This Service will be by Zoom at 10.00 am. Click this link to join the Service:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84537860106?pwd=bTkzM2lVbjkxMWZ3NGg1dUhVaWswZz09
Meeting ID: 845 3786 0106
Passcode: 439628

Preacher: Revd George Mwaura

Celebrant: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering music

Introit: Ubi Caritas

Welcome

Prayer of the Week

God of all,
we give you thanks for the gift of friendship: for the giving and the receiving;
for the opportunities and the challenges; for the laughter and the tears;
for the conversations and the silence; for the moments and the memories.
Draw us deeper into your love, and bless us with the confidence
to proclaim Jesus as our dearest friend, teacher and Saviour.
We ask this in his name.

Amen

Hymn: Love divine, all loves excelling

Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven, to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure unbounded love thou art;
visit us with they salvation,
enter every trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy grace receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.
There we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above;
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

Finish then thy new creation:
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
CCL31580

Gathering Prayer

God of Promise and God of Hope,
who through your great mercy
have granted us new birth
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
we praise your wonderful name!
God of Glory and God of Might
who through your great power
have granted us new strength
to endure all things through faith in Christ our risen King,
we praise your wonderful name!

Amen

Confession

God of healing,
God of wholeness,
we bring our brokenness,
our sinfulness,
our fears
and despair,
and lay them at your feet.

God of healing,
God of wholeness,
we hold out hearts and hands,
minds and souls
to feel your touch,
and know the peace
that only you can bring.

Kyrie

God of healing,
God of wholeness,
this precious moment
in your presence and power
grant us faith and confidence
that here broken lives
are made whole.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Psalm 98

Read by Grace Hunting

¹ Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvellous things;
his right hand and his holy arm<
have worked salvation for him.
² The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
³ He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.

⁴ Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn –
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

⁷ Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
⁸ Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
⁹ let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.

NIV®

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

John 15: 9–17

Read by Michael Hunting

⁹ ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no-one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: love each other.

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Revd George Mwaura

Choral Response: Greater Love hath no man

An Affirmation of Faith

We believe in the Creator:
the maker of all things.

We believe in the Son:
the redeemer of our broken world.

We believe in the Spirit:
The sacred wind that binds all things together in the family of God.

Creator Father, beloved Son and living Spirit.

Amen

Intercessions

Led by Rosemary Kearsey

In response to the words, ‘Loving God’,
I invite you to respond, bring your peace.

Loving God,
bring your peace.

We each come to you this morning with a mixture of emotions and thoughts about our own situation,
events of the past week which have touched us personally and events we have heard about on the news.
Whether we feel at ease, or our feelings lead to distress or confusion,
we ask you to help us to use our own feelings to identify with others we know and with people we have never met.

So let us remember people everywhere who are sad or lonely:

Those who grieve for someone who has died;
Those who mourn a broken relationship or loss of contact with family or friends;
Those who have no chance to speak to anyone from one day to the next;
Those who feel lonely in a crowd.

To everyone who feels sad or lonely,
Loving God,
bring your peace.

Let us remember people everywhere who are anxious:

Those who are worried because financial insecurity means
that they may not have enough money for their retirement;
Those who fear for the security of their jobs;
Those who do not know where the next meal will come from to feed their children.

To everyone who is anxious,
Loving God,
bring your peace.

Let us remember people everywhere who live in fear:

Those who are afraid for their physical safety because they sleep on the streets or live in a war zone,
Those who have experienced threatening behaviour as they go about their normal business,
Those who live with domestic violence.

To everyone who is afraid,
Loving God,
bring your peace.

Let us remember people everywhere who are in despair:

Those who suffer from depression and cannot see the light even when they are surrounded by people who care about them,
Those who struggle to find work, applying for job after job without success,
Those who no longer have any hope for the future.

To everyone who is in despair,
Loving God,
bring your peace.

Let us remember people everywhere have no sense of self-worth:

Those who feel that they have a purpose in their life,
Those who cannot see that others care for them or that they have a contribution to make to society;
Those who do not know that they are precious to you.

To everyone who feels worthless,
Loving God,
bring your peace.

