Beyond the Mountaintop: Finding God in the Valley of the Mundane

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:03:58] You know, sometimes I have a hard time counting to three. I'm like, did I do three? And I have to stand up.
[00:04:06] I'm so glad that you're here this morning. This is a wonderful place to be.
[00:04:11] We serve and worship a tremendous God, and I'm glad that you're here with each other and with me as we worship this morning.
[00:04:22] It is Transfiguration Sunday. You know, kind of like we have Christ the King Sunday before Advent begins.
[00:04:30] We always have Transfiguration Sunday before Lent begins, and so I'm glad that you're here today as we bask in the glory of our Lord and Savior.
[00:04:41] There are some announcements that I'd like to bring to your attention.
[00:04:46] Our first kids will meet at their regular time from 4 to 6.30 tonight, but before Patricia does the invocation, she's going to bring a special announcement for how you might be involved in what they're doing this evening. Tomorrow at 11 a.m. we'll have the funeral
[00:05:04] service for Lois Bentley and her family is going to provide a light lunch as a part of the reception.
[00:05:12] They're going to have a visitation after the service in the fellowship hall. So you're all invited to attend if you are able. Wednesday, we will have an Ash Wednesday service here in the Sanctuary at 6.30. Handbell Choir will still meet at 5. Choir will rehearse after the Ash Wednesday
[00:05:34] service. And then on Thursday at 11.30 a.m., the Forever Young group will have a planning and games lunch in the Wayland Hall. And of course, our youth will have their Friday 6.15 a.m. breakfast at the 50s Friday morning. We have several people that I need to mention to you this morning who are
[00:05:58] in need of prayer. Scott Church, you may have heard, he had worn a heart monitor and it's been determined that he does have atrial fibrillation and he has begun some medication for that. He's feeling good, but please be in prayer for that as his doctors continue to determine
[00:06:16] next steps for him. Some very good news, Aaron Walker, who had his liver transplant, we were afraid he was also going to have to have a kidney transplant, which is not unusual that those two go together, but his numbers are improving on his kidneys. And so hopefully
[00:06:33] they're going to be able to back him down off a dialysis and maybe his kidneys will function on their own. We're very hopeful for that. Savannah Smallwood, this is Linda Trevette's granddaughter that spoke on Christmas Eve and gave her testimony when she was baptized a couple
[00:06:50] years ago. She is having a procedure, a surgery on Tuesday, and family asks that we please pray for her. Diane Hall had her TIPS procedure rescheduled for March the 17th, so pray for her as she waits
[00:07:07] for that. She's very uncomfortable due to her condition, and be in prayer for her. She also has her sister, Peggy Shue, who suffered a stroke and is having some inability issues living with her and with Harvey at this time. So please be in prayer for them. Diane Swaim is here. Please
[00:07:25] remember her as she's continuing to recover from her hip replacement. Ann Dorsett also is recovering from a hip replacement and is doing well, but continue to remember her. Peggy Martin House is coming to the end of her chemotherapy treatments, and we're grateful for that. Please remember Peggy
[00:07:42] that that will be successful. Jim Sparks is continuing his cancer treatments five days a week, driving to Winston. Remember Jim and Juanita. Of course, the Bentley family. We have good news about a new addition to the Higginbotham family. Jace Wren Higginbotham was born on Thursday
[00:08:03] evening at 8.59 p.m. Cole and Lindsey are the happy and healthy parents. He was six pounds, 10 ounces and 19 inches long. And so we're pleased to welcome Jace into the world. Chuck Bedingfield, just to follow up, he is still in the hospital in Winston at Novant. He's having
[00:08:25] some headaches. They're still continuing to treat and monitor him. He's probably got a lengthy recovery ahead of him, but I think things are as good as can be expected for him. And then a colleague and friend, Reverend Amy Dean. She and her husband co-rusting, co-pastor Park Road
[00:08:48] Baptist Church in Charlotte. And Alan Lehman was a pastor there at one point in his career. But anyway, Amy has just found out that she's got ALS. And they're doing some second tests, getting some second opinions, but that church is really reeling at this point. And I just ask for your
[00:09:08] prayers for them. Thank you so much for being here this morning and now Patricia is going to give you a little word about tonight's youth meeting and then have

