February 15, 2026

CHIMING OF THE HOUR

WELCOME               

The Sunday immediately prior to Ash Wednesday is an appropriate time to celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord, because this event marked a transition in Jesus’ ministry in which he “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51), where he would die.

In Jesus’ transfiguration, we are assured that Jesus is the hope of the ages. Jesus is the One who fulfilled the Law given through Moses, the one dreamed of by the prophets, of whom Elijah is the greatest.

In celebrating this event, we rejoice in the divine majesty of Christ, whose glory shone even when confronted with the cross. It is given us for our journey through Lent toward the agony of the cross and the victory of the empty tomb. We celebrate this mystery in order that our faith may be renewed. We are transformed into the new being in Christ as we join Christ in his death and resurrection in Lent and Easter.

PRAYER

Word made flesh, Eternal Mystery, 
on that mountain, you came out 
to three of your closest friends:
a fabulous, though temporary, 
transition into your authentic truth.
Transfigure our hearts and minds 
until we can share this honor.
Pierce through our clouds of unknowing,
the presumptions and failures of imagination
that shroud our capacity to see the real you.
Inspire us to seek to know you better
through relationships with people of all faiths,
all cultures and experiences not our own,
so that we might see, and know, and love you fully
as we are fully known and loved by you. Amen.

 PRELUDE                  “Sing Joyfully to God”                             Robert Powell                  

CALL TO WORSHIP

Though finite human minds 
cannot fathom God’s fullness, 
God gives us glimpses of her glory every day
in the night sky’s depths
and in the simplest flower,

in shared meals, shared stories, 
and shared struggles.
In the face of every person made in her image,
God’s beauty glows like sunlight behind clouds.

We share God’s sacred longing to be known,
to be truly seen and loved for all we are.
But to be fully known, 
we must risk vulnerability.

When we dare to share ourselves with one another,
when we work to understand a friend or stranger,
we come closer to catch a glimpse 
of God’s presence.
Let us worship God together.

*HYMN No. 774, vs. 1-4                  

“There Is Now a New Creation”

1 There is now a new creation
through the grace of Jesus Christ,
peace and reconciliation
with the God of endless life.

2 Call the lost and found together;
tell the news to everyone:
now the past is gone forever
and a new life has begun.

3 Wrap the prodigal in welcome;
run to greet the wayward child.
All is finished and forgiven;
let us now be reconciled.

4 Come and join the celebration;
come and join this happy feast;
Jesus makes an invitation
to the greatest and the least.

*CALL TO CONFESSION

Standing in the light of Christ,
we see the shadows hidden in our hearts.
Let us tell the truth about ourselves,
trusting in God’s grace,
that we might receive mercy and be renewed.

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Magnificent God, 
we cannot stand before the glory of your presence. 
You shine with divine light, 
and we are overwhelmed by your goodness. 
Lift us in your mercy, 
release us from our fear, 
and fill us with your Spirit, 
that we might reflect your light 
and share your love, 
for the sake of Jesus, our Savior.

 Silence is observed

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON

Children of God,
hear the good news:
We are forgiven, again and again,
by this glorious God.
What a wonder! Alleluia!

*RESPONSE NO. 774, v. 5               “There Is Now a New Creation”

5 There is now a new creation
through the grace of Jesus Christ.
Sing, with thanks and adoration,
to the God of endless life!

 *PASSING OF THE PEACE OF CHRIST   

Since we are reconciled to God in Christ through our Baptism, let us share the sign of peace with one another:

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

And also with you.

Worshippers are invited to briefly “pass the peace” of Christ to those directly seated around them thus keeping our worship time “decent and in order” with a focus upon being part of God’s community.

ANTHEM                   “Joyful, Joyful, Sing Praise”  Jay Althouse                          

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE

UNISON PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

God of shining splendor,
your voice makes the earth tremble in wonder.
Overshadow us with your Spirit
so that we may hear your Word
and live as faithful disciples
and covenant people;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SCRIPTURE                           2 Peter 1:16–21                    

16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” 18We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.

19So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Pause…

This is the Word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God!!

SERMON        “God’s Kingdom on Earth”               

Many young children, at some point live in a world where all that they imagine is fiercely real. They walk through life with an entourage of imaginary friends, all busy participants in the universe the child has created. The situations they conjure up are colorful and complex. I had a friend share that when their daughter was building her imaginary world, my friend was asked to mediate imaginary disputes or attend birthday parties for characters that could not be seen. Among the entourage of the imaginaries who live in my colleague’s house is a certain character called “the wicked king.” This character, originally created for the Doc McStuffins TV show, has jumped out of the television and moved into my daughter’s room. And of course, he’s always causing trouble. He is grouchy and mean to the other toys and quite mischievous. Since every heroine needs a villain, that family tolerated his presence and hoped it helped with the daughter’s moral formation.

