Transfiguration Sunday
We Gather as the Body of Christ
WELCOME
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND FUNNY STORY
CALL TO WORSHIP Pastor Bob
Imagine that you are hiking with some friends and you reach the
top of the mountain. You all kneel down to pray together. All of a sudden, this one man who you know well as a person of great faith and teaching ability begins to change, to transform. His face shines like the sun. His clothes become a dazzling white. You wonder if you are dreaming. You wonder if you are somehow in the presence of God.
Today our worship is about Jesus and his mountaintop,
transfiguration. Peter, James and John are witnesses to this incredible event. Today, our worship is about how we can be changed if we allow ourselves to recognize and be open to the presence of God in our midst. Let us worship and encounter Jesus together!
HYMN: A Wilderness Wandering People
#3113 Worship & Song Hymnal
OPENING PRAYER (unison)
Debbie Young-Liturgist
Transform us, O Lord, in this time of worship. Shape us, more and more, into the people you desire us to be. Accompany us as we discern what change might be necessary and how you might be inviting us to transformation, this day. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING
2 Kings 2: 1-12
CHILDREN'S TIME with Pastor Bob
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
PASTORAL PRAYER
LORD’S PRAYER
PRAYER RESPONSE
Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying
#2193 The Faith We Sing Hymnal
HYMN: Open Our Eyes
#2086 The Faith We Sing Hymnal
GOSPEL LESSON Mark 9: 2-9
MEDITATION Pastor Bob
What is Your Mountaintop Experience?
OFFERTORY
Go Light Your World /
People Need the Lord
(choir recording from Feb. 2018)
BLESSING OF THE OFFERING (unison)
Bless these gifts, O God, as we offer them to you. Shine the light of your love through them, to bring hope and healing to our community, our nation and our world. Amen.
HYMN: He is Exalted
#2070 The Faith We Sing Hymnal
BENEDICTION
Encountering Jesus…Our Lenten Journey
Begins this week. Over the next six weeks of Lent, through prayer, worship, personal devotion – and right in the midst of your daily life – may you encounter Jesus. And may those encounters change you and transform you, more into the person that God desires for you to be.
And may the grace and mercy of God -Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer – be with you, always. Amen.
DEPART IN PEACE...Shalom!
SENDING FORTH HYMN
Shalom to You UMC Hymnal #666