversation, a disembodied voice through a computer screen and although I could not see his face, I knew something was wrong the moment he started talking. ‘What’s the matter?’ I asked. ‘You sound distracted.’ ‘My mother is in hospital,’ he said. ‘She has this virus. We don’t know what to do. We...
Funny, how our priorities change. I work as a business coach. A month ago, I had a coaching conversation with a manager about his career. He was worried about being by-passed on the career ladder and at the same time struggling with the work–home life balance. ‘When I get home,’ he said. ‘I am tired out....
Water featured in God’s designs from the beginning of Creation, and without it life as we know it could not exist on earth. In the Old Testament, God supernaturally provided water for the Israelites while they were going through the desert. The Bible presents countless references about water and its use, e.g. for drinking, cleansing, hygienic and religious purposes; as well as significant social events around wells. In the Book of Leviticus, God gave civil principles for handling food, disease, etc. In the New Testament, Jesus was baptised in the River Jordan by John the Baptist before He started his ministry. His first miracle was turning water into wine. When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well he told her about Living Water which he gives. During the Last Supper Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. He wanted them to understand the importance of service to each other and in the world.
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This morning you might be feeling that you are between a rock and a hard place. In every aspect, life has been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic. Sadly, it is a time of sorrow and mourning as this unexpected crisis has taken thousands of lives in the United Kingdom. On Easter Sunday, we celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which reminded us of the everlasting Love which God has for us, and strengthened us in faith and hope. Jesus said, that He is the resurrection and the life; and over 300 times we are told in the Bible that we should not fear.
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Your unfailing love is better than life; therefore, I shall sing your praises. Thus all my life I bless you; in your name I lift my hands in prayer. I am satisfied as with a rich feast and there is a shout of praise on my lips. I call you to mind on my bed and meditate on you in the night watches, for you have been my help and I am safe in the shadow of your wings.
A prayer at the end of the day from the Lutheran tradition:
Gracious Lord we give you thanks for this day,
especially for the good we were permitted to give and receive.
The day is now past and we commit it to you. …
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Praise be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, he gave us new birth into a living hope, the hope of an inheritance, reserved in heaven for YOU, which nothing can destroy or spoil or whither.
Welcome to the new day, Living Stones.
May we rejoice in it.
Let us pray for our suffering world, our community and ourselves. …
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Let us keep apart for a while from our days activities and prepare for time with God. Let us give thanks for this day and pray that this evening may be holy, good and peaceful. As our evening prayer rises before you, O God, so may your mercy come down upon us to cleanse our hearts...
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