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

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

Welcome and Greetings

Opening Sentences

Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
For the Lord,
our God is coming to us!

Tell the poor, gather the lowly.
For the Lord,
our God is coming to us!

The trees of the fields and all nature are awaiting eagerly the redemption of the earth.
For the Lord,
our God is coming to us!

Let us praise the God of our salvation.
Let us hail God’s Anointed One with shouts of joy.

Let us worship God together.

Amen

Hymn: Come down, O love divine

Come down, O love divine,
seek thou this soul of mine,
and visit it with thine own ardour glowing;
O comforter, draw near,
within my heart appear,
and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

O let it freely burn,
till earthly passions turn
to dust and ashes in its heat consuming;
and let thy glorious light
shine ever on my sight,
and clothe me round, the while my path illuming.

Let holy charity
mine outward vesture be,
and lowliness become my inner clothing;
true lowliness of heart,
which takes the humbler part,
and o’er its own shortcomings weeps with loathing.

And so the yearning strong,
with which the soul will long,
shall far outpass the power of human telling,
for none can guess its grace,
till he become the place
wherein the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Bianco da Siena (d. 1434)
tr. Richard Frederick Littledale (1833–1890)
CCL31580

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Confession

We give praise to you, Loving God, for the gift of witnesses to your love.
We give thanks for the witness of John the Baptist
and his message to the people and its relevance for us today.
In his story and his teaching, we see the heart of your being:
fairness and justice and equality for your people.

We give you thanks for the ordinary everyday life that witnesses to your power and glory.
We give thanks that you are always surprising us and meeting us right where we are.
However, in sadness and regret, Lord,
we are sorry for times when we have been blind to the needs of neighbours,
deaf to the cries of the distressed, silent at the sight of the abused,
careless with the frightened and supportive of greed and corruption.
We confess our obsessions with things material and short-lived.
Open our ears and eyes, and our hearts, to be more receptive
to what we see and hear from those we meet.

Amen

[Silence … personal confessions …]

Absolution

God knows the depths of our sorrow.
God knows the depths of our grief for wrongs done.
God knows the pains of regret for deeds undone.
God knows the depths of our hearts.

To God we repent, and forgiveness is given.

Amen

Lighting the Advent Candle

Lord, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of your son, Jesus Christ, this Christmas,
we pray that we will welcome him into our hearts.
As the light of our Advent wreath grows stronger, week by week,
make us strong in following him in the love and the peace we show to others.

Amen

Prayer of the Week

To you, O God, we lift our hearts; how great you are.
You are our Saviour; you are our Power; you are our Strength.
You are the giver of life-giving water to quench our spiritual thirst.
You are a bounteous one beyond our imagining.
You are the giver of gifts beyond compare.
To you, O God, we lift our heart, we raise our eyes, and we shout in adoration.

Amen

Ministry of the Word

Isaiah 12: 2–6

² ‘Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and will not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defence;
he has become my salvation.’
³ With joy you will draw water
from the wells of salvation.

⁴ In that day you will say:

‘Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done,
and proclaim that his name is exalted.
⁵ Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
⁶ Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion.
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.’

NIV®

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

Hymn: Hills of the north, rejoice

Hills of the north, rejoice;
river and mountain-spring,
hark to the advent voice;
valley and lowland, sing:
though absent long, your Lord is nigh;
he judgement brings and victory.

Isles of the southern seas,
deep in your coral caves
pent be each warring breeze,
lulled be your restless waves:
he comes to reign with boundless sway,
and makes your wastes his great highway.

Lands of the east, awake,
soon shall your sons be free;
the sleep of ages break,
and rise to liberty.
On your far hills, long cold and grey,
has dawned the everlasting day.

Shores of the utmost west,
ye that have waited long,
unvisited, unblest,
break forth to swelling song;
high raise the note, that Jesus died,
yet lives and reigns, the Crucified.

Shout, while you journey home;
songs be in every mouth;
lo, from the north we come,
from east and west and south:
City of God, the bonds are free,
we come to live and reign in thee!

