Service Sunday March 2, 2025
Transfiguration Sunday
Worship Leader: Rev. Max Ward
Music Director: Melissa Stephens
(For a Printer Friendly PDF version click this link)
All are Welcome!
Watch a video recording of the whole service below using YouTube.
The Gathering
Welcome and Announcements.
Focusing On The Light of Christ.
Acknowledgement of Land
This land on which we gather is the Traditional land of the Anishnaabeg people. We worship Creator on this land and acknowledge with respect the thousands of years of ceremony and relationship that are etched in footprint, fire, and faithfulness on the soil and rock that surrounds us.
Written by Peter Chynoweth, Cochrane, Alta.
Lent & Easter Gathering, 2022, p.30. Used with permission.
THE APPROACH
CALL TO WORSHIP:
One: Have you been to the mountaintop? Have you experienced the promised land?
ALL: Here in the valley of deep shadow, the mountain seems impossibly high and far away, the promise fades into the cloudy distance.
One: Have you been to the mountaintop? Have you experienced the promised land?
ALL: We want to go, we want to experience, but who will show us the way?
One: Listen to the old stories. Listen to your own stories. Notice the Spirit calling. Learn to attend with your heart.
ALL: We will go to the mountain top. We will seek the promised land.
Written by John Moses, Aylesford U.C., Aylesford, N.S.
Gathering, Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2024-2025, p.55. Used with permission.
HYMN: “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” VU #264
1 Immortal, invisible, God only wise;
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes;
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
2 Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.
3 To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree,
then wither and perish; but naught changeth thee.
4 Thou reignest in glory, thou rulest in light;
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all praise we would render, O help us to see
'tis only the splendour of light hideth thee!
A NEW CREED: Spoken in Unison
We are not alone; we live in God’s world.
We believe in God: who has created and is creating,
who has come in Jesus, the Word made flesh,
to reconcile and make new, who works in us and others by the Spirit.
We trust in God.
We are called to be the church: to celebrate God’s presence,
to live with respect in Creation, to love and serve others,
to seek justice and resist evil, to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,
our judge and our hope. In life, in death, in life beyond death, God is with us. We are not alone. Thanks be to God.
MINISTRY OF MUSIC:
HYMN: “We Have Come at Christ’s Own Bidding” VU# 104
1 We have come at Christ's own bidding
to this high and holy place,
where we wait with hope and longing
for some token of God's grace.
Here we pray for new assurance
that our faith is not in vain,
searching like those first disciples
for a sign both clear and plain.
2 Light breaks in upon our darkness;
splendour bathes the flesh-joined Word;
Moses and Elijah marvel
as the heavenly voice is heard.
Eyes and hearts behold with wonder
how the Law and Prophets meet:
Christ, with garments drenched in brightness,
stands transfigured and complete.
3 Strengthened by this glimpse of glory,
fearful lest our faith decline,
we like Peter find it tempting
to remain and build a shrine.
But true worship gives us courage
to proclaim what we profess,
that our daily lives may prove us
people of the God we bless.
THE WORD
SCRIPTURE: Exodus 34:29-35 & Luke 9:28-36
Leader: Hear and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the church.
ALL: Thanks be to God.
MESSAGE:
“A Recipe for Transfiguration”
Listen to an audio recording of the message below or read it at the bottom of this page.
OUR RESPONSE
Candle Lighting Liturgy
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and THE LORD’S PRAYER: (sung VU #960)
HYMN: “When Morning Gilds the Skies” VU #339
1 When morning gilds the skies,
my heart awakening cries:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
When evening shadows fall,
this rings my curfew call:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
2 To God, the Word on high,
the hosts of angels cry:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Let mortals, too, upraise
their voice in hymns of praise:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
3 Let all of humankind
in this their concord find:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Let all the earth around
ring joyous with the sound:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
4 Be this, while life is mine,
my canticle divine:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th'eternal song,
through all the ages long:
may Jesus Christ be praised!
AFFIRMING MOMENT:
PRESENTATION OF OUR OFFERINGS
OFFERTORY PRAYER:
Gold glitters and silver shines, but any gifts offered in Jesus’ name are radiant with your love, O God. May it be so this day. Amen.
Written by John Moses, Aylesford U.C., Aylesford, N.S.
Gathering, Advent/Christmas/Epiphany 2024-2025, p.56. Used with permission.
SUNG BLESSING: VU #454
(First time, CHOIR, Second time, ALL)
May God who creates you give you light,
may God who sustains you make you wise,
may God who protects you give you joy,
may God who surrounds you give you peace. ©
Sending Forth:
A Time of Fellowship
© Music Reproduced with permission under License number A-605748, Valid for: 26/10/2024 - 25/10/2025; One License - Copyright Cleared Music for Churches.
