Please note that the video feed will go live from around 9:50 am and will be switched off after the service.

Led by Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

Welcome

Gathering Prayer

Living God, we bring you our ‘hosannas’:

For you are an almighty God;
we bring you our ‘alleluias’.

For you are a wonderful God;
we bring you our dreams.

For you are a faithful God.;
we bring you our discipleship.

For you are an encouraging God;
we bring you our hearts.

For you are a loving God
in whom we can trust.

Amen

Service of the Palms

This morning begins the Great Week of the Christian Year.
During Lent we have been preparing by works of love and self-sacrifice
for the celebration of the Lord’s death and resurrection.
With Christians throughout the world, we come together this week
to call to mind, and to express in word and action,
the centre of the Easter mystery: our Lord’s Passover from death to life.
Christ entered in triumph into the Holy City to complete his work as Messiah:
to suffer, to die and to rise to new life.
Today we commit ourselves to walk the way of the cross,
so that, sharing his sufferings, we may be united with him in his risen life.

Hymn: Hosanna, hosanna

Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest;
hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest:
Lord, we lift up your name,
with hearts full of praise.
Be exalted, O Lord my God –
hosanna in the highest.

Glory, glory, glory to the King of kings;
glory, glory, glory to the King of kings:
Lord, we lift up your name,
with hearts full of praise.
Be exalted, O Lord my God –
glory to the King of kings.

Carl Tuttle (b. 1953)
CCL31580

The Blessing of the Palms

Sovereign God, we thank you for these branches [and crosses] of palm.
By your blessing may they be for us signs of the victory of your Son.
May we who carry them in his name ever hail him as our Messiah,
and follow him in the way that leads to eternal life;
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen

The Procession

Let us praise Jesus our Messiah,

as did the crowds who welcomed him to Jerusalem.
Let us proceed in peace.
In the name of Christ.

Amen

[We process with the palms around the Cloisters.]

Let us pray.

Merciful God, as we enter this holy week and gather at your house of prayer,
turn our hearts again to Jerusalem, to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,
that, united with Christ and all the faithful,
we may one day enter in triumph the city not made with hands,
the new Jerusalem, eternal in the heavens, where, with you and the Holy Spirit,
Christ lives in glory for ever.

Amen

Confession

We are sorry, Lord Jesus, for the moments when our hosannas are loud but lacking in love,
when we chase the lure of worldly power, but miss the signs of heavenly glory,
when we choose popularity over integrity,
when we would silence those who speak the truth and are silent when we could speak out.
Forgive us, and inspire our steps as we follow you to the Cross…and beyond.

[Silence]

God of all that is, your power is both mighty and vulnerable, and you both judge and forgive.
Your Son is both King and servant, and he both teaches and serves.
You hear our words and you understand our silence and you both accept and inspire.
Loving God, thank you for this day, for this journey, and for your Son, who draws us closer to you.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

Wonderful God, thank you that you meet us right here
where we are sitting in the ordinary stuff and activities of this day.
As we journey through Holy Week, may we recognise you in Christ Jesus,
be empowered to live like him to live into the preciousness
of the life that you sustain in us.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Philippians 2: 5–11

Read by Robin Kyd

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
⁶ who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death –
even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

NIV®

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

Hymn: Ride on! Ride on in majesty!

Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
Hark, all the tribes hosanna cry;
thy humble beast pursues his road
with palms and scattered garments strowed.

Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
O Christ, thy triumphs now begin
o’er captive death and conquered sin.

Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
The wingèd squadrons of the sky
look down with sad and wondering eyes,
to see the approaching sacrifice.

Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
Thy last and fiercest strife is nigh;
the Father, on his sapphire throne,
expects his own anointed Son.

Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die;
bow thy meek head to mortal pain,
then take, O God, thy power, and reign.

H.H. Milman (1791–1868)
CCL31580

Luke 19: 28–40

Read by Pat Kyd

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

²⁸ After Jesus had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. ²⁹ As he approached Bethphage and Bethany at the hill called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ³⁰ ‘Go to the village ahead of you, and as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no-one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks you, “Why are you untying it?” say, “The Lord needs it.” ’

³² Those who were sent ahead went and found it just as he had told them. ³³ As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, ‘Why are you untying the colt?’

