Ministry Matters of Nashville,Tennessee, United States "Are you sabotaging your church? | Showing impact to givers | Helping new staff members succeed" for Monday, 20 February 2017-------
Are you secretly sabotaging your church? by Rebekah Simon-PeterBigstock/sam2172Congratulations! Your church is on the move. Let’s say you are feeding the hungry. You are praying for and visiting the sick. You minister to those in prison, jail and the nursing home. You work hard to clothe those in need and connect with the homeless. You even have a community garden. You are meeting your goals, whatever they may be, and then some.
So how come you feel empty inside? How come it never feels like enough? You may be unwittingly sabotaging your own efforts. And the soul of the church. Find out if you’re engaging in these self-defeating behaviors and how to turn them around, before they kill your spirit, or worse.
With so many needs in the world, it’s hard to know when enough is enough. Even if you have strong emotional intelligence, you may be blind to these dynamics of self-sabotage. As leaders, it’s crucial to get a handle on these self-defeating behaviors. Left unchecked, they bleed the soul of a church. But when you turn them around, they unleash a whole new source of energy and inspiration.
Secret sabotage #1: Work non-stop
Jesus himself was driven to do ministry. To announce the Kingdom. To heal people. To be proactive on behalf of God. It’s a good thing to be driven, isn’t it?
Yes and no. Don’t forget that Jesus also took plenty of time away to get recharged. He dodged the crowds on a number of occasions. He went off by himself to be with God. He even dragged his disciples off to retreat with him from time to time. Like other Jews of his day, Jesus observed a Sabbath day of rest and took a break from many of his activities.
So, be driven not only to produce results, but to rest from your labors. Non-stop work depletes a body and a soul. It also depletes the good will of the church. Rest and refreshment is the natural counterpart to ministry, activity and bearing fruit. Both are needed for a well-rounded ministry.
Secret sabotage #2: Neglect celebrating wins
Lately, I’ve met with several dozen church leaders to assess their growth to this point. More than a few have been uncomfortable acknowledging their wins. I get it. We don’t promote a culture of “look at me” in the church. But when you refuse to celebrate your wins, it deprives the congregation of much needed good news. Your people need to know that their efforts are paying off.
Humility is a virtue. But self-hate is not. Check yourself to see which is motivating you. We can’t always see the fruits of our labors. Even in our own lifetimes. But we can pause and count the efforts we are making, celebrate the people we are involving and the lives and institutions we are touching. These celebratory moments give strength for the journey. They also allow you to pause long enough for God to whisper in your ear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Secret sabotage #3: Go too fast
Remember we are in it for the long haul. Ministry is a long-distance race, not a sprint, as my Staff-Parish Relations chairperson used to regularly remind me. Adjusting our pace for the long haul allows us to include others in crafting and implementing a vision, gathering resources and planning ahead. It also gives us time to get to know and enjoy each other. That’s key for well-functioning teams. Jesus and his disciples spent three whole years together. That was a lot of meals, trips, laughs, and opportunities to learn together. The time you spend building deep community will serve you well in the future.
Lastly, adjusting your pace gives you the space to tune in to the Holy Spirit, and to receive much-needed guidance for the journey. We are co-creators with God. I find the more time I spend cultivating conscious contact with the God of my understanding, the more aligned I am with the powers of the universe. Conversations come together in synchronous fashion. Funding flows in from unsuspected resources. Hearts are prepared with a common vision.
Bottom line: If your church is on the move, congratulations! Don’t blow it by refusing to rest, rejoice or relax. These self-sabotaging behaviors can hinder leaders and followers alike. Give yourself and others the luxury of rest, celebrate good news with your congregation, and adjust your pace so you can go the distance, with God.[Rebekah Simon-Peter blogs at rebekahsimonpeter.com. She is the author of The Jew Named Jesus and Green Church.]
-------
.jpg)
Sponsored
-------
Are you showing impact to your givers? by Nathan EalyBigstock/bcreigh
I was having a conversation with a friend recently about her family’s giving. For some background she and her husband are in their mid 30s, her husband does well in a business that he owns and they have two small children.
One of her good friends from high school got married a decade back and they decided to spend their lives as missionaries in Africa, a brave decision indeed. My friend has given money to their ministry for a while but expressed concern to me. “I’m just not sure that what they are doing is making a difference, and we aren’t sure if we will continue giving to them.”
So you understand the situation right? A middle class to upper middle class family, with money to give, saying they may not give money to an old friend who is now in the ministry because they aren’t seeing the impact.
Does that family demographic sound familiar to you and your church? They do in mine.
So we have to make the assumption that many families in our church are making the same decision on where to give, and the major factor is whether or not the ministry in question is making impact.
Too often in churches, we assume that because someone calls our church their home that they will automatically give, and give generously. Unfortunately many of the assumptions that we make are now outdated. Most in the boomer generation would give to the church first, no questions asked. You still have those in your church, and financially they are the ones who have sustained your church for the past twenty or thirty years. But are you prepared for those in their 20s and 30s who are entering their best earning years?
You may ask, “How do we change our approach?” It can take a big shift in your culture, but let me give you one simple idea to incorporate. Celebrate the impact that your church is making, and be sure to tie it back to the money given by your members.
For example, the food bank ministry that your church supports… celebrate corporately how many people were fed and let your givers know that it wouldn’t have happened without their generosity. The teenager who was baptized after being involved in your youth ministry… celebrate that because of your givers generosity, you have a youth minister who can speak into the lives of those kids. You get the idea.
Your church is making an impact whether it be locally or globally in missions. If you aren’t telling your givers about that impact, they may question whether or not your ministry is the best place for “their” dollars (of course we know everything belongs to God). It’s a tough lesson to learn, but assuming that everyone will continue giving to your church because that’s the way its always be done, will only cause financial problems down the road. But show your people that lives are being changed, and you will see their hearts open.[This post first appeared on the Horizons Stewardship blog.]
-------
7 ways to help a new staff member succeed by Ron EdmondsonBigstock/OPOLJAI recently received the following message from a pastor friend:
I have a new full-time associate pastor starting next week. What suggestions would you give for getting such a person off to a great start?
What a great question! I’m so glad someone is actually asking it.
Through the years I have hired hundreds of people. I don’t do a lot of things right, but finding good people seems to be one of my strengths.
Getting a new person started in a good way is probably equal to finding the right people – especially if we hope to keep them. I can’t say I’m the best at this. I tend to be less hands-on than needed some times.
But, I have learned from some bad experiences too!
Here are seven ways to help a new staff member succeed:
Lower initial expectations.
Lighten their initial work load. I like to tell new staff members not to attempt too much the first 90 days or so — perhaps even longer depending on the complexity of the job. Give them a chance to acclimate to the church, learn the people and some of the unwritten rules and culture. Also, most likely they also have home responsibilities to get settled and need to feel free to take care of those things also.
Help the new team member’s family acclimate.
As much as it is important the staff member feel welcomed, it is equally important for the family. This includes spouse and children. Don’t overwhelm them with expectations either. Give them space, but make sure they have support if they need it. In my experience the transition can be harder on the family than the person joining your team. They get a fairly instant support group and know their purpose. This can be harder and take longer for the family to realize. The more you help the family the more you will be helping your new team member.
Help them understand the current vision, direction and culture.
Where are you hoping to go as a church? What are the current and long-term dreams? What are people getting excited about these days? Where is there momentum? Where are you lacking motivation? What are the key weakness of the church? What are the key strengths? Answer as many questions like this as you can for the person. Information is powerful. They will learn much of it on their own, but the more you can share with them the faster they will feel a part of the team.
Stay close.
You want to give them space to explore, but don’t ignore them either. Let them ask lots of questions. Give them plenty of access to you and others on the team. This should always be true of a healthy culture, but especially during the initial days.
Help them understand what a win for their job looks like.
They will likely hit the ground excited about accomplishing something. Make sure they know, in your mind, how they will be considered successful. Don’t make them guess what you are looking for them to accomplish.
Introduce them to key stakeholders.
Don’t make him or her find out on their own who the influencers are — good or bad. Every church has people who everyone listens to — and many have people everyone has a bit of fear of how they will react. While I’m not a fan of empowering these people or cowering to them, don’t let the new person step on a land mine either. Introduce them to people also who will be their biggest supporters. They will likely need these in the days ahead.
Extend the honeymoon period.
New people will make mistakes. They want always know the “right” way to do things according to the culture of your team. (And, this can be a good thing. Let them bring something new to the culture.) You went out on a limb to bring this person in now give them ample time and grace to prove themselves. And give them all the support they need to succeed.[Ron Edmondson blogs at RonEdmondson.com.]
-------
Politics in the pulpit: Who benefits?
By Kira SchlesingerBigstock/YastremskaEarlier this month at the National Prayer Breakfast, President Donald Trump announced to the gathered religious leaders a plan to “totally destroy” the Johnson Amendment, a 1954 provision in the tax code that prohibits non-profit organizations, including churches, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. Amidst my friends and colleagues, this garnered a decidedly mixed response. On the heels of a divisive and seemingly endless election season, there were times when I had to watch what I said from the pulpit, particularly when the gospel was not very subtle in its opposition to the rhetoric from certain political candidates.
One complaint about the Johnson Amendment, at least as it pertains to churches, is that it isn’t enforced. Some churches play fast and loose with crossing the line, knowing that their politically homogenous congregations likely won’t report them. For years, the Alliance Defending Freedom has held “Pulpit Freedom Sundays” where clergy openly defy the Johnson Amendment, daring the Internal Revenue Service to revoke their non-profit (and, thus, tax-free) status. Some conservative groups view the Johnson Amendment as an affront to their right to free speech and religious liberty and welcome its repeal.
The word “politics” derives from the Greek “polis” meaning “city-state” but also “citizenship” or “body of citizens,” so politics has to do with our communal life together. Understood that way, there is no doubt our gathering together as Christians on Sundays to sing, pray, read and interpret Scripture, and participate in the sacraments together is political.
As a young woman, the mere fact of my presence in a pulpit or blessing bread and wine is political. There is no avoiding politics in church, whether in the pulpit or gathered around the table. The presence of individual bodies — young and old, rich and poor, black and white, differently abled, male and female — all radically welcomed and making up the Body of Christ is political.
The struggle comes when those politics become partisan, when the message of the gospel is reduced to the platform of a political party or candidate, and most Christians, clergy and laity, don’t want that at church. In 2015, a Lifeway study found that 79% of Americans thought clergy should not endorse candidates during worship services. Many churches, like mine, are politically divided, and endorsing a candidate from the pulpit could only lead to more divisiveness and hard feelings.
Repealing the Johnson Amendment would go beyond freedom of speech, however, and into the realm of campaign finance. Contributions to the church are tax-deductible, and if the Johnson Amendment were repealed, churches could turn around and use those monies to support political candidates. The possibility is that churches could turn into a less transparent version of a Super Political Action Committee (Super PAC).
When discussing this issue that touches on freedom of speech and worship, tax-exemption, and campaign finance, it is worth asking, “Who benefits from this?” Does the Johnson Amendment prevent my clergy colleagues and me from worshipping and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen? Would its repeal help increase the knowledge and love of the Lord among the citizens of the United States? Or would it continue to damage to the witness of the church as the Body of Christ if it aligned itself with partisan politics in search of more worldly power and influence? The repeal of the Johnson Amendment does not help the church or the spreading of the gospel, but it could hurt it. Conversely, it would greatly benefit our partisan political system. Behind the noble values of freedom of worship and freedom of speech hides an insatiable thirst for more power and money.-------
480x360.jpg)
Sponsored
-------
Taking Bible study to the community
By Jack L. SeymourThis article is featured in the The Discipleship Pathway at Your Church (Feb/Mar/Apr 2017) issue of Circuit Rider
The Bible is at the heart of faith. This library of witnesses invites us into the struggles of faithful people who, during conflicts, sought to love God and neighbors and share visions for living. Bible study confirms God’s love, builds communities, and clarifies ministries.