Sermon 2025 03 02
“A Recipe for Transfiguration”
Exodus 34:29-35 & Luke 9:28-36
Gracious God, be with us today in this place, in the Scriptures and in our words.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts praise your Holy name. Amen.
Have you ever known someone who glows?
You know what I mean.
One of those people who always seems to radiate energy and life.
Sometimes they are energetic people who are always active.
Other times they are quiet peaceful people.
Either way they are radiant.
Such people radiate life and energy and peace.
That is the way I understand the story of the transfiguration.
This story is full of symbolism.
“Transfiguration” literally means a change in appearance.
When Jesus went up the mountain his appearance was changed.
It was as if he glowed with the fire of God and his disciples saw him in a new light.
When we speak of “the transfiguration” we are usually speaking of an incident with Jesus we read about in Luke.
But Moses was transfigured too.
The Bible says that when he came down the mountain his face glowed.
In fact, it scared the people.
In a way this glowing was a validation and confirmation to the people that Moses had truly spoken with God.
But how does this happen to a person?
How can we be transfigured?
How can our lives glow and radiate the life and peace of God?
These are the questions I want to explore this morning.
And I want to propose a recipe for transfiguration.
Let’s look at Moses first.
Moses had been on Mount Sinai receiving commandments from God for 40 days and 40 nights.
This is significant!
To spend 40 days and nights, also known as a very long time, with someone alone on the top of a mountain you get to know them.
In a sense one could say that Moses was close to God.
Not just because Moses was on the same mountain top but because Moses knew God.
Exodus says that Moses’ face was shining because he had been talking to God.
So Moses wasn’t just near God, he had been conversing with God.
In fact, he would keep on conversing with God.
The other thing to notice is that Moses came to the people to share what he had heard.
It says that Moses didn’t know that his face was shining.
But he had something to share with the people.
He had the law of God, so he went to the people and shared that law with them.
His face had probably not shined at all in the presence of God’s vast glory.
It was only when he went into the relative darkness of the world that he glowed.
For Christmas one year, my sister gave me some stars that glowed in the dark.
They look like ordinary pieces of plastic in the light but when the lights were off, they would glow.
In the same way Moses probably looked like an ordinary man in the presence of God.
But while he was there he soaked up the light of God and when he was in the seemingly dark world he glowed that light for all to see.
Let’s take a look at Jesus.
Luke tells us that Jesus took three of his disciples up a mountain to pray.
It happened while he prayed that his appearance was changed and he glowed.
At that moment Moses and Elijah, the representatives of the Law and the Prophets, were standing with him talking.
And Jesus’ disciples saw all this.
As in the case of Moses the source of the light was God.
Jesus was close to his Father and had been praying.
The light that he had soaked up during that time of prayer was now being radiated for all to see.
The symbolic fact that he was talking with Moses and Elijah who represented two major divisions in the Old Testament, showed his intimate knowledge of the Scriptures.
It is also important to notice that Jesus was not alone.
He had brought some friends with him.
Like Moses, he had not gone to the top of the mountain for his own benefit, but for the benefit of others.
Moses had gone to receive the law to give to the people and Jesus had gone to show God’s glory to his disciples.
So how do we achieve transfiguration in our lives?
How do we come to glow with the life and light of God so that others in this dark world can see God burning in us?
First of all, don’t seek it for yourself.
Don’t seek to radiate energy to call attention to yourself.
Don’t seek after it so that you can feel better about yourself.
Both Jesus and Moses went up their mounts of transfiguration not for their own benefit, but to help others.
If you just want to look holy you are going up the wrong mountain.
But if you truly want to bring God’s light to those in darkness then you are headed up the right mountain.
Secondly, seek to be close to God.
Like Jesus, pray, and like Moses, talk with God.
Get to know God intimately.
This will take time.
You will need to study God’s Word.
You will need to meditate on it day and night.
You will need to soak it up so that it becomes a part of you.
Then, once you have soaked up the light of God, you need to go in to the darkness.
You can’t glow in the presence of God.
You have to spend time with God to soak up the light because God is the source.
But you will never glow in God’s presence because God will always outshine you!
You need to go to the world, where it seems dark, and let God’s light radiate from you.
So here is my recipe for transfiguration:
Start with a large helping of humility and an equally large helping of generosity.
Mix together and don’t eat the dough because we are baking this for someone else’s benefit.
Next place in the presence of God and allow to bake.
When done take it out to the hungry people in the world.
Occasionally take the leftovers back to bake in the presence of God and you will always have enough light and life to share with all you meet.
Try this recipe. Today!
Thanks be to God. Amen.