[00:09:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:09:17] our invocation. So once a month you have an opportunity to join the children and the youth in the Wayland Hall and for us to do missions together as well as for you to get to know our youth and children better and for them to get to
[00:09:41] know you and build some relationships. So tonight is our first one from 5.30 to 6.30.
[00:09:48] Tonight we're making placemats. You don't have to draw. You can write words of encouragement to go for our meal next week just to encourage those people that we serve meals to. But then you'll see the other dates in the update and maybe some needs that we need. But we hope that you'll
[00:10:08] come and be a part of it. So come at 5 30 and we will let you be involved in missions along with our children and our youth. Let's pray together. Father we thank you for this opportunity. We thank
[00:10:31] you that you have brought us here to this place and you have also brought those that are virtually worshiping with us, to join together, to sing praises, to read your word, to pray for those
[00:10:49] that we need to pray for, as well as for our world, our community, and each other, and to hear messages through all that we do today that challenge us and help us grow in our faith and
[00:11:05] and help us as we go throughout the week in our community.
[00:11:09] So thanks for being with us today.
[00:11:13] We feel your spirit here.
[00:11:16] And we ask that we will be open, that we will listen, and that we will know you are with us, but also how you are calling us throughout this week.
[00:11:31] And just continue to be with us and help us to worship together with all our hearts, our souls, and our minds.
[00:11:39] In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

[00:11:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:11:42] The peace of Christ be with you.
[00:11:51] Thank you.
[00:11:52] At this time, I want to say a special word of welcome to those of you who are guests today.
[00:11:57] We're so glad that you're here.
[00:12:00] And I'll tell you, if you'll take the time to get to know the folks that are seated around you, I think you'll find that this is a very warm, genuine, kind Christian community.
[00:12:10] but I'm so glad that you're here today and now we're going to sing our priest chorus it's one

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:12:16] that you may have sung in the past holy crown it's printed in your worship bulletin and we'll sing it through one time all the way through it all four lines and then we'll turn and greet our
[00:12:26] neighbors in the name of Christ and then we'll come back and sing it one more time as we return

[00:12:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:12:30] to our seats let's stand and sing together children will you join me beloved I am so

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:16:24] thankful that all of you are here. That you're here on this rainy Sunday morning. It's so wonderful to see your faces. Question for you. Have you ever had maybe a big game that was coming
[00:16:41] up? Maybe a soccer game or basketball game? You did. You had to basketball? Yes. And mom and I have had that conversation. Hey, but before the game, did you get some kind of encouragement

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:17:04] from your coach? That's because Mike is my dad. Oh, so your coach is your dad. That's right. So

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:17:13] you got lots of encouragement, right? He got you ready for the game. He got you excited about playing, right? Well, you know what? That actually happened to Jesus.
[00:17:28] it was about time for Jesus to head to Jerusalem and it was time for something to happen Jesus knew Jesus knew that he was going to suffer he knew he was going to be placed on a cross he knew that he
[00:17:51] He was going to have, there was some big things that he was going to have to do.
[00:17:59] There was some hard things he was going to have to go through.
[00:18:03] And so two of his encouragers showed up on top of a mountain with him and encouraged him.
[00:18:13] And encouraged him to, it's time, got him ready to do what he needed to do.
[00:18:22] helped him to understand and remind him of what the importance of of what he was he was doing he had cheerleaders to cheer him on and because of that because of that he was able to do what he did
[00:18:42] yes you used to be a cheerleader oh my goodness so you know what it means you you help encourage

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:18:51] players, right? When you kick the ball. That's right. So you had people that encouraged you and

