Led by Revd George Mwaura

Gathering Music

Welcome

Opening Prayer

Brothers and sisters as we gather, to worship God and to renew our covenant,
let us pray that the vision of unity one day will be fulfilled in all its richness.
In God’s own time, in its own pace, in its own way as its Spirit leads the Church into the future.

God our Father, you are the source of all unity and love.
Help us to grow that we may pray, live and work together
to manifest clearly the unity of your Church in Jesus,
that filled with your Spirit, we may accomplish here the mission of your Church.

Amen

Hymn: The church’s one foundation

The church’s one foundation
is Jesus Christ, her Lord;
she is his new creation
by water and the Word;
from heaven he came and sought her
to be his holy bride,
with his own blood he bought her,
and for her life he died.

Elect from every nation,
yet one o’er all the earth,
her charter of salvation
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with every grace endued.

’Mid toil, and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great Church victorious
shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is one:
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with thee.

S.J. Stone (1839–1900)
CCL31580

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Confession

Faithful and covenant-making God, we give you thanks that you have called us into one body,
through one Spirit, under one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and into the hope of your coming kingdom.
We thank you for the gift of your Church, for the richness of our different traditions,
and for the five denominations whose lives and histories you have woven together in this place.
We thank you that our differences need not divide us, that our variety need not weaken us,
and that in Christ we are called to bear with one another in love,
making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We thank you for those who dreamt of an ecumenical church in this city,
or those who prayed, sacrificed and worked to make that vision real,
and for all who have kept the covenant alive through the years.
Yet, gracious God, we confess that we have not always lived in a manner worthy of our calling.
We have sometimes guarded our traditions more fiercely than we have guarded our unity.
We have allowed preferences to become divisions, differences to become suspicions,
and small disagreements to overshadow our common calling.
Forgive us when pride has spoken louder than humility, when impatience has displaced gentleness,
when we have failed to bear with one another in love,
and when we have forgotten that the Church belongs not to us, but to Christ.

Renew within us the joy of our covenant, that the world may see in our common life
not merely five denominations sharing a building,
but one people, serving one Lord, bearing one Gospel, and seeking one kingdom.

[Silence]

Kyrie

Absolution

Hear the good news: God, who is rich in mercy, does not leave us in darkness.
In Christ, we are forgiven, restored, and called into unity as His people.
Walk now in the light of his grace and live as those who are reconciled to God and to one another.
In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven.

Thanks be to God.

Prayer of the Week

God of our journey, lead us together into the week and years ahead.
Make us builders of bridges, makers of peace, speakers of truth and bearers of hope.
When we disagree, give us grace; when we grow weary, renew us;
when we are tempted to walk apart, remind us that we are one body in Christ.
Keep Cornerstone faithful to its calling:
Christ our foundation, Christ our centre, and Christ our hope.
Teach us to walk together in the light of the Lord.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Psalm 133: 1–3

Read by Don Head

¹ How good and pleasant it is
  when God’s people live together in unity!

² It is like precious oil poured on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
down on the collar of his robe.
³ It is as if the dew of Hermon
were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the Lord bestows his blessing,
even life for evermore.

NIV®

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

Hymn: Bind us together

Bind us together, Lord,
bind us together with cords
that cannot be broken.
Bind us together, Lord,
bind us together,
bind us together with love.

There is only one God,
there is only one King.
There is only one Body,
that is why we sing:

Bind us together, Lord, …

Made for the glory of God,
purchased by his precious Son,
born with the right to be free,
for Jesus the victory has won.

Bind us together, Lord, …

You are the family of God,
you are the promise divine,
you are God’s chosen desire,
you are the glorious new wine.

Bind us together, Lord, …

Bob Gillman (b. 1946)
CCL31580

John 20: 20–23

²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’

NIV®

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

Sermon

By Revd George Mwaura

Musical meditation

Affirmation of Faith

Church, what do we believe?

We believe in one God, Father of all, above all, through all and in all.
We believe in Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of the Church,
who breaks down the walls that divide us and calls us into one people.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, who gathers us into one body
and binds us together in peace.
We affirm one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one hope.
Though our traditions are different, our Saviour is one.
Therefore, we covenant to worship together, serve together,
seek peace together and walk together in the light of the Lord.