The stories of wicked kings are not hard to find when we turn to scripture. After the Exodus, God creates a covenant with the people to rule as king from above. Moses went up to the mountain to receive God’s law and to establish God’s priestly kingdom with Israel. But it turned out that the people of Israel were not the best followers. While they told Moses that, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do” (Exodus 24:3), in the end they turned to idols and broke God’s laws. By the time we get to First Samuel, we hear the people clamoring for an earthly king so they could be like other nations (1 Samuel 8:4-22). They thought life would be better if they shook up their system of government, so they ditched the judges and looked for an outsider. In the end, they got exactly what they asked for – a king named Saul who was wicked and moody and paranoid.  

Maybe God still gives us what we ask for. The leaders we elect are often mirror images of our deepest held prejudices, particularly when we elect leaders who come into control by conjuring up our most terrible fears. In times of wicked kings, people of faith will often say that “God is in control.” But what does that really mean? The people of Israel abdicated God’s control by relying on an earthly kingdom rather than building God’s kingdom on earth. From the days of the first king, no earthly kingdom has ever lived up to the standards of God’s reign.

In ancient Israel, when kings were crowned, the scriptures were read aloud. Similar to our own presidential inauguration rituals in the United States of America, the public reading of Scripture has been used to both authorize and subvert earthly reigns. When Scripture is read in the public square as kings are being crowned, even the words meant to authorize their reign are still subversive.      

Psalm 2 is a royal psalm that, in its original form, was likely read at a king’s coronation. In this psalm we find the nations conspiring and the people plotting together in vain. The earthly kings have set themselves against God, as if they might be able to plan a coup d’état to topple the heavenly king. Through their speech, the earthly kings rebel against God. They’ve taken to the public square to wage a war of words against God. The reply from God comes also through speech – a speech that begins with laughter and ends with the earthly kings bowing down to kiss God’s feet. The words of the earthly rulers do not frighten God, but rather bring laughter from a God who knows all things.

When wicked kings rule, God is still in control, but we should not imagine that God’s control will keep us safe. We should also not imagine that God’s control means we can ignore our own work to bring about God’s justice. When wicked kings rule, no one is safe. And then there’s this business of God’s wrath. Scripture reminds us time and again that wicked kingdoms cannot help but be toppled by God’s justice. Our work in the time of wicked kings is to be sure we are building God’s kingdom, rather than clamoring around a king, lest the earthly kingdom crush us as it falls.

As residents of earthly kingdoms and members of a heavenly kingdom, we have been given the gift of glimpsing life on the holy mountain. As 2 Peter 1:16-21 reminds us, we have “been eyewitnesses of his majesty” and because we have seen Jesus “we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed.” But this Jesus that we know did not come to build an earthly kingdom. When he was transfigured in front of Peter, James and John, he did not agree to build tents and live there forever with Moses and Elijah. Jesus did not run for office or set up an earthly kingdom, but instead, left the work of kingdom building to us.

There is a deep and abiding freedom we can claim when we realize our citizenship in earthly kingdoms is temporary, but our real citizenship is in heaven. Yet, as Matthew 25 reminds us, to get into that heavenly kingdom, we must continue the work of Christ by building God’s kingdom here on earth.

Kingdom building is subversive, uncomfortable work. We must welcome the stranger and visit those in prison and care for the sick and feed the hungry. We must work for the common good by creating policies and programs that care for those for whom God cares. If we truly serve the God of second chances who uses earthquakes to break people out of prison, then we must work to end our system of mass incarceration and give help to those who are reentering society. One way we do this is through relationships that lead us to justice. Simply put, we get a little help from our friends.

My friend’s five-year-old (Olivia) takes her entourage of imaginary friends to church each week, and when she arrives her first hug is from her “BFF” – a member named Nikki.  Nikki is a writer, and activist, and a returning citizen. My friend’s daughter knows Nikki’s story, that she spent time in prison and that she works now to end mass incarceration. When Ollivia, first heard the Bible story of Paul and Silas and their time in prison, she read their story through the story of Nikki’s incarceration. Prison is not an unimaginable place because Nikki has taught Olivia how to imagine prison as a place deserving of our compassion.

