Sorrow and anxiety cannot eat: joy celebrates its feasts with eating and drinking… We are creatures of the senses: our mind is helped by what comes to us embodied in concrete form; fasting helps to ex...
2 Peter 1:16-21, Exodus 24:12-18, Matthew 17:1-9, Psalm 2:
Context Text Clues While all pericopes, of course, need to be read in context, sometimes we get clear textual clues that we are to do this. In this week’s text we get that by way of a bookended “fo...
Matthew 17:20, Matthew 19:20, Mark 10:27, Luke 1:37, Luke 18:27, Colossians 3:23-24, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 4:13, Philippians 2:13
God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity that we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.
Only faith survives; faith which is not a work, not even a negative work; not an achievement, not even the achievement of humility. . . . Faith is the ground, the new order, the light. . . . Faith is ...
Exodus 34:29-35, Isaiah 60:1-3, Ezekiel 1:26-28, John 1:4-5, 14, Matthew 17:1-2, Psalm 104:1-2, John 8:12
In dictionaries, definitions of glory use words like radiance, splendor, luster, majesty, brilliance, resplendence, grandeur, and effulgence. It is notable that many of these words are associated with...
Isaiah 6:1-8, Exodus 33:12-23, 1 Samuel 3:1-10, Acts 9:1-19, Matthew 17:1-8, Psalm 16:11
Sometimes, of course, the sense of God with us becomes much more distinct. My oldest brother, J. I. Willard, served for over thirty years as a minister under the blessing of God. But his entry into th...
1 Samuel 16:1-13 , Habakkuk 2:2-3, Matthew 17:20, Romans 5:3-5 , Philippians 4:6-7 , Psalm 42:11
In Circle of Quiet , Madeleine L’Engle describes how her young adult novel A Wrinkle in Time was dismissed by eight publishers before it eventually landed with the publishing house of Farra...
Mark 9:23-24, Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 8:28, Matthew 17:20, Ephesians 1:18-19 , Isaiah 40:28-31
All-powerful God, overwhelmed by the sorrows and pains of the day, we are prone to doubting. We search for your goodness yet we cannot perceive it. We long for your greatness but we disbelieve it. H...
Matthew 17:1-9, Acts 10:9-16, Acts 16:9-10, Genesis 28:10-17, Revelation 1:9-20
After many years of highly successful ministry, Dwight Lyman Moody had an experience of which he himself said, I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it, it is almost too sacred an experience to name...
Exodus 34:29-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36
May the light of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, be visible to the world through your life; and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, be among you, and remain with you ...
Exodus 34:29-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:28-36
Almighty God, our heavenly Father, as we gather for worship we invite you to come down and meet with us. The desires, distractions, thoughts and temptations that plague us are already known to you and...
Psalm 19:1-2, John 1:9, Luke 2:13-14, Revelation 22:16, Matthew 17:1-8
We have been having epiphanies like suns, all this year long. And now, at its close when the planets are shining through frost, light runs like music in the bones, and the heart ke...
John 20:19-31, Matthew 17:20, James 1:6, Mark 9:24, Hebrews 11:6
At the heart of this story is Jesus’ generous offer of himself to Thomas... Thomas had established the conditions for his faith: He must be allowed to touch Jesus’ wounds…. Jesus does not censure Thom...
Leader: Let us confess our sins against God and each other. A time of silent confession is allowed. All: Most merciful Father, who revealed your Son in glory on the mountain and in your own words...
Leader: Heavenly Father, you revealed Jesus on the mountain, transfigured in dazzling brightness, so that we would know him for your Son and our Christ. Help us to persevere in faith so that we may be...
Matthew 15:22, Matthew 17:15, Matthew 20:30, Luke 18:9-14, Luke 17:13, Mark 10:46
"The Kyrie" is a very ancient prayer, taken directly from the gospels and is sung or said in Christian churches worldwide. It is thought to be a vestige of the time when all Christian servic...
Gracious God, thank you for the beauty of this world. Sometimes we can get wrapped up in its pain and brokenness so much that we miss its wonders. Today we pause to thank you for the beauty of your cr...
Isaiah 55:8-9, Matthew 13:44, Lamentations 3:22-23, Psalm 139:7-10, 1 John 1:9, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Luke 2:1-20, John 4:7-26, John 21:1-14, Luke 24:13-35, Matthew 17:1-8, Luke 2:25-38, Luke 1:35-38, Hebrews 13:2, Isaiah 43:19
Almighty God, you have surprised us with your presence in unexpected ways. In the expectations of our routine, we have missed the treasure that you place before us. We come to worship you in community...