Let us remember people everywhere who are angry:

Those who see injustice and do not know how to help put it right;
Those who have been hurt but whose feelings have not been heard and whose anger is turning to bitterness and hatred;
Those who feel angry because of the way others are treated, but do not know how to express their anger constructively.

To everyone who feels angry or carries a sense of injustice,
Loving God,
bring your peace.

Let us remember people everywhere who are happy and contented with their lives:

Those who have special things to celebrate, like the birth of a baby or a special anniversary;
Seeing friends and family from whom they have been separated for months;
Those who have had good news from those they love;
Those who rejoice in the knowledge that they are loved by you.

May they not feel guilty because they feel happy when others seem not to share their joy.

To everyone who feels joy and gladness,
Loving God,
bring your peace.

And now, in a moment of quiet, we bring to you all that we are, all our thoughts and feelings,
and we bring to you all those we have thought about in our prayers.

Calm troubled minds and hearts.
Share our joys, our sorrows and our anxieties.
Give us peace, hope and confidence to face the coming week.

We ask all these prayers in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Amen

The Peace

Jesus says,

‘Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled,
neither let them be afraid.’

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.

Notices

Offering Envelopes 2021

If you have requested offering envelopes for 2021 these are now ready for collection.
Please contact Janet Trimnell, mailto:steward.cccmk@gmail.com, to arrange collection.
Thank you.

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.

Holy Communion

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made.
It will become for us the bread of life.

Blessed be God for ever.

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink.

Blessed be God for ever.

The Lord be with you
and also with you.

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

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

Father, you made the world and love your creation.
You gave your Son Jesus Christ to be our Saviour.
His dying and rising have set us free from sin and death.
By your Holy Spirit you make us your friends.
And so we gladly thank you,
with saints and angels praising you and saying:

Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.

We praise and bless you, loving Father,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord;
and as we obey his command,
send your Holy Spirit on us and on these gifts
that broken bread and wine out-poured,
may be for us the body and blood of your Dear Son.

On the night before he died he had supper with his friends
and taking bread, he praised you.
He broke the bread, shared it with them and said,
‘Take – eat –this is my body, which is given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.’

When supper was ended he took a cup of wine.
Again he gave you thanks, shared it and said,
‘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.’

So, Father, as we remember all that Jesus did,
we plead with confidence his sacrifice made once for all upon the cross.
We proclaim his death and resurrection until he comes in glory.

Great is the mystery of faith:

Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.

Lord of all life, help us to work together for that day
when your kingdom comes and justice and mercy will be seen in all the earth.
Look with favour on your people; gather us in your loving arms
and bring us with all the saints to feast at your table in heaven,
through Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honour and glory are yours,
O loving Father, for ever and ever.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Saviour taught us, so we pray:

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

Breaking of the Bread

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.

Take this bread:

Share this wine.

In these Christ comes to us with love from God.
The gifts of God for the people of God.

Amen

Post-Communion Prayer

Lord God our Father,
through our Saviour Jesus Christ
you have assured your children of eternal life
and in baptism have made us one with him:
deliver us from the death of sin
and raise us to new life in your love,
in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

Final Prayer

Almighty Father,
who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples
with the sight of the risen Lord:
Give us such knowledge of his presence with us,
that we may be strengthened
and sustained by his risen life
and serve you continually in righteousness and truth;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Hymn: I, the Lord of sea and sky

I, the Lord of sea and sky,
I have heard my people cry.
All who dwell in dark and sin
my hand will save.
I who made the stars of night,
I will make their darkness bright.
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of snow and rain,
I have borne my people’s pain.
I have wept for love of them,
they turn away.
I will break their hearts of stone,
give them hearts for love alone.
I will speak my word to them?
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

I, the Lord of wind and flame,
I will tend the poor and lame.
I will set a feast for them,
my hand will save.
Finest bread I will provide,
till their hearts be satisfied,
I will give my life to them.
Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night.
I will go, Lord, if you lead me.
I will hold your people in my heart.

Dan Schutte (b. 1947)
CCL31580

The Blessing

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you,
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face towards you
and give you peace;
and the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit
Be upon you today and always.

Amen

The Dismissal

Go in to love and serve the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Postlude

First movement (opening) of Sonata No 3 in A major, Opus 65, composed by Felix Mendelssohn.