Worship

 

Opening Prayer

“Our God makes his entrance,

He’s not shy in his coming.

Starbursts of fireworks precede him.”

Ps 50:3 The Message

Lord God in the quietness of this hour burst in with your light and life. Transform this ordinary morning into a new experience with you. Enable a fresh experience of your glory.

Empower the worship of this day. In Jesus name. Amen

 

Hymn: 53 How shall I sing that Majesty

Sing/ Read /pray /proclaim the words or listen to it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOl-YWWpEXk

How shall I sing that majesty

which angels do admire?

Let dust in dust and silence lie;

sing, sing, ye heavenly choir.

Thousands of thousands stand around

thy throne, O God most high;

ten thousand times ten thousand sound

thy praise; but who am I?

 

Thy brightness unto them appears,

whilst I thy footsteps trace;

a sound of God comes to my ears,

but they behold thy face.

They sing because thou art their sun;

Lord, send a beam on me;

for where heaven is but once begun

there alleluias be.

 

How great a being, Lord, is thine,

which doth all beings keep!

Thy knowledge is the only line

to sound so vast a deep.

Thou art a sea without a shore,

a sun without a sphere;

thy time is now and evermore,

thy place is everywhere.

John Mason (c. 1645-1694)

Let us pray together

Lord our God, majestic and awesome, humble and meek, powerful and vulnerable, we offer our worship to you.

 

You meet us in the predictable, day to day experiences of life.

You inspire us with awe and wonder in the special moments of our lives with you.

You turn the ordinary into the extraordinary and call us to witness to your actions.

 

Thank you Lord for the creative love you have for us, the saving grace you lavish on us and the insight you give us. Help us to continue to see your glory around us, to receive your grace given to us and to use the power you offer us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

 

Readings 2 Kings 2: 1-12          Mark 9:2 – 9

Time to Reflect

Before Elisha picks up the mantle of Elijah, which declares Elisha to be Elijah’s successor, he sees Elijah whisked off to heaven in a whirlwind with chariots of fire. A moment of powerful revelation before the hard work begins.

Before the disciples went with Jesus on the final journey to Jerusalem three of them are given a glimpse of Christ’s heavenly glory on a mountain top. A moment of insight into the real identity of the man Jesus before they had to face the suffering and sacrifice that was to be endured by the Son of Man.

 

Take a moment to reflect on the difficult periods of your life. What previous experiences have helped you during those times? How have you seen God at work that has enabled you to endure?

 

There were 9 disciples who were left at the bottom of the mountain and the 3 who were there were instructed not to tell. I wonder (and invite you to wonder too) what the reaction of the 9 was?

This episode comes 6 days after Peter has acclaimed Jesus as the Messiah which was immediately followed by Jesus’ first prediction of his death. That was something Peter objected to and on the mountain he wishes to prolong the experience by building but God answers with a cloud, a declaration of the identity of Jesus, “This is my Son, the Beloved” and the instruction, “Listen to him.”

We know the full Biblical story of what was to come but for the disciples out of this glorious revelation there was the simple command “Listen”

Listen when Jesus tells you of the way of the cross, listen when he tells you it is not an easy way.

Listen when he speaks of death and resurrection.

Listen when he speaks of the coming of the Holy Spirit.

And to us God still says, “Listen”. Listen when God speaks to you in your life today.  

 

Take a time to sit quietly and listen to God’s voice to you today.

 

A time of prayer

Lord forgive us when we do not take time to see your glory or listen for your voices. In your mercy and forgiveness give us a knowledge of your forgiveness, a glimpse of your glory and a will to listen attentively to your words to us.

The Lord hears our prayer.

Thanks be to God.

 As God’s forgiven, beloved children we pray for others.

 

First on this St Valentine’s Day we pray for couples committing themselves to a new relationship of love and trust.

 

And now we pray

For those who have lost hope…..

For those who have recently come to or returned to faith……

For those in distress….

For those ill in body, mind or spirit…

For those who mourn

 

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father ……

Hymn: StF 260 Swiftly pass the clouds of glory

https://youtu.be/E3F8KnUJ0iY

 

Swiftly pass the clouds of glory,

heaven's voice, the dazzling light;

Moses and Elijah vanish;

Christ alone commands the height!

Peter, James, and John fall silent,

turning from the summit's rise

downward toward the shadowed valley

where their Lord has fixed his eyes.

 

Glimpsed and gone the revelation,

they shall gain and keep its truth,

not by building on the mountain

any shrine or sacred booth,

but by following the Saviour

through the valley to the cross

and by testing faith's resilience

through betrayal, pain, and loss.

 

Lord, transfigure our perception

with the purest light that shines

and recast our life's intentions

to the shape of your designs,

till we seek no other glory

than what lies past Calvary's hill

and our living and our dying

and our rising by your will.

Thomas H. Troeger (b. 1945)

 

A prayer of blessing

The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Original Materials by Rev Anne Smith

All  Hymns reproduced under CCLi 1144191. 

Local Churches please insert CCCLi 3382