Led by Revd George Mwaura

The live stream has now finished.

Introit

Greetings and Welcome

Opening Responses

Let us be still for a moment as we come before the Lord. …

We come together today, as the people of God;
called to be friends of Christ;
living in unity, and acting with compassion.

We are here together. We are here with God.

God is still engaged in a process of creation,
and is revealed through the world around us.

Open our eyes, and help us to see.

God continues to speak through other people,
and through the living and incarnate Word.

Open our ears, and help us to hear.

God sets the Holy Spirit within us,
so that our inmost being dances to the rhythm of Heaven.

Open our hearts, and help us to love.

Creator God, inspire us to reshape the world,
according to the pattern revealed by your love.
Incarnate Word, be with us as we follow you,
and teach us what it means to be your body.
Living Spirit, dwell more deeply in our hearts
and help us to live together as the people of God.

Help us to hear. Help us to understand.
Help us to respond.

Amen

Hymn: Come down, O love divine

Come down, O love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardour glowing;
O comforter, draw near, within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious sight shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity
mine outward vesture be,
and lowliness become my inner clothing;
true lowliness of heart, which takes the humbler part,
and o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling,
for none can guess its grace, till he become the place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Bianco da Siena (d. 1434)
translated by Richard Frederick Littledale (1833–1890)
CCL31580

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Confession

Most merciful and gracious God,
we offer you our heartfelt love and praise
because your Son, Jesus Christ, was willing to risk everything for the whole world.
Even for us.

We come to worship you, earnestly seeking your will for us.
However risky that might be, you are worth it.
But, Lord, you know we will get it wrong and so we humbly ask that you forgive us:
for the times we have struggled to name you as Jesus, Saviour and Lord;
for the times we have been ashamed to acknowledge you;
for the times we have only been concerned by human matters and not yours;
for the times we saw opportunities to take risks for you
but looked the other way through fear or indecision;
for the times we only take the chocolates we like out of your box!

Forgive us Lord and make us whole, ready to do your good will.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Loving God, your name is veiled in mystery, yet we dare to call you Father;
your Son was begotten before all ages, yet was born among us in time.
Your Holy Spirit fills the whole creation, yet is poured forth now into our hearts.
Because you have made us and loved us and called us by name,
draw us more deeply into your divine life, that we may glorify you rightly,
through your Son and our Lord.

Amen

Baptism

Hymn: Colours of day

Colours of day dawn into the mind,
the sun has come up, the night is behind.
Go down in the city, into the street,
and let’s give the message to the people we meet.

So light up the fire and let the flame burn,
open the door, let Jesus return.
Take seeds of his Spirit, let the fruit grow,
tell the people of Jesus, let his love show.

Go through the park on into the town;
the sun still shines on, it never goes down.
The light of the world is risen again;
the people of darkness are needing our friend.

So light up the fire and let the flame burn,
open the door, let Jesus return.
Take seeds of his Spirit, let the fruit grow,
tell the people of Jesus, let his love show.

Open your eyes, look into the sky,
the darkness has come, the sun came to die.
The evening draws on, the sun disappears,
but Jesus is living, and his Spirit is near.

So light up the fire and let the flame burn,
open the door, let Jesus return.
Take seeds of his Spirit, let the fruit grow,
tell the people of Jesus, let his love show.

Sue McClennan, John Paculabo and Keith Rycroft (1974)
CCL31580

Ministry of the Word

Isaiah 50: 4–9a

Read by Richard May-Miller

⁴ The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
⁵ The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears;
I have not been rebellious,
I have not turned away.
⁶ I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from mocking and spitting.
⁷ Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
I will not be disgraced.
Therefore have I set my face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame.
⁸ He who vindicates me is near.
Who then will bring charges against me?
Let us face each other!
Who is my accuser?
Let him confront me!
⁹ It is the Sovereign Lord who helps me.
Who will condemn me?

NIV®

Mark 8: 27–38

Read by Adrian Boynton

Peter Declares that Jesus is the Messiah

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, ‘Who do people say I am?’

