Led by Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Gathering Music

Heavenly Father, we lift up to you today our mother and all mothers. Bless them with strength to continue to care for their children, with the same bold, selflessness Mary showed Jesus. Help our mother and all mothers feel our gratitude and truly know their impact. May we honour them today and on all days as vessels of Your love.

Amen

Welcome

God, Creator and Parent of all,
we come to worship you.

God, you nourished and rescued your people.
We come to worship you.

God, you care for us like a mother.
We come to worship you.

God, you give strength and love to all who care for children.
We come to worship you.

God, you support us in good times and hard times.
we come to worship you.

Amen

[Silence]

Welcome to the house of God.
We have come from all the corners of the earth.

Welcome to the hospitality of God.
We come as we are; we bring our life, our stories, our journey.

Welcome, brothers and sisters.
We are the rainbow people of God.

Welcome, chosen people.
May God our companion bind us in his love.

Amen

Hymn: Tell out, my soul

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!
Unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice;
tender to me the promise of your word;
in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name!
Make know his might, the deeds his arm has done;
his mercy sure, from age to age the same;
his holy name, the Lord, the mighty one.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might!
Powers and dominions lay their glory by.
Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,
the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.

Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word!
Firm in his promise, and his mercy sure.
Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord
to children’s children and for evermore!

Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926)
based on Luke 1: 46–51
CCL31580

Prayer of Approach

Motherly God, thanks to you for life and living, even when we are weary and worn out.
Thanks to you for challenge and change, even when we seek safety and security.
Thanks to you for playfulness and pain, even when we seek moderation and mild-living.
Thanks to you for companionship when we are lonely. Thanks to you for calling when we are settled. Thanks to you for creativity when we are uninspired.

Bring us to newness of life as your people.
Bring us to wholeness of life from out of its fragments.
Bring us to fullness of life from your communion in and with us.

Motherly God, to you we pray,

Amen

Confession

Let us call to mind our sin,
our failure to value the love of others
and our failure to love as Christ has loved us.

Kyrie

[Keep a little silence for reflection]

Your love gives us life from the moment of conception.
We fail to live as your children.

Lord have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

You call us to do good.
We seek our own good.

Christ, have mercy.
Christ have mercy.

You hear us when we cry for help.
We ignore the cries of others.

Lord, have mercy.
Lord have mercy.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Lord Jesus, thank you for everyone who looks after children,
especially mothers on this Mothering Sunday.

Thank you,
for our families – for dads and brothers and sisters,
for grandmas and granddads and uncles and aunties, for foster carers and step parents.

Thank you,
for special friends and neighbours, childminders, nursery workers and school staff
who all share in caring for children.

Thank you,
that you love and care for us even before we are born
and that we can discover your love through the people around us.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Psalm 127

Read by Veronica Fernandes

¹ Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labour in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
² In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat –
for he grants sleep to those he loves.

³ Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
⁴ Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
⁵ Blessed is the man<
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.

NIV®

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

John 19: 25–27

Read by Joy Enenche

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ ²⁷ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

NIV®

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

Meditation

Children’s Choir

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

Led by Grace Hunting

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 Mother.
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.

Hymn: For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the earth,
for the beauty of the skies,
for the love which from our birth
over and around us lies,
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the beauty of each hour
of the day and of the night,
hill and vale, and tree and flower,
sun and moon and stars of light:
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of ear and eye,
for the heart and mind’s delight,
for the mystic harmony
linking sense to sound and sight.
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For the joy of human love,
brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth and friends above,
pleasures pure and undefiled:
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

For each perfect gift of divine
to our race so freely given,
joys bestowed by love’s design,
flowers of earth and fruits of heaven:
Christ our God, to you we raise
this our sacrifice of praise.

F.S. Pierpoint (1835–1917)
CCL31580

Notices

Fairtrade Stall

This Sunday (10 March 2024)

There will be a Fairtrade Stall in the Guildhall following the 10.00 am service on Sunday; join us for coffee and to browse some of the new products and suppliers we have discovered since the close down of Traidcraft a year ago. Fairtrade Easter eggs and cards will also be available, including Meaningful Chocolate Company eggs with the Easter story included. Further info from Joy Chapman 07854 762676, email cjoy.chapman9@gmail.com.

Joy Chapman

World Book Day

Thursday, 7 March 2024

World Book Day is here. To celebrate, there are a range of adult and children’s books at a special price of only £1 each. More books have arrived for World Book Day at only £1 each, they are on the table in front of the book shelves in Reception.

Bob Collard

Training for Readers and Intercessors

Philip Allsop (who represents Fr Francis) has made a very kind offer of training for readers and intercessors. The Catholic cluster organise such training every now and again and have two excellent people to do the training. Philip is happy to hold their next training at Cornerstone and open it up to any of our readers and intercessors. It has been scheduled for 7.30–9.00 pm on Monday, 18 March 2024 in the Worship Area.

If you are interested in honing your reading skills or would like to get some training to become a reader, please let me or June know.

Brian Halstead, brianhalstead@hotmail.co.uk

Take part in the ‘Big Plastic Count’ (11–17 March 2024)

Households of all shapes and sizes, schools, community groups, churches and businesses will be counting their plastic packaging waste and sharing their results to help form a national picture of the state of plastic waste in the UK. The findings will be critical ahead of the Global Plastics Treaty, where nations will come together to set new global rules for the production of plastic. Find out more and join the count at: https://thebigplasticcount.com/sign-up/households/digital.

Eco Church Core Group

Connect with our Creator and God’s creation during Lent

Lent gives us the opportunity to reflect on the practice of fasting and commit to giving up something that brings a real benefit to nature and helps address climate change. A Rocha has produced a set of ideas and resources that we can use as a church, as families or as individuals. Take time to pray, reflect and consider these options – pick one or two or however many you’d like, for example, try to ‘Go plastic free’. Even if you can’t become totally plastic-free, make it your goal to at least reduce your use of plastic. Check the suggestions with tips here. https://arocha.org.uk/connect-with-our-creator-and-gods-creation-during-lent/.

You might also like to take a look at the Christian Aid Count your Blessings Lent resource, which has a social justice and ecological focus: https://www.christianaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/2024-01/count-your-blessings-2024-v1.1.pdf.

Eco Church Core Group

Offering

Children’s Choir

Final Prayer

Lord God, your mother-like love for us is so special
that we are scarcely able to believe it, let alone receive it.
We give thanks today for our mothers and their care for us,
and we also give thanks for those who have been like mothers to us,
offering us nurture and care throughout our lives.
We celebrate the fact that the roots and pattern for this love are found in you.
All love comes from you, so we pray that you will inspire and strengthen us
to become mother-like in our concern for others.
Help us to pass on the best advice to our children and to others,
and may we draw strength and inspiration from your Easter sacrifice,
to become those who lay down their lives for others.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.

Amen

Hymn: He’s got the whole world in his hand

He’s got the whole world in his hand. [×4]

He’s got you and me, brother …

He’s got you and me, sister …

He’s got everybody here …

He’s got the whole world …

Traditional
CCL31580

Blessing

May the Lord who brought us to birth by his Spirit, strengthen us for the Christian life.
May the Lord who provides for all our needs sustain us day by day.
May the Lord whose steadfast love is constant as a mother’s care,
send us out to live and work for others.
And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be with you and remain with you always

Amen

Dismissal

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

Amen