Worship at Home - Sunday 27 February 2022
This short act of worship has been prepared for you to use at home. We invite you to spend a few moments with God, knowing that other people across the Methodist Connexion are sharing this act of worship with you.
Opening Prayer
Transforming God, come to us now in this time of worship we pray. May we know your hand upon us and your arm around us . Amen.
Hymn: StF 503 Love divine all loves excelling
Sing/ read /pray /proclaim the words or listen to it here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPbD2G3i-7Y
Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down,
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown.
Jesu, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart.
Come, almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
never more thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray, and praise thee, without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.
Finish then thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be;
let us see thy great salvation,
perfectly restored in thee:
changed from glory into glory,
till in heaven we take our place,
till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise!
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Let us pray together
From the highest peak to the lowest valley, from the crowded city to the most remote of shorelines, may your name be praised O God!
You are the one who is far beyond our imaginings and yet you are as close to us as life and breath itself, you our creator, redeemer and sustainer.
We ask that you would open our eyes so that we might behold your glory, open our ears so that we might hear your word for us and, above all, open our hearts to your transforming love so that we might know your eternal presence and peace.
Amen.
Today’s Gospel Reading: Luke 9:28-36
Time to Reflect
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus takes Peter, James and John with him into the remoteness of the mountains to pray and, as he does so, Jesus is transfigured and shines with God’s glory.
In that moment, Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the Prophets) suddenly appear alongside Jesus testifying to who he is.
Let us not forget that both Moses and Elijah themselves went high into the mountains and hills to pray and to meet God; to find direction for the future. As Jesus stands side by side with these iconic figures from the Old Testament, the past and the future are brought together and there is an extraordinary breakthrough of the divine into time and space.
It is not just that the veil between earth and heaven seems very thin; it is actually drawn aside. God’s glory is revealed and the future comes into the present.
By their very nature, mountain-top experiences are fleeting and rare and often come out of the blue - yet when they happen their impact and effect upon us last far longer than the actual moment itself.
As we reflect upon this passage from Luke’s Gospel in the context of our own lives, I wonder about our mountain-top experiences. Have we had any? If so, how did we react and what was our response? Looking back upon them, were they seminal moments in our lives?
Writing in the Guardian, some years ago now, Oliver Burkeman spoke of ‘thin places’, “a Celtic Christian term for ‘those rare locales where the distance between heaven and Earth collapses’, to quote Eric Weiner.”
It seems to me that those ‘thin place’ moments and mountain-top experiences are speaking about the very same thing. Those times when we suddenly become aware of the sense and presence of the divine and we know that God is with us.
As we ready ourselves once more for our Lenten journey setting off into the rugged wilderness, may we be both attentive to and aware of those thin places and mountain-top moments and allow them to transform us as God continues to change us ‘from glory into glory’!
Take time to sit quietly
A time of prayer
Loving God,
In these confusing and uncertain times, may your love, truth and power bring
light to where there is darkness
peace to where there is violence
love to where there is hatred
understanding to where there is confusion
trust to where there is suspicion
dignity to where there is shame
healing to where there is disease
justice to where there is oppression
and freedom to where there is captivity.
Transform your people, your world and your church we pray,
for we ask these things in and through the name of Jesus Christ, y
our Son, our Lord and Saviour.
Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father ……
Hymn: Listen to Transfiguration form Hillsong Worship https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pri10SRoBPc
A prayer of blessing.
Transforming God,
As we begin this new week,
may we know that you travel with us
and all those for who we have prayed,
now and forever more. Amen
Original materials by Revd Keith Underhill
All Hymns reproduced under CCLi 1144191.
Local Churches please insert CCCLi No here
We are grateful to all the Ministers and Local Preachers from around the Connexion who have contributed to Worship at Home. This resource is administrated by Ministries: Vocations and Worship in the Connexional Team.
For more worship resources see
Singing the Faith Plus (methodist.org.uk)
The Transfiguration
28 Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus[a] took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. 31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was