Celebrant: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga
Preacher: Krou Assoua, Licensed Lay Minister

Gathering Music

Welcome

God, who makes all things new, we gather today to bring you praise.
We offer ourselves afresh in your service.
We are sorry for all the ways we have fallen short of your ideal over the last week.
Make us new again this morning.

[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: A new commandment I give unto you

A new commandment I give unto you,
that you love one another as I have loved you,
that you love one another as I have loved you.

By this shall all men know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another.
By this shall all men know that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for another.

A new commandment I give unto you, …

You are my friends if you do what I command you.
Without my help you can do nothing.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
Without my help you can do nothing.

A new commandment I give unto you, …

I am the true vine, my Father is the gardener.
Abide in me: I will be with you.
I am the true vine, my Father is the gardener.
Abide in me: I will be with you.

A new commandment I give unto you, …

True love is patient, not arrogant nor boastful;
love bears all things, love is eternal.
True love is patient, not arrogant nor boastful;
love bears all things, love is eternal.

A new commandment I give unto you, …

Anonymous, based on John 13: 34–35)
CCL31580

Confession

Lord, we ask forgiveness for the times when we don’t accept your Word
because it seems strange to us.
Lord, forgive us for failing to see the greater purpose.

For the times when we hang on to the old,
doing things as we always did.
Lord, forgive us for failing to see the greater purpose.

For when we think we are the only ones worthy of your love.
Lord, forgive us for failing to see the greater purpose.

For when we make judgements on things we have no right to judge.
Lord, forgive us for failing to see the greater purpose.

Open our eyes to new life in you.

Amen

[Silence]

Lord God, sometimes we are afraid to repent, to give ourselves to you.
Today we come to you unafraid, knowing your forgiveness in our hearts
and grateful beyond measure for the new life you give us.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

O Lord, from whom all good things do come:
Grant to us thy humble servants,
that by thy holy inspiration we may think those things that be good,
and by thy merciful guiding may perform the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Psalm 148

Read by Martin Petchey

¹ Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights above.
² Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
³ Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
⁴ Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the skies.

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for at his command they were created,
⁶ and he established them for ever and ever –
he issued a decree that will never pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
⁸ lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,
⁹ you mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
¹¹ kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
¹² young men and women,
old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendour is above the earth and the heavens.
¹⁴ And he has raised up for his people a horn,
the praise of all his faithful servants,
of Israel, the people close to his heart.

Praise the Lord.

NIV®

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

Hymn: Spirit of the living God

Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.
Break me, melt me, mould be, fill me.
Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. [×3]

Daniel Iverson (1890–1977)
CCL31580

John 13: 31–35

Read by Richard May-Miller

³¹ When he was gone, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. ³² If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

³³ ‘My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: where I am going, you cannot come.

³⁴ ‘A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Krou Assoua LLM

[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 Adrian Boynton

Sharing the Peace

The risen Christ came and stood among his disciples and said,
‘Peace be with you.’
Then they were glad when they saw the Lord.

The peace of God be always with you
and also with you!

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Hymn: In Christ there is no east or west

In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north,
but one great fellowship of love
throughout the whole wide earth.

In him shall true hearts everywhere
their high communion find.
His service is the golden cord
close-binding all mankind.

Join hands, then, brothers of the faith,
whate’er your race may be.
Who serves my Father as a son
is surely kin to me.

In Christ now meet both east and west,
in him meet south and north.
All Christly souls are one in him
throughout the whole wide earth.

John Ovenham (1852–1941)
CCL31580

Holy Communion

The Thanksgiving

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 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 for ever 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.

Amen

Invitation

Come to this table, not because you must, but because you may,
not because you are strong, but because you are weak.
Come, not because any goodness of your own gives you a right to come,
but because you need mercy and help.
Come, because you love the Lord a little and would like to love him more.
Come, because he loved you and gave himself for you.
Come and meet the risen Christ, for we are his Body.

Post Communion Prayer

Eternal Father, we thank you for nourishing us with these heavenly gifts:
may our communion strengthen us in faith, build us up in hope, and make us grow in love;
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Notices

Christian Aid Week

Thank you to everyone who made cakes and to everyone who bought them last Sunday. We raised a fantastic £130.30 for Christian Aid.

If you weren’t able to return it last week, remember to bring your Christian Aid envelope with your donation this Sunday. Or donate online any time, at: https://bit.ly/Cornerstone-CAW25.

Social Justice Group

Heartwarming Day, 25 May 2025

For the 6.00 pm Service next Sunday (25 May 2025) we shall be joining in the Service at the Heartwarming Day pillar at the MK Rose in Campbell Park. This service is being organised by the Milton Keynes Methodist Circuit, of which we are a member church. The preacher is Lord Griffiths of Burry Port, Revd Dr Leslie Griffiths. Music by the Salvation Army Band. We are invited to arrive from 5.00 pm and bring a picnic, and to bring a chair if we need one. If the weather is bad the event will move to the Church of Christ the Cornerstone.

Waste Not, Want Not

In collaboration with the Eco Church at Cornerstone, Acornfields Community Interactions, a local well-being organisation, is hosting sustainable living workshops around our ‘Waste Not, Want Not’ Project series.

We plan to offer a workshop on Sunday, 1 June 2025, right after the Sunday Morning Service, on making hand scrubs using coffee grounds and other kitchen cupboard ingredients. This workshop will be showcasing how to eliminate waste by creating valuable products. If you can, please donate clean empty ham, chutney and, pickle jars for use in our sustainable living workshops. The workshop on Sunday, 1 June 2025will be rightly timed to align with the World Environmental Day on Thursday, 5 June 2025.

Chinwe Osaghae

Wednesday Bible Study: Ephesians

Beginning Wednesday, 25 June 2025

For our next session of Wednesday Bible studies, under the guidance of Revd George, we shall be studying Paul’s letter to the Christians in the Church at Ephesus. In this letter there is much that is of relevance to our Church of Christ the Cornerstone as we work our way to fulfilling the recommendations of Bishop Steven’s Episcopal Visitation.

Offering

Final Prayer

Life-giving God, Alpha and Omega, beginning and end,
journey with us as we go from this place into our communities.
As we look forward to the time when you will make all things new,
enable us, by your Spirit, to bring your kingdom here on earth.

Amen

Hymn: For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light:
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind’s delight,
for the mystic harmony
linking sense to sound and sight.
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
pleasures pure and undefiled:
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For each perfect gift of divine
to our race so freely given,
joys bestowed by love’s design,
flowers of earth and fruits of heaven:
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

F.S. Pierpoint (1835–1917)
CCL31580

Blessing

May the light of Christ’s resurrection shine brightly upon your lives,
and may you be filled with the promise of new beginnings.
And the blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
rest upon you and dwell within you this day and evermore.

Amen

Dismissal

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

Amen