00:01:01,868 S1: You can. 00:01:20,067 S2: Read. 00:03:05,100 S3: In. 00:03:10,100 S3: The same. 00:03:23,167 S1: Way. 00:03:41,267 S4: I. 00:04:18,567 S5: I have learned. 00:04:33,467 S6: How? 00:05:09,901 S5: Due. 00:05:23,100 S5: To. 00:05:26,200 S5: The. 00:06:40,868 S7: Good morning. I love. I love hearing the buzz. Like there's a buzz here. People are talking. Excited to be here. Welcome, friends. It's good to gather this morning and worship and a world that often feels dimmed by worry and weariness. We come seeking the light of God that still shines among us today. We remember a mountaintop moment when the disciples caught a glimpse of Christ's glory, a light strong enough to steady them for the road ahead for those spiritual wayfarers. You are welcome here this morning, just as you are not because of anything you believe or doubt, not because of what you have accomplished or what you have left undone, but because God gathers us into this place and meets us right where we are. We walk together on this journey. Whether the path feels joyful or complicated, heavy or quietly hopeful, trusting that God is present both on the mountaintops and in the valleys, and we walk side by side on this path of life, whether we are queer or straight, cisgender or transgender, young or old, whether we are know everything or are searching or knowing God's love, we know that God makes room for every person's calling. As seekers and searchers, we hold fast to those moments of clarity and grace that help us keep going. And the road is hard. So bring your whole self this morning. Bring your stories, your questions, your hopes and your fears, your weariness and your courage. This is a time to gather, to grieve, and to remember that glimpses of God are given not to keep us on the mountain, but to strengthen us for everyday life. Hear this good news today. You are beloved. You are held. And here we find companions for this journey of life. As we listen again to the one who leads us forward. Welcome. Well, there are a few announcements to go over today. Um, I'm going to remind people that, uh, to wear your name tags. Uh, that is really super helpful. Um, and especially where we have new members. Uh, as a part of our church. Um, and then it helps some of us, like myself, who, like, I will be talking to you, and then suddenly, your name will go out of my head. I can tell you your children's names. I can probably, if you've told me about your family history, I can tell you all about it. And then I just remember your name. So help me out. Help you out. And, uh, makes a warmer place and a warmer welcome. Uh, the, uh, faith formation folks were staying up here today when we have, um, when we have vacation weekends, we don't have faith formation. So the children are welcome to stay up here. And then, uh, today after church, uh, we have more bang for your buck is what is the titled I love that, uh, join our treasurer, Rick Sprinkle and Dan Koppel, who's a certified financial planner, and they're going to help you walk through some strategies to minimize your tax burden. It's that time of year. And while supporting First Church. And when I'm so come with your questions about gifts, um, stock securities required, minimum distributions qualify charitable donations and more. It's all there. So join us after church today for that also after church. Immediately after church we will have our coffee. Our note that there are a few openings if you would like to host Coffee Hour on March 1st or the 29th. We need help there and by hosting, the food's already here, so it's a matter of putting the food out on the table. And um, and so if you are interested in doing that, please let us know. Well, and if you are a first time person doing that, we'll pair you up with somebody who has done it before. Uh, then, uh, tomorrow night there's a cabaret. I read that as cabinet meeting earlier, just when I was reading two, two days. Two different things. Really? Yes, two different days. So the cabaret is tomorrow night. And these are students of Janet Glasser, and it's here, uh, tomorrow night at seven. Like I said, off Cabot. 