https://youtu.be/DR7Kz9UrESc
Welcome and Announcements
Hello Everyone! Thanks for joining us for worship today.
Opening Prayer
God of grace and glory,
to this worried world, you reveal your presence
in radiant glory and in gentle whispers,
on mountain tops and in shadowed valleys,
in classrooms and hospital beds,
in homes and churches,
in the quiet of nature and on busy streets.
Yours is the presence that pushes past our fear to calm us;
yours is the love that transforms our doubt with reassurance.
We come to dwell in your goodness
and offer you the praise you deserve.
God of mercy and forgiveness,
we confess that many things keep us from trusting fully in your love.
We are often distracted by our own desires and disappointments.
We cling to anger and resentment.
We fear for the future rather than seek signs of hope.
Hear us as we pause to confess the sins, of the past week
Gracious God assure our hearts with the words of Paul
in his second letter to Corinth (2 Cor 4:6)
For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
who has shone in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
We thank you that in Christ, we are forgiven.
Continue to shine your love upon us so that your glory may be seen in us,
and give us courage to follow Jesus wherever he leads,
Accept the worship we offer you now in Christ’s name. Amen.
Prayer for Understanding
Holy Spirit, give us ears to hear, and eyes to see
what we need to know to follow you faithfully this week.
Guide our meditations and applications of your Word to us that day.
In Christ, the Living Word we pray. Amen.
Scripture: Mark 9:2-9 Jesus is transfigured upon the mountain top before Peter, James and John.
Sermon: Mountain Top Experiences
This story of Jesus’ Transfiguration has puzzled me ever since I read it. Most of the sermons I have either preached or heard on today’s gospel reading of the Transfiguration of Jesus ignore the experience of James, John and Peter who witnessed this unexplainable event.
When I have preached on the Transfiguration before I have quickly passed over the wonder of the experience and have gone on to stress how we are called to come down off the mountain to live and serve in the valley below.
And yet, I find that too many Christian undervalue or ignore their own mountain top experiences with God in worship or at a retreat setting or some other important spiritual experience.
I wonder if we devalue our own experiences because we tend to be skeptical of people who claim they have had heavenly encounters, or a profound vision, or Christian who claim to have heard the voice of God speaking to them.
A friend once told me that an angel once spoke to her in an elevator at a very dark time in her life. . I didn’t know quite how to respond to her. My first inclination was to deny her experience, but after listening to her share I came to see how her experience was extremely meaningful and helpful to her.
We Christians with our Presbyterian bias, tend to focus more on practical side of faith, the living in the valleys, feeding the poor, sharing the gospel, loving our neighbor than rushing to find a new spiritual experience.
But sometimes we focus too much on the practical and we don’t leave room for a mystical and experiential side to our Christian faith. You know the kinds of faith that yearns to see God, to experience God’s power in our lives, to be touched by the Spirit’s healing, comforting, convicting and strengthening.
Our faith in God is about seeing visions of a new heaven and a new earth, every bit as much as it is about seeking justice and helping the poor.
Our faith is about entertaining angels, every bit as much as it is about seeking to comfort the afflicted and to heal the sick.
It is about being refreshed by God, as much as it is about refreshing others in God’s name.
Richard Fairchild, a United Church Minister in Golden, BC, tells the story of a little boy, around the turn of the century, lived far back out in the country. He had reached the age of 12 and had never, in all his life, seen a circus.
You can imagine his excitement when a poster went up at school that on the next Saturday that a travelling circus was coming to a nearby town. He ran home with the glad news, and then came the question “Dad, Mom, can I go?”
The family was poor, but the father sensed how important this was to the boy, so he said, “If you do your chores ahead of time, I’ll see to it that you have the money to go.”
That Saturday morning the chores were done and the boy stood ready in best clothes by the breakfast table. His father reached down into his overalls and pulled out a dollar bill the most money the boy had ever had at one time and gave it to him. After the usual cautions about being careful, the boy was sent on his way.
The boy was so excited that his feet barely touched the ground all the way to the town. When he got there, he noticed people were lining the streets and he worked his way through the crowd until he could see what was going on. There in the distance approached the spectacle of a circus parade. It was the grandest thing that the boy had ever seen. There were exotic animals in cages and bands and jugglers, acrobats, and all that goes to make up a great circus.
After everything had passed by where he was standing, a circus clown, with floppy shoes and baggy pants and brightly painted face, came by bringing up the rear. As the clown passed by where he was standing, the boy reached into his pocket and got out that precious dollar bill. After handing the money to the clown, the boy then turned around and went home.
My heart always breaks when I share this story. It reminds me so the people who I have known who have had a taste of the joys and wonders of knowing Jesus, and who never take their relationship with Jesus any further.
How many people met Jesus in various situations and who never took the relationship any deeper? Like the 10 lepers who are healed, and which only returns to say thank you for the healing. How sad for them.
The issue for those of us who have embraced a faith that is more intellectual than mystical, is that sometimes we close the door to those rare and special moments, the special touches, those faith changing mountain top experiences that only God can give us.
One such experience for me was when I was university. I attended a huge mission convention known as URBANA sponsored by Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship. I had scrimped and saved every penny I had to attend with some friends of mine. I remember a few things about what the speakers shared and tidbits from the workshops. The thing I remember most was the singing
There were five thousand spiritually hungry university students crowded in the University of Illinois gymnasium singing our hearts out and as loud as we could.
