GREETING
Jesus, lead us up a high mountain today.
Open our eyes to perceive your holy glory,
Open our ears to recognize our Father’s voice.
Grant us a new perspective on the world,
a fresh understanding of who you really are;
and calm our fear of things beyond our knowing.
Lead us up a high mountain today, Jesus.
Introduce us to the glories you are bringing,
and set our hearts on sharing a future with you.
HYMN 260 “Christ, upon the Mountain Peak”
PSALM 99
PRAYER
(Think back to the beginning of this day. Start there, and mentally walk through the day again, while you thank God for the day's blessings and God's continuous work of love. Confess and repent of those times when you forgot, ignored or rebelled against God. Continue to pray with your personal prayer list.)
SCRIPTURE LESSON
(Choose a passage of scripture to read. It can be a chapter, a paragraph, or a particular story. Daily lectionaries are available online or in print that assign a lesson each day from the gospels, epistles, Old Testament and psalms on a three-year cycle. Or you can create a plan to read a book of the Bible, or the whole Bible. Then follow the steps below.)
Read a passage of scripture. Read it out loud, very slowly and carefully as if for the first time. Continue reading until a word, phrase or sentence captures your attention. Stop there to repeat the word, phrase or sentence over and over, listening to it deeply in your heart.
Reflect on why the passage got your attention. Consider the area of your life to which this may apply. Is God saying something to you in this passage? Take time to listen carefully to whatever God may be saying to you.
Respond to God in prayer (or with journaling, music, art or whatever you choose) about what you have heard. Ask questions. Open yourself to God’s will for you.
Rest in God’s company. Be still and quiet. Move beyond thinking, practicing interior silence. Let yourself be open to God’s presence. Savor this moment with God.
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH
(Declare your faith by repeating “The Apostles’ Creed” (882) or “The Nicene Creed,” (880) or use the following affirmation.)
We believe that Peter, James and John were and are faithful witnesses,
and that they witnessed the unimaginable and heavenly glory of Jesus Christ.
We believe they saw Jesus transfigured into his heavenly appearance,
and they saw what this world had never seen, and still does not understand.
We believe Jesus was greeted by law and prophets in Moses and Elijah.
How this could have happened, again mortals cannot know or understand.
We believe that those same three disciples heard God speaking to them,
“This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”
We believe that there is more to this life than what we can ever know,
and more to the life beyond death than what we can ever wish or hope for.
And we definitely believe there is more to Jesus than we will ever know.
Jesus was in the beginning, is coming at the end, and is our eternal salvation.
We believe that his transfiguration was a turning point in Jesus’ ministry,
as he left teaching and healing, and headed for crucifixion and resurrection.
We believe that Jesus has a glory far exceeding anything in this world.
And we believe that there will never be an end to the brilliance of his shining. Amen.
GLORY BE TO THE FATHER 70 or 71
PRAYER
Creator of grand mountains and the valleys below,
Jesus led his closest friends, Peter, James and John
up the high mountain to witness his transfiguration,
and to tell others of the brightness of Jesus’ glory.
Jesus has also led us up onto our own mountaintops.
We too have witnessed Jesus’ glory shining there.
We too have been overwhelmed by his brilliance,
and have trembled in the presence of his divinity.
You want no monuments to these shining moments,
but call us to witness to what we have experienced.
Help us tell how Jesus rescued us from destruction.
Help us describe the joy, peace and hope he brings.
Teach us to share the glorious grace we witnessed,
as the brightness of your love intersected our lives.
Help us show how grace fulfills law and prophets,
how love establishes all righteousness and justice.
Our Father, did even Moses and Elijah understand,
when Jesus spoke to them about your forgiveness,
and explained how your powerful love and grace
would bring the desired righteousness and justice?
The world’s justice is all revenge and punishment;
righteousness is satisfying our shabby standards.
We never knew love, until we met Jesus Christ,
and grace did not exist before we crucified him.
There is glory, our Holy One! Love giving up life,
love giving away life, love giving life to enemies!
Grace born in sacrifice shines brighter than the sun!
That this is your character, God, is overwhelming!
God, we do not know how to respond to such glory,
except to kneel in worship, to thank and praise you.
Seeing Christ’s glory, we surrender our own lives,
and beg you to let us live continually in his light. Amen.
SILENCE AND COMMITMENT
(Pause to reflect and listen. Work to push out of your mind any distracting or irrelevant thoughts. Concentrate your thoughts on the words of the hymns and choruses you have sung, the prayers you have spoken and the scriptures you have read. Be aware of what you are feeling. Listen for anything that God might be saying to you in this time you have spent together. As God responds to your prayer-time, seek guidance for how you can best respond to God’s will. Then commit to serving God’s will for you.)
HYMN 67 “We, Thy People, Praise Thee”
CLOSING PRAYER
God, we have been to the mountaintop with Jesus,
but we live with your children in the valleys below.
Fill our ministry among your children with his glory.
Let our work today be an offering in Jesus’ name.
Repair and replace anything done poorly or wrong.
Then let the glory of Christ shine in this valley below.
Fill all the world’s valleys with his dazzling glory.
Shine Christ’s glorious light into everyone’s heart.
Let us never tire of remembering what we have seen. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
