Worship on the Lord’s Day
10:00 am 11 February 2024 Transfiguration Sunday
Online & Onsite (Mixed Presence) Gathering as a Worshipping Community
Led by the Rev Brad Childs
Music director: Binu Kapadia Vocalists: Peter & Cheryl Sheridan. Sabir Aziz, Marilyn Nebat, Corrie Magdalene Elder: Sam Malayang
We gather to worship God
Music prelude
Greeting
L: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
P: and also with you.
Lighting of the Christ candle
Welcome and announcements
Silent preparation for worship
Call to Worship
L: All God’s children gather gladly
P: We gather to worship the Lord
L: We come from many times and places
P: We come together as one family
L: We gather with our joys and sorrows
P: We gather to share and grow
L: All God’s children gather gladly
P: We gather to worship the Lord
Opening praise: Here I am to worship
Prayers of approach and confession
Almighty God. You are the source of all good things. On this day where we see Jesus transfigured on a mountain we are remained of your glory and majesty. As we enter this sanctuary to draw upon your strength and wisdom we recall that you are greater than any mountain and higher than any hill. You uphold our lives; you hear our prayers, you know our needs before we even ask. We come to you today to praise your name and to open our hearts to receive your many blessings.
Most merciful God, we confess the things we try to hide from you; the things we try to hide from others; and the things we try to hide from ourselves. We confess that there are times when we fail to love you with our whole heart. There are times when we have not loved our neighbours as ourselves and we have not heard the cry of the needy. We pray for your mercy, dear God. Forgive us for what we have been and help us to become what you would want us to be so that we might serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
Response: Glory, glory, hallelujah
Assurance of God’s grace
In 1 John 1:9, we are reminded that “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Through Christ, God has promised the forgiveness of sins to all who turn to him in faith. In His name we are pardoned and set free for all our sins for which we give glory to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen
Ordination and Induction as Elders
Renita MacCallum, Romulus Rhoad, Shirley Simpson, and Lynn Vaughan
Narration of Steps
Following two weeks notice and a ballot of qualified individuals 4 have been chosen as elders. I invite the elders-elect to come forward.
Moderator, on behalf of the Session and the people of this congregation, I present to you Lynn Vaughan and Romulus Rhoad, Shirley Simpson, and Renita MacCallum in order to proceed to ordination and induction as is the will of the congregation.
Listen to what The Presbyterian Church in Canada believes concerning the ministry of ruling elders.
Preamble
All ministries of the Church proceed from and are sustained by the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Prophet, Priest and King, the Minister of the covenant of grace. By the operation of God’s Word and Spirit, the Church is gathered, equipped, and sent out to participate in this ministry. All members of the Church are called to share the Gospel with the world, and to offer to the Father the worship and service that are due to the Creator from the creation, through Christ, the only Mediator, until he comes again. That the Church may be continually renewed and nurtured for ministry, Christ furnishes the Church with pastors and teachers. He requires and enables the Church to discern and to confirm by ordination those whom he calls to this pastoral and teaching office. The standards of his Church he entrusts in a special degree of responsibility to their care.
The Form of Presbyterial Church Government of the Westminster Assembly reminds us that Christ has furnished some in the Church, beside the Ministers of the Word, with gifts for government and with commission to execute the same, when called thereunto, who are to join with the Minister in the government of the church, which officers reformed churches commonly call Elders.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada is bound only to Jesus Christ, the Church’s King and Head. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, as the written Word of God, testifying to Christ the living Word, are the canon of all doctrine, by which Christ rules our faith and life. We acknowledge our historic continuity with the Holy Catholic Church and our doctrinal heritage in the ecumenical creeds, and the confessions of the Reformation. Our subordinate standards are the Westminster Confession of Faith as adopted in 1875 and 1889, the Declaration of Faith Concerning Church and Nation of 1954, Living Faith (Foi Vivant) as adopted in 1998, and such doctrine as the Church, in obedience to Scripture and under the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit, may yet confess in the Church’s continuing function of reformulating the faith. (1971 Revised, 1992, 1998)
Ordination Vows
Romulus Rhoad, Shirley Simpson, and Renita MacCallum – that your faith in God and your integrity of purpose may be declared before God and all people, you are required in terms of this preamble to answer the questions appointed for all who would enter the office of the Ruling Elder.
- Do you believe in God the Father, made known in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom the Holy Spirit witnesses in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments?
- Do you accept the subordinate standards of this Church, promising to uphold its doctrine under the continual illumination and correction of the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures and to be guided thereby in fostering Christian belief, worship and service among the people?
