Service of the Word for Remembrance Sunday, 14 November 2021 – Live Streamed
Led by Revd George Mwaura
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
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.
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
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 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.
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.
Amen
Prayer of the Week
[Women] God of all nations; we pray for those
who have been injured or disabled through war;
[Men] 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.
[Women] We pray for all those, especially children, caught up in current conflicts;
for refugees and all those in need of aid and other help.
[Men] God of encouragement and Saviour of the despairing,
[All] comfort those who remember past sacrifices
and guide us in building a just and peaceful community for all.
Amen
Ministry of the Word
Micah 4: 1–5
The mountain of the Lord
1 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 peoples will stream to it.>/span>
2 Many nations 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.
3 He will judge between many peoples
and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide.
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.
4 Everyone will sit under their own vine
and under their own fig-tree,
and no-one will make them afraid,
for the Lord Almighty has spoken.
NIV®
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
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 od 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
John 15: 9–17
9 ‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 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. 16You 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. 17 This is my command: love each other.’
NIV®
This is the Gospel of Christ.
Praise to Christ our light.
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.
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.
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: 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 er paths are peace.
Cecil Spring-Rice (1859–1918)
CCL31580
Meditation
By Revd George Mwaura
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
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
Notices
Memorial Service for Covid Victims
The Church of Christ the Cornerstone,10.00 am Sunday, 21 November 2021
Our morning Service next Sunday – Christ the King (Sunday, 21 November 2021) will be Holy Communion in memory of all those affected by the pandemic.
Support for those bereaved during the pandemic is available from GentleSpaces (contact details are available by following this link: Gentlespaces Leaflet). At Cornerstone our Pastoral Workers are available to offer support and to direct people to other support services. The drop-in Friendship Café in the Cornerstone Café is on alternate Fridays (10.30 am – 12.00 noon) and the next one is this Friday (19 November 2021), just drop in for a warm welcome and a friendly listening ear.
Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga
Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga is away on leave from 11 November until Saturday, 20 November 2021.
Cornerstone Administrator
Mark Okor, our Administrator, is on leave from Monday, 15 November and will resume his duties on Wednesday, 1 December 2021.
Advent Study Groups
Four meetings – starting week beginning Monday, 29 November 2021. All by Zoom.
This year the material we will be using is:
Unwrapping Advent: Celebrating the Wonder of Jesus’ Arrival Then and Now by Margaret Feinberg.
This material can be downloaded for free as a PDF from:
https://margaretfeinberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Unwrapping-Advent-Devotional.pdf.
We are planning these possible groups, if we can have five or more people per group:
| Monday | 11.00 am | Spaces available |
| 7.00 pm | Spaces available | |
| Tuesday | 11.00 am | Spaces available |
| 7.00 pm | No spaces available | |
| Wednesday | 11.00 am | Spaces available |
| 7.00 pm | George’s Bible Study Group Spaces available |
|
| Thursday | 11.00 am | Spaces available |
| 7.00 pm | No spaces available |
If you would like to join any of these groups, please contact Mark Okor: phone: 01908 237777; mobile/WhatsApp: 07968 119690; email: admin@cornerstonemk.co.uk.
Deadline for registration: 15 November 2021.
How to give to the work of Cornerstone
Following George’s sermon last Sunday, here is the information on how to give in support of the Church.
Online or telephone banking
If you would like to donate on line or by using telephone banking, please use the following account details:
Account name
The Ecumenical Partnership of Christ the Cornerstone Milton Keynes
Metro Bank
Sort code: 23 05 80
Business account number: 37995851
For the payment reference please include your name, then we’ll know who the donation is from.
By cheque
If you prefer to donate by cheque, please make it payable to ‘Church of Christ the Cornerstone’ and post it to:
Stewardship Secretary
Church of Christ the Cornerstone
300 Saxon Gate West, MK9 2ES
In person
If you are coming in person to the service on Sunday, 3 October 2021, please bring your offering with you. There will be some envelopes available. Envelopes can be returned later if preferred.
Please write your name on the envelope if you would like us to claim gift-aid on your donation. If you have any questions, please contact the Stewardship Secretary at: steward.cccmk@gmail.com.
Thank you for your continued support to the work of the Church of Christ the Cornerstone.
Hymn: The day thou gavest
The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended:
the darkness falls at thy behest;
to thee our morning hymns ascended;
thy praise shall sanctify our rest.
We thank thee that thy Church unsleeping,
while earth rolls onward into light,
through all the world her watch is keeping,
and rests not now by day or night.
As o’er each continent and island
the dawn leads on another day,
the voice of prayer is never silent,
nor dies the strain of praise away.
The sun that bids us rest is waking
our brethren ’neath the western sky
and hour by hour fresh lips are making
thy wondrous doings heard on high.
So be it, Lord, the throne shall never,
like earth’s proud empire, pass away;
thy kingdom stands, and grows for ever,
till all thy creatures own thy sway.
John Ellerton (1826–1893)
CCL31580
Blessing
God grant to the living: grace;
to the departed: rest;
to the Church, the Queen, 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