This service is conducted by Zoom. Details of the Zoom link are:

https://bit.ly/ccc-sunday
or
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Meeting ID: 895 2751 0416
Passcode: 413925

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0203 051 2874
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0203 481 5240

You may need to enter the following codes when requested:
Meeting ID: 895 2751 0416
Passcode: 413925

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The Gift of Giving

Ministers: Revd George Mwaura
Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering music

Introit: Since by man came death

Gathering Prayer

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed. Hallelujah! Alleluia!

This is the season of Easter:
the celebration of resurrection,

the festival of hope,
the promise of new beginnings,

the dance of faith,
the song of joy,

the music of gladness,
the hymn of love.

Let us worship our life-giving God!

Amen

Hymn: The day of resurrection!

The day of resurrection!
Earth, tell it out abroad;
the Passover of gladness,
the Passover of God;
from death to life eternal,
from earth unto the sky,
our God has brought us over
with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil,
that we may see aright
the Lord in rays eternal
of resurrection-light;
and, listening to his accents,
may hear so calm and plain
his own ‘All hail’, and, hearing,
may raise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful,
and earth her song begin,
the round world keep high triumph,
and all that is therein;
let all things seen and unseen
their notes of gladness blend,
for Christ the Lord is risen,
our joy that hath no end.

St John of Damascas (d. c. 821)
tr. J.M.Neale (1818–1866)
CCL31580

Confession

Lord, we love the joy of Easter Sunday, but we may not have walked through Holy Week.
We may not have been humbled by Jesus’ hands washing our feet.
We may not have tasted the bread and wine of his last shared meal.
We may not have known the primal fear of Gethsemane,
or the bewilderment of the disciples at his betrayal.
We have not known the way of sorrow to Golgotha,
the blood, sweat and tears of a crown of thorns and the weight of a cross that will bear our dying body.
Therefore, Lord, we confess our failure to feel at one with Jesus
in his dying as well as in his resurrection life.
As we celebrate our risen Lord,
we remember the man of sorrows who died for our sins, and we bow our heads in penitence.

Amen

Kyrie

Prayer of the Week

God of resurrection, ever renewing, ever reviving,
we adore you for your life-giving presence.
Son of Man, newly risen, sorrow made joy,
we adore you for your sacrificial living and dying.
Holy Spirit, breezing among us this Easter morn,
we adore you for breathing new life into us.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

1 Corinthians 15: 1–11

Read by Robin Kyd

The Resurrection of Christ

¹ Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹ Whether, then, it is I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

NIV®

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

Psalm 117: Alleluia! Give thanks to the Lord for he is good

John 20: 1–18

Read by Pat Kyd

The empty tomb

¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’

³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped round Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

¹³ They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying?’

‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she said, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ ¹⁴ At this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus.

¹⁵ He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’

She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’).

¹⁷ Jesus said, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’ And she told them that he had said these things to her.

NIV®

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

Easter Reflection

Choral Celebration: The Alleluia Chorus

An Affirmation of Faith

Let us declare our faith.

We believe in God the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son,
who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit,
who strengthens us with power from on high.

We believe in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen

Intercessions

Hymn: Alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord

Alleluia, alleluia,
give thanks to the risen Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia,
give thanks to his name.

Jesus is Lord of all the earth:
he is the King of creation:
Alleluia, alleluia, …

Spread the good news o’er all the earth:
Jesus has died and has risen:
Alleluia, alleluia, …

We have been crucified with Christ:
now we shall live for ever:
Alleluia, alleluia, …

God has proclaimed the just reward:
Life for all men, alleluia:
Alleluia, alleluia, …

Come, let us praise the living God:
joyfully sing to our Saviour:
Alleluia, alleluia,
give thanks to the risen Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia,
give thanks to his name.

Donald Fishel (b. 1950)
CCL31580

The Peace

The Risen Christ said to his disciples: peace be with you.

And I too say: May the Peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
And also with you.

Let us offer those with us a sign of peace,
and wave our palms and crosses to those on the screens.

