WORSHIP RESOURCES
Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Transfiguration Sunday
World Hunger Emphasis
2 Corinthians 3:12—4:2
Seek Spiritual Freedom
Additional Scriptures
Exodus 34:29-35; Psalm 99; Luke 9:28-43a; Doctrine and Covenants 162:7d
Prelude
Welcoming Hymn
“Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!” CCS 52
OR “Teach Me, God, to Wonder” CCS 176
Joys and Concerns
Welcome
Today we worship together, seeking spiritual freedom.
What are we supposed to be about? What are we supposed to do? God brings to us what we are supposed to do. We have no control except what we do. Leave to God what is God’s. You belong to God and God is in you.
—Nancy McClellan, adapted.
Used with permission.
Call to Worship: Psalm 99:9
Hymn
“The Love of God” CCS 210
OR “Transform Us” CCS 569
Invocation
Response
Reflection
“Coming?”
Occasionally I let my dogs Frodo and Pippin out to roam the neighborhood. They like playing with their friends and generally making mischief. One late afternoon, I saw them near the house and called them to come to me. They looked at me, turned around, and ran off in the opposite direction. At first I was angry, but then I thought about that. I figured I could make them come to me, but if I did, then they would be a little resentful. I decided that I’d rather have dogs who choose to come to me. I knew at the time that if I waited long enough, they would come. And, indeed, after a while, I called them again, and they came running.
My relationship with God seems to be a lot like this. It seems to me that when God calls, I often run in the opposite direction. But I think this is a positive aspect of life—this is as it should be. I figure God knows what’s really going on. Often I run because I’m afraid of the responsibility. Sometimes I’m concerned of what others may think. Sometimes I question the reality of God’s call. Sometimes I just don’t want to do the work. But that’s not all that bad. Choosing stimulates a truthful relationship with God. God would rather we choose to come than make us come. God would rather we run away than come unwilling. God just waits and calls again later.
Besides, God knows we’ll come when we’re ready.
—Debra Bruch
Used with permission.
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthains 3:12—4:2
Lectio Divina: 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
Sit quietly and enter a time of prayerful reflection. Breathe calmly, relax your body, offer a prayer for guidance as you interact with the selected scriptural text.
Briefly describe the four ways the scripture will be read and reflected on.
Read the scripture four different times, allowing time for meditation and prayer between each reading. Consider printing or projecting the scripture for all to see.
LECTIO
Listen as the passage is read to get a sense of this part of Paul’s letter to those in Corinth.
MEDITATIO
Listen to the scripture read again but this time for meaning and understanding. Ask questions. What are the surface and underlying meanings? What does this part of the letter tell me about spiritual freedom?
ORATIO
Listen to the passage a third time and pay attention to your emotional responses. What feelings surface as you hear this scripture? How are you being transformed? Share your feelings with God in prayer. Ask for help in listening deeply to these emotions and meanings.
CONTEMPLATIO
Listen a final time to the scripture. When the reading is complete, enter a time of receptive prayer. Let go of the images from the scripture and all other thoughts, interpretations, and worries. Breathe deeply and calmly, entering a profound silent state of listening. Wait for whatever God may bring to you in the quietness. If any insights or impressions come, note them with gratitude and then return to receptive listening. If no particular awareness comes, let your mind return to the scripture passage. When you feel your prayer/meditation has ended, offer a word of thanks to God, open your eyes, and return to the room around you.
Prayer for Peace
Peace Hymn
“Spirit, Open My Heart” CCS 564
OR “Creator of Sunrises” CCS 207
Light the peace candle.
Peace Prayer
Dear God,
Just as the disciples were speechless on the mountaintop experiencing the transfiguration of your son Jesus, sometimes words fail to express the yearnings of our heart for peace. We see your brilliance and your peace that brings comfort for some, but where is this peace for the hungry, the refugee, the forgotten? We’ve woven complex systems that sometimes make peace seem impossible. And yet, the disciples experienced the impossible on that mountain. Revive us to become a soothing balm for a world in pain, juicy fruit for the hungry, and a comforting home for the homeless. Remind us that even when we cannot speak your peace, there is much that we can do to foster peace in our neighborhoods and in our hearts.
In the name of the One who lights the way. Amen.
