Our Service of the Word is now live streamed today

We had a technical problem this morning and seemed to have lost the live streams from the cameras in Church.  They are now working again

The live stream has now finished.

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

Introit

Welcome

Call to Worship

Today, in this service, may we bring to God not only the words on our lips,
but the praise in our hearts.
May we bring our honesty and bravery, our anxiety and fears, all that we carry in our hearts.
May we meet with Jesus, who accepts us – flaws and all – with forgiveness and grace.

Amen

Hymn: All my hope on God is founded

All my hope on God is founded;
he doth still my trust renew.
Me through change and chance 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 God’s trust;
what with lavish care man 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.

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

Gathering Prayer

Open our eyes, Lord, our ears and our hearts.
May we be quick to see where you are at work;
quick to listen for your word;
quick to offer love and hope,
and slow to judge.

Amen

Confession

Unblemished God, forgive us when we adhere to laws that are not of you,
when we criticise others because their ways are not our ways.
Cleanse our hearts and make us pure.

When we have not supported one another in love, or protected those that are vulnerable,
Cleanse our hearts and make us pure.

When we have corrupted your laws and gone our own way,
or when we have not nurtured those in our families and communities and let them go astray
Cleanse our hearts and make us pure.

Help us to live as one community, bound together in love and grace.

Help us to live alongside each other and be there for one another.

Amen

[Silence]

Absolution

Thank you, O God, that we are a forgiven people,
cleansed and restored by you, made pure in your image.

Today we are free because of the cross.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Loving God, may we be as those who abide with you;
those who walk blamelessly and do what is right;
those who speak truth from their heart, who do not slander with their tongue
and do no evil to their friends.
Then shall we never be moved from your presence.

Amen

Bible Readings

Psalm 15

¹ Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?

² The one whose way of life is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbour,
and casts no slur on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person
but honours those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.

NIV®

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

Hymn: For I’m building a people of power

I’m building a people of power
and I’m making a people of praise,
that will move through this land by my Spirit,
and will glorify my precious Name.
Build your Church, Lord,
make us strong, Lord,
join our hearts, Lord, through your Son.
Make us one, Lord,
in your Body,
in the Kingdom of your Son.

Dave Richards (1977)
CCL31580

James 1: 17–27

¹⁷ Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. ¹⁸ He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Listening and Doing

¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Revd George Mwaura

Choral Response

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 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 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 in the agreed protocol.

Notices

Bishop Steven’s Pilgrimage in Milton Keynes

Between Wednesday, 1 September and Sunday, 5 September 2021 Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford will be walking and cycling through Milton Keynes, and you are welcome to join him for any part of his pilgrimage. This is his itinerary:

Wednesday, 1 September: Newport – Lathbury – Sherington – Emberton – Olney – Clifton Reynes (9 miles)

MK Living Mission – An opportunity to bring our joys, challenges, passions, reflections and questions about the life and mission of the church through and beyond the pandemic. Wednesday, 1 September 2021 7.30 pm, at the Church of the Servant King, Dulverton Drive, Furzton, MK4 1NA. Please email Ann on missionpartnership@talktalk.net to book a place.

Thursday, 2 September (cycling): 9.00 am St Mary & St Giles, Stony Stratford – 9.45 am Holy Trinity, Old Wolverton – 10.25 am St Mark, Bradville – 10.55 am St Andrew, Great Linford – 11.40 am St Mary, Willen – 12.25 pm Tree Cathedral – 12.40 pm Cross & Stable, Downs Barn – 2.00 pm St Lawrence, Bradwell – 2.35 pm Station Square (18 miles)

Together in the Climate Crisis This will be an opportunity to discuss COP26 and the way that local businesses, government and civil society can work together on the climate emergency. The Bishop of Oxford is a member of the Lords Select Committee for the Environment and Climate Change and will be joined by other local leaders including Jenny Wilson-Marklew, Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Sustainability on Milton Keynes Council, and other speakers and community leaders, who will be challenged to pledge action on the climate. Thursday 2nd September 2021, 7.30–9.00 pm, at MK Gallery, 900 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes MK9 3QA. Tickets through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/together-in-the-climate-crisis-tickets-168404938705, are limited to 60 for Covid safety. Please bring a mask. Refreshments available at the gallery. If you are able to make a small donation to help us cover the costs of this event, please do so on the Citizens:MK Local Giving page: https://localgiving.org/charity/citizensmk/.

Friday, 3 September: 9.00 am Broughton Rectory / Church without Walls – 9.50 am All Saints, Milton Keynes Village – 11.40 am Christ the King, Kents Hill – 12.45 pm St Thomas, Simpson – 2.30 pm St Martin, Fenny Stratford – 3.20 pm St Frideswide, Water Eaton – 4.15 pm St Mary, Bletchley – 4.50 pm Whaddon Way Church (10 miles)

Saturday, 4 September: Rest day

Sunday, 5 September: 8.00 am St Giles, Tattenhoe – 10.00 am St Mary, Shenley Church End – 11.40 am Trinity, Fishermead – 12.30 pm MK Rose – 1.00 pm Christ the Cornerstone (4.5 miles)

You can see the map of the pilgrimage here:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1MNirov0W0ZRgAqaoJ7YH8EnojcIp2wH_&usp=sharing

This is an opportunity to pray with Bishop Steven for the City of Milton Keynes and for the mission of the Church in this place.

Tim Norwood

Countdown to COP26

As well as featuring strongly in Bishop Steven’s pilgrimage, climate change is particularly important to Revd George Mwaura, because people he knows in Kenya are facing crop failures as a consequence of what we are doing to the climate. So, when George preaches at the 10.00 am Climate Sunday Service next week, it will be personal. George is closer to this than most of us are.

Morning Prayer

From Wednesday, 1 September 2021 we are resuming daily Morning Prayer at 9.00 am Monday–Friday on the Living Stones WhatsApp and the Cornerstone website. These are offered by a number of Cornerstone members, and we have some new voices in the group.

Flowers in the Worship Area

The flowers in the Worship Area this week are donated by Glynne Gordon-Carter to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of her mother Violet Gordon and also in memory of her husband Gilbert Carter.

Katherine Wheldon

Easy Fundraising

Thank you to those who signed up to easyfundraising. You have raised £40.59 towards Church funds.

If you shop online and are interested in helping to raise funds for the Church, please take a look at www.easyfundraising.org.uk. The Church is listed as Church of Christ the Cornerstone-Milton Keynes.

Janet Trimnell
steward.cccmk@gmail.com

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

Lord, go with us into our everyday lives, to honour you in all that we do and say.
May our being and doing reflect your love and your grace.
And when we next meet, may we recognise with thanks the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Amen

Hymn: You shall go out with joy

You shall go out with joy
and be led forth with peace.
The mountains and the hills will
break forth before you;
there’ll be shouts of joy,
and all the trees of the field
will clap, will clap their hands.

And all the trees of the field
will clap their hands,
the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
The trees of the field
will clap their hands
while you go out with joy.

[Repeat]

Stuart Daurmann (b. 1944)
CCL31580

The Blessing

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face shine on you, and be gracious to you.
May the Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace;
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

The Dismissal

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.
In the name of Christ.

Amen