Preacher: Richard Stephens,
UK Ambassador Chairman of Karos International Prison Ministry
Celebrant: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering Music

Welcome

You, Lord God, are with us as we come to worship you.
You have promised us so much and your call to us has brought us here.
Accept our worship, our words and thoughts, our confessions, and our promises;
for you are ours and we are yours, this and every day.

Amen

[Silence]

Welcome to the house of God.
We have come from all the corners of the earth.

Welcome to the hospitality of God.
We come as we are; we bring our life, our stories, our journey.

Welcome, brothers and sisters.
We are the rainbow people of God.

Welcome chosen people
May God our companion bind us in his love.

Amen

Hymn: Be still, my soul

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side;
bear patiently the cross of grief and pain;
leave to your God to order and provide;
in every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: your best, your heavenly friend,
through thorny ways, leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
to guide the future as he has the past.
Your hope, your confidence let nothing shake,
all now mysterious, shall be clear at last.
Be still, my soul: the tempests still obey
his voice, who ruled them once on Galilee.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
when we shall be for ever with the Lord,
when disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
sorrow forgotten, love’s pure joy restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past,
all safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Katharina von Schlegel (1697–1768)
tr. Jane L. Borthwick (1813–1897)
CCL31580

Confession

Eternal, Holy God, our God who reigns supreme,
forgive us that, although your promises are steadfast and sure,
we have so often broken our covenant promises to you;
we have strayed and failed you and our neighbours;
we have thought and said things we ought not to have done;
we have sat by when we should have been active and involved.
Forgive us, and let us renew our covenant promise to you,
to live as your people to the best of our abilities.

Kyrie

You Lord have spoken; your voice has been made known.
You no longer remember our wrongs or hold them against us.
You know us inside out, you have heard our confession, and our sins you have forgiven.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

As we gather, make us mindful of the wonderful variety of people and experiences
in our church community, in our local community, in our nation and in the wider world –
so much more accessible to us now than it was a hundred years ago.
May we be truly thankful for all these riches.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Psalm 119: 9–16

Read by Don Head

⁹ How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
¹⁰ I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
¹² Praise be to you, Lord;
teach me your decrees.
¹³ With my lips I recount
all the laws that come from your mouth.
¹⁴ I rejoice in following your statutes
as one rejoices in great riches.
¹⁵ I meditate on your precepts
and consider your ways.
¹⁶ I delight in your decrees;
I will not neglect your word.

NIV®

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

Luke 4: 16–21

Read by Stuart Kean

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Richard Stephens,
UK Ambassador Chairman of Karos International Prison Ministry

[Silence]

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 Cheryl Montgomery

The Peace

Peace to you from God, who is our Father.
Peace from Jesus Christ, who is our peace.
Peace from the Holy Spirit, who gives us life.

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

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Hymn: As the deer pants for the water

As the deer pants for the water,
so my soul longs after you.
You alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship you.

You alone are my strength, my shield,
to you alone may my spirit yield.
You alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship you.

I want you more than gold or silver,
only you can satisfy.
You alone are the real joy-giver
and the apple of my eye.

You alone …

You’re my Friend and you’re my Brother,
even though you are a king.
I love you more than any other,
so much more than anything.

You alone …

Martin Nystrom (b. 1966)
CCL31580

The Thanksgiving

Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.
Through your goodness we have this bread to set before you,
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 set before you,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become for us the cup of salvation.

Blessed be God for ever.

The Lord is here.
His Spirit is with us.

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.

Almighty God, good Father to us all, your face is turned towards your world.
In love you gave us Jesus your Son to rescue us from sin and death.
Your Word goes out to call us home to the city where angels sing your praise.

We join with them in heaven’s song:

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.

We bless the name of Jesus, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh,
whose brokenness and suffering makes love real,
who on the night in which he was betrayed took bread,
gave thanks, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying,

Take, eat. This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

After supper he took the cup saying,

Drink from this, all of you, this is my blood given for you.
Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me.

This is the mystery of our faith.

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

Therefore, as we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we acknowledge brokenness as a path to truth.
We long for the bread of tomorrow: eternally broken and so able to nourish.
We long for the new wine of the kingdom: continuously poured out that thirst may be quenched.