John 14:26, Acts 9:1-19, Matthew 17:1-8, Isaiah 61:1, 2 Corinthians 3:18, Acts 2:1-4, Acts 2:1-41
Most powerful Holy Spirit, come down upon us and subdue us. From heaven, where the ordinary is made glorious, and glory seems but ordinary, bathe us with the brilliance of Your light like dew.
O God, whose reason rules the world, who formed the starry heights above, timeless, time’s chain far forth you hurled, unmoved, gave all things power to move. Prevailed on by no outside cause to fashi...
Transcendent Lord, in the midst of ordinary days draw us to wonder to fall on our knees and cry, “Glory!” You are the Holy One, Above and Other. May we tremble, knowing how deeply you know us and lov...
Matthew 28:20, John 14:23, Luke 24:13-35, Isaiah 7:14, John 1:14, Luke 2:1-20, Psalm 23:4, Zephaniah 3:17, Mark 4:35-41, John 14:2-3, Revelation 21:3-4, Matthew 17:1-8
Be near us Lord Jesus we ask you to stay, close by us forever and love us we pray. Immanuel, we invite you to draw near and dwell with us. Surround and sustain us with your tender caring presence tha...
Luke 9:28-43, Matthew 17:1-3, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:19, Luke 9:22-27, Exodus 14:19-20, Numbers 9:15-16, Ezekiel 10:, Psalm 18:, Isaiah 4:, Daniel 7:9-14, Exodus 34:29-35, Deuteronomy 18:15-19, 2 Peter 1:16-18, John 1:4-9, John 1:14, Exodus 13:21, Exodus 24:15-18, Exodus 40:34-35, 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, Luke 9:37
The Context Introduction The Transfiguration stands out like, well, a bright light on a dark mountainside in the Gospel of Luke. The customary earthiness of the rest of the gospel falls away as heav...
Luke 9:28-36, 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, Exodus 34:29-35, Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a), Psalm 99:, Luke 9:28-43, Matthew 17:1-13, Mark 9:2-13, Luke 9:19, Luke 9:22-27, Exodus 14:19-20, Numbers 9:15-16, Ezekiel 10:, Psalm 18:, Isaiah 4:, Daniel 7:9-14, Exodus 34:29-35, Deuteronomy 18:15-19, 2 Peter 1:16-18, John 1:4-9, John 1:14, Revelation 1:12-16, Exodus 13:21, Exodus 24:15-18, Exodus 40:34-35, 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, Luke 9:37
Preaching Commentary The Context Introduction The Transfiguration stands out like, well, a bright light on a dark mountainside in the Gospel of Luke. The customary earthiness of the rest of the go...
Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 13:55, Matthew 14:2, Matthew 16:16, Matthew 17:1-13, Isaiah 55:1, John 6:1-15, Matthew 13:31, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Matthew 26:26, Matthew 8:null, Galatians 6:2
Context The feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew occurs within a section where questions of Jesus’ identity are heightened. Two incorrect answers of who Jesus truly is are given in 13:55 (“isn’t this the...
Matthew 14:13-21, Romans 9:1-5, Genesis 32:22-31, Matthew 14:13-21, Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21, Matthew 13:55, Matthew 14:2, Matthew 16:16, Matthew 17:1-13, Isaiah 55:1, John 6:1-15, Matthew 13:31, 2 Kings 4:42-44, Matthew 26:26, Matthew 8:null, Galatians 6:2
Preaching Commentary Context The feeding of the 5,000 in Matthew occurs within a section where questions of Jesus’ identity are heightened. Two incorrect answers of who Jesus truly is are given in...
Matthew 14:13, Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 6:12, Matthew 14:23, Mark 1:35, Mark 6:31, Luke 5:16, Matthew 17:1-9, Matthew 26:36-46
In the midst of an exceedingly busy ministry Jesus made a habit of withdrawing to “a lonely place apart” (Matt. 14:13; see also Matt. 4:1-11, Luke 6:12, Matt. 14:23, Mark 1:35, Mark 6:31, Luke 5:16, M...
Drama at Its Finest The transfiguration is theatrical. It is drama at its finest. The mountain peak as the stage of the performance, the appearance of the greatest dramatis personae known to Israel, ...