—Tiffany and Caleb Brian
Ministry of Music or Congregational Hymn
“I Sought the Lord” CCS 175
OR “Sing a New World into Being” CCS 576
Homily
Based on 2 Corinthians 3:12—4:2
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
Confession Reflection
“A People of God”
Held captive. Enslaved. Our Pharaoh holding us in bondage.
Offered freedom. Set on a journey.
Wandering. Finding fault with our leaders.
Embracing anything that looks easier than listening.
Easier than obeying.
Easier than being
A People of God.
The desert we take with us is comfortable.
The yearning for the old days, the old ways, most desirable.
Why us? What did we do to deserve this hardship?
Let us worship the gods of convenience. Of comfort. Of familiarity.
Let us return to enslavement. Let us embrace the bondage of our choosing.
Leave us as you found us. Not as
A People of God.
How long?
How long must we wander searching for this promised land?
This Zion. New Jerusalem. Eden?
We have looked to the hills. Eyes hooded against the light. Your light.
We have listened for your voice and heard the clamor of the world.
Are we to die in the desert we continue to choose?
Joke on us as the world watches and laughs at our dumb trust.
A People of God.
Help us God.
Help us to become blind to memories of yesterday tinged with nostalgia.
Help us to hear the beat of your heart in the light of today.
Enable us to see and touch and taste your presence in the sacraments.
Open our hearts to experience you in new and different ways.
Lift us from our empty deserts that barricade us from your green pastures.
Wash and cleanse us of our indifference. Make of us
A People of God.
—Dean L. Robinson
Used with permission.
Hymn of Preparation
“Come Now, You Hungry” CCS 227
OR “God Extends an Invitation/Nuestro Padre nos invita” CCS 520
Sing twice; encourage participants to sing in a language other than their own.
Communion Scripture: Luke 22:19-20
Communion Remarks
Invitation to Communion
All are welcome at Christ’s table. The Lord’s Supper, or Communion, is a sacrament in which we remember the life, death, resurrection, and continuing presence of Jesus Christ. In Community of Christ, we also experience Communion as an opportunity to renew our baptismal covenant and to be formed as disciples who live Christ’s mission. Others might have different or added understandings within their faith traditions. We invite all who participate in the Lord’s Supper to do so in the love and peace of Jesus Christ.
Blessing and Serving of the Bread and Wine
Log in to Our Ministry Tools and search for Guidelines Lord’s Supper. If you have not used this library of resources, go to CofChrist.org/our-ministry-tools.
Disciples’ Generous Response
Scripture Reading: Doctrine and Covenants 162:7d
Statement
As we open our hearts to courageously and generously share by placing money in the offering plates or through eTithing, we join the movement of God’s compassion in the world. On this Sunday as we share in the sacraments, our offerings are dedicated to Abolishing Poverty and Ending Needless Suffering. This is how God’s generous compassion grows more visible in tangible ways.
If you have participants joining the worship online, remind them they can give through www.CofChrist.org/give or through eTithing at www.eTithing.org (consider displaying these URLs).
Blessing and Receiving of Oblation, Local and Worldwide Mission Tithes
Closing Hymn
“Bless the Lord” Sing several times. CCS 575
OR “Touch Me, Lord, with Thy Spirit Eternal” CCS 574
Encourage participants to sing in languages other than their own.
Benediction
Sending Forth
When all the lights are turned off, the theater is pitch dark. We set a single stand with a light bulb on the stage and turn it on. Although weak, it gives enough light to navigate the area. Let’s be that light amid darkness. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to magnify our light for the sake of all God’s creation.
Postlude
SERMON AND CLASS HELPS
Year C—Letters
Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Transfiguration Sunday
2 Corinthians 3:12—4:2
Exploring the Scripture
2 Corinthians is a canonized letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian saints. It is, however, a collection of writings from several letters he wrote to this community, many of which have not survived.
Paul starts this part of his letter asserting that because they have hope, he and his listeners “act with great boldness (v. 12) in contrast to Moses and his followers whose faces were covered with a veil (v. 13). He asserts that “only in Christ is [the veil] set aside” (v. 14), and “when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (v. 16). After referencing Christ, Paul declares “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (v. 17). He continues by asserting that with unveiled faces we can be transformed into the image of Christ through the power of the glory of God.
We must be sure to understand what Paul means by freedom in verse 17. It is not a license to do as we please. Rather it is freedom from that which keeps us from seeing and experiencing the truth about God because our faces are veiled. The world in which we live includes many voices, many attractions that keep us from the freedom that allows us to hear God’s voice and follow it firmly.