Send your Spirit on us now,
that by these gifts we may feed on Christ with opened eyes and hearts on fire.
May we and all who share this food offer ourselves to live for you
and be welcomed at your feast in heaven, where all creation worships you,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

Blessing and honour and glory and power
be yours forever and 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

The Communion

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.

We are here because Jesus has called us –
strangers and friends, locals and visitors, believers, and doubters, the certain and the curious.
It is always a mixed company that Jesus gathers and invites to his table,
where, in bread and wine, he meets us and through him we, who are different, are joined to each other.
So come, not because you understand, but because you are understood.
Come, not because of how you feel, but because God has food for you.
Come, not because you deserve a place, but because Jesus invites you, just as you are.

Amen

Post Communion Prayer

Faithful, generous, abiding God, we give you thanks for the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation.
May the taste of this meal linger so that we will be strengthened in our Lenten journey.
Give us courage to hear what may seem harsh, so that we can find a deeper relationship with you.

Amen

Notices

United Nations International Day to Combat Islamophobia

Friday, 15 March 2024

Islamophobia is a fear, prejudice and hatred of Muslims that leads to provocation, hostility and intolerance by means of threatening, harassment, abuse, incitement and intimidation of Muslims and non-Muslims, both in the online and offline world. Motivated by institutional, ideological, political and religious hostility that transcends into structural and cultural racism, it targets the symbols and markers of being a Muslim.

Social Justice Group

United Nations International Day
for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Thursday, 21 March 2024

The 2024 theme of the International Day focuses on the urgency of combatting racism and racial discrimination seventy-five years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). For more information go to https://www.un.org/en/observances/end-racism-day.

Social Justice Group

Support Earth Hour

8.30–9.30 pm Saturday, 23 March 2024

Earth Hour is an annual event organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), when people and organisations all over the world switch off their lights at home for one hour ‘to help raise awareness of the most urgent issues facing our planet.’ As part of our activities as an Eco Church we should like to invite Cornerstone members, if they can, to participate for one hour 8.30–9.30 pm on Saturday, 23 March 2024. This would involve switching off some lights and devices and taking time to pray. In addition, WWF has provided a list of things that people could do during the hour: https://www.earthhour.org/.

Eco Church Group

Connect with our Creator and God’s creation during Lent

Lent gives us the opportunity to reflect on the practice of fasting and commit to giving up something that brings a real benefit to nature and helps address climate change. A Rocha has produced a set of ideas and resources that we can use as a church, as families or as individuals. Take time to pray, reflect and consider these options – pick one or two or however many you’d like, for example, try to ‘Go plastic free’. Even if you can’t become totally plastic-free, make it your goal to at least reduce your use of plastic. Check the suggestions with tips here. https://arocha.org.uk/connect-with-our-creator-and-gods-creation-during-lent/.

You might also like to take a look at the Christian Aid Count your Blessings Lent resource, which has a social justice and ecological focus: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-01/count-your-blessings-2024-v1.1.pdf.

Eco Church Core Group

Offering

Final Prayer

Thank you, God, for each and every one of your amazing people, every one of them unique.
We go out joyful, knowing that your love is always there for us
and reaches to every place and part of the whole world,
and all the millions and billions of people, in every generation.
May that inspire and encourage us to be loving to all whom we meet in our day-to-day living.

                                                                                                                                                                Amen

Hymn: Lord Jesus, think on me

Lord Jesus, think on me,
and purge away my sin;
from earthborn passions set me free,
and make me pure within.

Lord Jesus, think on me,
with care and woe oppressed;
let me thy loving servant be,
and taste thy promised rest.

Lord Jesus, think on me
amid the battle’s strife;
in all my pain and misery
be thou my health and life.

Lord Jesus, think on me,
nor let me go astray;
through darkness and perplexity
point thou the heavenly way.

Lord Jesus, think on me,
when flows the tempest high:
when on doth rush the enemy,
O Saviour, be thou nigh.

Lord Jesus, think on me,
that, when the flood is past,
I may the eternal brightness see,
and share thy joy at last.

Bishop Sinesius (375–430
tr. A.W. Chatfield (1808–1896))
CCL31580

Blessing

May the God of Grace and Glory go with you as you follow this Lenten path.
Wherever it takes you, and to whomever it takes you,
may you go with the blessing of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,
both now and for ever.

Amen

Dismissal

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ,

Amen