[00:19:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:19:03] that's what Jesus needed. He needed two of his friends to show up and to be that encouragement for him. And not only that, the amazing thing that when they showed up and that encouragement happened and that pep talk happened, guess who else showed up to encourage him? God. You're
[00:19:30] exactly right. His daddy showed up and said, you are my son. And he told him that he was proud of him. How wonderful is that? So I want you to remember, I want you to remember something. I
[00:19:48] want you to remember that when you have hard things to do, when God gives you work to do, when God puts, when there are difficult things and decisions to make, that God is there with
[00:20:02] you and that God gives you the tools and the encouragement to do it. All right, will you pray with me? Dear God, we are so grateful. We are so thankful that when we are faced with difficult
[00:20:23] things, difficult situations, hard things to do, that you are always with us, that you are there to encourage us, that you give us what we need to do what is right and to make those difficult
[00:20:42] decisions. Lord, we love you so much. Remind us daily that you are with us. Remind us that when we face situations that we are scared of, that when we worry, that when it is hard, that you are
[00:21:02] there to give us what we need. We love you and we praise you. It's in Jesus's name we pray. Amen.
[00:21:10] All right, it's time for Children's Church. Let's go.

[00:21:15] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:21:15] In prayer, please.

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:25:17] Lord, may we always begin every time of worship, every day, every season with gratitude.
[00:25:31] For you are so amazing, so good, and so generous.
[00:25:38] And now we come and offer one expression of gratitude, Lord, of giving back to you a portion of that which you've entrusted to us.
[00:25:47] and we pray your blessings Lord on these tithes and offerings that they may be used to spread your love, to spread your truth, to spread your gospel. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:25:59] Scripture reading today comes from the gospel of Matthew chapter 17 verses 1 through 9.
[00:31:06] Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun,
[00:31:24] and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here if you wish. I will make
[00:31:42] three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, this is my son, the beloved. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell
[00:32:07] to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, Get up and do not be afraid. And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.
[00:32:23] As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. This is the word of God for us,

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:32:36] the people of God. Let's pray together. Oh Lord, our God, who is higher and holier than anything our minds can dream or fathom, for your decision to reveal yourself to the world and to disclose your will for human life, we praise you. For through Moses, you gave your people the
[00:33:12] law. Through your prophets, you charge your children to live by your law, that their lives might be a guiding light for all nations. And then in time, at just the right time, oh Lord, you sent your son to us to be the clear revelation of your character and of your love.
[00:33:37] on this day we commemorate the occasion when you showed Jesus's closest friends and disciples the light the love and the glory that he embodied right after they had heard from him that he must suffer and die you lifted Jesus up on the mountaintop in brilliance and exaltation
[00:34:01] help us Lord to sense in some small way the immense majesty of our Lord and Savior help us today to understand anew how far it was that he had to stoop to crawl up the hill of
[00:34:23] Calvary may we all be as humble may we all be as committed to following your will for our lives even when it conflicts with our own desires even when it shakes our security and disrupts our
[00:34:42] comfort and well-being so that we learn to rely on you ever more deeply and we lose ourselves in the good of your kingdom. We pray today, God, for those who are sick, for those who are
[00:35:04] suffering through cancer treatments, as well as those who are toughing it out in physical therapy and rehabilitation regimens. We also remember to you those who have lost loved ones and are grieving as they try to reestablish their bearings. We pray, God, for those who are going through
[00:35:30] growing pains, the disorientation of growing in faith, of maturing and reaching new heights of understanding. It's uncomfortable, Lord, but I pray that they would feel your presence and continue to march onward and upward. For those, Lord, whom the world has got a strong grasp, we pray, God,
[00:36:02] that ears and eyes and hearts would be opened to your still small voice and the caressing of your grace. I thank you, Lord, for this church. I thank you for its mission and its ministry
[00:36:19] in our community and beyond, and pray for your blessing as you lead us.
[00:36:23] and I pray for each of us Lord that we might find rest today and that we might find purpose for tomorrow and the week that is ahead forgive us God of our sins make us new and never let us take
[00:36:45] for granted God the cost of your grace it's in the name of Jesus that we ask this prayer and we repeat the prayer that he taught his disciples to pray, saying, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[00:37:04] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:37:11] Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
[00:37:20] and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[00:37:26] For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
[00:37:33] Amen.

[00:37:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:37:34] Really keep from dancing into the pulpit this morning.