While church members regularly say Bible study is a number one priority, we know that they often skip Bible studies. Why? I am convinced that they are afraid—studying the Bible seems difficult. Moreover, they are not sure that it will make a difference in their living. They ask: How can I understand a time so far away? Will it speak to my life today? Will it help me purchase a home, raise my children, make friends, or succeed at work?
The simple answer to their questions is yes. Bible study enriches both our faith and our living. This essay is a plea for small-group Bible study that brings the tools of Bible study to our lives. Bible study does make a difference.
Of course, we need help to bridge the past with the present. Bible study is difficult! The Bible is made up of many kinds of writing (poems, stories, prayers, letters) composed over a long period. The witnesses who wrote and edited these books were often simply struggling to survive the oppression of empires, like Babylon or Rome. But they focused on God’s faithfulness, offering hope in risky situations. Let’s look at some examples of how we focus on faith and living.
Bible study communicates the heart of faith. God calls us to faithfulness, yet we know we fail. As we read the Bible, we learn that the great witnesses of faith falter too. We learn that God is the faithful one. As God’s children, God loves us and continues to call us to love God, our neighbors, and ourselves. Our covenant between a gracious and expectant God is at the heart of the best Bible studies.
Bible study skills can be taught. Yes, the Bible was collected in a world historically distant from ours. Yet we can learn the events that affected its writers. For example, each of the authors of New Testament books lived in the shadow of the Roman Empire. In Acts, we see how the early church sought to provide life for those who had so little. To learn this background, a congregation I know offers a four-week study each year to help people learn the skills to read the scriptures and know its world.
Bible study builds community. Some churches schedule weekly small groups to study the scriptures that will be used in Sunday worship (lectionary studies). A surprising result occurs in these groups. Not only do the members enhance biblical study skills and participate in worship with more intensity but they learn that group members care. When life issues confront them, they have a regular community of friends who will sit with them and hold them up.
Bible study enhances our communities. Another congregation holds a small group Bible study in a local library. The library has been known for its book groups about mysteries, great classics, or biographies. And now Bible study. While acknowledging that some who attend are believers and others are not, the group deepens biblical skills, builds friendships, and discusses how the Bible (along with other sources) is a key part of our culture. The group struggles with how biblical stories and precepts shape public life and how popular culture can be enriched.
Bible study crosses boundaries and offers hope. Partnering with a synagogue and a mosque, another church offers an interfaith Bible study. We know that our traditions share stories and heroes. Monthly, a small group studies passages from each other’s sacred books. As they study, differences become apparent, but they also learn common commitments. Hopes for their neighborhoods are shared. Together, they have planned mutual work projects and advocated for local issues.
Bible study matters! Bible study makes a difference in how we know our faith and live our lives. Frankly, it does help us raise our children, build friendships, and make work-related decisions. For Christians, we learn better to follow the way of Jesus. For our wider communities, we learn to build our lives together.[Jack L. Seymour is professor emeritus of religious education at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and author of Teaching the Way of Jesus (Abingdon Press, 2014) and Teaching Biblical Faith (Abingdon Press, 2015).]-------
Do we ignore, avoid or confront evil?Bigstock/karenroachDear Thoughtful Pastor: There is evil in the world, at many levels, from government and business down to communities and ourselves. On encountering evil, what is our Christian responsibility, either as a church or individual?
Ignore it, avoid it, confront it or something else? It seems like we should be taking some action, but often it seems like there is nothing we can do practically or safely, or that might even make a dent in the problem.
I recently read and reviewed a book by Erin Straza called Comfort Detox: Finding Freedom from the Habits that Bind You. I was exhausted by the time I finished it. There was nothing wrong with the premise. The author repeatedly insisted we leave behind our worship of comfort and more fully, and with far more vulnerability, address societal needs.
However, as I read, I became more aware that none of us can solve all of the manifestations of evils and injustices and resultant human needs. We tend then just to toss up our hands in despair and say, “Why try?”
I put the book down saying, “It’s just too much for any one person to do.” Hence my exhaustion.
As you noted, can anything we do make a dent in the problem?
We mourn the loss of the village
It dawned on me that I, perhaps with many others, mourn the loss of the village — the place where “everybody knows your name.” In smaller communities, people can and do keep an eye on each other. There is less likelihood of falling between the cracks because it is more obvious when someone is missing or ill or being mistreated.
The community has power in the village.
In the village, it’s OK for non-family members to admonish children.
Christy ThomasIn the village, we know when someone is gone. It is normal for neighbors to pick up mail and newspapers, to keep an eye on temporarily empty houses.
In the village, the gossip grapevine performs essential tasks. Because people talk, the sick get to doctors, truant kids get sent back to school and the bereaved receive meals and care. That grapevine helps set limits to the bounds of acceptable behavior.
The scorn of the community carries real power. I’m not suggesting that this is an ideal world, but the connectedness helps. It’s simply harder to hide in the village.
Now, while we may have giant circles of acquaintances, few of us actually know our neighbors. We may have no idea what is going on behind our next door neighbor’s closed door, but the unrelenting firehose of information about scandals nearby and horrific events on the other side of the world leaves us numb and helpless.
So we shut down, build fortresses, stockpile our resources and hope nothing bad happens to our loved ones. The move to isolation is possibly the worst of solutions, but it is also the most common and most understandable.
The subtlety of evil
Unfortunately, I don’t think it is possible to stand up to evil without sacrificing some measure of safety and comfort.
And that’s part of the problem. Evil is often disguised in a subtle call to comfort, to security, to safety. It will involve only the smallest of compromises, a little shading of core ethics, a little silence when someone else, some “other” gets hurt.
One of the easiest ways for us as individuals, and churches as groups of individuals, to cross over into evil is to give into the idea that “it doesn’t matter anyway in the big scheme of things.”
But it does matter. The big scheme of things is entirely dependent on little, tiny actions.
It genuinely matters if, when you see a bully in action, you step in to stop it. When you stop one small bully from hurting a peer, you help prevent a larger bully from starting a war.
When you help one family in your neighborhood stay out of homelessness and despair, you start a chain of hope that brings the next family along.
When you teach one child to read and love the world of literature and careful thought, you bring light to a whole new generation.
When you stop one lie from being perpetuated, you stop the thousands of lies that must follow any initial lie to keep it propped up.
But each of the things I’ve mentioned here requires that in some way we choose less safety. To help one family stay out of homelessness may take financial and emotional support effort from an entire church.
Teaching one child to read demands a commitment over an extended period of time — and may mean filling up a too-empty tummy or buying needed school supplies as well.
Standing against a lie means an inevitable pushback from the liar.
As for stopping the bullying? It definitely leaves you at risk of the bully turning on you as the next victim.
But our only other option is to do nothing and let evil have its way.[Email questions to thoughtfulpastor@gmail.com. A version of this column previously appeared in print and online editions of The Denton Record Chronicle. Christy blogs at Patheos.
By Christy Thomas]-------
One community holds up its corner
By Jacob ArmstrongBigstock/viewapartA call was coming in. I was in the middle of a meeting, but I knew I had to take it.
It was Willis. I knew what he would ask. But I had asked him to ask it.
“Why haven’t you said anything?”
“I don’t know what to say, Willis,” I answered meekly.
Willis replied, “That won’t cut it anymore. We agreed that won’t cut it anymore.”
Rewind to six months before. I had invited Willis Johnson to Providence Church to lead an area-wide discussion on race reconciliation. This was post-Ferguson, post-Charleston, and right in the middle of a big mess in our country. Every week, it seemed, another story of a shooting made it more glaring that we were not as far along as we pretended to be. I had told Willis my broken-record-coward line then, too: “I don’t know what to say.” He agreed to come. Our sessions with him were uncomfortable, agitating, but unifying. They gave me courage. They gave me hope. They gave me words.
Six months later, though, we hadn’t done much, and the situation in our country had worsened. It was more volatile, more violent, and more uncertain. There was another shooting, and I was silent. Willis called and reminded me that waiting for the exact right words in so complex an environment would surely leave me eternally quiet in a time when my voice needed to be heard.
So I said something. In church. In front of everybody. I changed my sermon. It was not well articulated, but it was said with conviction. It was said with authority. I was their pastor, and they needed to hear from me. I said that we wouldn’t stay silent anymore. I said that we are all made in God’s image. I said that racism is an evil and one that we must stand against. I said we would take action. And then my predominantly white, eight-year-old church in the belly of the southern United States surprised me. They applauded. They hooped and hollered and clapped their hands.
“Oh, crap,” I thought. “What do we do now?”
I called Willis. He reminded me of his phrase “hold up your corner.” It’s taken from the story of the paralytic being lowered down through a cut-open roof to the feet of Jesus. Four friends doing their part, holding up their corners, to get their friend to the place of healing.
It was not time for me to save the world. It was not time for me to eradicate the world of racism. It was time for me to hold up my corner.
Over the course of several months, I, along with what became over twenty pastors of both black and white churches, started to meet, eat, and pray. We had never gathered before. We met each other; we learned each other’s names. We had coffee one-on-one. We sat down in each other’s offices. We met with the police chief and the mayor.
Then we held a community-wide worship service. And then another, and then another. Hundreds of black and white Christians worshipped together. We knelt at altars together. We said together that we are all made in God’s image. We said that racism is an evil that we must stand against.
We created wristbands that said #oneinChrist. Thousands of them are being worn in our community, in our schools, in our neighborhoods. The wristbands are an invitation for neighbors to talk together and break down walls. A movement happened in one community where the people of God spoke up, gathered, and did something.
Racism still exists in our community. We have a long way to go. But people aren’t being silent anymore. We’re holding up our corner.[Find out more about Willis Johnson's Holding Up Your Corner study here.]
-------
Boy Scouts Christian alternative sees 'tremendous response' after transgender decision
By Adelle M. Banks / Religion News ServiceTrail Life and American Heritage Girls troops from Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas participate in the 27th Annual DC Bible Reading Marathon on May 5, 2016, in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy of Trail Life Troop VA-0412(RNS) Since the Boy Scouts of America decided to accept transgender youngsters, there appears to be a growing market for a different kind of scouting group.
The BSA does not require troops chartered by houses of worship to accept children who do not identify with their birth gender. Nevertheless, the website of Trail Life USA, which bills itself as a Christian alternative, has had trouble keeping up with the people checking an online locator map for troops across the country since the Jan. 30 announcement.
“We’ve seen tremendous response,” said Trail Life CEO Mark Hancock in reference to the surge of membership inquiries. “Where many people would say that they’re leaving Boys Scouts, we have many others that are saying that the Boy Scouts left them."
Trail Life currently has about 26,000 members. New troops have to go through a chartering process that can take weeks, but the surge of traffic to its website and thousands of new likes on its Facebook page suggest its numbers are about to swell.
“We’ve pushed a few employees from part time to full time and pushed some from full time to overtime to handle the inquiries from troops around the country that are looking for an organization that’s more aligned with the original timeless values of Boy Scouts,” Hancock said.
Since Trail Life began in January 2014, its staff has doubled to 12, its mostly evangelical church-based troops have increased from 500 to 700 and it has moved from a virtual office to the 127-acre campus of a former boys home in Belton, S.C. Participating boys, called “Navigators” and “Adventurers,” have outdoor adventures, earn badges and can seek the Horizon Award that Trail Life considers a parallel to the Eagle Scout rank.
Many of their troop numbers correspond to Bible verses. Troop 110 is particularly popular, after Colossians 1:10 — "So that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way" — on which the organization’s “Walk Worthy” motto is based.
The BSA, which has nearly 2.3 million youth members, said it has received letters of support since its decision from a range of religious organizations — which charter the majority of Scouting units — including Reform Jews, United Methodists, Catholics and Mormons.
“If a religious organization declines to accept a youth or adult application based on their religious beliefs, we ask that they please notify their local council so that a unit open to accepting the individual can be offered as an option,” said BSA spokeswoman Effie Delimarkos.
Some religious groups have used cautious language about their next steps concerning the scouting organization after the decisions it has made in recent years to accept gay Scouts, gay leaders and now transgender youngsters.
The Mormon church has said it is “studying” the BSA’s announcement but noted the organization’s assurance that religious groups can organize their troops in ways consistent with their religious beliefs.
The Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis said it was “evaluating” the effect the policy would have on its troops.
“We will continue to be in dialogue with Boy Scouts of America in hopes that they will recognize their error and rededicate themselves to serving the needs of the boys in the organization,” the archdiocese said.
Ted Spangenberg, president of the Association of Baptists for Scouting, said he hopes groups such as Trail Life, as well as mission-oriented programs like the Southern Baptist Royal Ambassadors, will continue to thrive.
“These can be effective in helping churches and their families disciple the youth in their congregations,” he told RNS. “But, the truth is, these organizations just don't have the brand awareness and breadth of program and appeal that the Boy Scouts still has with the ‘un-churched’ of America.”
The former chairman of BSA’s Religious Relationships Committee said congregations that run units still are responsible for membership guidelines.
“Faith groups chartering Boy Scout units need to realize that the latest change only impacts them as they choose for it to do so,” said R. Chip Turner.
Trail Life’s Hancock said his organization generally does not focus on the Boy Scouts but he thought it needed to be vocal about the latest decision, which he called “harmful to boys.”
“We don’t want boys psychologically, spiritually, and possibly physically scarred by the confusing message being presented by the BSA,” he said in a statement posted on Trail Life’s website. “We don’t want boys or girls subjected to compromising situations on outings in an environment where reasonable precautions are no longer enforceable.”
Trail Life’s website includes a “purity” section in its values statement: “We are to reserve sexual activity for the sanctity of marriage, a lifelong commitment before God between a man and a woman.”
It describes membership as “designed for biologically male children under the age of 18.”
Other conservative Christians opposed the BSA’s latest move, with Fox News’ Todd Starnes calling it “a complete capitulation to the gender and sex revolutionaries” and Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore tweeting “This is crazy, IMO.”
More liberal denominations, including the Unitarian Universalist Association and the United Church of Christ, welcomed the move, pledging to work with the BSA as it implements the new policy. UUA President Peter Morales, whose church renewed a formal relationship with the BSA after it welcomed gay Scouts and leaders, called the latest juncture “a significant step in the direction of greater inclusion.”
-------
ReClaimed: Colorblindness with Justin Coleman
By ReClaimed PodcastCharles, Matt, and Gregg are joined by Justin Coleman to look at the importance of the written word in our current environment, and the vacuity of the idea of colorblindness. Rev. Justin Coleman is Senior Ministry Officer at the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, Tennessee, where he helps publish a wide variety of materials including the website Ministry Matters.
This Sunday, February 26, 2017Transfiguration Sunday: Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
Scripture Text: Exodus 24:12 Adonai said to Moshe, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay there. I will give you the stone tablets with the Torah and the mitzvot I have written on them, so that you can teach them.” 13 Moshe got up, also Y’hoshua his assistant; and Moshe went up onto the mountain of God. 14 To the leaders he said, “Stay here for us, until we come back to you. See, Aharon and Hur are with you; whoever has a problem should turn to them.” (S: Maftir) 15 Moshe went up onto the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. (A: Maftir) 16 The glory of Adonai stayed on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moshe out of the cloud. 17 To the people of Isra’el the glory of Adonai looked like a raging fire on the top of the mountain. 18 Moshe entered the cloud and went up on the mountain; he was on the mountain forty days and nights.
Psalm 99:1 Adonai is king; let the peoples tremble.
He sits enthroned on the k’ruvim; let the earth shake!
2 Adonai is great in Tziyon;
he is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise your great and fearsome name (he is holy):
4 “Mighty king who loves justice, you established
fairness, justice and righteousness in Ya‘akov.”
5 Exalt Adonai our God!
Prostrate yourselves at his footstool (he is holy).
6 Moshe and Aharon among his cohanim
and Sh’mu’el among those who call on his name
called on Adonai, and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the column of cloud;
they kept his instructions and the law that he gave them.
8 Adonai our God, you answered them.
To them you were a forgiving God,
although you took vengeance on their wrongdoings.
9 Exalt Adonai our God,
bow down toward his holy mountain,
for Adonai our God is holy!
2 Peter 1:16 For when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, we did not rely on cunningly contrived myths. On the contrary, we saw his majesty with our own eyes. 17 For we were there when he received honor and glory from God the Father; and the voice came to him from the grandeur of the Sh’khinah, saying, “This is my son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him!” 18 We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 Yes, we have the prophetic Word made very certain. You will do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark, murky place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; 21 for never has a prophecy come as a result of human willing — on the contrary, people moved by the Ruach HaKodesh spoke a message from God.
Matthew 17:1 Six days later, Yeshua took Kefa, Ya‘akov and his brother Yochanan and led them up a high mountain privately. 2 As they watched, he began to change form — his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became as white as light. 3 Then they looked and saw Moshe and Eliyahu speaking with him. 4 Kefa said to Yeshua, “It’s good that we’re here, Lord. I’ll put up three shelters if you want — one for you, one for Moshe and one for Eliyahu.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them; and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” 6 When the talmidim heard this, they were so frightened that they fell face down on the ground. 7 But Yeshua came and touched them. “Get up!” he said, “Don’t be afraid.” 8 So they opened their eyes, looked up and saw only Yeshua by himself.
9 As they came down the mountain, Yeshua ordered them, “Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.”
John Wesley's Notes-Commentary: Exodus 24:12-18
Verse 12
[12] And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
Come up to the mount and be there — Expect to continue there for some time.
Verse 13
[13] And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua: and Moses went up into the mount of God.
Joshua was his minister or servant, and it would be a satisfaction to him to have him with him as a companion during the six days that he tarried in the mount before God called to him. Joshua was to be his successor, and therefore thus he was honoured before the people, and thus he was prepared by being trained up in communion with God. Joshua was a type of Christ, and (as the learned Bishop Peirson well observes Moses takes him with him into the mount, because without Jesus, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, there is no looking into the secrets of heaven, nor approaching the presence of God.
Verse 16
[16] And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.
A cloud covered the mount six days — A visible token of God's special presence there, for he so shews himself to us, as at the same time to conceal himself from us, he lets us know so much as to assure us of his power and grace, but intimates to us that we cannot find him out to perfection. During these six days Moses staid waiting upon the mountain, for a call into the presence-chamber.
And on the seventh day — Probably the sabbath-day, he called unto Moses. Now the thick cloud opened in the sight of all Israel, and the glory of the Lord broke forth like devouring fire.
Verse 18
[18] And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.
Moses went into the midst of the cloud — It was an extraordinary presence of mind, which the grace of God furnished him with, else he durst not have ventured into the cloud, especially when it broke out in devouring fire.
And Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights — It should seem the six days, were not part of the forty; for during those six days, Joshua was with Moses, who did eat of the manna, and drink of the brook mentioned, Deuteronomy 9:21, and while they were together, it is probable Moses did eat and drink with him; but when Moses was called into the midst of the cloud, he left Joshua without, who continued to eat and drink daily while he waited for Moses's return, but from thenceforward Moses fasted.
Psalm 99
(Read all of Psalm 99)
Verse 1
[1] The LORD reigneth; let the people tremble: he sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved.
People — Such as are enemies to God and his people.
Sitteth — Upon the ark. He is present with his people.
Earth — The people of the earth.
Moved — With fear and trembling.
Verse 3
[3] Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy.
Them — All people.
Verse 4
[4] The king's strength also loveth judgment; thou dost establish equity, thou executest judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
Judgment — Though his dominion be absolute, and his power irresistible, yet he manages it with righteousness. The king's strength is by a known Hebraism put for the strong, or powerful king.
Equity — In all thy proceedings.
Verse 5
[5] Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy.
Foot-stool — Before the ark, which is so called, 1 Chronicles 28:2.
Holy — It is consecrated to be a pledge of God's presence.
Verse 6
[6] Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
Moses — Moses before the institution of the priesthood executed that office, Exodus 24:6.
That call — Who used frequently and solemnly to intercede with God on the behalf of the people.
Verse 7
[7] He spake unto them in the cloudy pillar: they kept his testimonies, and the ordinance that he gave them.
Spake — To some of them: to Moses and Aaron, Exodus 19:24; 33:9-11; 1 Samuel 7:9, etc.
Verse 8
[8] Thou answeredst them, O LORD our God: thou wast a God that forgavest them, though thou tookest vengeance of their inventions.
Them — The intercessors before mentioned.
Forgavest — The people for whom they prayed, so far as not to inflict that total destruction upon them which they deserved;
2 Peter 1:16-21
Verse 16
[16] For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
These things are worthy to be always had in remembrance For they are not cunningly devised fables - Like those common among the heathens.
While we made known to you the power and coming — That is, the powerful coming of Christ in glory. But if what they advanced of Christ was not true, if it was of their own invention, then to impose such a lie on the world as it was, in the very nature of things, above all human power to defend, and to do this at the expense of life and all things only to enrage the whole world, Jews and gentiles, against them, was no cunning, but was the greatest folly that men could have been guilty of.
But were eyewitnesses of his majesty — At his transfiguration, which was a specimen of his glory at the last day.
Verse 17
[17] For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
For he received divine honour and inexpressible glory - Shining from heaven above the brightness of the sun.
When there came such a voice from the excellent glory — That is, from God the Father. Matthew 17:5.
Verse 18
[18] And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
And we — Peter, James, and John. St. John was still alive.
Being with him in the holy mount — Made so by that glorious manifestation, as mount Horeb was of old, Exodus 3:4,5.
Verse 19
[19] We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
And we — St. Peter here speaks in the name of all Christians.
Have the word of prophecy — The words of Moses, Isaiah, and all the prophets, are one and the same word, every way consistent with itself. St. Peter does not cite any particular passage, but speaks of their entire testimony.
More confirmed — By that display of his glorious majesty. To which word ye do well that ye take heed, as to a lamp which shone in a dark place - Wherein there was neither light nor window. Such anciently was the whole world, except that little spot where this lamp shone.
Till the day should dawn — Till the full light of the gospel should break through the darkness. As is the difference between the light of a lamp and that of the day, such is that between the light of the Old Testament and of the New.
And the morning star — Jesus Christ, Revelation 22:16.
Arise in your hearts — Be revealed in you.
Verse 20
[20] Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Ye do well, as knowing this, that no scripture prophecy is of private interpretation - It is not any man's own word. It is God, not the prophet himself, who thereby interprets things till then unknown.
Verse 21
[21] For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
For prophecy came not of old by the will of man — Of any mere man whatever.
But the holy men of God — Devoted to him, and set apart by him for that purpose, spake and wrote.
Being moved — Literally, carried. They were purely passive therein.
Matthew 17:1-9
(Read all of Matthew 17)
Verse 2
[2] And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
And was transfigured — Or transformed. The indwelling Deity darted out its rays through the veil of the flesh; and that with such transcendent splendour, that he no longer bore the form of a servant. His face shone with Divine majesty, like the sun in its strength; and all his body was so irradiated by it, that his clothes could not conceal its glory, but became white and glittering as the very light, with which he covered himself as with a garment.
Verse 3
[3] And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
There appeared Moses and Elijah — Here for the full confirmation of their faith in Jesus, Moses, the giver of the law, Elijah, the most zealous of all the prophets, and God speaking from heaven, all bore witness to him.
Verse 4
[4] Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
Let us make three tents — The words of rapturous surprise. He says three, not six: because the apostles desired to be with their Master.
Verse 5
[5] While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
Hear ye him — As superior even to Moses and the prophets. See Deuteronomy 18:17.
Verse 7
[7] And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
Be not afraid — And doubtless the same moment he gave them courage and strength.
Verse 9
[9] And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.
Tell the vision to no man — Not to the rest of the disciples, lest they should be grieved and discouraged because they were not admitted to the sight: nor to any other persons, lest it should enrage some the more, and his approaching sufferings shall make others disbelieve it; till the Son of man be risen again - Till the resurrection should make it credible, and confirm their testimony about it.
-------
TRANSFIGURATION AND CHRISTIAN LIFE by Jim Hawkins
Bigstock/flippoFuzzy vision
When I was in fifth grade, I knew I was not able to see as well as most of my classmates. If a teacher wrote something on the chalkboard, I could not see it very well. The letters looked fuzzy. The only way I could make out the writing was by squinting; yet even then, I could not see clearly. And if I was in the back of the room, forget it. Even so, I still did not realize how bad my vision was. After all, I had become used to my way of seeing.
