Preacher: Revd George Mwaura
Led by: Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering Music

Welcome

Call to Worship

On this day of memory, we gather to sing and to pray.
We remember the past and look to the future.

On this day when the guns once fell silent,
we come before you God, seeking your peace.

On this day of hope in the face of terror,
we come before you God, praying with all our hearts:

God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come,
open our eyes and the eyes of the nations
to find a different path through the disagreements of life in this world.

In this time of story, song, and prayer,
may we be re-committed to being people of peace, true peace.

May we catch a vision of how the world could live together.
And so we echo the old prayers:
Make us channels of your peace.

Let there be peace on Earth and let it begin with us!

Amen

Introduction

Sisters and brothers, we come together today as citizens of earth and of heaven to remember.
To remember with pride and appreciation those who have given their lives in service of others.
To remember with dismay the suffering, destruction and pain caused by human conflict.
To remember with gratitude those whose lives, love and friendship, ours has been the privilege to share.
To remember with sadness those whose death has caused us loneliness and pain.
We come together, not to glorify or celebrate war and conflict, but to recognise its cost
and commit ourselves to be peacemakers and peacekeepers wherever that opportunity presents itself.
Whatever our view and whatever part we may have had to play in the theatre of war and conflict,
we express our common humanity by pausing to recognise the value and worth of every life lost
and so express the mystery that to be human is to be both marred by our common failings,
yet fashioned in the image of our Creator.
And in our remembrance, we give God thanks for memory itself,
through which we are forever warned by the mistakes of the past
and enriched by experiences that can no longer be known in the present.

Hymn: Abide with me

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need thy presence every passing hour;
what but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.

I fear no foe with thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.

Hold thou thy Cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee:
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

Henry Francis Lyte (1793–1847)
CCL31580

Prayer

Almighty God – we seek your presence as we come together in this act of remembrance.
Help us not to hide from you our sorrow and our pain, as you also inhabit our joy and thanksgiving.
May all our acts be open to your scrutiny, that we might indeed strive upon this earth
to embrace the values of Heaven.
By your Holy Spirit enfold us afresh in your love and healing,
and through the sacrifice of Christ, inspire us again with the promise of eternal life,
and that great example of self-giving.
You have called us to take up the cross and to follow you,
yet too often we prefer the tools of war and words of conflict.
We acknowledge our failure to live as true children of one Creator.
Forgive us that which cannot be undone;
comfort us as we live with its consequences
and empower us to build a better world in service and obedience to you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Prayer for Reconciliation

As one family, we reflect today on the horrors of the past
that continue to haunt humanity and darken our world.
Lord, where pain still overwhelms,
bring healing.

Where hearts are still breaking,
bring comfort.

Where peoples are still oppressed,
bring liberation.

Where communities are still victimised,
bring justice.

Where children are still brutalised,
bring compassion.

Where lives are still crushed,
bring hope.

Where evil is perpetrated,
bring repentance.

Where war still devastates,
bring peace.

Kyrie

But most of all, Lord, wherever a single voice cries out in the darkness,
bring us to one another, in the name of the love you bear in your heart
for all people, all nations and all creation.

[Silence]

God of all nations; we pray for those who have been injured or disabled through war.

For those who have lost homes and security through conflict;
for those who have lost loved relatives in wars;
for those who face danger and take risks for peace.

We pray for all those, especially children, caught up in current conflicts;
for refugees and all those in need of aid and other help.

God of encouragement and Saviour of the despairing,

Comfort those who remember past sacrifices
and guide us in building a just and peaceful community for all.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

God of peace, as we remember those who have given their lives in service to their country.
We pray for peace in our world and an end to conflict.
Grant that all people and nations may work together in harmony,
and that the sacrifices of those we remember today may not be in vain.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Isaiah 2:2–4

Read by Martin Petchey

² In the last days

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established
as the highest of the mountains;
it will be exalted above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

³ Many peoples will come and say,

‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.’
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

NIV®

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

Hymn: I vow to thee, my country

I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above
entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love:
the love that asks no questions, the love that stands the test,
that lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
the love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
the love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.

