Preacher and Celebrant:
Rt Revd Bishop Jonathan Meyrick
Led by: Revd George Mwaura

Gathering

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today, on All Saints Sunday, we gather as one body, remembering those who have gone before us,
celebrating the saints among us, and trusting that, through God’s grace, we too are being made holy.

Amen

Call to worship

We give thanks for the faith of all God’s people, for those whose love endures through suffering,
whose faith grows amid trials, whose perseverance becomes a witness to us all.
Strengthen us, O Lord, that our lives may be worthy of your calling.

May the name of our Lord Jesus be glorified in us, and we in him, according to the grace of our God.

Amen, Amen, let it be so!

Greetings and welcome

Hymn: For all the saints

For all the saints who from their labours rest,
who ghee by faith before the world confest,
thy name, O Jesus, be for ever blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;
thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;
thou in the darkness drear their one true light.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

O may thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
and win, with them, the victor’s crown of gold.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

O blest communion! Fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;
soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest:
sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

But lo! There breaks a yet more glorious day;
the saints triumphant rise in bright array:
the king of glory passes on his way.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Alleluia! Alleluia!

William Walsham Howe (1823–1897)
CCL31580

Thanksgiving and confession

Holy and gracious God, we give you thanks for all your saints,
those whose love and faith have shaped us, whose witness endures through trial and suffering,
whose perseverance points us to your steadfast grace.
For the ways your Spirit makes faith grow in unlikely places and in unlikely people, we praise you.
For the great company of witnesses who surround us, remind us that we are never alone.

Yet as we remember your faithfulness, we confess our need for your mercy.
Like Zacchaeus, we have sometimes kept our distance, curious about Jesus,
but reluctant to open our hearts, or to make right what is wrong.
We confess the times we have failed to love our neighbours,
and the moments we have doubted your power to transform us and our world.

By your grace, count us worthy of your calling.
Make the name of Jesus glorious in us, and us in him.
Open our hearts and our homes to your presence, that we, too, may be changed.
Give us faith to persevere when love is hard,
and courage to seek reconciliation when we have caused harm.
Thank you for seeking out the lost, for welcoming us at your table,
and for making us saints, not by our merit, but by your mercy.
Strengthen us to follow you, that with all your saints, our lives may shine with your love.
In Christ’s name we pray.

Amen

[Silence]

Absolution

May the God who calls us worthy, who seeks out the lost and welcomes all,
forgive you your sins, renew your spirit, and strengthen you to walk in the way of Christ.
In Jesus Christ, you are forgiven and made new.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

God of all the saints, you call us to grow in faith, abound in love,
and seek your presence with open hearts.
As you welcomed Zacchaeus and transformed his life, so welcome us and renew us by your grace.
Grant us courage to persevere in hope, wisdom to follow
in the footsteps of those who have gone before, and compassion to serve our neighbours with joy. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Amen

2 Thessalonians 1: 1–4 & 11–12

Read by Martin Petchey

¹ Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and prayer

³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

…

¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. ¹² We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

NIV®

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

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.

1. J. Stone (1839–1900)
   CCL31580

Luke 19: 1–10

Read by Adrian Boynton

Zacchaeus the tax collector

¹ Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. ³ He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. ⁴ So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

⁵ When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ ⁶ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

⁷ All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.’

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’

⁹ Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’

NIV®

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

Sermon

By Rt Revd Bishop Jonathan Meyrick

Musical meditation

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

Prayers and Intercessions

Led by Joy Enenche

Sharing Peace

As Christ reached out to Zacchaeus and welcomed him with forgiveness and friendship,
so we are called to reach out to one another in love.
Together with all the saints, past, present, and yet to come, let us share the peace that Christ gives.

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

Let us share signs of Christ’s peace with one another and wave to those watching on the livestream.

Hymn: Ye watchers and ye holy ones

Ye watchers and ye holy ones,
bright Seraphs, Cerubim and Thrones,
raise the glad strain, Alleluia.
Cry out, Dominions, Princedoms, Powers,
Virtues, Archangels, Angels’ Choirs,
Alleluia.

