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

Gathering Music

Welcome

Lord, as we gather here today, open our eyes, so we can truly see you.
Open our ears, so we can truly hear you.
Calm our busy hands, so we don’t miss a thing.

[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: All people that on earth do dwell

All people that on earth do dwell,
sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
him serve with fear, his praise forth tell,
come ye before him and rejoice.

The Lord, ye know, is God indeed;
without our aid he did us make;
we are his folk, he doth us feed,
and for his sheep he doth us take.

O enter then his gates with praise,
approach with joy his courts unto;
praise, laud and bless his name always,
for it is seemly so to do.

For why? The Lord our God is good
his mercy is for ever sure;
his truth at all times firmly stood,
and shall from age to age endure.

To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
the God whom heaven and earth adore,
from men and from the angel-host
be praise and glory evermore.

William Kethe (d. 1594)
CCL31580

[Silence]

Confession

Forgive us, compassionate God, when we fail to see you:
in the faces of strangers; in the tears of the desperate; in the anxiety of the afraid;
in the silence of the broken; in the fragility of creation; in one another or in ourselves.
Forgive us and help us to encounter you afresh.

[Silence]

God of wonder, though we don’t always see you, you always see us.
Although our eyes aren’t always open to the ways of your kingdom, it is always open to us.
Although we don’t always recognise you in our daily encounters, you are always there.
Thank you for meeting us where we are, for your grace and forgiveness,
and for your life-giving Spirit, which fills us day by day.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Living God, give us eyes to see you in creation, in strangers, in one another;
give us ears to hear you in words, in music, in silence;
give us voices to proclaim you in our homes, churches and communities;
and give us lives to celebrate, serve and revere you in all places, at all times and among all people.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Psalm 15

Read by Chibby Chima-Okoro

¹ Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?

² The one whose way of life is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbour,
and casts no slur on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person
but honours those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent/span>

Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.

NIV®

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

Luke 10: 38–42

Read by Martin Petchey

At the home of Martha and Mary

³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’

⁴¹ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed – or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’

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 Rosemary Kearsey

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: Guide me, O thou great Redeemer

Guide me, O thou great Redeemer,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
hold me with thy powerful hand;
bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more. (×2)

Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream doth flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through;
strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield. (×2)

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside,
death of death, and hell’s destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side;
songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee. (×2)

Welsh, Willian Williams (1717–1791) tr. Peter and Willian Williams
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

Wednesday Bible Study: The Letter to the Ephesians 5 & 6

7.00 pm Wednesday, 23 July 2025 by Zoom

In this week’s study (Wednesday, 23 July 2025) we focus on the last two chapters: 5 & 6. We shall resume Wednesday Bible Study in September.

New Bibles

I have recently had requests for Bibles suitable for dyslexic and neurodivergent people. I have been able to source these for them. More people are being diagnosed with these conditions and so I now have a small stock of suitable Bibles in the Cornerstone Shop to make it easier to read and understand God’s word.

Bob Collard

Maureen Onwunali: Poetry Jam – Utopia in Verse

7.00 pm Thursday, 24 July 2025 at Terceradix, Campbell Park Bulbfield, MK9 4AT

Utopia In Verse is an evening curated by our brilliant poet-in-residence, Maureen Onwunali, that speaks to radical hope, collective liberation and the audacity to imagine a world otherwise. With live music and a guest artist selected from Maureen’s work with local young poets, this event brings together sound, story and the power of community.

This isn’t just a performance – it’s an invitation to dream as one.

As part of this event, Maureen will be performing her new work, a special commission by centre:mk in collaboration with IF: Milton Keynes International Festival.

Tickets available from: IF: Milton Keynes International Festival £15.00 full price.

Milton Keynes International Festival

18–27 July 2025

The Church of Christ the Cornerstone is one of the venues for Festival events.

‘Mars’ by Luke Jerram

Monday, 21 July – Sunday, 27 July 2025

Imagine gazing down upon the stark beauty of Mars.

Luke Jerram’s touring artwork, ‘Mars’, makes this possible. This expansive even-metre sphere uses detailed 120 dpi NASA photographs to bring the red planet to life. At a scale of 1:1,000,000, each centimetre on the internally illuminated surface corresponds to 10 kilometres on Mars.

The artwork offers a unique aerial perspective, allowing you to study the intricate details of Martian valleys, craters, volcanoes and mountains as if you were orbiting.

‘The Morning Star’ concert by Ensemble Augelletti

7.30 pm Friday, 25 July 2025; tickets £22.50 full price. £11.00 under 16

Performing under Luke Jerram’s Mars, the renowned early music group Ensemble Augelletti celebrate some extraordinary stories of 17th and 18th century astronomers with a concert of music inspired by stars, angels and planets. The programme includes works by Corelli, Schmelzer, Uccellini and settings of How Beautifully Shines the Morning Star.

Concert by John Robertson (piano)

3.00 pm Sunday, 27 July 2025 at St Mary & St Giles Church Stony Stratford

Two Beethoven sonatas – ‘Pathetique’ and ‘Waldstein’ – Schubert Sonata in B♭ D960.

Entry £10 on the door.

Offering

Final Prayer

Lord, life is busy.
Help us this week to take some time to sit at your feet and truly see and hear from you.
Be in our decision-making and in our thoughts.

Amen

Hymn: All my hope on God is founded

All my hope on God is founded;
he doth still my trust renew.
Me through change and chance he guideth,
only good and only true.
God unknown,
he alone
calls my heart to be his own.

God’s great goodness aye endureth
deep his wisdom, passing thought:
splendour, light, and life attend him,
beauty springeth out of naught.
Evermore
from his store
new-born worlds rise and adore.

Daily doth th’Almighty giver
bounteous gifts on us bestow;
his desire our soul delighteth,
pleasure leads us where we go.
Love doth stand
at his hand;
joy doth wait on his command.

Still from man to God eternal
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of Christ his Son.
Christ doth call
one and all:
ye who follow shall not fall.

Robert Bridges (1844–1930)
CCL31580

Blessing

May the strength of God sustain us;
may the power of God preserve us;
may the hands of God protect us;
may the way of God direct us; may the love of God go with us
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