Led by: Revd George Mwaura

Gathering Music

Call to Worship

Journeying God, too often we join your journey grudgingly, placing conditions and excuses in the way.

Fill our hearts with a passion for the journey, a longing to learn more of you,
and a desire to share our journey with others.

Amen

Greetings and Welcome

Prayer of Praise

[Women] We praise you, our loving God,
for creating an earth with enough room for everyone,
where nature sustains environments of harmony and balance,
where new life springs out of death and decay,
where adaptation and change bring new possibilities.

[Men] We praise you, our loving God, for the gift of your Son identified with our humanity, who welcomes the outcast and the lost, who does not see the world as we see it, but proclaims peace and justice for all.

[All] We praise you, our loving God, for the exuberance and wisdom of your Spirit,
who invites us to move on in our journey of faith,
who challenges us to forgiveness and reconciliation,
and sends us out to live our lives as part of the solution.

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

Confessions

Creator God, as the days grow shorter and the evenings darken,
we bring before you any negative thoughts and feelings that add to the darkness.
Forgive us and heal us.

As the wind blows the bright leaves from the trees and strips the branches bare,
we bring before you the times we have stripped away the dignity of others with a hurtful word.
Forgive us and heal us.

As the fallen leaves are gathered into piles,
we bring before you the times we have carelessly swept away the needs of others
without consideration of their feelings.
Forgive us and heal us.

Forgive us and heal us, O God.
Restore the light and colour to our lives
and to the lives of those we have hurt.

Amen

Kyrie

Prayer of the Week

Gracious God, we give you thanks for all the ways your Son draws us together in community.
We pray for those unable to worship alongside those they love:
for churches in turmoil and for all places where relationships are breaking.
And we ask your blessing on ourselves, on one another,
and on all who call upon you today in Jesus’ name.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Ezekiel 37: 7–11

Read by Nerys Steeds

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. ⁸ I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.” ’ ¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army.

¹¹ Then he said to me: ‘Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.”

NIV®

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

Hymn: Let there be love shared among us

Let there be love shared among us,
let there be love in our eyes,
may now your love sweep this nation,
cause us O Lord to arise.
Give us a fresh understanding
filled with your love that is real,
let there be love shared among us,
let there be love.

Let there be peace …

Let there be hope …

Let there be joy …

Dave Bilbrough (b. 1965)
CCL31580

Matthew 18: 15–20

Read by Peter Steeds

Dealing with Sin in the Church

¹⁵ ‘If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that “every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” ¹⁷ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

¹⁸ ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ ‘Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.’

NIV®

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

Meditations

[Silence]

Affirmation of Faith

We believe in God the Father:
infinite in wisdom, power and love, whose mercy is over all his works,
and whose will is ever directed to his children’s good.

We believe in Jesus Christ:
Son of God and Son of man, the gift of the Father’s unfailing grace,
the ground of our hope, and the promise of our deliverance from sin and death.

We believe in the Holy Spirit:
as the divine presence in our lives,
whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ,
and find strength and help in time of need.

We believe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love
as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord,
to the end that the kingdom of God may come upon the earth.

Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus

Hymn: Lord of the Church

Lord of the Church, we pray for our renewing:
Christ over all, our undivided aim;
fire of the Spirit, burn for enduing,
wind of the Spirit, fan the living flame!
We turn to Christ amid our fear and failing,
the will that lacks the courage to be free,
the weary labours, all but unavailing,
to bring us nearer what a church should be.

Lord of the Church, we seek a Father’s blessing,
a true repentance, and a faith restored,
a swift obedience and a new possessing,
filled with the Holy Spirit of he Lord!
We turn to Christ from all our restless striving,
unnumbered voices with a single prayer –
the living water for our souls reviving,
in Christ to live, and love and serve and care.

Lord of the Church, we long for our uniting,
true to one calling, by one vision stirred,
one cross proclaiming, and one creed reciting,
one in the truth of Jesus and his Word!
So lead us on, till toil and trouble ended,
one Church triumphant one new song shall sing,
to praise his glory, risen and ascended,
Christ over all, he everlasting King!

Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926)
CCL31580

Intercessions

Led by Rosemary Kearsey

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

Cornerstone Baby and Toddler Group

The group begins again on Monday, 11 September at 10.00 am in the Guildhall. Please spread the word!

We are ready to go, but would still like some volunteers to come and help. A commitment of once every half term would be fantastic and sure to be fun!