[00:41:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:41:22] Well, it's, as I said, Transfiguration Sunday.
[00:41:27] The pinnacle and also the conclusion of the liturgical season known as Epiphany.
[00:41:33] After weeks of hints and intimations, a star, a dove, a baptizer's voice in the wilderness, today we emerge into brilliant light, blinded as God parts the veil and shows us explicitly the glory and majesty of who Christ is. The revelation is complete. All of the synoptic
[00:42:04] Gospels tell the story of the transfiguration, underscoring its significance and importance to the early church. And over the centuries, this supernatural event has been assigned many different meanings, most of them abstractly theological. Growing up, I was taught that the
[00:42:25] transfiguration is important because it reveals Jesus' divine nature, it foreshadows his death, it secures his place in the stream of Israel's salvation history it also exalts Jesus above Moses the law and Elijah the prophets and finally it it points to his resurrection
[00:42:53] weighty and important stuff no doubt but in my heart of hearts I'm not sure I really like the transfiguration for two reasons. One, who knows what went on up there and what do you say
[00:43:11] about it? Secondly, I'm not so sure that it serves us well. You know, many followers of Christ have measured the depth and legitimacy of their faiths by the number of mountaintop experience they can truthfully claim. Asking, have I felt the spirit in the Sunday morning worship?
[00:43:37] Has Jesus spoken to me? Have I seen visions? Have I encountered God's living presence in my dreams?
[00:43:48] You know, most of the time the answers to those questions is no, which can leave us with a daunting suspicion that we're missing something or somehow we're spiritual failures, nagged by the belief that deep and mature Christians have frequent experiences akin to Peter's time
[00:44:11] on top of the mountain. They see visions. They dream dreams. They have actual conversations with God who speaks to them in audible English. Jesus reveals himself to them in spectacular ways they can't describe or deny. They don't have to squint and strain to discern God's presence.
[00:44:39] God shows up in their living rooms in technicolor glory and blows their minds.
[00:44:48] It's not been my experience. Not saying it's not that way for others, but this There's a falsehood. It's not true, this hierarchy of holiness, this way of measuring piety.
[00:45:07] And yet there is this strange longing that stays with me, this yearning for a particular kind of undeniable encounter to come along on a regular basis to validate, encourage my faith. The truth is, I would like, I want, I crave being on the mountaintop. And stories like the transfiguration
[00:45:33] don't help. I mean, if Peter could see Jesus in his full unfiltered glory, why can't we?
[00:45:45] One of the many problems with this God on the mountaintop version of Christianity is that it prompts us to carve up and compartmentalize our lives, to separate the sacred from the secular, the mountain from the valley,
[00:46:08] the spectacular from the mundane, as if God is somehow more present during a rousing hymn, a stirring sermon, or a silent retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains than God is when we're doing our laundry, mowing the grass, or picking up a prescription at the
[00:46:26] pharmacy. Now the work of discernment is harder and messier in everyday life, yes. I have to look for God without the aid of blinding lights and roaring thunder, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. The God of the whisper and the gentle nudge is still God. In its worst form, mountaintop
[00:46:57] Christianity is addictive, such that we spend our days pursuing a high that we conflate with spiritual success. I think in some churches it's led to handling poisonous snakes. But when we don't experience that high, we can feel empty, frustrated, unloved, or bored. Meanwhile, we don't
[00:47:29] notice the ever-present God in whom we actually live and move and have our being. Desperate for the mountain, we miss the God of the valley, of the classroom, of the conference room, of the playground, of the grocery store, of the Brushy Mountain smokehouse. Worshiping the extraordinary
[00:47:58] doesn't make for a healthy faith. In our gospel reading this week, Peter responds to Jesus' transfiguration with an affirmation immediately followed by a proposal. Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three dwellings. It is good for us to be here. Is it?
[00:48:29] That where we're supposed to live? Well, in some ways, yes. In some ways, it's good. Peter's absolutely right. It is good to set aside times and places for contemplation, for meditation.
