This Service is conducted by Zoom.
Full details on how to access the Zoom Service can be found here.
A recording of the Service is available here:

Led by: Revd George Mwaura

Preacher: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Introit

The prelude from Prélude, Fugue et Variation by César Franck.

Welcome

Prayer of the Week

God who calls us on our journey, as we remember Jesus’ time in the wilderness,
help us to cast aside those things that get in the way of hearing your word.
Help us to seek you in the places of bounteous beauty and of barren bleakness.
Help us to seek you in the faces of friends and in the smiles of strangers.
Help our devotion to be made real in the actions of our lives.
When we have looked deep into our own hearts and struggled with who we are,
send angels to minister to us and draw us out from our own wilderness
to fulfil our calling to serve you.
In Christ’s name.

Amen

Hymn: We sing the praise of him who died

We sing the praise of him who died,
of him who died upon the cross;
the sinner’s hope let men deride,
for this we count the world but loss.

Inscribed upon the cross we see
in shining letters, ‘God is love’;
he bears our sins upon the tree;
he brings us mercy from above.

The cross! It takes our guilt away:
it holds the fainting spirit up;
it cheers with hope the gloomy day,
and sweetens every bitter cup.

It makes the coward spirit brave,
and nerves the feeble arm for fight;
it takes its terror from the grave,
and gilds the bed of death with light.

The balm of life, the cure of woe,
the measure and the pledge of love,
the sinner’s refuge here below,
the angels’ theme in heaven above.

Thomas Kelly (1769–1855)
CCL31580

Gathering Prayer

Holy God, as we meet together today,
we ask that you renew our love for you.

Open our eyes to see fresh things,
open our ears to hear with more clarity,

open our minds to recognise new ideas –
that we may be willing to grow and change

and to become more like your Son,
Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Confession

We thank you, Lord, for the times when you have knocked us off our pedestals.
Thinking we are wise, we have trusted in our own understanding rather than yours.
You have bulldozed our ‘castles in the air’ to bring us down to earth.
Praise be that, time after time, you have driven our falseness and foolishness away
with cords of truth and righteousness, freeing us to be your Church without walls,
open to all and ever expanding.
We confess that we are driven by the need to possess.
In our greed, we plunder the earth of resources
and fail to share the good things you have provided for our needs.
We are obsessed with the work of human hands, making idols of our houses – and yours.
Forgive us, and help us to see that your Church is eternally under construction – in us.

Amen

[Personal confessions.]

Kyrie

Absolution

May the God of all mercies cleanse us from our sins and restore us in his image, to the glory of his name.

Amen

Bible readings

Psalm 19: 1–4a

Read by Adrian Boynton

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
³ They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
⁴ Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

NIV®

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

John 2: 13–22

Read by Penny Keens

Jesus clears the temple courts

¹³ When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵ So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’ ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it is written: ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’

¹⁸ The Jews then responded to him, ‘What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?’

¹⁹ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’

²⁰ They replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days? ²¹ But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²² After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Musical Response: If you love me

An 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

By David Moore

Amen

The Peace

Jesus says,

‘Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled,
neither let them be afraid.’

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be always with you.
And also with you!

Offering

Holy Communion

Invitation

Friends, we are going to Jerusalem with Jesus.
He is our pardon, our healing, and our peace!

We will suffer the trial with him, resisting evil.
With him, we will walk the path to life.

But come first to the table where there is food for the journey.
With hearts full of joy we come,

giving thanks to God, our maker,
and offering our praise!

We are right to praise you, faithful God!
You answer sin with grace; you guide our wayward steps toward home.
You are mending for the broken, safety for the poor, belonging for the outcast,
strength for the weak, and pardon for the sinner.
You reveal your kindness in every sorrow, your mercy even in death.
All your creatures see your works; they sing your steadfast love.
We too declare your wonder and grace as with angels and saints we sing:

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.