At the end of the day, it is not the kings we know who will help us change the world, but rather the stories and lived experiences of those who have been pushed to the margins. If we want to find God in the time of wicked kings, we will do well to find ourselves in the company of those who are being excluded. For they are the only ones who can teach us how to build God’s kingdom here on earth.

*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH                        The Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;

 And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

*HYMN No. 782                    “Hear My Prayer, O God”

1 Hear my prayer, O God, and listen to my plea;
faithful, righteous One, give ear and answer me.
Judge me not, I pray; no merit dare I claim;
knowing my own faults, I trust in your just Name.

2 Hounded by a foe who crushed me to the ground,
I am like the dead or those in prison bound.
Hopeless, numbed by fear, I ponder all your care;
thirsty as parched earth, I lift my hands in prayer.

3 Answer soon, O God; my spirit faints in me;
do not hide your face, or I will cease to be.
When the morning dawns, make known your love anew;
show me how to walk, for I will trust in you.

4 Keep me safe, O God, and help me learn your will;
let your Spirit lead through level pathways still.
For your great Name’s sake, my griefs and fears dispel;
free me from my foes, that I may serve you well.

THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE & THE LORD’S PRAYER

Let us offer our prayers for the church and the world. When I pray “Our God is a God who hears us,” please respond, “we will not be afraid.”

God of truth and light, we come before you ready for our mountaintop moment. We want to be transfixed and transfigured and transformed. We want to sit at your feet, and at the feet of the prophets, to soak up all that you have to teach us and all the love you have to share. We are grateful, O God, that you chose to live among us, that we, too, might come to know the more excellent way. Our God is a God who hears us: we will not be afraid. We remember how many people live in darkness: trapped by addiction, overwhelmed by the loneliness of grief, intoxicated by the allure of power. Turn your face toward those in need of healing this day. May they be renewed. Our God is a God who hears us: we will not be afraid.

We know, O God, that there are many who suffer in mind, body and spirit because of greed or apathy. Bless those who hunger for justice and for daily bread, those who thirst for living water and for clean water, those who seek refuge from spiritual storms and the depths of winter. Illumine a way forward so that we can live in your economy of grace; stir in us the compassion to seek wholeness for all. Our God is a God who hears us: we will not be afraid.

There are many places around this world in need of drastic intervention. We remember those places torn apart by warfare, violence, famine or natural disaster. We know that you grieve with us when we turn on one another, or when any of your children suffer. Sow peace and make us peacemakers. Our God is a God who hears us: we will not be afraid.

God of all seasons, be with us as we traverse back down the mountain. Keep us mindful of you, and mindful of your ways, in our daily living. May we speak with kindness, lead with compassion, and practice what it is we believe with all those whom we encounter. Make us good stewards of the resources entrusted to our care. Our God is a God who hears us: we will not be afraid.

These prayers we are bold to pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray together saying, “Our Father…”

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

PASSING OF FELLOWSHIP PADS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

TITHES & OFFERINGS

In days of old, God was seen as far from the people. But we know Christ, and in him we know God. When we share what we have out of love, our hearts grow closer to God, and we shine with Christ’s glory. Let us offer our gifts to God today.

OFFERTORY ANTHEM                                          

*RESPONSE N0. 609            “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow”        

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Praise God, all creatures high and low.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Praise God, in Jesus fully known:
Creator, Word, and Spirit one.
Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

*PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Generous God, it is through your mercy that we have this ministry—the ministry of our talents and treasure, the ministry of our passion and purpose. Strengthen our hearts for your service, and accept the grateful offerings we lay before you. Amen.

*HYMN No. 694                    “Great God of Every Blessing”

1 Great God of every blessing,
of faithful, loving care,
you are the fount of goodness,
the daily bread we share.
How can we hope to thank you?
Our praise is but a start:
sincerely and completely
I offer you my heart.

2 Your Word is our salvation,
the source of endless grace,
in death and life extending
your covenant embrace.
In Christ we are one body;
each member has a part:
sincerely and completely
I offer you my heart.

3 Your Spirit is our teacher,
the light that guides our search,
transforming broken people
into the holy church.
For feeding us with mercy,
for wisdom you impart:
sincerely and completely
I offer you my heart.

*BENEDICTION

In the coming week, 

may you experience the presence of God with joy.

May the holy cloud comfort you.

May the divine voice encourage you.

May the power of the Spirit transform you,

transform us,

transform our world. Amen.

*POSTLUDE