Special music by the chancel choir.

** Please note due due technical difficulties, only a partial recording of the sermon was made this week.  We apologize for the inconvenience.**  This week, we started our journey through the season of Lent. Lent is a period of forty days leading up to Easter, not counting Sundays, when we remember our mortality, reflect on our relationship with God, and consider changes we can make in our lives that will help us grow closer to God. This can be a challenging time because it requires an honest self-assessment that might not be very flattering. Are there times when we are willing to compromise our principles so that we can achieve a personal goal? Do we dedicate ourselves to our career, status, or financial comfort at the expense of our devotion to God? Do we negotiate with God, offering to do those things we know God wants us to do deep in our heart only if God takes care of our personal requests?

These are the kinds of challenges Jesus dealt with after his baptism in the Jordan river. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus was led into the desert where he fasted for forty days and was then tested by the devil. He was offered bread after the long fast, authority over the kingdoms of the world, and an opportunity to prove he was God’s son by testing God’s resolve to keep him safe. Of course, Jesus passed each challenge presented to him by the devil during this journey in the wilderness, but the devil never gave up. Similarly, we are constantly tested, but we do not have the wisdom of God as Jesus did, so we sometimes fail our test. Each year during Lent we take a forty-day journey to consider where we may have gone wrong in our challenges and think about how we could do a little better in the year ahead. Join us this Sunday as we look at the ways Jesus was successful in his journey through the desert and what we might learn from him.

Special music by the Chancel Choir.

This Sunday, the final Sunday in the season of Ordinary Time prior to the start of Lent, is traditionally observed as Transfiguration Sunday. The basis for this celebration in the church year is found in our scripture passage for the week, Luke 9:28-36, where Jesus' glorious nature is physically and visibly revealed to Peter, James, and John. Just as we begin this season after Christmas with Jesus being recognized and celebrated by the Magi, by Simeon and Anna in the temple, and by John the Baptist at the Jordan, so we conclude with Jesus' closest disciples receiving of deeper understanding of who Jesus is.

The word "transfiguration" is a fancy way of saying "change in appearance." It points to something superficial, the way something is perceived; it doesn't necessarily mean the inner essence or reality is changed. But was it only a change in Jesus' appearance that day - or were the disciples changed themselves for having experienced it? This week, we will look at possible reasons for the transfiguration - why it happened when it did, or at all - and its effects. What did the disciples take away from the experience? More importantly, how does it affect our faith, our discipleship, and our own nature as followers of Christ today?

Prayers of the People by Pastor Mike.

Special music by the Chancel Choir.

Prayers of the People by Pastor Jon Flint.

One of the most challenging, yet unique tenets of Christian teaching is to love your enemy. As we recently discussed in service about two weeks ago, this is not a suggestion to try to force yourself to have positive feelings for someone who is mistreating you – that would be impossible to do with any degree of authenticity. This is about expressing a specific kind of love the first century Greek community called αγαπε (agape) that involved looking out for the interests of the other person and behaving warmly towards them. But even this can be particularly difficult when a more gratifying initial response may be vengeance and retribution, responses we are more likely to see in popular literature and movies.

This week we will explore the idea of loving our enemy more deeply and consider how this was demonstrated in a famous Old Testament story. We will reflect on how this approach to conflict can be seen as a sign of strength rather than weakness, and how our relationships can evolve from bitter opponents to genuine friends. Join us this Sunday as we dive into these challenging topics and see how we can benefit from caring for our enemies while maintaining a healthy sense of self-respect that acknowledges the importance of loving and caring for ourselves as well.

Prayers of the People by Terri Strome.