My parents, however, did realize that something was wrong, so they made an appointment for me to go to the optometrist. He asked me to read a chart, he checked my eyes, and he tried a number of different lenses to discover the right prescription for my first pair of glasses.
Back then, there were no opticians who made glasses “in about an hour,” so I had to wait a few days to get mine. When the big day came, I did not expect much difference when I put on the glasses for the first time. Boy, was I wrong! It felt as if I were looking at a whole new world. I could see things clearly that had been blurred before. There were some things I saw for the first time. Only when my sight was corrected did I realize how much I was not able to see before.
The disciples’ blurred sight
Jesus’ disciples did not see things clearly, even after following him for years. They knew Jesus was a special person. They had seen him heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind and enable the lame to walk again. They had heard him teach, preach and tell fascinating stories.
Peter had even declared that Jesus was the Messiah, the first disciple to state so publicly. Yet it soon became clear that Peter did not fully comprehend what kind of Messiah Jesus was. When Jesus said he would suffer, be killed, and rise to new life, Peter said, “God forbid, Lord! This won’t happen to you” (Matthew 16:22, CEB). As it turned out, even Peter, who boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of the living God, did not see clearly.
Peter, James, and John — sometimes thought of as the inner circle of the disciples — got a clearer view on a mountaintop. It is hard for us to understand exactly what happened up there. The Gospel of Matthew states that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a very high mountain (Matthew 17:1-9). As the disciples looked on, a change came over Jesus. His clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any amount of bleach could ever get them. His face glowed like the sun, as if the presence of God was shining in him and through him. Jesus did not have to say a word; his appearance said it all. Then Moses and Elijah — probably the two greatest people of the Jewish faith — appeared, and they talked to Jesus.
While Peter’s spiritual vision may have been blurry, he grasped that this was a mountaintop experience. “Lord, it’s good that we’re here,” Peter told Jesus in a great understatement. “If you want, I’ll make three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (verse 4, CEB). Peter sensed that this was an amazing time he wanted to prolong, but clearly he did not see the significance. By offering to build three shrines, he was equating Jesus with Moses and Elijah. At the time, I doubt that few people would have considered Jesus the equal of those two pillars of the faith. Yet Peter was to learn that he underestimated Jesus.
A bright cloud then appeared, an ancient symbol of God’s presence, and covered all of them with its shadow. A voice from the cloud boomed, “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” (verse 5, CEB). When Peter, James and John heard the voice, they fell on their faces, awestruck. After Jesus touched them, they looked up and saw that only Jesus was with them. Moses and Elijah were gone.
Words cannot fully capture this wonderful and mysterious experience. Certainly Peter, James and John did not fully understand it themselves at the time. They still did not entirely understand who Jesus was; they would not get a fuller understanding until after his death and resurrection. That is why, as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell others about what happened until after he was raised from the dead.
While Peter, James and John did not completely understand what happened on that mountain, this mountaintop experience did give them a clearer vision of Jesus. Jesus was more than a healer, more than a gifted storyteller, more than a wise teacher. On that mountain Peter, James and John were able to see Jesus’ glory more fully than ever before. They knew, without a doubt, that he was more than just another person. They knew he was greater than even Moses and Elijah. They knew he was the Son of God.
Our own mountaintop
Chances are you have not had a mountaintop experience exactly like Peter, James and John. Even if we were able to find the mountain, even if we found the exact spot of the Transfiguration, we would probably not have the exact same encounter with God. The truth is, replicating another person’s mountaintop experiences is impossible.
But each of us can have a clearer vision of Jesus when we are open to God. Acts of devotion such as prayer, Bible study, worship, fasting and conversation with other Christians are not only ways to express our love for God, but they can also help us deepen our relationship with God. These spiritual disciplines help us see more clearly who God is and who we are to be as God’s people.
As central as devotion is to the Christian life, it alone is not enough. Just as Peter’s offer to build shrines for Jesus, Moses and Elijah and thus extend their time on the mountain was ignored, so God calls us to more than devotion.
“Listen to him!”
For me, the key to understanding the significance of the Transfiguration is right after God tells Peter, James and John who Jesus is. God then says, “Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5, CEB). Do not just stay up on this mountain. Do more than be amazed by this experience. Listen to Jesus. Do what he says.
And what does Jesus tell them? According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus had already called them to turn from the ways of the world and turn to God’s kingdom (4:12-17), follow him and fish for people (4:18-22), be salt and light and thus make a difference in the world around them (5:13-16), forgive instead of seeking revenge (5:21-26; 6:14), love their enemies (5:43-48), refrain from judging others (7:1-5) and take up their cross and follow him (16:13-28).
As much as Peter, James and John wanted to stay on that mountain, they could not be faithful to Jesus if they remained there. On that mountain they saw Jesus’ true identity more clearly than ever before. They heard God tell them to listen to him. In order to do that, they had to come down the mountain, come back to everyday life, where there was work to be done. Matthew tells us that they did not have to wait long for an opportunity to make a difference. After descending the mountain with Peter, James, and John, Jesus came to a crowd. A man knelt before him and begged Jesus to do something for his troubled son. The father first came to the disciples, but they could do nothing. It was up to Jesus to heal the boy (17:14-21).
Just as there was work awaiting Jesus and his disciples when they came down the mountain, so there is work that awaits us in our everyday world. Giving money to support Christ’s work in a far-flung part of the world is needed, but so is loving our neighbor in our own neighborhood. The opportunities are limitless. When we engage in acts of devotion, we not only see more clearly who Jesus is, we also see more clearly how we can serve him by serving others.[Be sure to check out FaithLink, a weekly downloadable discussion guide for classes and small groups.]read more
TRANSFIGURATION AND CHRISTIAN LIFE by Jim HawkinsBigstock/flippoFuzzy vision
When I was in fifth grade, I knew I was not able to see as well as most of my classmates. If a teacher wrote something on the chalkboard, I could not see it very well. The letters looked fuzzy. The only way I could make out the writing was by squinting; yet even then, I could not see clearly. And if I was in the back of the room, forget it. Even so, I still did not realize how bad my vision was. After all, I had become used to my way of seeing.
My parents, however, did realize that something was wrong, so they made an appointment for me to go to the optometrist. He asked me to read a chart, he checked my eyes, and he tried a number of different lenses to discover the right prescription for my first pair of glasses.
Back then, there were no opticians who made glasses “in about an hour,” so I had to wait a few days to get mine. When the big day came, I did not expect much difference when I put on the glasses for the first time. Boy, was I wrong! It felt as if I were looking at a whole new world. I could see things clearly that had been blurred before. There were some things I saw for the first time. Only when my sight was corrected did I realize how much I was not able to see before.
The disciples’ blurred sight
Jesus’ disciples did not see things clearly, even after following him for years. They knew Jesus was a special person. They had seen him heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind and enable the lame to walk again. They had heard him teach, preach and tell fascinating stories.
Peter had even declared that Jesus was the Messiah, the first disciple to state so publicly. Yet it soon became clear that Peter did not fully comprehend what kind of Messiah Jesus was. When Jesus said he would suffer, be killed, and rise to new life, Peter said, “God forbid, Lord! This won’t happen to you” (Matthew 16:22, CEB). As it turned out, even Peter, who boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of the living God, did not see clearly.
Peter, James, and John — sometimes thought of as the inner circle of the disciples — got a clearer view on a mountaintop. It is hard for us to understand exactly what happened up there. The Gospel of Matthew states that Jesus took Peter, James, and John up a very high mountain (Matthew 17:1-9). As the disciples looked on, a change came over Jesus. His clothes became dazzlingly white, whiter than any amount of bleach could ever get them. His face glowed like the sun, as if the presence of God was shining in him and through him. Jesus did not have to say a word; his appearance said it all. Then Moses and Elijah — probably the two greatest people of the Jewish faith — appeared, and they talked to Jesus.
While Peter’s spiritual vision may have been blurry, he grasped that this was a mountaintop experience. “Lord, it’s good that we’re here,” Peter told Jesus in a great understatement. “If you want, I’ll make three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (verse 4, CEB). Peter sensed that this was an amazing time he wanted to prolong, but clearly he did not see the significance. By offering to build three shrines, he was equating Jesus with Moses and Elijah. At the time, I doubt that few people would have considered Jesus the equal of those two pillars of the faith. Yet Peter was to learn that he underestimated Jesus.
A bright cloud then appeared, an ancient symbol of God’s presence, and covered all of them with its shadow. A voice from the cloud boomed, “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” (verse 5, CEB). When Peter, James and John heard the voice, they fell on their faces, awestruck. After Jesus touched them, they looked up and saw that only Jesus was with them. Moses and Elijah were gone.
Words cannot fully capture this wonderful and mysterious experience. Certainly Peter, James and John did not fully understand it themselves at the time. They still did not entirely understand who Jesus was; they would not get a fuller understanding until after his death and resurrection. That is why, as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus told them not to tell others about what happened until after he was raised from the dead.
While Peter, James and John did not completely understand what happened on that mountain, this mountaintop experience did give them a clearer vision of Jesus. Jesus was more than a healer, more than a gifted storyteller, more than a wise teacher. On that mountain Peter, James and John were able to see Jesus’ glory more fully than ever before. They knew, without a doubt, that he was more than just another person. They knew he was greater than even Moses and Elijah. They knew he was the Son of God.
Our own mountaintop
Chances are you have not had a mountaintop experience exactly like Peter, James and John. Even if we were able to find the mountain, even if we found the exact spot of the Transfiguration, we would probably not have the exact same encounter with God. The truth is, replicating another person’s mountaintop experiences is impossible.
But each of us can have a clearer vision of Jesus when we are open to God. Acts of devotion such as prayer, Bible study, worship, fasting and conversation with other Christians are not only ways to express our love for God, but they can also help us deepen our relationship with God. These spiritual disciplines help us see more clearly who God is and who we are to be as God’s people.
As central as devotion is to the Christian life, it alone is not enough. Just as Peter’s offer to build shrines for Jesus, Moses and Elijah and thus extend their time on the mountain was ignored, so God calls us to more than devotion.
“Listen to him!”
For me, the key to understanding the significance of the Transfiguration is right after God tells Peter, James and John who Jesus is. God then says, “Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5, CEB). Do not just stay up on this mountain. Do more than be amazed by this experience. Listen to Jesus. Do what he says.
And what does Jesus tell them? According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus had already called them to turn from the ways of the world and turn to God’s kingdom (4:12-17), follow him and fish for people (4:18-22), be salt and light and thus make a difference in the world around them (5:13-16), forgive instead of seeking revenge (5:21-26; 6:14), love their enemies (5:43-48), refrain from judging others (7:1-5) and take up their cross and follow him (16:13-28).
As much as Peter, James and John wanted to stay on that mountain, they could not be faithful to Jesus if they remained there. On that mountain they saw Jesus’ true identity more clearly than ever before. They heard God tell them to listen to him. In order to do that, they had to come down the mountain, come back to everyday life, where there was work to be done. Matthew tells us that they did not have to wait long for an opportunity to make a difference. After descending the mountain with Peter, James, and John, Jesus came to a crowd. A man knelt before him and begged Jesus to do something for his troubled son. The father first came to the disciples, but they could do nothing. It was up to Jesus to heal the boy (17:14-21).
Just as there was work awaiting Jesus and his disciples when they came down the mountain, so there is work that awaits us in our everyday world. Giving money to support Christ’s work in a far-flung part of the world is needed, but so is loving our neighbor in our own neighborhood. The opportunities are limitless. When we engage in acts of devotion, we not only see more clearly who Jesus is, we also see more clearly how we can serve him by serving others.[Be sure to check out FaithLink, a weekly downloadable discussion guide for classes and small groups.]read more
-------
WORSHIP ELEMENTS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017 (OPTION 1) by Deborah SokoloveTransfiguration Sunday
COLOR: White
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
THEME IDEAS
The story of Moses’ mountain ascent to receive God’s commandments is juxtaposed with the story of Jesus’ mountain ascent when he was transfigured in the midst of his disciples. The presence of Moses and Elijah on the mountain with Jesus emphasizes his continuity with the ongoing story of God’s journey with the people of God. Images of light, of the shining glory of God, suffuse today’s readings. As Jesus is transfigured, his face shining like the sun, we see a new world in which God establishes justice and righteousness for all.