- Do you accept the government of this Church by sessions, presbyteries, synods, and general assemblies, and do you promise to share in and submit yourself to all lawful oversight therein, and to follow no divisive course, but to seek the peace and unity of Christ among your people and throughout the Holy Catholic Church?
- In accepting the office of Elder, do you promise to perform your duties in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, striving to build up his Church and to strengthen its mission in the world?
May the Lord bless you and give you grace to keep these vows.
Induction Vows
Lynn Vaughan being previously ordained to this office and now inducted once again into active service and that your faith in God and your integrity of purpose may be declared before God and all people, you are required in terms of this preamble to answer the questions appointed for all who would enter the office of the Ruling Elder.
- Do you believe in God the Father, made known in his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom the Holy Spirit witnesses in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments?
- Do you accept the subordinate standards of this Church, promising to uphold its doctrine under the continual illumination and correction of the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures and to be guided thereby in fostering Christian belief, worship and service among the people?
- Do you accept the government of this Church by sessions, presbyteries, synods, and general assemblies, and do you promise to share in and submit yourself to all lawful oversight therein, and to follow no divisive course, but to seek the peace and unity of Christ among your people and throughout the Holy Catholic Church?
- In accepting the office of Elder, do you promise to perform your duties in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, striving to build up his Church and to strengthen its mission in the world?
May the Lord bless you and give you grace to keep these vows.
Congregational Response
The ordination of elders in a congregation, if their leadership and ministry are to be fruitful, involves responsibilities for both the elders and the people of the church. These questions therefore I direct to you, the members and adherents of this congregation, so that you may renew your obligations to this shared ministry.
- Do you confess your faith in God as creator and ruler of the world, in Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord, and in the Holy Spirit as your inspiration and strength?
- Do you receive Lynn Vaughan and Romulus Rhoad, Shirley Simpson, and Renita MacCallum as elders, chosen by God through the voice of this congregation to lead you in the way of Christ?
- Do you agree to encourage them, to respect their decisions as they guide you, serving Jesus Christ, who alone is head of the church?
May the Lord bless you and give you grace to keep these promises. Amen.
Ordination Prayer
We praise and glorify you, Lord God Almighty, for you have created us and called us to yourself; you have redeemed us in Jesus Christ your Son; you sustain our lives and our works through the presence and power of your Holy Spirit.
Almighty God: in every age you have chosen servants to speak your word and lead your people. We thank you for these Your Children, whom you have called to serve you as ruling elders. By the power of your Spirit, develop in them the gifts of ministry; may they have the same mind that was in Christ, serving you in the world as long as they shall live; through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.
Declaration
In the name of Jesus Christ, the only king and head of the church, and by the authority invested in me by the Presbytery, I now declare you to have been ordained, inducted, and admitted as a ruling elder within Dayspring Presbyterian Church, Edmonton Alberta, and admit you to the Session of this congregation. Whatever you do, in word or action, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God through him. Amen.
Right Hand of Fellowship: the Minister and other members of the Session
Incidental Music
Musical Offering: Taili & Ram Rhoad (piano & cornet): Ode to Joy (Beethoven)
We listen for the voice of God
Children’s time
Response: My lighthouse
Story: That which is small can become large (object lesson based on the parables of the mustard seed and yeast). The kingdom of God starts with tiny little grains like these tiny little pieces of yeast.
Prayer: Our God, we thank you that Big things come from small things because we’re little still, but we know that big things await and that the kingdom of God starts with little, little grains.
The Lord’s Prayer (535)
Transition music
Song: We have come at Christ’s own bidding (187)
Today’s Message
Scripture reading: 2 Cor 4:3-6 & Mark 9:2-9
Response: Behold the Lamb of God
Message: Neo is the one
I loved the original Matrix movie. I also love the not so hidden messages. Neo is the hero and Neo is the One backwards. He is grabbed up in something new by this John the Baptist type who believes Neo is The One. Neo serves on a ship called the Nebuchadnezzar (a biblical king) which is stamped with a commemorative launch date on the kitchen wall but also including a bible verse from the book of Matthew. His love interested in named Trinity, he works miracles and comes back from the dead through a combination of choice, predestination, love and faith.
Neo is a post platonic figure. He is a dash Jesus and a pinch of Buddah. In later years the writer/directors claimed it was also about gender. But one thing was true from that first film. Neo was The One and he had a lot of difficulties because of it.
Transfiguration Sunday is one of those odd days in the church calendar. We sort of have some idea what it’s about, we kind of have a handle on it, but every year, we pretty much all show up here wondering the same thing. “What’s that story about again?”