³⁴ They replied, ‘The Lord needs it.’

³⁵ They brought it to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. ³⁶ As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road.

³⁷ When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:

³⁸ ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’

³⁹ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’

⁴⁰ ‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.’

NIV®

Meditation

[Silent reflection]

Affirmation of Faith

Let us declare our 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 Intercession

Led by Cheryl Montgomery

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

Christ is our peace. He has reconciled us to God in one body by the cross.
We meet in his name and share his peace.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
And also with you.

Let us offer one another a sign of peace.

Notices

Children’s Easter Workshop

Good Friday 9.30 am –12.00 am, in the Guildhall

Join us for a fun-filled morning of craft, cooking and activities to explore the meaning of Easter. All primary-school-aged children are welcome. If you have any questions, please contact Mark Okor in the Church Office.

Nerys Steeds

Preparing Easter Flowers

Saturday, 16 April 2022 from 10.30 am

We will be preparing flowers for Easter Day on Saturday, 16 April 2022 from 10.30 am. It’s two years since we have really been able to celebrate! If you would like to help with flowers, please contact Cheryl Montgomery via the Cornerstone What’s App group or by leaving a note in the church pigeon hole at Reception or email me at mkstitcher2016@gmail.com.

There will be other people using the church that day, but we will be meeting at the church from 10.30 am.

Cheryl Montgomery

Daily Prayers

We are continuing our daily prayers at 9.00 am Monday–Friday on the Living Stones WhatsApp group and the Cornerstone website. We shall be taking a break after Wednesday (13 April 2022), resuming daily prayers at 9.00 am on Monday, 25 April 2022.

Holy Week at Cornerstone

This is Holy Week. There is no Holy Communion at 6.00 pm on Wednesday. On Maundy Thursday (14 April 2022) Holy Communion is at 7.00 pm. On Good Friday there are children’s activities 9.30 am – 12.00 noon in the Guildhall. Meanwhile, we meet at 11.45 am in the church for prayers before the Walk of Witness, returning to the church at 12.15 pm for prayers. A light lunch will be served and 1.30–3.00 pm there are ‘Jesus’ Last Words’ – contemplative meditations with musical interludes. At 7.30 pm there will be a Musical Meditation for Good Friday with the Cornerstone Choir.

The Easter Vigil Mass is at 9.00 pm on Saturday, 16 April 2022.

On Easter Day the guest preacher at 10.00 am Holy Communion is Revd Geoffrey Clarke, Moderator of the East Midlands Synod of the United Reformed Church.

‘God loves a cheerful giver’

Thanks to your generous giving we can be an OASIS OF HOPE to Milton Keynes.

Please keep supporting our mission!

If you are at our worship service in the church building and would like to make an offering, please place your offering in the basket at the door to the worship area. If you can’t find it, please ask the stewards.

There are many different ways to give: online, telephone banking or by cheque. For more information how to give please visit the Cornerstone website (www.cornerstonemk.co.uk) or contact: steward.cccmk@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support. It is much appreciated.

Offering Prayer

God of all grace, we thank you for the gifts you have given us:
our lives, our talents, our goods.
We offer our gifts in return, so that you may use them and us
for your purpose in this world.

Amen

Final Prayer

May God grant you the exuberance of the Palm Sunday crowd,
and the humility of Jesus riding a donkey;
the energy and excitement of the crowd, and the calm holiness of Jesus;
the expectation of the crowd, and the understanding heart of Jesus,
who journeyed to Jerusalem for love of us all.

Amen

Hymn: Rejoice in the Lord always

Rejoice in the Lord always,
and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord always,
and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, rejoice,
and again I say rejoice.
Rejoice, rejoice,
and again I say rejoice.

From Scripture
CCL31580

Blessing

Jesus Christ, the holy one, the whole one, the blessed one,
the chosen one who comes in the name of the Lord.
Enter the gates of our hearts and give us vision for the road
and make us caring companion to each other.

And the blessing of God almighty,
the Father, the Son and 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