INVITATION AND GATHERING
Call to Worship (Exodus 24, Matthew 17)
As God called to Moses from the mountain,
we are called to be God’s people.
As Jesus called the disciples to climb with him
to the peak of another mountain,
we are called to follow wherever he leads.
As the disciples stood in awe at the sound of God’s voice,
we are called to worship in wonder and praise.
Opening Prayer (Exodus 24, Matthew 17)
Holy One, Light of light, God of all creation,
long ago you showed yourself
to the disciples in Jesus’ transfiguration—
his face glowing like a field of daffodils
on a bright, spring morning.
Shine in us, around us, and through us,
that the world may see your glory
in the faces of your people—
faces transfigured in the light of your love. Amen.
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
Prayer of Confession (Exodus 24, Matthew 17)
Though we want to walk with Moses
and see God’s holy radiance,
we hide in the mist of our own desires,
unable to perceive the presence of God’s grace.
While we want a world of justice and peace,
we walk in clouds of selfishness,
unable to share God’s loving-kindness.
Though we want to follow Jesus up the mountain,
we cower in fear,
unable to bear the light of God.
Words of Assurance (Matthew 17)
In the blazing light of God’s grace,
Jesus touches us to say,
“Get up and do not be afraid.”
In the name of Christ, all is forgiven.
Amen.
Passing the Peace of Christ
As we share the peace of Christ with one another,
may the light of Christ shine in you always.
And also in you.
Response to the Word (Exodus 24, Psalm 99, 2 Peter 1, Matthew 17)
Light of light, True God of true God,
as you spoke from the pillar of cloud
to Moses and the people,
so you spoke from the bright cloud
to Jesus and his disciples.
May your word live through us today,
that our world of sorrow
may be transfigured into joy.
THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION
Offering Prayer
Luminous Giver of all good things,
in your presence, everything is gift.
Bless these gifts of bread and wine,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands,
that they may nourish us
for the work of healing your creation,
in the name of Christ, our light
and the light of the world. Amen.
Great Thanksgiving
Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give our thanks to the Holy One.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is a right, good, and a joyful thing
always and everywhere to give you our thanks,
you who created all that is
and all that ever shall be.
On the first day of creation, you said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light;
and you called the light good.
From mountaintops to the deepest valleys,
in daylight and in the darkest shadows,
you call us to be your people.
And so, with your people on earth
and all the great cloud of witnesses in heaven,
we praise your name
and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one
who comes in your holy name.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy are you, and holy is your child, Jesus Christ.
When he went up the mountain with his disciples,
he stood in the company of Moses and Elijah,
enveloped in the bright cloud of your presence.
When he saw that his friends were afraid,
he touched them with compassion,
freeing them from fear.
On the night in which he gave himself up
(continue Words of Institution)
do this in remembrance of me.
And so, in remembrance of your mighty acts
in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves
in praise and thanksgiving
as a holy and living sacrifice
as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may become one with Christ,
who lived and died and rose to eternal life,
an eternal blessing for the world.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ,
one with each other, and one in ministry
to all the world, until we feast together
at the heavenly banquet in your eternal realm.
Light of light, True God of true God,
Spirit of holiness, we praise you now,
tomorrow, and forevermore.
SENDING FORTH
Benediction (2 Peter 1, Matthew 17)
Walk in light and truth.
See the light of Christ in every face.
Be the light of Christ to all you meet. Amen.
CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS
Gathering Words (Matthew 17)
On mountaintops and in deep valleys,
Jesus is the light of the world.
On busy city streets and on quiet country lanes,
Jesus is the light of the world.
At home, at work, at play, and at rest,
Jesus is the light of the world.
Let us see one another in the light of Jesus.
—Or—
Gathering Words (Exodus 24, 2 Peter 1)
A bush burns and is not consumed.
God is present among us.
A voice calls out from the clouds.
God is present among us.
A light shines in the darkness,
and the morning star rises in our hearts.
God is present among us.
Praise Sentences (Matthew 17)
Christ is our light and our hope!
Christ is our light and our hope![From The Abingdon Worship Annual edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © Abingdon Press. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2017 is now available.]read more
WORSHIP ELEMENTS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017 (OPTION 1) by Deborah SokoloveTransfiguration SundayCOLOR: White
SCRIPTURE READINGS: Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
THEME IDEAS
The story of Moses’ mountain ascent to receive God’s commandments is juxtaposed with the story of Jesus’ mountain ascent when he was transfigured in the midst of his disciples. The presence of Moses and Elijah on the mountain with Jesus emphasizes his continuity with the ongoing story of God’s journey with the people of God. Images of light, of the shining glory of God, suffuse today’s readings. As Jesus is transfigured, his face shining like the sun, we see a new world in which God establishes justice and righteousness for all.
INVITATION AND GATHERING
Call to Worship (Exodus 24, Matthew 17)
As God called to Moses from the mountain,
we are called to be God’s people.
As Jesus called the disciples to climb with him
to the peak of another mountain,
we are called to follow wherever he leads.
As the disciples stood in awe at the sound of God’s voice,
we are called to worship in wonder and praise.
Opening Prayer (Exodus 24, Matthew 17)
Holy One, Light of light, God of all creation,
long ago you showed yourself
to the disciples in Jesus’ transfiguration—
his face glowing like a field of daffodils
on a bright, spring morning.
Shine in us, around us, and through us,
that the world may see your glory
in the faces of your people—
faces transfigured in the light of your love. Amen.
PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
Prayer of Confession (Exodus 24, Matthew 17)
Though we want to walk with Moses
and see God’s holy radiance,
we hide in the mist of our own desires,
unable to perceive the presence of God’s grace.
While we want a world of justice and peace,
we walk in clouds of selfishness,
unable to share God’s loving-kindness.
Though we want to follow Jesus up the mountain,
we cower in fear,
unable to bear the light of God.
Words of Assurance (Matthew 17)
In the blazing light of God’s grace,
Jesus touches us to say,
“Get up and do not be afraid.”
In the name of Christ, all is forgiven.
Amen.
Passing the Peace of Christ
As we share the peace of Christ with one another,
may the light of Christ shine in you always.
And also in you.
Response to the Word (Exodus 24, Psalm 99, 2 Peter 1, Matthew 17)
Light of light, True God of true God,
as you spoke from the pillar of cloud
to Moses and the people,
so you spoke from the bright cloud
to Jesus and his disciples.
May your word live through us today,
that our world of sorrow
may be transfigured into joy.
THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION
Offering Prayer
Luminous Giver of all good things,
in your presence, everything is gift.
Bless these gifts of bread and wine,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands,
that they may nourish us
for the work of healing your creation,
in the name of Christ, our light
and the light of the world. Amen.
Great Thanksgiving
Christ be with you.
And also with you.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to God.
Let us give our thanks to the Holy One.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
It is a right, good, and a joyful thing
always and everywhere to give you our thanks,
you who created all that is
and all that ever shall be.
On the first day of creation, you said,
“Let there be light,” and there was light;
and you called the light good.
From mountaintops to the deepest valleys,
in daylight and in the darkest shadows,
you call us to be your people.
And so, with your people on earth
and all the great cloud of witnesses in heaven,
we praise your name
and join their unending hymn:
Holy, holy, holy One, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is the one
who comes in your holy name.
Hosanna in the highest.
Holy are you, and holy is your child, Jesus Christ.
When he went up the mountain with his disciples,
he stood in the company of Moses and Elijah,
enveloped in the bright cloud of your presence.
When he saw that his friends were afraid,
he touched them with compassion,
freeing them from fear.
On the night in which he gave himself up
(continue Words of Institution)
do this in remembrance of me.
And so, in remembrance of your mighty acts
in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves
in praise and thanksgiving
as a holy and living sacrifice
as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
Pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here,
and on these gifts of bread and wine.
Make them be for us the body and blood of Christ,
that we may become one with Christ,
who lived and died and rose to eternal life,
an eternal blessing for the world.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ,
one with each other, and one in ministry
to all the world, until we feast together
at the heavenly banquet in your eternal realm.
Light of light, True God of true God,
Spirit of holiness, we praise you now,
tomorrow, and forevermore.
SENDING FORTH
Benediction (2 Peter 1, Matthew 17)
Walk in light and truth.
See the light of Christ in every face.
Be the light of Christ to all you meet. Amen.
CONTEMPORARY OPTIONS
Gathering Words (Matthew 17)
On mountaintops and in deep valleys,
Jesus is the light of the world.
On busy city streets and on quiet country lanes,
Jesus is the light of the world.
At home, at work, at play, and at rest,
Jesus is the light of the world.
Let us see one another in the light of Jesus.
—Or—
Gathering Words (Exodus 24, 2 Peter 1)
A bush burns and is not consumed.
God is present among us.
A voice calls out from the clouds.
God is present among us.
A light shines in the darkness,
and the morning star rises in our hearts.
God is present among us.
Praise Sentences (Matthew 17)
Christ is our light and our hope!
Christ is our light and our hope![From The Abingdon Worship Annual edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © Abingdon Press. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2017 is now available.]read more
-------
WORSHIP ELEMENTS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017 (OPTION 2) by Nancy Crawford Holm
Transfiguration Sunday
SERMON OPTIONS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017
AN APPOINTMENT WITH GOD
EXODUS 24:12-18
A man told the story of going to the mountain retreat of a renowned evangelist for an interview. "Upon reaching the end of the meandering road at the top of the mountain, I found the retreat deserted except for the evangelist and God," the man facetiously explained.
Indeed the preacher did spend considerable time alone with God at his mountain refuge, preparing sermons and receiving divine guidance for his ministry. No doubt, he also was given strength for living the Christian life through his visits with God in that holy place.
Moses spent an extended time with God on the mountain, during which God gave him words of truth for Israel to live by. In the process, Moses also was strengthened for the enormous task of leading Israel to the Promised Land. Anyone who seeks to live a life shaped and directed by God needs time alone with God.
I. We Meet God Upon God's Invitation
Moses distinctly heard God calling him to a meeting on the mountain. Only then did he consider the possibility of such an encounter. This trek up a mountain to meet God was as unpremeditated as the previous one when God spoke to him out of the burning bush. People are not inclined by nature to spend extended time alone with God. Whenever that motivation comes to us, we must consider it to be the voice of God inviting us to come to him for guidance, comfort, and strength.
Our Heavenly Father desires for us to spend time alone with him because he loves us and knows that such experiences will cause us to prosper spiritually. The Scriptures frequently state God's invitations to us to come to him. One of my favorites is the merciful call from Jesus: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). A man determined that he would go into the mountains and pray all night if need be in order to become full of God's power. All he got was a sore back, for he did not go at God's invitation; he went out of his own selfish desire to get more of God's power to use for personal gain. We can move into God's presence and we should, but only in response to a compulsion to do so that comes from hearing God's invitation.
II. We Meet God Through Obedience to God's Call
Moses readily obeyed God. He climbed up the mountain and saw the cloud representing the glory of God covering the peak. He knew the Lord waited for him. Then, after receiving the word from God to advance to the summit, Moses proceeded and disappeared into the cloud of God's glory. There he remained in close communication with the Lord for forty days and nights. Through his obedience to God's initiative, Moses received blessings he surely would have missed had he stayed below when God beckoned him to the top.
We should readily respond to God's call to us to spend time with him in close, uninterrupted fellowship. We live such busy lives that we sometimes fail to obey that call. Through our neglect of such opportunities, we miss out on the beautiful blessings God desires to give us. (Jerry E. Oswalt)
WHO HAS THE AUTHORITATIVE WORD?