So much emphasis is placed on personal achievement, status, and possessions. We are told what we must have and do to be acceptable to other people. Comparison with and judgment of others dominate where love and inclusion should reign.
God invites us to receive the Divine’s love for us and claim our identity as God’s beloved. By copying the words and actions of Jesus, we gain the freedom to love others as we love ourselves. We always will remember that “since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).
This text from 2 Corinthians fits well with the main theme of Transfiguration Sunday that we follow today: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” (Mark 9:7). In the company of Moses and Elijah, who represent the law and prophets of the Hebrew tradition, Jesus’s disciples are told to listen to him. Jesus is the one who takes away the veil and allows one to see the truth. The truth is that all persons and features of God’s creation are of equal and unlimited worth.
In hearing today’s text, we need to be alert to the temptation to judge the Hebrew faith or tradition as inferior to Christianity and avoid the lessons they have to teach us. Jesus was a Jew, and it was from this background that he learned and listened to the Spirit’s call to teach and practice a gospel that went beyond what previously had been available.
The Hebrew Bible that we refer to as the Old Testament contains riches that support and inspire the identity and witness of Community of Christ to this day.
We live in God’s mercy (4:1) in which we find forgiveness and the freedom to respond fully to what God wishes for us and all creation.
Central Ideas
1. Christ enables the veil to be lifted from our faces enabling us to see our calling.
2. Christ’s mission, for Community of Christ, is our mission.
3. Where the Lord’s Spirit is, freedom is found.
Questions for the Speaker
1. What veils prevent you from seeing and acting with God-given freedom?
2. How has Christ enabled you to seek God’s will more faithfully?
3. How have you experienced God’s mercy?
SACRED SPACE: A RESOURCE FOR SMALL-GROUP MINISTRY
Year C—Letters
Last Sunday after the Epiphany, Transfiguration Sunday
2 Corinthians 3:12—4:2
Communion
Gathering
Welcome
On Transfiguration Sunday we remember that Jesus had a transformative experience through which his glory was revealed to the disciples. As we prepare to journey through the Lenten season with Jesus, we open our own lives to the transformative power of God’s presence, mercy, and grace.
Prayer for Peace
Ring a bell or chime three times slowly.
Light the peace candle.
Dear God, just as the disciples were speechless on the mountaintop, experiencing the transfiguration of your Son, Jesus, sometimes words fail to express the yearnings of our heart for peace. We see your brilliance and your peace bring comfort for some, but where is this peace for the hungry, the refugee, the forgotten?
We’ve woven complex systems that sometimes make peace seem impossible. Yet, the disciples experienced the impossible on that mountain. Revive us to become soothing balm for a world in pain, juicy fruit for the hungry, a comforting home for the homeless. Remind us that even when we cannot speak your peace, there is much we can do to foster peace in our neighborhoods and our hearts.
In the name of the One who lights the way. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Meditating on God’s Name
This spiritual practice provides opportunity for new understandings of God’s nature.
Read the following names for God aloud, slowly, and reverently. Ask group members to listen prayerfully. They may want to write down the names that speak to them most deeply.
Holy One
Loving Parent
Healing Presence
Source of joy
Ancient One
Awesome God
Creator God
Father of lights
Compassionate One
Loving Spirit
Gracious Creator
Great Spirit
Grandfather/Grandmother
Great “I Am”
Beloved Friend
First Breath
Giver of life
Gentle Shepherd
Mother-Father God
Creator of beauty
My Rock
As we enter prayer, listen for new names and descriptors for God. Consider God’s being, nature, and presence. Write down names for God that surface during your prayer.
Invite group members to share the names for God that came to them.
Close the time of prayer with “Amen.”
Sharing around the Table
2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2 NRSVue
Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with complete frankness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, the same veil is still there; it is not unveiled since in Christ it is set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds, but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful, underhanded ways; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.
Second Corinthians is a canonized letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian saints, but historians consider it a collection of writings from several letters, many of which have not survived. Paul begins his letter by asserting that his listeners act with boldness (v. 12) in contrast to Moses followers, who covered their faces with a veil (v. 13).
He says that only “in Christ is it (veil) set aside (v. 14).” Paul declares “the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (v. 16).” Paul says that even with unveiled faces they can be transformed into the image of Christ through the power of God.