O higher than the Cherubim,
more glorious than the Seraphim,
lead their praises, Alleluia.
Thou Bearer of the eternal Word,
most gracious, magnify the Lord,
Alleluia.

Respond, ye souls in endless rest,
ye Patriarchs and Prophets blest,
Alleluia, alleluia.
Ye holy Twelve, ye Martyrs strong,
all Saints triumphant, raise the song,
Alleluia.

O friends, in gladness let us sing,
supernal anthems echoing,
Alleluia, alleluia.
To God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Spirit, Three in One,
Alleluia.

Athelstan Riley (1858–1945)
CCL31580

The Great Thanksgiving

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 our thanks and praise.

It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth. With all the saints, with those who have gone before, those who walk with us now, and those yet to come, we praise your name and join their unending hymn saying:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

On the night in which he gave himself up for us, Jesus took bread,
gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take, eat; this is my body, given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
When the supper was over, he took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to his disciples, and said:
Drink from this, all of you;
this is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

Gracious God, pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here, and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them be for us the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that we, joined with all your saints, may become one with Christ, one with each other,
and one in ministry to all the world,
until Christ comes in final victory and we feast at his heavenly banquet.
Through your Son Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in your holy Church,
all honour and glory is yours, Almighty God, now and for ever.

Amen

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

Sharing the Meal

These are the gifts of God for the people of God. Come, for all is ready.

Post Communion Prayer

Holy God, we thank you for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us.
Grant that we, strengthened by this sacrament, may persevere in faith, abound in love,
and bear witness to the hope we have received,
that your name may be glorified in us, and we in you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Notices and Offertory

Visit of Bishop Jonathan Meyrick this Sunday (2 November 2025)

The Bishop of Oxford has asked Bishop Jonathan to be a Pastoral Accompanier to Cornerstone for the Visitation process. He is with us today as preacher and celebrant at the Sunday Morning Service led by Revd George Mwaura.

Sir John Rutter 80th Birthday Concert

7.00 pm this Sunday (2 November 2025)

The Cornerstone Chamber Choir & Orchestra, together with Cornerstone Young Voices, directed by Adrian Boynton, present Suite Antique for Flute and Strings, Mass of the Children, Ecce Miraculum and Magnificat. Normal ticket prices are £22.50 and £15.50, but we are pleased to offer discount prices of £19.50 and £13.50 to members of our congregations.  Please contact Adrian on 07961 348697 or Boyntonmusic@gmail.com to reserve tickets.

Revd George Mwaura: Change of weekly day off

With effect from 1 November 2025 Revd George will take his day off on Friday rather than Monday.

Congregational Meeting

Sunday, 16 November 2025 in the Worship Area straight after Morning Service

Our next Congregational Meeting has been re-scheduled to Sunday, 16 November 2025, when we shall have an opportunity to hear the latest information about the Episcopal Visitation.

‘The Phoenix of Gaza’

Film screened at 7.30 pm on Friday, 14 November 2025  in the Guildhall

The film will be followed by questions and answers with the director Yousef Alhelou. (https://thephoenixofgaza.com/). Tickets £10 from Eventbrite (booking fee applies and payment is in Euros) https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-screening-the-phoenix-of-gaza-tickets-1813878632819 or contact David Chapman (dachapman9@gmail.com).

Social Justice Group

Offertory Prayer

Gracious God, all abundance flows from your endless love.
We humbly present these offerings, both those given today and those already shared,
asking for your blessing as we build your kingdom through this church and beyond.
May these gifts serve your purpose and bring light to all corners of your world.

Amen

Hymn: Oh, when the saints

Oh, when the saints go marching in, [×2] I want to be in that number,
when the saints go marching in.

Oh, when the drums begin to bang …

Oh, when the stars fall from the sky …

Oh, when the moon turns into blood …

Oh, when the sun turns into fire …

Oh, when the fires begin to blaze …

Oh, when the Lord calls out the names …

Traditional
CCL31580

Sending forth and Blessing

Go forth as saints and disciples, to love, to serve, to welcome, and to seek the lost.
And may the Blessings of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit rest and remain upon us and all those whom we love today and always.

Amen

Dismissal

Church, go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ, we will.