00:11:37,868 S7: Pretty much read what's the bulletin. That's much better. Okay. I do know that Shrove Tuesday is coming up and we're going to have pancake dinners. So that is as it says in your bulletin at 530. And then we have our Ash Wednesday service in the chapel, which is downstairs and down the hallway. Uh, spirituality on tap. They did not have an available date towards the end of February, so we're doing two spiritually on taps in March, one at the beginning and one at the end. And, um, I think that's all the announcements that we have this morning. Uh, and Robbie and I invite you to be a part of the worship this morning. There's no place to be except settle in right here and now and open ourselves up to the Spirit's presence. 00:14:09,901 S7: Please stand as are able and join me for the call to worship. 00:14:17,467 S7: God touches the world and the world changes. God touches us and we are transformed in the brightest of day. In the deepest of night. On the mountain and the valley. Everywhere. At this time, together, we invite God to open our eyes to the transformation of our lives and through the change, we worship God. Amen. 00:15:09,868 S5: We. 00:15:13,100 S5: Are. 00:15:17,267 S5: We. 00:15:25,000 S5: Are some of. 00:15:30,501 S5: The. 00:15:33,767 S5: We will be. 00:15:45,367 S5: On. 00:15:48,367 S5: The other. 00:16:03,400 S5: Side. 00:16:56,000 S7: Please join me in the prayer of invocation and the Lord's Prayer. O God, you call us to go to the mountaintop with you, and we follow. Not quite sure what is to happen, but we like mountaintops. We like mountaintop experiences. God, sometimes we need mountaintop experiences with you. When our days are dark and dreary. When our hearts are heavy. When the valleys seem more depressing than ever. Lord, may this mountaintop experience fill our hearts with your light. May we be filled with your love. May we be filled with hope. Amen. 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. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen. 00:18:35,567 S5: Played in the water. 00:18:42,868 S5: In the mud. Children. 00:18:48,767 S5: With. 00:18:51,767 S5: Water. Children. 00:18:56,968 S5: That's the trouble. God's gonna trouble us. The trouble. The water. 00:19:11,801 S5: Is. 00:19:22,868 S5: In the water. bring the children away in the water. That's not the trouble. 00:19:40,767 S5: The water. We and all our children play in the water. I got the trouble. 00:20:00,601 S5: Down in the valley. Down to my knees. They did not ask me, my Lord, to save me. We were playing in the water. Bring my children. Play in the water. That's the trouble. The water. 00:20:42,200 S5: On the mountain. Jehovah. He spoke. 00:20:47,767 S5: The word out of his mouth. And what will be mine? I will be up in the sky. We. 00:21:06,968 S5: Must obey Jesus. 00:21:14,701 S5: When he is mine. You know the way it is among. 00:21:25,267 S5: The children. You know the way the world comes to control the world. 00:21:41,000 S5: Only the. 00:21:45,167 S5: Way of. 00:21:49,367 S5: The world comes the trouble. 00:21:57,367 S5: God's got in trouble. 00:22:02,167 S5: Comes down to the blue. 00:22:31,467 S7: Invite our children come down and so grateful Jenn is doing our children's message this morning. Looks like you've got something in a basket. 00:22:45,000 S8: Um, I got some lovely emails from Christine about these great things in this basket so everyone can grab one. 00:22:55,000 S8: Maybe if we have some adult volunteers or larger children volunteers to grab one too, because there's a bunch of these. Here you go. And if we have too many, then you can always grab one at the end, because there's a ton of them here. 00:23:16,767 S8: Perfect. 00:23:20,868 S8: All right. So, does anyone know whether. 00:23:24,667 S5: It's all good? 00:23:27,167 S8: All right. Good start. Good start. 00:23:34,000 S8: Does anyone know what these are? 00:23:42,567 S8: Let's see. Let's see. Girls, do you know what these are? No. 00:23:50,467 S8: Hard messages on hearts with messages on them. Do you know what the words say? 00:23:58,100 S8: No. Okay. It says Jesus loves you, right? And, yeah. Their hearts. But they're also these things called stress holes. Have you heard of this concept? So I guess what happens is when you're feeling stressed out, you can squeeze them and squeeze them and squeeze them. So like for example, yesterday was Valentine's Day, right? Did you guys have a good Valentine's Day? Did you ever get Valentine's Day? That's fine. And I was thinking to myself, oh, I'm really stressed out. There's a lot that's going on. My house feels really dirty. So I'm going to squeeze a little bit. And then I was like, and Eddie kind of had a tummy ache, so I'm gonna squeeze a little bit more. And then I was like, I