Call to Worship

Disciples of Christ, today your Savior calls you to come up the mountain and pray. Will you come?

We will go wherever Jesus leads us.

Will you follow when Christ’s glory overwhelms your senses, and you sit astounded at God’s greatness?

We will go wherever Jesus leads us.

Will you follow when Jesus won’t let you stay on the mountaintop, insisting that you return to the valley where people are hurting and in need of good news?

We will go wherever Jesus leads us.

Disciples, come! Let us worship God, whose glory shines on the mountaintop and in the eyes of our neighbors.

Come, let us worship God, whose glory shimmers all around us, even now!

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2024.

Opening Prayer

Lord of the Mountaintop, God of dazzling clothes,
Be with us when we come down from the height of worship
To face a world
That didn’t see what we just saw in you.
Show us what to do.

When demons rage through elementary schools,
Let it not be said that your disciples could not cast the devil out.
When violence threatens to engulf our communities,
Let it not be said that your disciples cowered in fear
Or walked on the other side of the road.

When there is peril or fire or flood,
Let it not be said that your disciples cleared the unwanted junk from their garages
And called it charity…

Lord of the Mountaintop, God of dazzling clothes
Show us how to be.
Change us; transfigure us
So that this world might see what we have just seen, and worship you. Amen.

Written by Safiyah Fosua in The Africana Worship Book, Year C (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 2008), 30.

Prayer of Confession

Lord Jesus Christ, God's glory and love shone through you that day on the mountain and you persisted in revealing that glory and love through your words and deeds; through your life of humble service. We hear again these wonderful words of God "You are my Son, the Beloved, listen to him!” We confess our failure to listen to you because of the influence on our lives of the gods of this world. When this happens, our attitudes conceal rather than reveal your glory and your love.

If we conceal your love
because our pursuit of other priorities
prevents us from seeing and serving people in need:
forgive us, Lord.
If we conceal your glory
because all we reflect is our own self-centeredness:
forgive us, Lord
If we conceal your truth
through our lack of credible witness:
forgive us, Lord.
If we conceal your justice
through our failure to empower those who are powerless:
forgive us, Lord.
If we conceal your mercy
because of our hard and unforgiving attitudes:
forgive us, Lord.
If we conceal your compassion
because of our prejudice and intolerance:
forgive us, Lord.

Lord Jesus Christ,
cleanse our lives of all shameful attitudes of mind and heart
so that we reveal your glory
in and through all we do and say and are.
This we pray in your name
and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Assurance of Forgiveness

(2 Corinthians 4:6)

It is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The good news is that we are not only enlightened by our belief in Christ, we are cleansed and we are forgiven!

Thanks be to God! Amen.

Written by Moira Laidlaw on Liturgies Online. Re-posted on the re:Worship blog at https://re-worship.blogspot.com/2012/01/confession-litany-transfiguration.html.

Benediction

Beloved, may God bless you with hearts ready to listen to Christ’s voice that calls us from mountaintop to valley that you may be astounded by glory wherever you go. Amen.

Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, August 2024.