2 PETER 1:16-21
We live in a world filled with conflicting mesages. We are bombarded by efforts to persuade us to buy something, vote for someone, believe in something. How do we sort through these various "witnesses" that confront us? In this text, Peter notes that the Christian witness is not simply another equal and competing claim on us. Rather, it is rooted in both personal experience and divine presence.
I. The Witness of Faith Is Based on Personal Experience
Today as we make the transition in the church's story from Epiphany to Lent, the focus shifts to transformation. The passage and season speak to the difference Christ's appearing makes in the lives of those who experience it. Such manifestation seeks to lead to transformation. Lent helps us examine such transformation and the difference it is or isn't making in our lives. The emphasis in this passage is the personal experience from which the witness of faith finds expression.
II. The Witness of Faith Is Authenticated by Divine Presence
Peter notes that the witness of prophecy in and through persons is initiated by the working of the Holy Spirit. This text reminds us of a major concern of the early church as to the real source of its authority. In this passage, the Transfiguration is secondary to the real issue of apostolic witness and authority.
According to 2 Peter, authority in witness involves personal experience and the movement of the Holy Spirit. Such authentic testimony and prophecy are thus as a lamp shining in a dark place, as the dawning of the day, or as the morning star rising.
For Peter, there is an indisputable link between authenticating authority and its effect on those who receive such witness. Christian witness fails the test of authenticity if it is not inspired by the presence of the Holy Spirit. In a day and age of convenience, in a time when religion has become prime time, the divine source of our authority must be recalled. For Peter, the Holy Spirit gives to the church authority to proclaim and witness to the experience of God's presence.
In her book Windows to Heaven, Diane Comp talks about her work with terminally ill children. Dr. Comp, in the beginning of her work, was an agnostic. She had grown up in the church and in her upbringing believed in God. However, as she went through college and on to graduate work, God became an outdated idea. In her decision to be an agnostic she believed that the only way she would come to believe in God again would be through the testimony of a credible witness. The book is the story of those credible witnesses who were her terminally ill children and how they became, for her, "windows to heaven." Peter reminds us that the credibility and authenticity of the Christian witness to faith are to be discovered in the Holy Spirit. The church of today needs desperately to hold up that experience as to where the final and authoritative word must be found and shared if it is to be a credible witness to the God who is for us and who is among us. Only God through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit has the authoritative word. (Travis Franklin)
ONE MOMENT IN TIME
MATTHEW 17:1-9
The great Lutheran preacher Paul Scherer reminds us, "One is often amazed at the assumption that everything Jesus said is easy to understand. But what item is there in the record of scripture more insistent than this: that Jesus was being constantly misunderstood?" There is forever this simplified version of the Christian faith that keeps saying all we have to do is to listen to Jesus and do what he says, and yet nothing is so obvious in the Scriptures as the fact that even his disciples keep missing his point.
If the sayings of Jesus are challenging, how much more of a mystery to us and to the church are these stories in Scripture like the Transfiguration? What are we to do with this story of the Transfiguration?
All the Gospel writers include it in their Gospels. What do they want us to see? Does the church tell this story faithfully to show us something about Jesus? To make some claim on Jesus' behalf that he is the One through whom the glory of God is made visible to the world? Or does the church share this story as an example of the power of Jesus to bring us face-to-face with the indwelling grace of God to sustain us when the way is dark?
There was a time, not long ago, when preachers were embarrassed by such stories. This story of the Transfiguration does not fit into the modern scientific view of the universe to which our faith has been most anxious to conform and accommodate. Yet a growing number of the brightest and best of our young people on college campuses and around the world are hungry for stories like this. They have mastered the logic of calculus, they know the advances of biology, and they are smart enough to realize that if there is not the possibility of mystery and power greater than what they already know, we are of all humankind the most to be pitied.
I. The Transfiguration Helps Us Better Understand Jesus
In this story of the Transfiguration, Christian people declare that something in Jesus is beyond our reason. Jesus is not just one of the shining saints honored through the years in every land. He has in him a mystery that is from beyond himself. The disciples report that they saw in Jesus a mystery that transformed history.
And the Christian faith has been struggling to put that mystery into words ever since. This Transfiguration story is the model for all our Christian theology. In Jesus Christ, we beheld the glory of God. In all of these stories, Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, there is the story of the mystery of God working in human history, God working and acting upon human life. But what makes this story of Jesus different from the story of the way God acted in Moses?
II. The Transfiguration Helps Us Better Understand God
The story of the Transfiguration is the story of the divinity of God being manifested in and through the humanity of Jesus. God is seen in Jesus Christ working to reconcile the world to himself. There on that mountain is the event that represents the Christian story: God is revealing himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not just in the things that happen to Jesus but in what Jesus says and does. The mystery of the universe is at work in the heart of Jesus the Christ.
This story carries our claim that Jesus was the personality of God. Jesus is the human life in which the power, mercy, and grace of God are made visible to us. Jesus is the power of God's love that captures the citadels of our hearts that force could not take.
III. The Transfiguration Helps Us Better Understand Our World
The Transfiguration story forces the Christian faith to keep God's spirit tied to humanity. God made visible in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ affirms that our earthly lives are touched by the eternal. There is a fundamental connection between creation and God. My moments of profound discovery of the power and grace of God will be encountered in historical places. The power of God will become most visible to us in ministry with others.
The Transfiguration makes a claim about Jesus, about the nature of God, and about our world. And the only hope there is for a future better than our past is in the middle of that story. (Rick Brand)read more
WORSHIP ELEMENTS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017 (OPTION 2) by Nancy Crawford Holm
Transfiguration Sunday
Color: White or GoldScripture Readings: Exodus 24:12-18; Psalm 99; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9
Theme Ideas
Transfiguration Sunday is the last Sunday before Lent. It is a time to celebrate the revelation of Christ to people of faith, a time to connect the glory of God revealed to Moses on Sinai to the glory of God in Christ revealed to Jesus’ disciples. It is also a time of transition from Jesus’ work of teaching and healing to the journey of Lent. Themes could center around transformation, patriarchs and prophets (possibly including modern prophets), the mountaintop, one more mountain to climb, glory, and images of Christ.
Call to Worship (Psalm 99)
The LORD is Sovereign.
Let the people tremble in awe.
God is enthroned between the cherubim.
Let the earth shake.
The LORD is great in Zion.
God is high above all peoples.
Come let us worship our glorious Lord.
Contemporary Gathering Words
Let the radiance of Christ be evident among us:
in our songs and our words;
in our deepest thoughts and desires;
in the youthful and the experienced,
the exhausted and the energetic;
in the hungry and the scared.
We are here together.
We join our voices and our hearts in praise.
Contemporary Gathering Words
We gather as witnesses to the transforming power of God.
Gather us in, God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Praise Sentences (Psalm 99)
Holy is our God! Mighty is the King of kings,
the lover of justice.
God has established justice and righteousness.
Extol the LORD our God. Worship at God’s footstool.
Holy is our God!
Opening Prayer (Matthew 17)
Holy God, who revealed the Messiah on the mountain,
fill us with praise, overflowing with cheers
and mysterious visions.
Light our way; direct our course; and energize us,
for we have one more mountain to climb,
through Jesus Christ, who is the light. Amen.
Opening Prayer (Exodus 24, Matthew 17)
God of the mountaintop and of the plain,
we remember today the Transfiguration of Jesus.
Glorious, mysterious, and shimmering with light,
you know our hearts, our triumphs,
and our disasters.
Take us as we are; love us as we are;
join with us and transform us into your holy ones.
Amen.
Benediction
Hear the words of hope set to music by Mozart:
“The sun’s golden splendour now sunders the night,
And shatters the power of the evil one’s might.”
Let us live, die, and rise in the image and power of Christ.
Amen and Amen.
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Magic Flute [Bryn Mawr, Pa.: O. Ditson, 1888], quoted in Susan A. Blain, ed. Imaging the Word, vol. 2 of Arts and Lectionary Resource [Cleveland: United Church Press, 1995], p. 141)
Benediction
When Jesus’ glory is revealed to us,
we become transformed.
We are not who we were before.
Go now to your homes, your neighborhoods,
your schools, and places of work as new people.
Go as Christians illumined by the glory of God in Christ.
Be renewed and be radiant.
Visual and Dramatic Suggestions
Throughout the service pairs of people could portray transformation. This would occur unannounced, at various preplanned points throughout the service. With two large screens overlapping to create a path to exit in the center (dark fabric over a PVC pipe frame could work) the following pairs could image transformation:
From the left, a limping man with a cane walks halfway across the altar then disappears behind the screen. From behind, he reenters, without the cane, skipping or dancing.
Same sequence; a woman enters with a large water bottle, disappears, and then reenters with a bottle of wine.
A young girl enters, carrying a ukulele, and disappears behind the screen. Then from behind, continuing across, a woman enters, carrying a guitar.
Two children enter, fighting with toy swords (portraying an Israeli and a Palestinian). They reenter as friends, arms around each other’s shoulder.
Other pairs: Old person transition to young, someone carrying a heavy burden reenters without the load.[From The Abingdon Worship Annual edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © Abingdon Press. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2017 is now available.]read more
-------
Transfiguration Sunday is the last Sunday before Lent. It is a time to celebrate the revelation of Christ to people of faith, a time to connect the glory of God revealed to Moses on Sinai to the glory of God in Christ revealed to Jesus’ disciples. It is also a time of transition from Jesus’ work of teaching and healing to the journey of Lent. Themes could center around transformation, patriarchs and prophets (possibly including modern prophets), the mountaintop, one more mountain to climb, glory, and images of Christ.
Call to Worship (Psalm 99)
The LORD is Sovereign.
Let the people tremble in awe.
God is enthroned between the cherubim.
Let the earth shake.
The LORD is great in Zion.
God is high above all peoples.
Come let us worship our glorious Lord.
Contemporary Gathering Words
Let the radiance of Christ be evident among us:
in our songs and our words;
in our deepest thoughts and desires;
in the youthful and the experienced,
the exhausted and the energetic;
in the hungry and the scared.
We are here together.
We join our voices and our hearts in praise.
Contemporary Gathering Words
We gather as witnesses to the transforming power of God.
Gather us in, God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
Praise Sentences (Psalm 99)
Holy is our God! Mighty is the King of kings,
the lover of justice.
God has established justice and righteousness.
Extol the LORD our God. Worship at God’s footstool.
Holy is our God!
Opening Prayer (Matthew 17)
Holy God, who revealed the Messiah on the mountain,
fill us with praise, overflowing with cheers
and mysterious visions.
Light our way; direct our course; and energize us,
for we have one more mountain to climb,
through Jesus Christ, who is the light. Amen.
Opening Prayer (Exodus 24, Matthew 17)
God of the mountaintop and of the plain,
we remember today the Transfiguration of Jesus.
Glorious, mysterious, and shimmering with light,
you know our hearts, our triumphs,
and our disasters.
Take us as we are; love us as we are;
join with us and transform us into your holy ones.
Amen.
Benediction
Hear the words of hope set to music by Mozart:
“The sun’s golden splendour now sunders the night,
And shatters the power of the evil one’s might.”
Let us live, die, and rise in the image and power of Christ.
Amen and Amen.
(Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, The Magic Flute [Bryn Mawr, Pa.: O. Ditson, 1888], quoted in Susan A. Blain, ed. Imaging the Word, vol. 2 of Arts and Lectionary Resource [Cleveland: United Church Press, 1995], p. 141)
Benediction
When Jesus’ glory is revealed to us,
we become transformed.
We are not who we were before.
Go now to your homes, your neighborhoods,
your schools, and places of work as new people.
Go as Christians illumined by the glory of God in Christ.
Be renewed and be radiant.
Visual and Dramatic Suggestions
Throughout the service pairs of people could portray transformation. This would occur unannounced, at various preplanned points throughout the service. With two large screens overlapping to create a path to exit in the center (dark fabric over a PVC pipe frame could work) the following pairs could image transformation:
From the left, a limping man with a cane walks halfway across the altar then disappears behind the screen. From behind, he reenters, without the cane, skipping or dancing.
Same sequence; a woman enters with a large water bottle, disappears, and then reenters with a bottle of wine.
A young girl enters, carrying a ukulele, and disappears behind the screen. Then from behind, continuing across, a woman enters, carrying a guitar.