Holy Communion

The Great Thanksgiving

Invitation

On this day, we celebrate the risen Christ
On this day, we celebrate resurrection in our lives.

On this day, we embrace the grace which reaches from the tomb.
On this day, we embrace faith by committing to love in action.

On this day we shout, Hallelujah!
On this day we shout, Christ is risen! Alleluia!

Prayer of Communion

It is through our neighbours and creation that we see the rising of Christ.
Creator of Our Earth, we celebrate the shifting of seasons.
As the earth sheds its snow, it begins to drink in the warm rains and creation comes alive once again.
And so, in this spirit of brightness and life, we celebrate.
We celebrate the risen Christ in our midst.
We celebrate the table in which we can join with friends and strangers, loved ones and enemies.
Through this meal which has stood the test of time, we covenant to love you, God.
We covenant to love as Jesus loved us – loving our neighbours as ourselves.
Through a simple meal of grain and grape, we, your children, unite.
With angels and archangels and with all your people on earth and in heaven,
we continue to celebrate and proclaim your glorious name saying together:

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 in the highest.

It was Jesus who introduced this meal to his followers.
On the night of his betrayal, he was at supper with friends when took a simple portion of bread.
He blessed it and broke it and shared it with the disciples. He urged them: Remember me.

Afterwards, Jesus took the cup.
During his blessing, Jesus reminded them how he would go to the ends of the earth in his love for them.
Today, we celebrate this earth-shaking love of Jesus –
a love that sent him to the cross and a love that lives eternally with us,
encouraging us to live a resurrected life.

Merciful Lord send down your Holy Spirit
that these gifts of bread and wine may be for us the body and blood of Christ.
Unite us with him for ever and bring us with the whole creation to your eternal kingdom.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Now we pray together the prayer Jesus taught his disciples:

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

Eating the Meal

The Bread of Life and the Cup of the Covenant: Gifts to unite the Body of Christ; we eat with gratitude!

Amen

Post-Communion Prayer

Lord you have been our host at the table of your Son.
May his life, his death and his resurrection strengthen us now in our lives.
Send us into the world resurrected, refreshed and ready to share Christ’s unconditional love.

Amen

Notices

Music to End the Day

This evening at 6.00 pm there will be Music to End the Day on the Living Stones WhatsApp group and the Cornerstone website.

Daily prayers

During this coming week we are taking a break from the morning and evening prayers on the Living Stones WhatsApp group and the Cornerstone website. You are encouraged to continue saying your own morning and evening prayers. Daily prayers on the Living Stones WhatsApp group and the Cornerstone website will resume on Monday, 12 April 2021.

Offering

Thank you to everyone who has continued giving through our regular schemes during these past months.

Your generosity has been amazing and much appreciated. We couldn’t have carried on without you.

We have various ways in which you can continue to give your offering in support of the Church.

For details, please contact the Stewardship Secretary, Janet Trimnell, at steward.cccmk@gmail.com

Full details are also available on our website at: www.cornerstonemk.co.uk/giving.

Hymn: All heaven declares

All heaven declares
the glory of the risen Lord;
who can compare
with the beauty of the Lord?
For ever he will be
the Lamb upon the throne;
I gladly bow the knee,
and worship him alone.

I will proclaim
the glory of the risen Lord,
who once was slain
to reconcile man to God.
For ever you will be
the Lamb upon the throne;
I gladly bow the knee,
and worship you alone.

Noel and Tricia Richards (1987)
CCL31580

Final Prayer

From this Easter festival, we go forth to live resurrection:

In the name of the God who makes us,
in the name of the Christ who makes us free,
in the name of the Spirit who makes us one.

Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed, Alleluia!

Blessings

Friends, we were drawn to this service today to encounter again the mysterious story of life everlasting.
May the Lord help us to stay close to this mystery, to embrace our emotions,
to hear him when he calls us by name, and to experience new wonders.

And may the blessings of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, rest and remain upon you all today and always

Amen

The Dismissal

Abide in Christ’s Peace, loving and serving God!
In the name of Christ, we will.

Amen