The first sermon on the transfiguration that focuses on the glory of Jesus revealed within it. 

The disciples know who Jesus is. They have rightly identified him as the Messiah. Now it is time for them to understand what that means. 

When we look at the world around us, we can find many things that can make us tired and weary, but none of them should lead us to despair. In our weak, temporary vessels of clay, we have a surpassing treasure, the gospel that changes hearts. Listen in as guest Ken Lowe (https://drkenlowe.com/) explains from II Corinthians 4 why we should not lose heart. 

Why did God save us? We'll never know the answer completely, but we do know that he saved us from some things: sin, death, the devil, and hell. These things were things to which we were enslaved. But we are also saved to things: fellowship with God, eternal life, rest, service to God, rather than to sin. But how does this salvation factor into our prioritization? 

Scripture often subverts our expectation in regard to what the glory of Yahweh is, and this passage is no exception.

If you turn on a light at 7 in the morning, not everyone will be happy with you. Some will rejoice in the fact that they no longer have to try to entertain themselves in the dark and others will have been asleep and will cover their eyes with their blankets. So too when the True Light comes into the world, he divides humanity into two classes: those who receive him and those who oppose him. 

How do you introduce Jesus and your account of life, death, and resurrection? What is the wonder and beauty of the incarnation? Let us marvel at the beautiful poem by John based on the even more beautiful reality of the eternal person of the Divine Word. 

If Jesus is to build his church, we need to be faithful to the means he appoints. But how are we to be faithful to his means if we are ignorant of what he has to say about the church and how it is that he builds it. But within the Gospels, Jesus only mentions the church twice, which makes Jesus' words about the church here all the more important. Let's learn together about how Christ builds his church. 

Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labor to build labor in vain. So we can rest because we are not the ones who build the church, and we need to be faithful more than creative.

Thanksgiving should be a way of life for the Christian, not just something that happens only once in the year. Indeed, Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, gives us enough to be thankful for that we could never express it well enough.