Charles E. Oakley (1832–1865)
CCL31580

Luke 3: 7–18

⁷ John said to the crowds coming out to be baptised by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ The axe has been laid to the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.’

¹⁰ ‘What should we do then?’ the crowd asked.

¹¹ John answered, ‘Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.’

¹² Even tax collectors came to be baptised. ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘what should we do?’

¹³ ‘Don’t collect any more than you are required to,’ he told them.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’

He replied, ‘Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.’

¹⁵ The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. ¹⁶ John answered them all, ‘I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’ ¹⁸ And with many other words John exhorted the people and proclaimed the good news to them.

NIV®

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

Meditation

By Revd Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga

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

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.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Amen

Sharing Peace

In the tender mercy of our God, the dayspring from on high shall break upon us,
to give light to those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be always with you!
And also with you!

Notices

Volunteer vacancies

Stewards for Church Services

More volunteers are needed to join our team of Stewards for Cornerstone Church Services. Full training will be provided. Volunteer stewards play an invaluable service ensuring the smooth running of our services and are particularly important as we maintain good safeguarding practices in response to the pandemic. Without sufficient stewards we are not able to conduct services in the church building. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Kate Abrahams or Mark Okor, Church Administrator (email: admin@cornerstonemk.co.uk; tel: 01908 246480) or speak to one of the Stewards or one of the Ministers after a Service.

Receptionists

To keep the church building open throughout the week we need volunteers to be on the front desk in Reception as long as the church building is open. Receptionists are usually on duty for a three- or four-hour shift: mornings 10.00 am – 1.00 pm; afternoons 1.00–5.00 pm; evenings 5.00–8.00 pm. If you are able to help, whether on a regular basis or as a stand-by please contact Mark Okor, Church Administrator (email: admin@cornerstonemk.co.uk; tel: 01908 246480).

Advent Study Groups

Week Three: The Ultimate Gift

Our Advent Study Groups continue this week, all on Zoom.

The material we will be using is:
Unwrapping Advent: Celebrating the Wonder of Jesus’ Arrival Then and Now by Margaret Feinberg.

The Bible passages for this week’s study are: Matthew 2: 1–12, Luke 10: 38–42, and Romans 12: 1–2. You may wish to read these as part of your preparation for your study session.

Bank Details for the Cornerstone Christmas Appeal

We now have a separate bank account for the Cornerstone Christmas Appeal. Unfortunately the details of this new account were not available when the Appeal Information went to print. As a result the printed information contains the bank details for the main Church Metro Account.

The details for the Christmas Appeal Account are:

Name: Cornerstone Christmas Appeal
Sort Code: 23–05–80
Account No:  43302825
This Account is also with the Metro Bank

If you are unsure which account you are using, please include the word XMAS alongside your name in the payment reference, as this will make it clear where the money is for. Your name needs to be clear so that we can claim Gift Aid where appropriate.

Please make any cheques payable to ‘Cornerstone Christmas Appeal.’

Thank You
Janet Trimnell
on behalf of the Christmas Appeal Committee

Ann Boutflower

Mrs Ann Boutflower, who attended the Church of Christ the Cornerstone for many years, sadly passed away on 29 November 2021. Her funeral will be held at St Mary’s Church in Bampton, Oxfordshire, on 20 December 2021. Please hold the family in your prayers.

Mrs Kate Hancock

Hymn: Longing for light, we wait in darkness

Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
light for the world to see.

Christ be our light! Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.

Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.

Christ be our light! ….

Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed.

Christ be our light! ….

Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stone.

Christ be our light! ….

Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
helping your kingdom come.

Christ be our light! ….

Bernadette Farrell (b. 1957)
CCL31580

Blessings

Spirit of the Living God, help us to go into the world in peace;
to be of good courage; to hold fast to that which is good;
to strengthen the fainthearted; to support the weak; to honour everyone;
and to love and serve the Lord.
And the blessing of God almighty
the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
be among you and remain with you always.

Amen

Sending out

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

Amen