17C – Transfiguration

16C - Epiphany 8C18C - Ash Wednesday
 
See also my posts from 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022

 
WE GATHER TO WORSHIP GOD (From Psalm 99:1-3)
The LORD reigns:
let all peoples, and all the earth tremble in holy awe.

The LORD is great, exalted over all the nations.
Let all peoples praise the great name of the LORD,
the one name to be held in holy awe.

Holy God, on the mountain your glory was seen,
clothed in mystery.
Followers of Jesus, we gather for worship,
open to the sacred,
open to a vision beyond the turmoil of our world,
open to the stirring of the Spirit of grace

PSALM 99
The LORD reigns:
let all peoples, and all the earth tremble in holy awe.
The LORD is great, exalted over all the nations.
Let all peoples praise the great name of the LORD,
the name to be held in holy awe.
The LORD, our God is holy
and, loving justice, has established order;
in Jacob, bringing about justice and actions which put things right.
Exalt the LORD, and bow down at the footstool of our God.
Holy is God.
Moses and Aaron were among God’s priests,
and Samuel was among those who called on the name of the LORD.
They cried to the LORD and the LORD God answered them.
The LORD God spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud;
they kept the testimonies of the LORD
and the decree that the LORD gave them.

O God, you answered them,
you were a forgiving God to them,
but their wrongdoing did not go unnoticed.
Praise the LORD, and bow down
at the holy mountain of our God,
for the LORD, our God, is holy.

OFFERING
Mountain-top Spirit of mystery,
we offer our gifts and our lives
that they may open ways to a renewed world,
a world of healing and reconciliation,
a world of love, of justice
and hope. Amen.

For use in worship, with acknowledgement. © Jeff Shrowder 2001, 2013.


THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
(A prayer to gather the spoken and silent concerns/joys/thanks expressed by the congregation and lead into a more structured Intercession with connection to the lections for the day. Sometimes this prayer borrows lightly from other sources e.g. Uniting in Worship 2 or publications of the Iona Community.)
Compassionate spirit of love and justice,
you act to right what is wrong in the world:
gather the oppressed and grieving under your wing;
strengthen those who fear
the terror of the night or daily life;
rescue the distressed;
be present to those who call on your name,
to those we have named today in word and silence
and those whose troubles are known only to you…
      (The Prayers of the People continue)


A CREATIVE MOMENT – Luke 9:28-36
Using a felt-tipped pen and a length of newsprint (e.g. 1.5 metres) create an banner bearing the words, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!”
At the bottom left add small a sketches of two tablets of stone (Moses – Torah). At the bottom right sketch some locusts and honeycomb (Elijah – prophets)


Looking for contemporary music and song resources?
Try David MacGregor’s Together to Celebrate
Or metrical psalms? Try Dale A. Schoening’s Sing the Psalms

HYMN SUGGESTIONS FOR TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY 
Exodus 34:29-35
God, you are clothed with light TIS 193
Holy Father, God of might TIS 622
Immortal, invisible, God only wise TIS 143
Take, take off your shoes TIS 651
Author of life divine TIS 506
When morning gilds the skies TIS 227
Psalm 99
Lord, your almighty Word TIS 447
The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble TIS 58
2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2
Author of life divine TIS 506
Christ is our cornerstone TIS 433
Christ, whose glory fills the skies TIS 212
Glory to the King of kings TIS 718
God sends us his Spirit to befriend and TIS 412
God, your glory is revealed in your Son TIS 461
Here we adore you, hidden Saviour, Lord TIS 500
If we have died to ourselves in Jesus TIS 475
Let earth and heaven combine TIS 305
Lord God, the Spirit blest TIS 404
Lord, I come to you TIS 685
Love Divine all loves excelling TIS 217
O Holy Spirit, enter in TIS 400
O Jesus I have promised TIS 595
O Jesus, Saviour, grow in me TIS 575
Pull back the veil on the dawn of creation TIS 326
We limit not the truth of God TIS 453
Where the Spirit is, there is freedom TIS 421
Luke 9:28-35
At the name of Jesus TIS 231
Be thou my vision TIS 547
Christ is the world’s true light TIS 238
Christ upon the mountain peak TIS 243
Fairest Lord Jesus TIS 203
How good, Lord, to be here TIS 234
Now to the Lord a noble song TIS 113
O Christ the healer, we have come TIS 638
Take up your cross, the Saviour said TIS 583
The Son of God proclaim TIS 528

2 thoughts on “17C – Transfiguration”

  1. Hi Jeff. The preaching that illuminates the relevance of the transfiguraton still eludes me, 7 months into retirement. I thought the Corinthians reference to the veiled face bears careful treatment in an age of instant celebrities (and villains). I wondered at the theology of the human face, the place where we see a person’s being, and maybe destiny, and what a pity no one thought to take a photo of Jesus, and we could have seen he was very dark, very short, and with a quick word for the microphone. Were they telling us Jesus was a proper celebrity? I’m at Mildura for 2 services a month still. Finding ministers takes time eh.

    1. Thanks for the comments, Brad. Maybe ‘the Transfiguration’ is more about a transformation of understanding by the disciples of who Jesus is. Sorry, but I didn’t see your post sooner. Yes, I agree that Jesus was probably short – shorter than Zacchaeus (Luke’s Greek is ambiguous as to who was short and it’s plausible that Z climbed the tree to see over the crowd which surrounded the shorter Jesus).

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