Now Lord, we remember Jesus: he fasted and prayed; he was tempted and tried.
He relied on you for everything.

He was obedient to you and scorned by the powers of this world.
He confounded the haughty and gave hope to the humble.

He was betrayed and deserted. He died between thieves and was buried in a borrowed grave.
You gave him new life. He lives even now, our healer and friend.

He loved us well, loved us to the end, and loves us still.
Even on the night of betrayal, he ate supper with his friends.

And as they ate …

He took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said:
This is my body that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.
In the same way also, after supper, he took the cup saying:
This cup is the new covenant between you and my father sealed in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Holy Spirit, come! Make all things new.
Bless this bread which you have given and human hands have made.
Let it become for us the bread of life.
Bless also this cup, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
Let it become for us the cup of salvation.
Bless us also who eat and drink, that in this sharing
we may know the living Christ who is with us now, and to the end of the age.
Nourish us by these gifts to be willing servants of your world
until the new age comes, and every creature beholds it.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

And now we pray together the payer the Lord taught his disciples…

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is 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 body of Christ, broken for our sins, let us eat with thanksgiving.

Amen

The cup of salvation poured for our sins-let us drink with thanksgiving-Amen

Amen

Prayer after Communion

Thank you, merciful God, for gladness in this bread and cup,
for love that cannot die, for peace the world cannot give,
for joy in the company of friends, for the splendours of creation,
and for the mission of justice you have made our own.
Give us the gifts of this Holy Communion —
oneness of heart, love for neighbours, forgiveness of enemies,
the will to serve you every day, and life that never ends.
In Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen

Notices

Lent Study Groups

Lent Study Groups continue this week with Session 3 ‘Turning the Tables’ at 7.15 pm on Monday (note change of day to avoid Ecumenical Council), at11.00 am on Wednesday, and at 7.30 pm on Thursday, all by Zoom.

Leadership Group

The Leadership Group meets by Zoom at 9.30 am on Tuesday (9 March 2021).

Ecumenical Council

Ecumenical Council meets by Zoom at 7.00 pm on Tuesday (9 March 2021).

Milton Keynes Mission Partnership Spring Assembly

The Spring Assembly of the Milton Keynes Mission Partnership is by Zoom at 7.30 pm on Tuesday (9 March 2021). All members of Christ the Cornerstone are encouraged to attend Mission Partnership assemblies. Email missionpartnership@talktalk.net to obtain a link to the Zoom session

Worship Committee

The Worship Committee is meeting by Zoom at 7.30 pm on Thursday (11 March 2021).

Mothering Sunday (14 March 2021)

Andrew and Jane Betts of Advantage Africa will be taking part in our Sunday Morning Service next Sunday.

Annual Congregational Meeting 2021

The 2021 Annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, 21 March 2021 by Zoom at 11.30 am, following the Morning Service. A copy of the draft Annual Report 2020 has been posted on the Cornerstone website at: https://cornerstonemk.co.uk/annual-report-2020/.

Hymn: All my hope on God is founded

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

Pride of man and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray his trust;
what with care and toil he buildeth,
tower and temple, fall to dust.
But God’s power,
hour by hour,
is my temple and my tower.

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)
based on the German of Joachim Neander (1650–1680
CCL31580

Blessings

We came together to worship God.
We have read God’s Word.
We have prayed and sung songs.
Now we go into God’s world: to be God’s people wherever we are called to go.
Let us go in Christ’s name.

And the blessings of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
rest and remain upon you all, now and always.

Amen

The Dismissal

Church, peace be with you as you love and serve God wherever you are.
In the name of God, we will.

Amen

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The following musical items, which could not be included in the Service, are available here:

Inspired by love and anger

Words by John Lamberton Bell & Graham Maule of the Iona community, set to an Irish traditional melody SALLEY GARDENS arr Benjamin Britten.

Monologue No.1

From Twelve Monologues opus 162 composed by Josef Gabriel Rheinberger.