just feel like there's a lot of things that are happening. I'm expecting another baby. Did you know that? 00:24:50,267 S8: So there's a lot of things that are happening. So I keep squeezing and squeezing and squeezing. But did the stress ball actually make me feel better? Do you think? Maybe a little bit. But what really made me feel better was when I went, oh, I can stop squeezing it, because guess what? Even though there's a million things going on in the world. If I just take a deep breath and let go of the things for a second, I can remember that there was actually so much love all around us all the time. They don't have to be squeezing, squeezing, squeezing to hold on and just hope and just pray and just like, oh, if I just let go. Then things can kind of fall into place. So when Christine told me she had a bunch of these stress balls, I was like, oh, really? Appropriate for my everyday life. But maybe that can be a helpful reminder for everyone else. So just yeah, Valentine's Day comes once a year. We remember there's a lot of love all around. 00:25:52,100 S8: Yeah. Um, but sometimes it just takes a little bit of letting go to remember that there's love all around us on Valentine's Day and every day. 00:26:03,767 S5: Okay. 00:26:04,467 S8: All right. So can we say a quick prayer together? All right. Can you repeat after me? Dear God. 00:26:13,868 S8: Thank you for reminding us. Thank you for that. Love is all around us. All of us. Even when we feel stressed and distressed. Amen. Amen. Um, I am going to go downstairs. So if you guys want to come downstairs in those stories. Okay. Thank you. Yes. 00:27:19,000 S1: For. 00:27:28,868 S1: The love of all. 00:27:34,767 S5: Of. 00:27:36,000 S1: Us. 00:27:40,567 S1: To. 00:27:48,801 S1: Love me. 00:28:40,868 S1: I. 00:28:57,100 S1: See myself in my. 00:29:06,100 S1: For? 00:29:08,868 S1: Many of us. 00:29:18,000 S1: You. 00:29:43,000 S1: May. 00:29:48,067 S1: Have. 00:30:10,400 S7: This is our time to to pray for one another and for our world and and for ourselves. The time and guided prayer. I'd like to draw your attention to two folks who are new to our prayer list Joanne McGinnis, who has had surgery for her cancer. And for Pam Spinney, who's just had recent spine surgery. So if you could include them in your prayers, please 00:30:43,367 S7: let us join together in prayer. 00:30:50,300 S7: Oh God of mountaintops, of wonder, and in valleys of weariness. You meet us. 00:31:03,667 S7: You draw us near in moments of clarity and in seasons when light feels distant. 00:31:16,968 S7: We give you thanks for the glimpses of glory that you give us. For times when our hearts are lifted, our vision widened and our hope is renewed. 00:31:30,400 S7: Yet you know, oh God, that we do not live on a mountain. 00:31:38,267 S7: We walk roads marked by worry and grief, injustice and fatigue. We carry concerns for loved ones who are struggling in body, mind and spirit. 00:31:54,167 S7: We hold before you those facing illness, those awaiting diagnosis, Those recovering and those who are tired of being strong. 00:32:10,801 S7: We pray for people burdened by anxiety, 00:32:16,300 S7: weighed down by economic strain, worn thin by conflict, at home, at work and the world. 00:32:30,000 S7: We pray for those where despair presses in. 00:32:36,868 S7: We pray, O Lord, that where there is despair that you bring courage, where fear exists. Speak your steadying word. Do not be afraid. 00:32:53,000 S7: Lift us up, O God, as you lifted the disciples. Touch our lives with your restoring presents. Awaken us where we have grown numb. Raise us where we have fallen in to hopelessness. 00:33:13,367 S7: Shape us, O Christ, not only by moments of revelation, but by lives of compassion. Send us down the mountain ready to serve, to listen, to forgive and stand with those on the margins. And embody your love in tangible ways. 00:33:39,667 S7: We pray for your church, O God, that it might reflect your light without seeking its own glory. We pray for our community here at First Church, that we may be companions for one another and both joy and in struggle. We pray for our world, where violence often overshadows peace or power, often overshadows the mercy and sometimes truth the struggles to be heard. 00:34:16,767 S7: We pray, God that you shine your mercy there, that you shine your justice, that you shine your healing. 