Holy Communion – Live Streamed – Sunday, 7 November 2021
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
Generous God, we come, individually and together, as your people
to be resourced, inspired and blessed.
We come, thankful for the self-giving love of Jesus.
Inspired by his example, may we be generous and giving,
with no reward other than knowing we are doing your will.
We ask this in his name.
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: Dear Lord and Father of mankind
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
forgive our foolish ways;
re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
in deeper reverence praise,
in deeper reverence praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
beside the Syrian sea,
the gracious calling of the Lord,
let us like them without a word
rise up and follow thee,
rise up and follow thee.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
where Jesus knelt to share with thee
the silence of eternity,
interpreted by love,
interpreted by love!
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
till all pour strivings cease;
take from our souls the strain and stress,
and let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of thy peace,
the beauty of thy peace.
Breath through the heats of our desire
thy coolness and thy balm;
let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm,
O still small voice of calm.
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)
CCL31580
Prayer of Approach
Eternal God, you call us to this time and place,
to still our minds and gather our thoughts,
to see the immensity of your giving to us.
You are the giver of life in all its fullness;
the giver of gifts beyond compare;
the giver of more than we can imagine or comprehend.
We come before you now.
Amen
[Silence]Confession
Lord Jesus Christ, we come to you in sorrow for our selfishness,
in regret for our greed,
in despair over our blindness and deafness to the needs of those around us.
With penitent hearts we seek your forgiveness and your blessing,
to make us more generous, more giving, more able to see, and more willing to listen.
Amen
[Silence]Our God of generosity forgives those who truly repent.
Our God lifts the burdens from our hearts and the blindness from our eyes
and sets us free to be the people we are called to be.
Amen
Prayer of the Week
Lord we come before you this morning with grateful hearts for all that you have given us.
You have opened your granary of grace and showered us with so much more.
Teach us dear Lord to have generous hearts that hold nothing back
for the work of your kingdom and for the care of our earth
Amen
Ministry of the Word
1 Kings 17: 8–16
Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath
8Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 ‘Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have instructed a widow there to supply you with food.’ 10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, ‘Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?’ 11 As she was going to get it, he called, ‘And bring me, please, a piece of bread.’
12 ‘As surely as the Lord your God lives,’ she replied, ‘I don’t have any bread – only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it – and die.’
13 Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” ’
15 She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. 16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.
NIV®
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Mark 12: 38–44
Warning against the teachers of the law
38 As he taught, Jesus said, ‘Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the market-places, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets. 40 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.’
The widow’s offering
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few pence.
43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything – all she had to live on.’
NIV®
This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our light.
Meditation
By Revd George Mwaura
[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
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 God be always with you.
and also with you.
Let us offer one another a sign of peace.
Hymn: Blest are the pure in heart
Blest are the pure in heart,
for they shall see our God;
the secret of the Lord is theirs,
their soul is Christ’s abode.
The Lord, who left the heavens
our life and peace to bring,
to dwell in lowliness with men,
their pattern and their King;
Still to the lowly soul
he doth himself impart,
and for his dwelling and his throne
chooseth the pure in heart.
Lord, we thy presence seek;
may ours this blessing be
give us a pure and lowly heart,
a temple meet for thee.
John Keble (1792–1866) and others
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
Notices
Harvest Appeal
Thank you to all those of you who supported our Harvest Appeal.
The amount raised in support of our Mission of Hope was £1770.41.
Janet Trimnell, Stewardship Secretary
COP26 has started!
In the opening speeches we have heard how critical it is that world leaders commit unequivocally to the changes needed to prevent catastrophe. During the fortnight of the conference we need to keep praying for the world leaders and the negotiators in Glasgow, and keep lobbying those with the power to act on our behalf.
There are lots of resources on the web such as Christian Aid: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/get-involved-campaigns/climate-change/cop26-mobilisation, URC: https://urc.org.uk/latest-news/3881-cop26-rise-to-the-moment.html, CAFOD: https://cafod.org.uk/Campaign/COP26-climate-summit, Green Christian https://greenchristian.org.uk/cop-26-glasgow-2021/ and a petition promoted by the FairTrade Foundation: https://action.fairtrade.org.uk/page/89735/petition/1.
Haydn’s Creation: A Concert for COP26
7.30 pm Sunday, 7 November 2021
in the Church of St Peter & St Paul, Newport Pagnell
Tickets £20, £15 (under 18’s £5) available online at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/cornerstone-music (booking fee applies), email boyntonmusic@btinternet.com, tel/text 07961 348697 Tickets are also on sale in Reception at Cornerstone; payment in cash or by cheque.
The concert is a Cornerstone church event and all members of Cornerstone are welcome to attend, even if they can’t afford a ticket. If you are a member of Cornerstone and would like to attend but for whatever reason are not in a position to buy a ticket, you are invited to contact David Chapman (Church Clerk, david@dachapman.free-online.co.uk) or Mark Okor (Church Administrator, mark.okor@cornerstonemk.co.uk), who will give you a ticket for free: no questions asked! We are looking for two or three stewards for the event (who will also receive free tickets). If you would like to volunteer to do this, please also contact boyntonmusic@btinternet.com.
However, enough tickets need to be sold to cover the expenses of the concert. Adrian Boynton and the singers of the Chamber Choir give their time free, and indeed make a contribution to the costs themselves, but the soloists and the members of the orchestra are professional musicians who are paid (they need to make a living). If the sale of tickets raises more than is needed for the expenses the surplus will be donated to church funds.
Cornerstone Toddlers
Reluctantly, the decision has been taken that it will not be possible to restart the group for parents and toddlers that usually takes place in the Guildhall on Monday mornings in term time, at least until January.
Offering
Thank you
to everyone who has continued giving through our regular schemes during these past months.
Your generosity has been amazing and much appreciated.
We couldn’t have carried on without you.
We have various ways in which you can continue to give your offering in support of the Church.
For details please contact the Stewardship Secretary, Janet Trimnell, at steward.cccmk@gmail.com
Full details are also available on our website at: www.cornerstonemk.co.uk/giving.
Final Prayer
Generous God, make us generous.
Make us generous in joy, and generous in love.
Help us to remember what we have done today.
Remind us, every day, that we need to share our love for you with others,
that we need to give and live generously –
for you are generous God, our God.
Be with each one of us and all whom we love, this week and always.
Amen
Hymn: Take my life, and let it be
Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee;
take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
swift and purposeful for thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold;
take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will, and make it thine:
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart; it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.
Frances Ridley Havergal (1833–1879)
CCL31580
Blessing
God be in your head, and in your understanding;
God be in your eyes, and in your looking;
God be in your mouth, and in your speaking;
God be in your heart, and in your thinking;
God be at your end, and at your departing.
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