Long Green Valley Church of the Brethren
Long Green & Kanes Rds., near Glen Arm, Md.
March 2, 2014
Worship 10:00 am          Sunday School 11:10am

Transfiguration Sunday

  Beginning with Praise (9:50 am)    "Christ upon the mountain peak"   232
  Announcements
  Prelude

  Climbing the Mountain with Moses                    Exodus 24:12-18

*A Song of Praise                      "Indescribable"                                      (insert)

*Opening Prayer (ends with Lord’s Prayer)

  Responsive Scripture Reading        Psalm 99                                         (insert)

  Sharing a joy, a concern, a word of testimony or praise
                                 (please be brief, and aware of God's listening presence)

  Hymn                                   "Fairest Lord Jesus"                                       117

  Pastoral Prayer

  Children's Story                            "There"                by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

  Returning our Tithes and Offerings

  Offertory              (Please sign the attendance pad and pass it on)

  Scripture                                  Matthew 17:1-9
                                             listen to it read, with intro (mp3)

  Message                        "Listening in the cloud" (mp3)

*Hymn                        "Immortal, invisible, God only wise"                            70

*Coming down the Mountain with Peter                  2 Peter 1:16-19

*Benediction

*Postlude

*Rise in body or in spirit

#'s are from Hymnal: A Worship Book

Worship leaders - see basic guidelines

Climbing the Mountain with Moses

1 - The Lord said to Moses,

2 - “Come up to me on the mountain, and wait there; and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.”

1 - So Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and went up into the mountain of God. To the elders he had said,

3 - “Wait here for us, until we come to you again; for Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a dispute may go to them.”

1 - Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain.

2 - The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the cloud.

3 - Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel.

1 - Moses entered the cloud, and went up on the mountain. He was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

(pause to indicate the reading is done)

1 - The has come to rise,

2 - to open our ears to the voice that beckons,

3 - and climb the mountain with Moses.

2 - God still speaks! Are we listening?

3 - The path ahead may be shrouded with a cloud,

1 - but we are still called to draw near. Come!

(motion for God’s people to stand)

Exodus 24:12-18 from New Revised Standard Version Bible (adapted),
copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
    

Opening Prayer

Majestic Glory,
heart of God:
     on mountaintops crowned with mist
     and in museums filled with wonder;
          in tents pitched by singing brooks
          and in theaters filled with laughing children;
     in this sacred space
     and in all the ordinary neighborhoods where we live,
you are with us,
hearing us,
answering us,
and we do not lose heart.

Holy Beloved,
Face of God:
     we glance at you
     out of the corners of our souls,
          and see grace surrounding us;
     we look at you
     conversing with the poor and rejected,
          and see our family;
     we watch you
          as you come to us,
to touch us, to heal us,
and to give us back to God.
And we do not lose heart.

Holy Spirit,
Ear of God:
     when our lips
     cannot shape words
          you speak them for us;
     when we can only sigh
     our needs,
          you gather them up
          and offer them to God;
     when our hopes are dashed to the ground,
          you pick them up
and give them back to us.
And we do not lose heart.

God in Community, Holy in One,
we lift our voices and hearts to you,
praying as Jesus taught us, saying,
(The Lord's Prayer)

by Thom M. Shuman, Interim Pastor,
Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, OH
from his blog: Lectionary Liturgies
    

Psalm 99
(a responsive scripture reading)

One:    The Lord is king;

All:      and the people tremble.

One:    He is enthroned above the winged creatures

All:      and the earth shakes.

One:    The Lord is mighty in Zion;
                   he is supreme over all the nations.

All:      Everyone will praise his great and majestic name.
                   Holy is he!

One:    Mighty king, you love what is right;
                   you have established justice in Israel;
                   you have brought righteousness and fairness.

All:       Praise the Lord our God;
                   worship before his throne!
                   Holy is he!

One:    Moses and Aaron were his priests,
                   and Samuel was one who prayed to him;
                   they called to the Lord, and he answered them.
            He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
                   they obeyed the laws and commands that he gave them.
                   O Lord, our God, you answered you people:
                   you showed them that you are a God who forgives,
                   even though you punished them for their sins.

All:      Praise the Lord our God,
                   and worship at his sacred hill!
                   The Lord our God is holy.

Good News Translation
Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society
as suggested by Carolyn C. Brown
in her blog Worshiping with Children
     

Pastoral Prayer

written closer to the time (if not at the moment)

For Children
“There”
by Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

             To quote Sara Anne Berger: “In There, a young girl looks ahead at the path in front of her and ponders what the future will bring.  She wonders what she will encounter out “there”–dragons and storms, cities and rainbows, and whether she will change and learn new things.  But for now, she is at the beginning of her journey, still wondering what lies out There.”

 After reading, go on to say:

             Today is Transfiguration Sunday. We are at the end of a season called “Epiphany,” ready to enter another season called “Lent.” What will the next five weeks bring? Along the way of this journey, we’ll hear about what happened after Jesus was baptized. Some interesting things took place in the next 40 days… Then we’ll listen to a nighttime story, when a fellow named Nicodemus came to visit Jesus after dark… Three Sundays from now we’ll imagine getting water from a well where Jesus met an interesting woman… And then, after that, there’ll be a story about a blind man who became able to see… Five Sundays from now will come the amazing story of a dead man who came back to life when Jesus called him… There will be much more to this exciting journey, but we’re going to have to wait for it, as it unfolds week by week. We’re going to have to listen, and wonder what lies out there. For now, it time to return to your seats. Another Jesus story awaits today.

Returning our Tithes and Offerings

             Thank you, God, for ears to hear and eyes to see; for minds to ponder and legs to wander; for the journey of faith which lies ahead of us and the gifts we each have to share along the way. Bless these young people, as well as all your children gathered here. Nudge us to be wide-eyed and “eared,” with open minds and hearts, willing to step out by faith. May what we offer just now bring you glory and joy, in both the giving and the using. Amen.

Ushers?

Benediction

May you hear God speak
      through the cloud of your life.
May God’s lamp shine
      in your dark places.
May the promised morning star
      even now rise in your heart
            as together we anticipate will do.
Go forth as listening servants,
      following the Beloved.