Transfiguration Sunday is something we celebrate every year and then quickly forget about. And there’s a reason for that. It’s confusing. It’s a wired story. God interrupts someone.
There are some weird stories in the Bible; trust me, I know. Did you know Samson ties three hundred foxes’ tails together in pairs of two and then lights their tails on fire and sends them into a village to burn it down? Yeah. That’s in the Bible. You didn’t learn that one in Sunday School, did you? Did you know the prophet Elisha curses a pair of teenagers for calling him a “bald head,” and a bear comes out of the woods and kills them? Yep… that’s in the Bible. Did you know in order to pay their taxes, Jesus has Peter go fishing so he can catch a fish that miraculously has a four-drachma coin in its mouth? That’s right. It’s in there. The truth is there are some stories in the bible that are just a little odd. That’s okay. And I believe as the Bible affirms, “all scripture is God-breathed and useful”. Some people try to explain them away. Our prescribed lectionary readings won’t ever include them, but they won’t go away. And that doesn’t bother me. We don’t have to understand them all. I’m at peace with that.
This Transfiguration Sunday is one of those days where we actually do read an odd story. Though, this is mainly because people don’t generally stop to think about how odd it is. First off, the story is very similar to Moses’ story at Mt. Sinai. The six days of waiting, the cloud of God’s presence, the glory glowing all around him, the voice of God speaks, the descent from the mountain and instructions to build the Tabernacle or Tent just like Peter wants to make. This doesn’t happen like this by accident. Clearly, for Mark and for God, there’s more to this story than meets the eye. But what is it all about?
Mark writes, “After six days, Jesus took Peter, James and John (his three best friends) with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone.
There, he (Jesus) was transfigured before them.
In Luke 9:29 it says, “As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” Matthew describes the transformation as “his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light.” (Matt. 17:2). It’s hard for us to imagine. Scripture says it was a good experience, but it was also frightening to them. Mark’s gospel comes off as slightly funny to me. He writes, “His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.” Sorry, that makes me laugh. What a strange way to put it: “The best Laundromat in the world couldn’t get your clothes that white.” It’s like Jesus is a laundry detergent commercial. What’s odd about the story here is that it didn’t even make sense to the disciples. They had no idea what was happening. You can practically see the frustration on Mark’s face as he attempts to describe the indescribable.
I read this a while back and put it in a little box just for today:
A brilliant magician was performing on an ocean liner. But every time he did a trick, the Captain’s parrot would yell, “It’s a trick. He’s a phony. That’s not magic.” He cut a woman in half. Tah-dah! “It’s a trick. He’s a phony. That’s not magic.” He made a girl levitate. Tah-dah! “It’s a trick. He’s a phony. That’s not magic.” He made a rabbit disappear. Tah-dah! “It’s a trick. He’s a phony. That’s not magic.” The magician hated that parrot. Then, one evening during a massive storm, the ship was toppled over and sank. The parrot and the magician ended up in the same lifeboat. For several days, they just sat at opposite ends of the lifeboat and glared at each other, neither saying a word to the other. Finally, on day 5, the parrot spoke up, “OK, I give up. What did you do with the ship?”
Sometimes, the things we see, the kinds of things God can do, just don’t make sense to us. They seem so odd because “His ways are not our ways.” They seem weird because, quite frankly, they’re bigger than us. We just can’t explain them.
The disciples didn’t know what to make of the transfiguration either. It was real, but at that point, they hadn’t quite figured it out.
What they saw on that night would later help them to understand what happened at the resurrection–Matthew, in chapter 28:3, remembers this event on the mountain with Jesus, and he uses the exact same words to describe the resurrected Christ, “His clothes were DAZZLING White.” He appeared once more in glory. But when it happened… they had no idea.
Whatever it was precisely that they experienced, we’ll never really know because even they have trouble explaining it. But what we do know is that God gave them an extraordinary gift. God gave them a glimpse into Christ’s true glory.
Even though we live on the other side of the resurrection, we don’t often look at Jesus in all of His glory. Too often, we see Jesus as only our loving and tender babe in a manger. These days, we like our Jesus meek and mild (not overturning the tables of the money changers, chasing people with a whip, or dripping in blood like he’s described in the book of Revelation). The weird and the odd tend to get under our skin like a sliver. We like to explain them away or ignore them altogether. But I like the odd. It’s the weird and the odd that shows us God in all of his glory. It lets us know that a first-century Jewish guy with dirty feet is also the God of the universe who hung the very stars in their place.