Paul’s readers are called from lives of spiritual bondage and intellectual blindness to a new freedom, hope, and boldness made possible through the transforming power of the Spirit. The freedom that Paul suggests we receive does not entitle disciples to do as they please. Rather, it calls them to a life of action, which helps bring about the gospel of love, hope, and transformation.
Robert Warden Prim speaks of a beautiful statue on the campus of Tuskegee University in Alabama. It is called “Lifting the Veil of Ignorance.” The statue is of Booker T. Washington standing over a slave and lifting a veil so the light of education can strike his face. The slave is looking into the world with wide-eyed hope. As Washington helped lift the veil of ignorance for his people and helped transform their lives, Christ lifts the veil of ignorance and death for all people.
Christ brings the message of love so that humanity might live in the truth of God’s redeeming love and in the work of God’s transforming Spirit.
Questions
1. What veils prevent you from seeing and acting with God-given freedom?
2. How has Christ enabled you to seek God’s will more faithfully?
3. How has the life of Jesus Christ enlightened you?
Sending
Generosity Statement
Faithful disciples respond to an increasing awareness of the abundant generosity of God by sharing according to the desires of their hearts; not by commandment or constraint.
—Doctrine and Covenants 163:9
The offering basket is available if you would like to support ongoing, small-group ministries as part of your generous response. You also may give at CofChrist.org/give.
The offering prayer is adapted from A Disciple’s Generous Response.
Transforming God, may our lives be transformed by your love, grace, and generosity. May our response to that love and grace be humble service to others, and may generosity be part of our nature. Amen.
Invitation to Next Meeting
Closing Hymn
Community of Christ Sings 560, “How Many Times We Start Again”
Closing Prayer
Optional Additions Depending on Group
· Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
· Thoughts for Children
Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper
Communion Scripture
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
—1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NRSVue
Communion Statement
All are welcome at Christ’s table. The Lord’s Supper, or Communion, is a sacrament in which we remember the life, death, resurrection, and continuing presence of Jesus Christ. In Community of Christ, we also experience Communion as an opportunity to renew our baptismal covenant and to be formed as disciples who live Christ’s mission. Others may have different or added understandings within their faith traditions. We invite all who participate in the Lord’s Supper to do so in the love and peace of Jesus Christ.
We share in Communion as an expression of blessing, healing, peace, and community. In preparation let’s sing from Community of Christ Sings (choose from below options):
· 516, “Coming Together for Wine and for Bread”
· 521, “Let Us Break Bread Together”
· 523, “As We Gather at Your Table”
· 526, “Is There One Who Feels Unworthy?”
· 528, “Eat This Bread”
· 532, “We Meet as Friends at Table”
Thoughts for Children
Say: Can you imagine what it would look like for a person’s face to glow? (Allow time for laughter, shock, and sharing). Even if our faces don’t glow after we spend time with God, spending time with God can make us feel warm and bright inside.
Today, I want us to try a practice that we can use any time to spend time with God. In this practice we will notice the light of God in our lives and let that light fill us. It is important to know that when I say “see the light of God” it does not always look like light. Sometimes the light of God can be something kind that was done for us, or it can be the way someone made us feel.
Follow along with me in your head and see if you can find the light of God.
To begin, close your eyes and think back through your day (or, if this is the first thing in the morning, think back through the week).
What made you happy, or where did you see the light of God? Once you’ve thought of something, gently place a finger on your eyelid.
What made you grateful, or where did you smell the light of God? Once you’ve thought of something, gently place a finger on the tip of your nose.
What made you calm, or where did you hear the light of God? Once you have thought of something, gently place a hand over your ear.
What made you excited, or where did you taste the light of God? Once you have thought of something, place one finger gently on your lips.
What made you feel loved, or where did you feel the light of God? Once you have thought of something, wrap yourself in a hug.
Now, think about tomorrow. How can you share God’s light with others to make them happy, grateful, calm, excited, or loved? Once you have thought of something, place both hands on top of your head.
Finally, imagine God’s light all around you. Do you feel its warmth?
Once you have imagined God’s light all around you, form your hands into a cup in front of your body. Imagine God’s light moving into the space created in your hands and staying there. Move your open hands toward your heart and imagine God’s light moving from your hands to your heart and living there to fill you with light and help you share light with others.
When you are ready, open your eyes and move back to your seat.