Two children enter, fighting with toy swords (portraying an Israeli and a Palestinian). They reenter as friends, arms around each other’s shoulder.
Other pairs: Old person transition to young, someone carrying a heavy burden reenters without the load.[From The Abingdon Worship Annual edited by Mary J. Scifres and B.J. Beu, Copyright © Abingdon Press. The Abingdon Worship Annual 2017 is now available.]read more
-------
SERMON OPTIONS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017AN APPOINTMENT WITH GOD
EXODUS 24:12-18
A man told the story of going to the mountain retreat of a renowned evangelist for an interview. "Upon reaching the end of the meandering road at the top of the mountain, I found the retreat deserted except for the evangelist and God," the man facetiously explained.
Indeed the preacher did spend considerable time alone with God at his mountain refuge, preparing sermons and receiving divine guidance for his ministry. No doubt, he also was given strength for living the Christian life through his visits with God in that holy place.
Moses spent an extended time with God on the mountain, during which God gave him words of truth for Israel to live by. In the process, Moses also was strengthened for the enormous task of leading Israel to the Promised Land. Anyone who seeks to live a life shaped and directed by God needs time alone with God.
I. We Meet God Upon God's Invitation
Moses distinctly heard God calling him to a meeting on the mountain. Only then did he consider the possibility of such an encounter. This trek up a mountain to meet God was as unpremeditated as the previous one when God spoke to him out of the burning bush. People are not inclined by nature to spend extended time alone with God. Whenever that motivation comes to us, we must consider it to be the voice of God inviting us to come to him for guidance, comfort, and strength.
Our Heavenly Father desires for us to spend time alone with him because he loves us and knows that such experiences will cause us to prosper spiritually. The Scriptures frequently state God's invitations to us to come to him. One of my favorites is the merciful call from Jesus: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest" (Matt. 11:28). A man determined that he would go into the mountains and pray all night if need be in order to become full of God's power. All he got was a sore back, for he did not go at God's invitation; he went out of his own selfish desire to get more of God's power to use for personal gain. We can move into God's presence and we should, but only in response to a compulsion to do so that comes from hearing God's invitation.
II. We Meet God Through Obedience to God's Call
Moses readily obeyed God. He climbed up the mountain and saw the cloud representing the glory of God covering the peak. He knew the Lord waited for him. Then, after receiving the word from God to advance to the summit, Moses proceeded and disappeared into the cloud of God's glory. There he remained in close communication with the Lord for forty days and nights. Through his obedience to God's initiative, Moses received blessings he surely would have missed had he stayed below when God beckoned him to the top.
We should readily respond to God's call to us to spend time with him in close, uninterrupted fellowship. We live such busy lives that we sometimes fail to obey that call. Through our neglect of such opportunities, we miss out on the beautiful blessings God desires to give us. (Jerry E. Oswalt)
WHO HAS THE AUTHORITATIVE WORD?
2 PETER 1:16-21
We live in a world filled with conflicting mesages. We are bombarded by efforts to persuade us to buy something, vote for someone, believe in something. How do we sort through these various "witnesses" that confront us? In this text, Peter notes that the Christian witness is not simply another equal and competing claim on us. Rather, it is rooted in both personal experience and divine presence.
I. The Witness of Faith Is Based on Personal Experience
Today as we make the transition in the church's story from Epiphany to Lent, the focus shifts to transformation. The passage and season speak to the difference Christ's appearing makes in the lives of those who experience it. Such manifestation seeks to lead to transformation. Lent helps us examine such transformation and the difference it is or isn't making in our lives. The emphasis in this passage is the personal experience from which the witness of faith finds expression.
II. The Witness of Faith Is Authenticated by Divine Presence
Peter notes that the witness of prophecy in and through persons is initiated by the working of the Holy Spirit. This text reminds us of a major concern of the early church as to the real source of its authority. In this passage, the Transfiguration is secondary to the real issue of apostolic witness and authority.
According to 2 Peter, authority in witness involves personal experience and the movement of the Holy Spirit. Such authentic testimony and prophecy are thus as a lamp shining in a dark place, as the dawning of the day, or as the morning star rising.
For Peter, there is an indisputable link between authenticating authority and its effect on those who receive such witness. Christian witness fails the test of authenticity if it is not inspired by the presence of the Holy Spirit. In a day and age of convenience, in a time when religion has become prime time, the divine source of our authority must be recalled. For Peter, the Holy Spirit gives to the church authority to proclaim and witness to the experience of God's presence.
In her book Windows to Heaven, Diane Comp talks about her work with terminally ill children. Dr. Comp, in the beginning of her work, was an agnostic. She had grown up in the church and in her upbringing believed in God. However, as she went through college and on to graduate work, God became an outdated idea. In her decision to be an agnostic she believed that the only way she would come to believe in God again would be through the testimony of a credible witness. The book is the story of those credible witnesses who were her terminally ill children and how they became, for her, "windows to heaven." Peter reminds us that the credibility and authenticity of the Christian witness to faith are to be discovered in the Holy Spirit. The church of today needs desperately to hold up that experience as to where the final and authoritative word must be found and shared if it is to be a credible witness to the God who is for us and who is among us. Only God through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit has the authoritative word. (Travis Franklin)
ONE MOMENT IN TIME
MATTHEW 17:1-9
The great Lutheran preacher Paul Scherer reminds us, "One is often amazed at the assumption that everything Jesus said is easy to understand. But what item is there in the record of scripture more insistent than this: that Jesus was being constantly misunderstood?" There is forever this simplified version of the Christian faith that keeps saying all we have to do is to listen to Jesus and do what he says, and yet nothing is so obvious in the Scriptures as the fact that even his disciples keep missing his point.
If the sayings of Jesus are challenging, how much more of a mystery to us and to the church are these stories in Scripture like the Transfiguration? What are we to do with this story of the Transfiguration?
All the Gospel writers include it in their Gospels. What do they want us to see? Does the church tell this story faithfully to show us something about Jesus? To make some claim on Jesus' behalf that he is the One through whom the glory of God is made visible to the world? Or does the church share this story as an example of the power of Jesus to bring us face-to-face with the indwelling grace of God to sustain us when the way is dark?
There was a time, not long ago, when preachers were embarrassed by such stories. This story of the Transfiguration does not fit into the modern scientific view of the universe to which our faith has been most anxious to conform and accommodate. Yet a growing number of the brightest and best of our young people on college campuses and around the world are hungry for stories like this. They have mastered the logic of calculus, they know the advances of biology, and they are smart enough to realize that if there is not the possibility of mystery and power greater than what they already know, we are of all humankind the most to be pitied.
I. The Transfiguration Helps Us Better Understand Jesus
In this story of the Transfiguration, Christian people declare that something in Jesus is beyond our reason. Jesus is not just one of the shining saints honored through the years in every land. He has in him a mystery that is from beyond himself. The disciples report that they saw in Jesus a mystery that transformed history.
And the Christian faith has been struggling to put that mystery into words ever since. This Transfiguration story is the model for all our Christian theology. In Jesus Christ, we beheld the glory of God. In all of these stories, Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, there is the story of the mystery of God working in human history, God working and acting upon human life. But what makes this story of Jesus different from the story of the way God acted in Moses?
II. The Transfiguration Helps Us Better Understand God
The story of the Transfiguration is the story of the divinity of God being manifested in and through the humanity of Jesus. God is seen in Jesus Christ working to reconcile the world to himself. There on that mountain is the event that represents the Christian story: God is revealing himself in the person and work of Jesus Christ, not just in the things that happen to Jesus but in what Jesus says and does. The mystery of the universe is at work in the heart of Jesus the Christ.
This story carries our claim that Jesus was the personality of God. Jesus is the human life in which the power, mercy, and grace of God are made visible to us. Jesus is the power of God's love that captures the citadels of our hearts that force could not take.
III. The Transfiguration Helps Us Better Understand Our World
The Transfiguration story forces the Christian faith to keep God's spirit tied to humanity. God made visible in the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ affirms that our earthly lives are touched by the eternal. There is a fundamental connection between creation and God. My moments of profound discovery of the power and grace of God will be encountered in historical places. The power of God will become most visible to us in ministry with others.
The Transfiguration makes a claim about Jesus, about the nature of God, and about our world. And the only hope there is for a future better than our past is in the middle of that story. (Rick Brand)read more
-------
WORSHIP FOR KIDS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017 by Carolyn C. BrownTransfiguration Sunday
From a Child's Point of View
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9. Children can follow the events of this story fairly easily, but they need help in interpreting them. Perhaps the simplest interpretation is that God was telling the disciples something they should already have figured out, that Jesus was God's Son. But God was taking no chances. To make sure they got the message, God let them see Jesus in powerful new light; God sent Moses and Elijah (two famous Old Testament leaders) to show their support for Jesus; then God told the disciples, flat out, that Jesus is the Son of God.
Epistle: 2 Peter 1:16-21. On one level, this passage is proof that God's efforts at the transfiguration worked. Now that the disciples knew who Jesus was. Peter (or his followers) did not need to make up any stories to explain who Jesus was. They only needed to tell what they had seen and heard. Few children can move beyond this interpretation to consider possible refrenes to the Second Coming, or the writer's concerns about how prophecy is to be interpreted.
Psalm: 2 or 99. Psalm 2 celebrates God's choice of a Messiah, or Son. In a certain sense, it is a great joke at the expense of all the kings and princes, the political leaders who thought they were running things. God began by laughing at their foolishness (vss. 1-4) and announcing the enthronement of the ruler God had chosen (vss. 5-6). The new king then warned the others that they had better respect God (vss. 7-11).
If it is pointed out to them, older children will recognize the phrase, "This is my beloved Son," as an indication that this psalmist, hundreds of years before Jesus was born, already knew God's secret about the coming Son and was looking forward to the day that Son would come.
Psalm 99 assumes familiarity with Old Testament vocabulary and stories that few children possess, so Psalm 2 is a much better choice for children.
Old Testament: Exodus 24:12-18. Adults appreciate the similarities between this story and that of Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain, but children find no particular meaning in those similarities. Instead, they are impressed by all the fire and clouds that come with God's presence. For some, this is proof of God's great power. For others, it raises questions about why such displays are not seen today. There are no satisfying answers to such questions when posed by literal thinkers.
Watch Words
The word transfiguration is so obsolete that the only dictionary definition is a reference to the event in Jesus' life. Consider exploring the story without using the word at all. If Transfiguration Sunday is part of your tradition, use the word only as the name of the day, rather than as a description of what happened.
Let the Children Sing
"O Wondrous Sight! O Vision Fair!" retells the story of the transfiguration in words that most fifth- and sixth-graders will be able to read and sing.
To praise Jesus the Christ, sing a song many young people know, "Alleluia, Alleluia," or a traditional hymn, "When Morning Gilds the Skies." Nonreaders, when encouraged, can join in on the repeated "May Jesus Christ be praised!" and older readers will slowly pick up some of the other phrases.
Sing "Fairest Lord Jesus" only if children have learned it and sing it often in choir or church school.
Do not overlook the gospel hymn "I Love to Tell the Story." Its simple language makes it easy for children to read and understand.
The Liturgical Child
1. Before reading the account of the transfiguration, instruct all worshipers to close their eyes and see in their imagination the events described in Matthew.
2. The New Jerusalem Bible titles Psalm 2 "A Messianic Drama." Following that idea, ask three readers to present the psalm as a simple play. The three readers stand at the center of the worship area, with the narrator off to one side and God a bit behind or perhaps on a step above the Messiah:
Verses 1-5 Narrator reads.
Verse 6 God gestures toward the Messiah while speaking.
Verses 7-11 Messiah reads. Beginning with verse 10, he points finger at the congregation to warn the kings.
If possible, have all presenters memorize their lines, and practice together so that everyone is comfortable. Work for expressions that communicate the humorous put-down of the would-be rulers. This would be most effective with teenage or adult presenters.
3. Create a responsive Affirmation of Faith. A worship leader reads the phrases about Jesus in the Apostles' Creed, and after each phrase, the congregation responds: "God said, 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am pleased.' We will listen to him."