Amen

Hymn: Let us build a house

Let us build a house where love can dwell
and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell
how hearts learn to forgive.
Built of hopes and dreams and visions,
rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome,
all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.

Let us build a house where prophets speak,
and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek
to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness
and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, …

Let us build a house where love is found
in water, wine and wheat:
a banquet hall on holy ground
where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus,
is revealed in time and space;
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:
All are welcome, …

Let us build a house where hands will reach
beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach,
and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger
bear the image of God’s face;
let us bring an end to fear and danger:
All are welcome, …

Let us build a house where all are named,
their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed
as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter,
prayers of faith and songs of grace,
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
All are welcome, …

Marty Haugen (b. 1950)
CCL31580

Prayers of Intercession

Led by Rosemary Kearsey

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

Act of Covenant Renewal

Having committed ourselves to serve God as a family at Cornerstone,
we remember the covenant that makes us one Christian community here in Central Milton Keynes,
and we renew it together.

[All] Believing that the unity of the Church is the will of God, we,
the members and ministers of the congregations at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone,
hereby covenant upon the foundation of the recognition that we have
one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism;
for we share a Gospel which effects reconciliation between God and humankind
and between nations and peoples.

[Women] Travelling as pilgrims on a journey that has already started
and which will lead we know not where, we are pleased to place our trust in God,
in whose hands the future lies, and to be led forward by him.

[Men] In order to proclaim the Gospel by common witness and service
in the community and the world, and in obedience to God’s call,
through the power of the Holy Spirit, we therefore joyfully covenant with one another …

[All] to work together in love, to pray and care for one another and for our neighbour,
to serve together the community based in the City Centre
and to live together in fellowship to the greater glory of God.

Amen

Hymn: Brother, sister, let me serve you

Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

We are pilgrims on a journey
and companions on the road;
we are here to help each other
walk the mile and bear the load.

I will hold the Christ-light for you
in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you,
speak the peace you long to hear.

I will weep when you are weeping;
when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow
till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven
we shall find such harmony,
born of all we’ve known together
of Christ’s love and agony.

Brother, sister, let me serve you,
let me be as Christ to you;
pray that I may have the grace to
let you be my servant too.

Richard Gillard (b. 1953)
CCL31580

Welcoming new members

Gracious God,
we thank you for these new members whom you have brought into our fellowship.
As we renew our covenant today, bind us together in love, deepen our faith,
and help us to walk, serve and grow as one body in Christ.
May they find among us a true spiritual home,
and may we be enriched by the gifts they bring, in Jesus’ name.

Amen

Sharing Peace

As people called to one hope, one faith, and one Lord, let us share Christ’s peace with one another.
In the Spirit of unity and reconciliation, and as those walking in the light of the Lord,
may the peace of Christ be with you.
And also with you.

Notices and Offertory

Revd Sarah Eden-Jones’s Induction Service

7.00 pm Monday, 28 September 2026

Our new Minister, Revd Sarah Eden-Jones, will be inducted by Bishop Dave, Bishop of Buckingham, at the Church of Christ the 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. The Service will be very well-attended, so you are advised to arrive in good time. This Service will be live-streamed.

Prayers

Eternal God, we thank you for gathering us as one people and renewing our covenant in your presence.
Send us out in the strength of your Spirit to walk in your light, to seek peace,
and to serve together in unity and love.
May your grace bind us as one body, that the world may see your hope and peace among us
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Hymn: In Christ alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this cornerstone, this solid ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
fullness of God in helpless Babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
scorned by the ones he came to save
till on that cross as Jesus died,
the wrath of God was satisfied,
for every sin on Him was laid;
here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground his body lay,
light of the world by darkness slain,
then bursting forth in glorious day,
up from the grave He rose again!
And as he stands in victory
sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
for I am His and He is mine –
bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
this is the power of Christ in me;
from life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
can ever pluck me from His hand;
till He returns or calls me home,
here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!

Stuart Townend (b. 1963)
CCL31580

Blessings and Sending out

Go now as one people in Christ: one body, one Spirit, one hope.
Walk in the light of the Lord, seek peace, cherish unity, and serve one another in love.
And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you,
now and 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.