[00:48:45] it's good to gaze upon Jesus whenever and however he reveals himself to us it's good to move out of our comfort zones and confront the indescribable otherness of the divine until the transfiguration happens Peter and his fellow disciples experienced Jesus as a teacher as a storyteller as a healer
[00:49:12] as a traveling companion. His face, his manners, his voice, his mission, they were all familiar to them. Familiar, endearing, safe. Then one day, high up on the mountaintop, the unimaginable happens. Before their very eyes, Jesus changes, becoming at once
[00:49:37] both fully himself and also fully unrecognizable. The man they think they know is suddenly no more, suddenly other. And the path that lies ahead of him, a path that must end on another high place,
[00:49:56] a hill called Golgotha, overturns everything the disciples think that they understand about Jesus. You know, whenever we think we have God figured out, it's good to be reminded that we're wrong. Whenever we try to stuff Jesus into a theological or cultural or political box for our
[00:50:25] own convenience, it's good to have that box blown up. Whenever we grow complacent, self-righteous, or lazy in our faiths, it's good to be brought to our knees by a God whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways. There are very good reasons to encounter Jesus
[00:50:52] on the mountaintop. On the other hand, it's not so good to fixate on the sublime so much that we desecrate the everyday. Because most, if not practically all of life, is unspectacular.
[00:51:12] By which I mean most of life does not dazzle us with non-stop special effects. Nevertheless, all of life, all of life is sacred. The challenge is to cultivate the kind of awareness that perceives God in places darker, murkier, and more obscure than a mountaintop. As soon as Peter
[00:51:51] affirms his experience. He tries to hoard it. What I hear in his plan of making dwellings is an understandable but ultimately misguided attempt to contain, domesticate, protect, and possess the divine, to harness the holy, to make the fleeting permanent, to keep Jesus shiny, beautiful,
[00:52:19] and safe up top on a mountain. After all, everything is so good up there. The air is so clear. It's so bright, so unmistakably spiritual. Why not stay forever? In a word, because God says
[00:52:38] no. Even before Jesus is finished asking, God covers him in a thick cloud and tells him to listen to Jesus, not to his own misconceptions about the life of faith. It's Jesus' way, the way of the valley, the way of the cross, the way of humility, surrender, and sacrifice that
[00:53:05] Peter must learn to follow. In Matthew's version of the transfiguration, the disciples are overcome with fear when God speaks to them out of the cloud. They cower in silence and they fall down to the ground. But then comes the part of the story that I do like. Jesus came and touched them
[00:53:28] saying, get up and do not be afraid. And when they looked up, they saw no one except for Jesus alone. Jesus comes and touches his friends. And in that simple, ordinary human encounter of skin
[00:53:47] on skin, the disciples catch their breath. They shed their fear, and they return to themselves.
[00:53:57] Finally, they see the divine in a guise they can bear. As it turns out, Peter, for all his eagerness and bluster, isn't made for unending transfigurations. He can't handle too much of the spectacular. All he can actually take of God's glory is a tender human hand on his shoulder
[00:54:25] and a reassuringly human voice speaking in his ear. Here's the thing, you and I, we may still yearn for mountaintop experiences, and that's okay. They'll come and go according to God's will and timing, not according to our micromanagement. In that sense, holy experiences are easy.
[00:54:50] They require little on our part. We can't control them. What's hard is consenting to follow Jesus back down the mountain. What's challenging is learning to cultivate awe and wonder in the face and presence of the mundane? What is essential in finding Jesus in the rhythms and routines
[00:55:16] of everyday life? In the loving touch of a friend, in human voices that say, don't be afraid, in the unspectacular business of discipleship, prayer, service, and solitude, in the unending challenge to love my neighbor as myself.
[00:55:44] Frederick Buechner, one of my favorite writers, writes of James Muhlenberg, his favorite professor when he was at Union Theological Seminary.
[00:55:54] He describes him as an angular man with thinning white hair, penetrating eyes, and a nose and a chin that at times seemed so close to touching that they gave him the face of a good witch. The professor did not give lectures. He
[00:56:13] embodied the stories of the Old Testament and its characters. He would be Adam, wild-eyed and halting as he named the beast, pointing, you are an elephant, you are a butterfly, you are an ostrich. He also did a pretty good Eve, trembling and afraid in the garden of her lost innocence.
