Preacher: Revd George Mwaura
Celebrant: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Please note that the video feed will go live from around 9:50 am and will be switched off after the service.
A separate video feed of the choir is available here.

Gathering Music

Welcome

Gathering Prayer

God of mystery, we have stepped into Advent and await your revelations.
We have stepped into Advent, hoping that we and others will see and feel and know your message.
You are a patient, persevering God, who offers your all for us;
you offer to us the depth of your being, the essence of life, the gift of love beyond compare,
and we wait to celebrate again the gift of Jesus born for us, given for us.
We look to you, for you will show us true life bursting forth.

Amen

Hymn: Love divine

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 thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.

Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.

Thee 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 sinless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee.

Changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take out place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
CCL31580

Prayer of Confession

We wait, but don’t always find it easy to wait, and for that we are sorry.
We confess our impatience and our lack of attention to the journey and its signposts.
Teach us that preparation is part of the journey and that the journey is part of the gift.
You offer us a way to follow, a path to tread, a journey that leads to hope, to joy, to trust and to love,
and we confess we do not always follow.
Now, may we step into this Advent as faithful people, seeking forgiveness and trying to follow your path,
and believing you will be walking with us every step of the way.

Amen

[Silence]

God promises to all who follow, that he will take away our sins and set us on the path to life eternal.
Hear God’s word, know God’s forgiveness, and feel God’s peace.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

You, Loving God, are the God who gives peace.
In this second week of Advent, we pray that you will cause us to remember
that because of Jesus we can experience peace even within the turmoil and chaos
of our world that passes understanding.
We are able to have the fullness of peace in our hearts,
because our Saviour and your Son sits at your right hand and makes intercession for us.
We are comforted by the knowledge that he paid our sin debt,
and for this we give you our humble gratitude in his name.

Amen

Lighting the Advent Candle

As we light this Advent candle, may its flame be a light that shines for all to see –
a sign that Jesus is for all.
May we know God’s presence and power as we gather in the name of Jesus,
who is the light of the world.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Baruch 5: 1–9

¹ Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. ² Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting; ³ for God will show your splendour everywhere under heaven. ⁴ For God will give you evermore the name, ‘Righteous Peace, Godly Glory.’

⁵ Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. ⁶ For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne. ⁷ For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. ⁸ The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God’s command. ⁹ For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

NRSV®

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

Luke 2: 1–7

The birth of Jesus

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Revd George Mwaura

Choral response

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in God the Father:
Origin and destiny of us all.

We believe in the beloved Son:
Promise of Hope; God’s laughter in the face of despair.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the sacred wind that binds us together in God’s love.

We believe in the coming of that day on this day,
when the creation will be made whole once more
and God’s peace and justice will reign on all people
and we will adore the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Amen

Prayers and Intercessions

The Peace

The Lord Jesus Christ, said:
I leave you peace, my peace I give you.
Lord, grant us your peace.

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

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Hymn: On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s cry

On Jordan’s Bank the Baptist’s cry
announces that the Lord is nigh;
come then and hearken, for he brings
glad tidings from the King of kings.

Then cleansed be every Christian breast,
and furnished for so great a guest!
Yea, let us each our heart prepare,
for Christ o come and enter there.

For thou art our salvation, Lord,
our refuge and our great reward;
without thy grace our souls must fade,
and wither like a flower decayed.

Stretch forth thy hand to heal our sore,
and make us rise, to fall no more;
once mor upon thy people shine,
and fill the world with love divine.

All praise, eternal Son, to thee
whose advent set thy people free,
whom, with the Father, we adore,
and Holy Ghost, for evermore.

Charles Coffin (1676–1749)
tr. John Chandler (1808–1876)
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 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.

Amen

After Communion

God of new beginnings, you draw near to us in word and sacrament to strengthen and renew us;
kindle in us the fire of your Spirit, may your light so shine through us
that all may welcome your Son at his coming.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Emmanuel.

Amen

Notices

Covid-19 – Safety at Services

Thank you for your cooperation in following the Covid-19 guidance at our services. Recent news means we need to continue to be careful. So, please:

• continue to wear face masks at services (including when singing) and also when moving around the building;
• be considerate to others by remembering ‘social distancing’ at all times;
• do not come into the building if you feel unwell with Covid-19 or flu-type symptoms;
• if you have the NHS phone app, continue to check in to test and trace using the QR code at the entrance.

The chairs in the Worship Area will continue to be set out as present. There are 130 chairs, including those for the choir. For services where a large congregation is expected (e.g. Carol Service) the balcony will be open for a maximum of 60 people. The chairs will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. and once all chairs are occupied no one else will be allowed in. The services will usually be live-streamed, so we hope no-one will be left out. If you can’t get into a service because it’s full, please accept our apologies now, and please don’t get annoyed with the stewards!

Thank you again for all your help with this. We know it can be annoying – but it is important for the safety of all!

Peter Cope and Irena Nickel

Advent Holy Communion [30 minutes]

Throughout Advent there will be Holy Communion by Zoom every Wednesday at 6.00 pm for 30 minutes. The Zoom link will be posted in the Living Stones WhatsApp and the Cornerstone website. For more information, please contact the Cornerstone Office (Tel: 01908 237777; email: admin@cornerstonemk.co.uk).

Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Advent Study Groups

Week Two: The Beautiful Paradox

The Bible passages for this week’s study are: Luke 2: 1–21, 2 Corinthians 12: 1–10, and Matthew 5: 3–12.
You may wish to read these as part of your preparation for your study session.

Bank Details for the Cornerstone Christmas Appeal

We now have a separate bank account for the Cornerstone Christmas Appeal. Unfortunately the details of this new account were not available when the Appeal Information went to print. As a result the printed information contains the bank details for the main Church Metro Account.

The details for the Christmas Appeal Account are:

Name: Cornerstone Christmas Appeal
Sort Code: 23–05–80
Account No:  43302825
This Account is also with the Metro Bank

If you are unsure which account you are using, please include the word XMAS alongside your name in the payment reference, as this will make it clear where the money is for. Your name needs to be clear so that we can claim Gift Aid where appropriate.

Please make any cheques payable to ‘Cornerstone Christmas Appeal.’

Thank You
Janet Trimnell
on behalf of the Christmas Appeal Committee

Hymn: Come, thou long-expected Jesus

Come, thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free,
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.

Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a king,
born to reign in us for ever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By thine own eternal Spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all-sufficient merit
raise us to thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley (1707–1788)
CCL31580

Blessing

Be people of peace.

Let peace live in your heart and share the peace of Christ with all you meet.
Share peace by acting out of compassion and not fear.
Share peace by listening to all sides of the story.

Share peace by praying for our world.
In this Advent season, we need to see, feel, and share peace.
As you go out into the wonder of God’s creations, share peace and hope with those you meet.

And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you today and always.

Amen

Dismissal

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

Amen