²⁸ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.’

²⁹ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’

Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah.’

³⁰ Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Predicts his Death

³¹ He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. ³² He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

³³ But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.’

The Way of the Cross

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. ³⁶ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.’

NIV®

Sermon

Musical Meditation

Prayers and Intercessions

Led by David Moore

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.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

Notices

Archdeacon’s Visitation Service

7.30 pm Monday, 13 September 2021

This year the Church of Christ the Cornerstone is hosting the Archdeacon’s Visitation Service, at which churchwardens will be admitted to office. Our own churchwardens, Rick Mutwarasibo and Katherine Wheldon, will be admitted to office at this service. Please join us to support Rick and Katherine. Come early, as places are limited.

Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Choral Evensong for Holy Cross Day (14 September)

You are warmly invited to join the congregation for a service of choral evensong, sung ‘live’ in the building by the Cornerstone Choir, on Sunday (12 September 2021) at 6.30pm. Beautiful settings by Tomkins, Bach, Mendelssohn, Bruckner and Boynton will be included.

Please note that this service begins half an hour later than usual – at 6.30 pm. This is to enable people attending the 5.00 pm service at the Cathedral of Trees with the Camino to COP pilgrims (https://caminotocop.com/) to join us for evensong.

May I assure you that appropriate safety measures will be in place. There will be ‘socially distant’ seating for all, and the choir will be well-spaced from the congregation.

This will be the first live service of choral evensong in the building since the pandemic began in March 2020. I hope very much that you will be able to join us.

Adrian Boynton

The Small Corners project: Prayers for Campbell Park

Mondays at 12.00 noon at the Milton Keynes Rose

Revd Tim Norwood will be leading weekly prayers for Campbell Park as part of the Small Corners project, beginning this Monday (13 September 2021). If you would like to join him, please meet at the Rose in Campbell Park on Mondays at 12.00 noon – weather permitting. Updates will be posted on the Living Stones WhatsApp group.

Revd Tim Norwood, Area Dean

Camino to COP

The pilgrims on the Camino to COP (https://caminotocop.com/) arrive in Milton Keynes, having travelled from Heath and Reach, on Saturday, 11 September 2021. They will be staying at the Quaker Centre, Oakley Gardens, Downhead Park, MK15 9BH. At 7.00 pm there will be an event at the Quaker Centre, to which all are invited, when the patches made in Milton Keynes will be sewn on the Coat of Hopes that will be worn by the pilgrims on the Camino to COP. The Cornerstone patch designed by the young people at Cornerstone on 1 August and realised by Cheryl Montgomery will be one of the patches that will be added to the Coat of Hopes.

On Sunday, 12 September 2021 there is a Service at the Cathedral of Trees at 5.00 pm with the Camino to COP pilgrims, to which we are all invited.

The pilgrims leave Milton Keynes for Towcester on the next stage of the Camino to COP on Monday, 13 September 2021.

Daily Scripture Readings

Cornerstone Shop has a range of daily scripture notes. Since re-opening, sales have reduced to only two a month. It may be that previous customers have been obtaining them direct from the publisher, but if sales do not resume we shall have to stop stocking them. If you would like to try them, take a free copy from the Reception desk and then let bob.collard@cornerstonemk.co.uk know you would like to buy in future:

New Daylight, Every Day with Jesus, Inspiring Women Every Day, Life Every Day

Bob Collard

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 the 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 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 o thee.

Frances R. Havergal (1833–1879)
CCL31580

Blessings

God of salvation, you open the way to life by offering us unconditional love.
We rejoice in our freedom, our healing and our hope.
As we go back home, teach us to be open to others, to offer welcome and to practise inclusion.
And the blessings of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you today and always.

Amen

Exit song: May God’s blessings surround you each day

May God’s blessings surround you each day,
as you trust him and walk in his way.
May his presence within guard and keep you from sin.
Go in peace, go in joy, go in love.

© 1982 Cliff Barrows