But that’s not the end of the “odd” in this story. Like I said, it’s a weird story. Mark continues, “And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.” Now, Moses and Elijah represent the past. They are what people expected. They were expected to return at the appointed time of the Messiah. Their appearance showed Jesus as the fulfillment of both the Old Testament law (Moses) and the prophetic promises of a coming Messiah (Elijah). It showed the disciples definitively that Jesus was (without a doubt) the one they were waiting on.
Just then, Peter, being his usual self, is so excited he just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. Like a giddy little schoolboy, he says, “Hey guys, let’s have a sleepover.” Peter is so excited to see the heroes of the past that he forgets he’s been hanging out with the son of God for three years now. He says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three tabernacles —one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Now, this has always confused me. This is just more of the weird in the story. Just how does Peter know what these guys look like? Elijah would have been over 500 years old, and Moses would have been dead for over 1,500. Could they have been two guys named Moshe and Eliyahu? I doubt it. None of the gospel writers tell it that way. They’re pretty straightforward: Somehow, Peter suddenly realized these two men were Moses and Elijah –the two greatest heroes of the Hebrew faith: The Law and the Prophets right there in front of them, and they are the real deal. This is The Moshe and The Eliyahu.
And so he does what all of us would do. He tries to set up camp.
But that’s not what we need to do. Catherine Booth (mother of the Salvation Army) once wrote, “If we are to better the future, we must disturb the present.” Peter was focused too much on the past and the present and not enough on the future. In doing so, he missed that Jesus was the most important guy there, and he was standing right in front of him all along. Peter was confused.
Mark beats us over the head with this. He writes, “He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.” But God knew what to say.
The transfiguration is an odd story. It’s one of those strange ones. And some of the things in it are just going to have to remain strange. They’re going to have to stay a mystery to us. But in the end, the transfiguration is about Christ’s divine glory being revealed.
Like he often does, Peter just kind of blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. But we all do what Peter did. We all get excited about our faith and want to pitch a tent and live in that moment forever. The Church is continually trying to plant itself down like Peter.
But God simply will not allow for this to happen. The voice of God interrupts Peter. “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; Listen to him!”
Like Peter, we have all been in that place. We’ve all been excited about our faith and our traditions, and we’ve all tried to plant roots. As Christians, it’s easy to get caught up in the details of our faith, in the way we do our service, the kinds of music we use or the specific traditions we have, and these things are essential. But here in the Transfiguration, God reminds us all that, amidst all of it, Jesus is standing right in front of our faces and what we are called to do above all else… is listen to Him.
May you come to enjoy those parts of God’s word that seem odd.
May you delve into those things that seem hard to understand and riddled with mystery?
May you struggle and grow as you study your Bible.
And may God interrupt us all, any time we take our eyes off of his son. -Amen
Song: We are marching / Siyahamba
We respond to serve God: Our time of giving
Reflection on giving: Dayspring is empowered to carry out our mission of worship, service, and care by generously given volunteer time, talent, and treasure. Many thanks to all who give so generously!
Prayer of gratitude and for others and ourselves
Our Creator and our God, we come to you now with humble hearts full of thanksgiving. We are grateful for all your blessings and your gifts. We give you thanks for those mountaintop experiences in life. Those special moments that happen in our lives can never be repeated, yet they remain with us for years to come. We thank you for the reminder that you transform our lives and make all things new. We are forever grateful for the many ways that you continue to show your love for each of us and for all people; you teach us to love one another, and you teach us to love all creation.
Most of all we thank you for Jesus; for his life of love; for his teaching and example; for his death on the cross; and for the new life which we receive through the resurrection. We bring to you in prayer our concerns for others. We pray for those who are ill and for those who mourn; for those people who are lonely, and people who are hungry and homeless; for those who are afraid, or puzzled or anxious.
Lord we also pray for those who suffer.
Personal Dayspring Prayers: Lord we bring before you those known and unknown and ask for grace. But above all may your will be done, here and everywhere, now and always and may we come to understand it in some small way even when it is difficult to take. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Song: Give me oil in my lamp (655)
Sending out with God’s blessing
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord;
And the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you and remain with you always. Amen.
Response: Sing Amen
Music postlude
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Numbers in brackets after a song/hymn indicate that it is from the 1997 Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Those and other songs are being used in accordance with the specifications of Dayspring’s licensing with One Licence (3095377) and CLC (A735555).
The Elder Ordination /Induction liturgy is from the 1991 Book of Common Worship of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
The Rev. Brad Childs retains the copyright (© 2024) on all original material in this service. As far as Brad Childs is aware, all of the material that has not been attributed to others is his own creation or is in the public domain. Unacknowledged use of copyrighted material is unintentional and will be corrected immediately upon notification being received.