I remember singing “O for a thousand tongues to sing . . .” I had never heard that many Christians singing that hymn before in one place. And I thought to myself that we were literally fulfilling the desire of the author of hymn that a thousand tongues sing our great redeemer’s praise. This is a glimpse of the multitudes singing before the Lamb’s Throne that I had read in the Book of Revelation. I remember sensing God’s amazing presence in the midst of our worship and fellowship.
That service of worship was certainly a turning point in my understanding of what worship could be. I experienced what participating in 1,000 plus voice choir felt like. Perhaps it was as much a turning as was the disciple’s experience of Jesus on the mountain of Transfiguration or as much as Elisha’s and Moses’ mountain top experiences with God .
I can’t explain to you what a holy moment is; nor can I tell you just how special and sacred events come to pass, nor can I even promise you that you will have such a moment if you only do this or that. But I can tell that these moments are real and that they come to us most often when we open ourselves to God.
As an older preacher put it, “You can’t have a mountain top experience, if you don’t climb the mountain.”
Peter, James, and John were obeying Jesus when they witnessed his transfiguration; they had climbed the mountain with him as he went to pray.
The sacred experiences that are recounted in the bible are ones that were remembered and shared because they shaped the faith of those who witnessed and experienced them.
We should never be afraid or ashamed to tell our stories of our encounters with God that shaped our faith.
Some catch sight of God in the beauty around them, some glimpse God during a close encounter with death, some meet God in a special way during a period of suffering, others while they are praying at special gatherings, others in a simple act of breaking bread and drinking wine, some in an act of service or encouragement, and some while riding on an elevator.
Don’t throw away those strange and mysterious experiences that have happened in your lives. They have a vital role to play in our faith.
Don’t let go of those things that you do not understand or cannot explain. Rather meditate on them, delight in them, and use them as a source of strength for your time of service in the valleys below.
I trust that we won’t be like that twelve-year-old boy, who saw the circus parade and went home happy that he thought he had experienced the circus in its fullness. We have so much more to learn and experience from God in the mundane and ordinary as well as the profound and mysterious.
In those profound moments, when our eyes are opened a bit wider, when our ears are more sensitive to the Spirit is when we catch a glimpse our Lord Jesus in his glory. Those are the moments we cherish and reflect upon them and share with others , just as Peter, James and John did.
We join them in sharing what we have seen and heard to inspire and encourage others in their faith as their stories encourage us.
To the God of all grace,
who calls you to share God’s eternal glory
in union with Christ,
be the power forever! Amen. (1 Peter 5:10, 11)
Closing Prayer
God of life, God of love:
You created us and set us in relationship with each other—
in families and neighbourhoods, communities and countries, cultures and nations.
We give you thanks for all the supportive relationships
which bring meaning and encouragement to our lives,
and have meant so much in times of isolation.
Help us contribute what we can to sustain the wellbeing of our community
for all who call it home.
God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of our faith & our future,
there are so many pressures on homes and families today.
Draw near to those who are struggling in economic difficulty
and those burdened by the challenges to health and happiness this winter.
Work with parents and children, married partners, and next-door neighbours
who face conflict their relationships
to create solutions that express mutual respect and resolve tension.
Help our congregation support families, whatever their size or situation,
as well as people living on their own, to know your love.
God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
God of mercy and forgiveness,
You call us to live together in peace and unity.
We pray for our neighbourhoods and our nation.
Where people are divided and bitterness turns into resentment,
show us how to work for reconciliation.
As the pandemic stretches on,
we pray for all those whose skill and dedication is needed
to support our common life.
Wherever we can, may we offer words of encouragement and appreciation
so others know much they matter to you and to us all.
God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer.
Today we give thanks for our church family
and for the years of worship and witness offered here.
So much has changed for us over these past few months
and we pray you will bless our leaders
who have to think carefully and creatively so congregational life continues.
We remember those of our number in need of your special attention today…
(Hold a silence)
Guide us all with your wisdom and insight
so we find ways to reach out to each other in support and friendship.
Open our eyes to opportunities to reach out beyond our own fellowship
as agents of your healing and hope
for we offer ourselves to you in Jesus’ name in whose name we pray.
Amen.
Charge / Benediction (Nu 6:24–26, The Message)
GOD bless you and keep you,
GOD smile on you and gift you,
GOD look you full in the face and make you prosper.
Have great week. Stay safe!
Be a blessing to someone this week!
Have great week. Stay safe!
Be a blessing to someone this week!
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Prayer Partnership
Sunday, February 14 (Transfiguration Sunday) We pray for the gift of love in our lives—love that is patient, kind, faithful and unconditional.
Monday, February 15 (Family Day) We pray for families of all shapes, sizes and configurations, that they may be filled with love and joy.
Tuesday, February 16 (Shrove Tuesday) We give thanks to God for seasons of feasting and fasting, and we pray for all who have chosen a discipline to follow in the season of Lent.
Wednesday, February 17 (Ash Wednesday) Loving God, you hate nothing you have made, and you forgive our sins. You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until it rests in you. Help us to return to you and to your way, and create in us new hearts so that we might love you more dearly and follow you more nearly.
Thursday, February 18 We give thanks and pray for schools and teachers who are working to provide the best educational tools to engage and teach children both at home virtually and in the classroom.
Friday, February 19 We pray for those leading worship and study groups in this Lenten season.
Saturday, February 20 (World Day for Social Justice) We pray for the peacemakers and justice seekers who are working to reflect God’s vision of justice in the world, where the dignity and well-being of all are protected.