Please contact Nerys nsteeds@icloud.com or Joy joy@dachapman.free-online.co.uk.

Wednesday Evening Bible Study

Wednesday Evening Bible Study by Zoom with Revd George Mwaura resumes next week at 7.00 pm on Wednesday, 20 September 2023. We are resuming our study of the parables of the Kingdom.

Our Ministers

Revd George Mwaura returns from annual leave on Saturday, 9 September 2023. Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga is away on Annual Leave from Friday, 8 September to Saturday, 16 September 2023.

Take time out to celebrate Creationtide 1 September – 4 October

Creation Time – or the Season of Creation – is the name given to the period from 1 September to 4 October each year and is a time dedicated to God as the Creator and sustainer of all life. During this time, churches and Christians are encouraged to have a focus on creation, with all the joys and responsibilities that being part of God’s creation brings to us. A Rocha has produced some great resources to help people connect with our Creator and God’s creation this season, including a ‘Step outside’ resource and Prayer Walk Guide that we can use as a church, as families and as individuals. https://arocha.org.uk/new-resource-step-outside-this-season-of-creation-1-september-4-october/.

Cornerstone Eco-Church Group

MK Can! – World Record attempt, 10 km of cans for MK Food Bank

We need tins of food: lots of them! Cornerstone is committed to collecting at least 350 cans ahead of the event on World Food Day: Monday, 16 October 2023. This event is being organised by the MK Food Bank and is a major Milton Keynes effort to smash the current world record for the longest line of cans of food! We need to fill Cornerstone’s 25 metre section of the 10 km, so please donate tins of fruit, vegetables, tomatoes, soup, meat, fish, baked beans, other pulses, rice pudding or custard, or pasta.

Bring them to the church on Sunday or whenever it is open and we’ll store them ahead of the event. There is a box behind the desk in Reception in which to leave your cans. All the cans will be used during the following months by MK Food Bank to give out in food parcels, so they need to be in good condition (not dented or damaged) and well within the best before date, ideally by a year at least. For more information see https://mkfoodbank.org.uk/mk-can/.

We will also need volunteers in the day, so please offer your services if you can be available for some or all of the time 9.00 am – 5.00 pm on Monday 16th October, in Campbell Park. Contact to Mubina Chakera (mubinachakera@hotmail.com) or David Chapman (david@dachapman.free-online.co.uk).

Social Justice Committee

Offertory

Choir

Offertory Prayer

Hymn: For the healing of the nations

For the healing of the nations,
Lord, we pray with one accord,
for a just and equal sharing
of the things that earth affords.
To a life of love in action
help us rise and pledge our word.

Lead us, Father, into freedom,
from despair your world release,
that, redeemed from war and hatred,
all may come and go in peace.
Show us how through care and goodness
fear will die and hope increase.

All that kills abundant living,
let it from the earth be banned;
pride of status, race or schooling,
dogmas that obscure your plan.
In our common quest for justice
may we hallow life’s brief span.

You, Creator-God, have written
your great name on all mankind;
for our growing in your likeness
bring the life of Christ to mind;
that by our response and service
earth its destiny may find.

Fred Kaan (1929–2009)
CCL31580

Blessings

Go forth into the world in peace;
be of good courage; hold fast that which is good;
render to no one evil for evil; honour everyone.
And may the blessings of God almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be among you and remain with you today and always.

Amen

Dismissal

Church, go in peace to serve and love the Lord.
In the name of Christ, we will.

Amen

The Service is followed by a Congregational Meeting

Agenda

The purpose of the meeting is to elect an additional trustee to the CIO.

Background

The congregation elected the following to serve as Trustees of the CIO in addition to the clergy trustees, Revd George Mwaura, Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga, Revd Fr Francis Higgins: Peter Cope, Cheryl Montgomery, Peter Steeds, Ade Amos, Tabbie Macharia and Grace Hunting.

The Trustees have considered all the work they have to do and have determined that they need an additional Trustee. The Trustees are nominating Ademola Adeyemi to be a Trustee.

Resolution

To elect Ademola Adeyemi as a Trustee of Christ the Cornerstone CIO for a term of three years.

You can vote via WhatsApp or via text message to 07795 237 888. It is possible to vote by email any time up to and including 10 September by sending your response (I agree with the resolution or I do not agree with the resolution) to this email: mkstitcher2016@gmail.com.