And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
we may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
and soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
and her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace.

Cecil Spring-Rice (1859–1918)
CCL31580

John 15: 12–16

Read by Adrian Boynton

¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

NIV®

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

Sermon

By Revd George Mwaura

[Silence]

Choral Response

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in God the Father,
from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

We believe in God the Son,
who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love.

We believe in God the Holy Spirit,
who strengthens us with power from on high.

We believe in one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Amen

Prayers and Intercessions

Led by Don Head

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

Hymn: Make me a channel of your peace

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love.
Where there is injury your pardon, Lord.
And where there’s doubt true faith in you.

Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek
so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love with all my soul.

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness only light,
and where there’s sadness ever joy.

Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek …

Make me a channel of your peace.
It is pardoning that we are pardoned,
in giving to all that we receive,
and in dying that we’re born to eternal life (

Sebastian Temple (1928–1970)
from a prayer of St Francis of Assisi (c. 1183–1226)
CCL31580

Notices

Christian Aid Emergency Appeal for Gaza

A huge thank you to everyone who responded to the recent Gaza Appeal. We received £230 in donations in the envelopes returned to church and we know that others donated directly to the appeal on line. Your generosity is much appreciated – and your prayers are requested for all involved, including the aid workers in this terrible situation.

If you missed the first appeal, but would still like to donate, there is now a Disasters and Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for the Middle East, which can be accessed through the Christian Aid website or directly at: https://www.dec.org.uk/appeal/middle-east-humanitarian-appeal.

David Chapman

Ecumenical Confirmation

6.00 pm Sunday, 24 November 2024 at Christ the Cornerstone

There will be Ecumenical Confirmation at Cornerstone at 6.00 pm on Sunday, 24 November 2024 with Bishop Steven. The Preacher will be Revd Ian Suttie, District Ecumenical Officer of the Northampton Methodist District. Confirmation evening classes are available at St Mary’s Wavendon and Watling Valley churches.

Please come to the Confirmation Service to support our candidates: Alex, Barbrah, Greg, Kelly, Ozaseme, Rebecca, Sandra and Zoe. Please remember them in your prayers as they continue their preparation.

Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Church Christmas Cards

Three cards designed by our volunteer Yvonne Bell are now available in the Cornerstone shop. All proceeds towards church funds.

Bob Collard

Offering

[Music may be played until 11.00 am.]

Act of Remembrance

Let us remember with gratitude those who, in the cause of peace
and the service of others, died in time of war.

The Last Post

[Two minutes silence is observed.]

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them.
We will remember them.

Ever-living God,
we remember those whom you have gathered from the storm of war
into the peace of your presence;
may that same peace calm our fears,
bring justice to all peoples and establish harmony among the nations,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

The Act of Commitment

Let us commit ourselves to responsible living and faithful service.

Will you strive for all that makes for peace?
We will.

Will you seek to heal the wounds of war?
We will.

Will you work for a just future for all humanity?
We will.

[Silence]

Merciful God, we offer to you the fears in us that have not yet been cast out by love:

May we accept the hope you have placed in the hearts of all people,
and live lives of justice, courage and mercy;
through Jesus Christ our risen Redeemer.

Amen

Hymn: Eternal Father, strong to save

Eternal Father, strong to save,
whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
its own appointed limits keep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.

O Christ, whose voice the waters heard
and hushed their raging at thy word,
who walkedst on the foaming deep,
and calm amid the storm did sleep:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.

O Holy Spirit, who didst brood
upon the waters dark and rude,
and bid their angry tumult cease,
and give, for wild confusion, peace:
O hear us when we cry to thee
for those in peril on the sea.

O Trinity of love and power,
our brethren shield in danger’s hour;
from rock and tempest, fire and foe,
protect the wheresoe’er they go:
then evermore shall rise to thee
glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

William Whitting (1825–1878)
CCL31580

Blessing

God grant to the living: grace;
to the departed: rest;
to the Church, the King, the Commonwealth and all people: unity, peace and concord;
and to us and all God’s servants: life everlasting.
And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you always.

Amen

Dismissal

Church, go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

In the name of Christ, we will.

Amen