[00:56:34] up and down the whole length of the aisle in the seminary's largest lecture hall.
[00:56:41] He chanted the war songs, the victory chants, and the solemn dirges of ancient Israel.
[00:56:49] He even took on the role of God at times and bellowed, let there be light.
[00:56:56] And there was light in all the faces of the hundreds of mesmerized students in the room.
[00:57:02] Dr. Muhlenberg used to tell them Every morning when you wake up Before you reaffirm your faith in the majesty of a loving God Before you say I believe for another day Read the daily news
[00:57:23] With its record of the latest crimes and tragedies of mankind And then see if you can honestly say it again in other words yes there is a mountaintop but boys and girls ladies and gentlemen
[00:57:42] we are meant to live out our existences down here in the valley where God at times can seem distant or even absent in the turmoil of our humanity but will you seek God here not simply bide your time until we are called home to glory we exist to share the love of God
[00:58:13] with those we encounter thereby making the mountaintop not so high and the valley not so low Jesus would tell us just as he told Peter we are not mountaintop dwellers now Frederick Beechner I kind of got on a kick. In another of his books, he wrote a series of books about a fictional holy
[00:58:41] character named Godric. And these books are in the same vein as the J.R. Tolkien books and series, only they were more spiritual and less adventurous. But Godric narrates a scene that speaks to our valley condition. Pushing down hard with his fist on the tabletop, he heaved himself up to where he
[00:59:04] was standing. For the first time, we saw that he wanted one leg. It was gone from the knee joint down. He was hopping sideways to reach for his stick in the corner when he lost his balance.
[00:59:22] He would have fallen in a heap if Brendan hadn't left forward and caught him.
[00:59:28] I'm as crippled as the dark world, Gilda said. Well, if it comes to that, which one of us isn't, My dear, Brendan said, gild us with but one leg. Brendan, sure he'd misspent his whole life
[00:59:43] entirely. Me that had left my wife to follow him and to bury our only boy. The truth of what Brendan said stopped all of our mouths. We was all cripples, all of us. For a moment, there was no
[01:00:04] sound but the bees. To lend each other a hand when we're falling, Brenda said, perhaps it's the only work that matters in the end. Let us not forget on the mountaintop, Jesus hears the blessings from
[01:00:25] God. You are my son, the beloved. With you, I'm well pleased. Those words are familiar. God offered the very same benediction at Jesus' baptism, reminding us, I love you. I'm so glad you're mine.
[01:00:41] I'm so glad I know you, are not words that we say only once at baptism or on Valentine's Day.
[01:00:54] The words of blessing never lose their luster. Some might even say they penetrate even deeper over time. After hearing God's affirmation again, Jesus descends from the mountaintop into the valley directly to heal a boy with epilepsy, but also to continue making his way
[01:01:16] to Jerusalem and to the cross on which he will die. Can we hear him saying, it's been my experience as well as the witness of scripture. If we really want to encounter Jesus, if we really want to run into the holy, rather than looking for a mountaintop to climb
[01:01:48] or a monument to ascend, we're more likely to find God if we get low in the valley and the hollers of deepest suffering, desperation, and need. It's there on our knees ministering in the depths where Jesus whispers, I am here. Do not be afraid. May we all have ears to hear. Amen.
[01:02:31] We now come to the time in our worship service when we open the doors, the membership roles of our church to anyone who would like to join this family of faith. I'll be down front to greet you
[01:02:44] if you have such a decision to make as we stand together and we sing hymn number 285, I think.

[01:02:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:02:53] Wherever he leads, I'll go. Thanks so much for being here today. It's been wonderful worshiping

[01:05:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[01:05:02] with you. I hope you'll come tonight and do a little mission work with our youth and kids.
[01:05:07] They're a great group. You can get to know them tomorrow. The funeral will be at 11 o'clock here sanctuary also hope i'll see you on ash wednesday 6 30 here in the sanctuary but as we leave this
[01:05:19] place and go into a new week may we all live simply love generously care deeply speak kindly forgive freely pray daily and leave the rest to God