GREETING (Adapted from Mark 11:9b-10)
Hosanna!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!
HYMN 258 “O Wondrous Sight! O Vision Fair”
PSALM 2
PRAYER
(Consider some of the following for prayers of thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. Follow with your personal prayer list.)
For Christ’s glory revealed as a bright light The glory in the church today
For other ways Christ’s glory is revealed The glory in the church to come
For revelations and visions Mountaintop experiences
For moments of insight and clarity Transforming experiences
For the wondrous glory of Christ Hidden glory
For our future glory in Christ Glory revealed but ignored by us
Do we really want glory? Our foolishness in God’s presence
Connections of law, prophecy and God’s grace Our fear in God’s presence
How law and prophecy submit to grace Joy in God’s presence
For the relationship of God and Christ Love in God’s presence
That Christ came down from the mountain for us _____________________________
Holy mystery _____________________________
God’s inclusion of us _____________________________
THE LORD'S PRAYER
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.
PRAYER
Awe, wonder, amazement,
the mountain shining transfiguration,
as Jesus’ Grace meets Law and Prophet,
and God says, “This is my Son, the Beloved.”
We bow before you today,
partially in fear, Great Dazzling One,
partially with desire to somehow serve,
and completely in love with you forever.
No marker or monument
can match that day’s significance,
of a God-moment in our human flesh,
of One so like us and yet so very different.
What is this Godly glory,
so unearthly, so bright, so very new?
Is this a marker, or the character of divinity?
Is this you we see, God, in Jesus transfigured?
And can this be our future?
Will your church enjoy such glory?
Surely we are much too soiled for glory,
unless your grace would clean and purify us.
But before the glory comes,
we must first leave the mountaintop.
There is a valley where work is needed.
We’ll be your church now, and enjoy glory later. 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 260 “Christ, upon the Mountain Peak”
CLOSING PRAYER
God of good news, plant your gospel deep within us.
Let it sprout and grow penetrating roots and strong branches.
Let its fruit feed the hungry crowds and heal the sin-sick souls.
God of love, for such an exquisite pearl of good news
we would sell all we have, but you freely give this gift to us.
Now send us to employ this gospel to plow and seed your fields. Amen.
Copyright 2020. Robert D. Ingram, 32746 Jourden Rd., Albany, Ohio 45710 (dr.bobingram@gmail.com). Used by permission.