Sermon Resources
1. One way to explore the transfiguration is to present it as God telling us a very special secret: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am pleased." Point out that God told the secret more than once. God told it first when Jesus was baptized, but only John heard. God told it again at the transfiguration, when Peter, James, and John heard. Following Jesus' instructions, the three disciples kept God's secret until Easter. Then they told everyone. Our task is to tell God's secret until everyone in the world has heard it.
WORSHIP FOR KIDS: FEBRUARY 26, 2017 by Carolyn C. BrownTransfiguration SundayFrom a Child's Point of View
Gospel: Matthew 17:1-9. Children can follow the events of this story fairly easily, but they need help in interpreting them. Perhaps the simplest interpretation is that God was telling the disciples something they should already have figured out, that Jesus was God's Son. But God was taking no chances. To make sure they got the message, God let them see Jesus in powerful new light; God sent Moses and Elijah (two famous Old Testament leaders) to show their support for Jesus; then God told the disciples, flat out, that Jesus is the Son of God.
Epistle: 2 Peter 1:16-21. On one level, this passage is proof that God's efforts at the transfiguration worked. Now that the disciples knew who Jesus was. Peter (or his followers) did not need to make up any stories to explain who Jesus was. They only needed to tell what they had seen and heard. Few children can move beyond this interpretation to consider possible refrenes to the Second Coming, or the writer's concerns about how prophecy is to be interpreted.
Psalm: 2 or 99. Psalm 2 celebrates God's choice of a Messiah, or Son. In a certain sense, it is a great joke at the expense of all the kings and princes, the political leaders who thought they were running things. God began by laughing at their foolishness (vss. 1-4) and announcing the enthronement of the ruler God had chosen (vss. 5-6). The new king then warned the others that they had better respect God (vss. 7-11).
If it is pointed out to them, older children will recognize the phrase, "This is my beloved Son," as an indication that this psalmist, hundreds of years before Jesus was born, already knew God's secret about the coming Son and was looking forward to the day that Son would come.
Psalm 99 assumes familiarity with Old Testament vocabulary and stories that few children possess, so Psalm 2 is a much better choice for children.
Old Testament: Exodus 24:12-18. Adults appreciate the similarities between this story and that of Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain, but children find no particular meaning in those similarities. Instead, they are impressed by all the fire and clouds that come with God's presence. For some, this is proof of God's great power. For others, it raises questions about why such displays are not seen today. There are no satisfying answers to such questions when posed by literal thinkers.
Watch Words
The word transfiguration is so obsolete that the only dictionary definition is a reference to the event in Jesus' life. Consider exploring the story without using the word at all. If Transfiguration Sunday is part of your tradition, use the word only as the name of the day, rather than as a description of what happened.
Let the Children Sing
"O Wondrous Sight! O Vision Fair!" retells the story of the transfiguration in words that most fifth- and sixth-graders will be able to read and sing.
To praise Jesus the Christ, sing a song many young people know, "Alleluia, Alleluia," or a traditional hymn, "When Morning Gilds the Skies." Nonreaders, when encouraged, can join in on the repeated "May Jesus Christ be praised!" and older readers will slowly pick up some of the other phrases.
Sing "Fairest Lord Jesus" only if children have learned it and sing it often in choir or church school.
Do not overlook the gospel hymn "I Love to Tell the Story." Its simple language makes it easy for children to read and understand.
The Liturgical Child
1. Before reading the account of the transfiguration, instruct all worshipers to close their eyes and see in their imagination the events described in Matthew.
2. The New Jerusalem Bible titles Psalm 2 "A Messianic Drama." Following that idea, ask three readers to present the psalm as a simple play. The three readers stand at the center of the worship area, with the narrator off to one side and God a bit behind or perhaps on a step above the Messiah:
Verses 1-5 Narrator reads.
Verse 6 God gestures toward the Messiah while speaking.
Verses 7-11 Messiah reads. Beginning with verse 10, he points finger at the congregation to warn the kings.
If possible, have all presenters memorize their lines, and practice together so that everyone is comfortable. Work for expressions that communicate the humorous put-down of the would-be rulers. This would be most effective with teenage or adult presenters.
3. Create a responsive Affirmation of Faith. A worship leader reads the phrases about Jesus in the Apostles' Creed, and after each phrase, the congregation responds: "God said, 'This is my beloved Son in whom I am pleased.' We will listen to him."
Sermon Resources
1. One way to explore the transfiguration is to present it as God telling us a very special secret: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am pleased." Point out that God told the secret more than once. God told it first when Jesus was baptized, but only John heard. God told it again at the transfiguration, when Peter, James, and John heard. Following Jesus' instructions, the three disciples kept God's secret until Easter. Then they told everyone. Our task is to tell God's secret until everyone in the world has heard it.
read more
-------
INSPIRING-HUMOROUS-EDGY-CONFRONTING-RELEVANT
DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE NOW
Welcome to the new Pulpit Resource from Will Willimon. For over three decades Pulpit Resource helps preachers prepare to preach. Now in partnership with Abingdon Press, this homiletical weekly is available with fresh and timely accessibility to a new generation of preachers.
No sermon is a solo production. Every preacher relies on inherited models, mentors in the preacher’s past, commentaries on biblical texts by people who have given their lives to such study, comments received from members of the congregation, last week’s news headlines, and all the other things that make a sermon communal.
No Christian does anything on their own. We live through the witness of the saints; preachers of the past inspire us and judge us. Scripture itself is a product of the community of faith. A host of now-forgotten teachers taught us how to speak. Nobody is born a preacher.
Pulpit Resource is equivalent to sitting down with a trusted clergy friend over a cup of coffee and asking, “What will you preach next Sunday?” Whenever I’ve been asked by new preachers, “How can I develop as a preacher?” my usual response is, “Get in a group of preachers. Meet regularly. Learn how to give and how to receive help. Sort through the advice of others, and utilize helpful insights.”
That’s Pulpit Resource.
Ready to Subscribe?
You now have the new option of subscribing to Pulpit Resource online to allow you easy access at any time. The print version is also still available for subscription. Simply pick the option that best meets your needs to subscribe today.
ONLINE ONLY SUBSCRIPTION – $70 PRINT SUBSCRIPTION – $70 ONLINE AND PRINT SUBSCRIPTION – $80
Alert! Subscribers to Pulpit Resource who purchased through Logos Productions:
If you subscribed to Will Willimon’s Pulpit Resource through Logos Productions before December 31, 2015, we have a record of your postal address and subscription expiration date, but we do not have your account in our system. To continue receiving Pulpit Resource for the life of your paid subscription, you must call customer service at 1-800-409-5346 or email subscriptions@ministrymatters.com. Your new account will not be charged until it is time to renew your annual subscription.
INSPIRING-HUMOROUS-EDGY-CONFRONTING-RELEVANTDOWNLOAD A SAMPLE NOW
Welcome to the new Pulpit Resource from Will Willimon. For over three decades Pulpit Resource helps preachers prepare to preach. Now in partnership with Abingdon Press, this homiletical weekly is available with fresh and timely accessibility to a new generation of preachers.
No sermon is a solo production. Every preacher relies on inherited models, mentors in the preacher’s past, commentaries on biblical texts by people who have given their lives to such study, comments received from members of the congregation, last week’s news headlines, and all the other things that make a sermon communal.
No Christian does anything on their own. We live through the witness of the saints; preachers of the past inspire us and judge us. Scripture itself is a product of the community of faith. A host of now-forgotten teachers taught us how to speak. Nobody is born a preacher.
Pulpit Resource is equivalent to sitting down with a trusted clergy friend over a cup of coffee and asking, “What will you preach next Sunday?” Whenever I’ve been asked by new preachers, “How can I develop as a preacher?” my usual response is, “Get in a group of preachers. Meet regularly. Learn how to give and how to receive help. Sort through the advice of others, and utilize helpful insights.”
That’s Pulpit Resource.
Ready to Subscribe?
You now have the new option of subscribing to Pulpit Resource online to allow you easy access at any time. The print version is also still available for subscription. Simply pick the option that best meets your needs to subscribe today.
ONLINE ONLY SUBSCRIPTION – $70 PRINT SUBSCRIPTION – $70 ONLINE AND PRINT SUBSCRIPTION – $80
Alert! Subscribers to Pulpit Resource who purchased through Logos Productions:
If you subscribed to Will Willimon’s Pulpit Resource through Logos Productions before December 31, 2015, we have a record of your postal address and subscription expiration date, but we do not have your account in our system. To continue receiving Pulpit Resource for the life of your paid subscription, you must call customer service at 1-800-409-5346 or email subscriptions@ministrymatters.com. Your new account will not be charged until it is time to renew your annual subscription.
read more
-------
FEBRUARY 26, 2017 - TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY by Sheila Bouie-Sledge
FEBRUARY 26, 2017 - TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY by Sheila Bouie-Sledge
PREACHING ANNUAL 
The Abingdon Preaching Annual includes:
The Primary Theme Fleshed out with brief, pithy nuggets of thought, idea jump-starters, or questions designed to spur the preacher’s imagination.
Secondary or Parallel Themes Two or three themes or streams of thought that are related to but separate from the primary theme offered.
Worship Helps Including Gathering Prayer, Collect, Pastoral Prayer, Congregational Prayer, Responsive Reading, and a Closing Prayer or Benediction.
Topical Essays These 700 word essays cover a variety of current and critical topics for the preacher—contributed by leading homileticians.
Full Sermons The full text from six to twelve sermons will be included. Additional are available online. These sermons will highlight best practices, unique approaches, and fresh voices.
Sermon Series Ideas This section will briefly outline and describe ideas for unique sermon series based on lectionary readings.
"As a weekly preacher, I often find that preparing for preaching and crafting sermons are spiritual disciplines for me. It is a time in which I try to quiet all of the other 'to do' lists that occupy much of my ministry. This resource from Abingdon Press will now be a partner in those conversations, almost like a new personal devotional guide. I am grateful for additional voices who can help me make space for God’s Living Word." - Shannon J Kershner, Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL
Ready to Subscribe?
You now have the new option of subscribing to the Preaching Annual online to allow you easy access at any time. The print version is also still available for subscription. Simply pick the option that best meets your needs to subscribe today.
ONLINE ONLY SUBSCRIPTION – $20.00 PRINT SUBSCRIPTION – $20.00PULPIT RESOURCE COMBO ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION – $86.75PULPIT RESOURCE COMBO PRINT SUBSCRIPTION – $86.75read more
The Abingdon Preaching Annual includes:
The Primary Theme Fleshed out with brief, pithy nuggets of thought, idea jump-starters, or questions designed to spur the preacher’s imagination.
Secondary or Parallel Themes Two or three themes or streams of thought that are related to but separate from the primary theme offered.
Worship Helps Including Gathering Prayer, Collect, Pastoral Prayer, Congregational Prayer, Responsive Reading, and a Closing Prayer or Benediction.
Topical Essays These 700 word essays cover a variety of current and critical topics for the preacher—contributed by leading homileticians.
Full Sermons The full text from six to twelve sermons will be included. Additional are available online. These sermons will highlight best practices, unique approaches, and fresh voices.
Sermon Series Ideas This section will briefly outline and describe ideas for unique sermon series based on lectionary readings.
"As a weekly preacher, I often find that preparing for preaching and crafting sermons are spiritual disciplines for me. It is a time in which I try to quiet all of the other 'to do' lists that occupy much of my ministry. This resource from Abingdon Press will now be a partner in those conversations, almost like a new personal devotional guide. I am grateful for additional voices who can help me make space for God’s Living Word." - Shannon J Kershner, Pastor, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, IL
Ready to Subscribe?
You now have the new option of subscribing to the Preaching Annual online to allow you easy access at any time. The print version is also still available for subscription. Simply pick the option that best meets your needs to subscribe today.
ONLINE ONLY SUBSCRIPTION – $20.00 PRINT SUBSCRIPTION – $20.00PULPIT RESOURCE COMBO ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION – $86.75PULPIT RESOURCE COMBO PRINT SUBSCRIPTION – $86.75read more
No comments:
Post a Comment