00:34:25,567 S7: We pray that when our faith feels small, we will know that our strength comes from you. That you encourage us. 00:34:40,067 S7: That you provide the love and grace and healing that we need and the strength for the journey ahead. Remind us again of who you are, oh God, and who we are in you. Amen. 00:35:00,167 S5: In all 00:35:03,467 S5: regions 00:35:06,701 S5: with over two years. So. 00:35:13,267 S5: In good faith, try to reach across this goal and try it. 00:35:31,901 S5: For ever. 00:35:39,567 S5: Come, let's keep faith and faith. 00:35:48,267 S5: In God return. All. 00:36:00,767 S5: True. 00:36:14,767 S7: My husband and I have been coming to this church for about a dozen years, give or take. And one thing I've learned during that time is that when you find a church that welcomes you, it is a wicked awesome thing. So if you felt wicked, if you felt welcome here, uh, perhaps you can give some of your time or your treasure to keep a good thing going with the deacons. Please take up this morning's collection. 00:36:53,367 S5: I want Jesus 00:36:57,968 S5: to walk with me. 00:37:02,901 S5: I want Jesus 00:37:07,100 S5: to walk with me. 00:37:12,601 S5: On this. 00:37:17,567 S5: Journey. Lord Jesus. 00:37:24,968 S5: Join with me. 00:37:30,367 S5: In my time. 00:37:34,367 S5: Lord with me. 00:37:39,300 S5: In my time. 00:37:43,801 S5: And with me. 00:37:48,000 S5: When you see. Reason. 00:37:53,467 S5: For. 00:37:56,267 S5: Murder on Jesus. 00:38:00,868 S5: To walk with me. 00:38:06,567 S5: In my soul. 00:38:11,367 S5: Lord. Only. 00:38:17,000 S5: In high school. 00:38:21,000 S5: Are left with me. 00:38:26,767 S5: When they. 00:38:32,167 S5: See me, Lord Jesus 00:38:40,767 S5: to. 00:39:11,467 S1: They. 00:39:15,100 S1: Are 00:39:17,467 S1: as. 00:39:41,501 S7: Bright as light. 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 set up three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking. Suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, this is my son, the beloved. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell 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 raised their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus himself there alone. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, tell no one about this vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. 00:40:52,601 S7: I enjoyed Jen's children's message earlier. Usually you have to worry about the children acting up. 00:41:03,868 S7: Not the adults. And I was also thinking, like, I've always wanted one of those T-shirt cannons. You know, where you shoot the. But I think tossing out hearts is pretty good. You know, we may incorporate that somehow. 00:41:25,667 S7: What do you do when. When things get tough? You know, when things get tough. Jen talked about squeezing. Like when she's getting nervous, squeezing the heart. The little the stress balls. But what do you do when things get dim? You know, when you kind of get, since the despair is at your heels, or when you've had a rough day, or a rough week, or a rough year, or a rough decade, what do you do? 00:42:04,467 S7: Years ago, 2016, 00:42:08,300 S7: Michelle Obama coined a phrase when they go low, we go high. 00:42:16,868 S7: A few years ago, she wrote in an Instagram post, explaining that a little more. She wrote that for a long time, going high was simply a mantra that Barack and I used to encourage one another. It was a simplification of our ideals, everything we glean from our upbringings that have been simmered into us over time. Tell the truth. Do your best by others. Keep perspective and find a way to stay tough through it all. 00:42:58,067 S7: I really, really liked learning more about that, and it got me thinking about the highs and lows of life. Those that got me thinking about the expanse of time, the undulations of meaning and purpose and hope and, you know, all the light stuff, right? 00:43:19,467 S7: This morning, as I drove over the Beverly Bridge, there was a hint of light over the ocean. The phrase Dawn with her early born rosy fingers was appearing. A phrase that you read in Homer's Odyssey. Dawn and her rosy fingers. Dawn was there. That rosy glint. And in the sky there were mountains of clouds off in the distance. And that beautiful rose tent behind them. It was just like this really short, fleeting moment of stunning beauty. And those few seconds, there was this sense of timelessness, a sense of connectedness for me. And in that short few seconds, I wondered of all the sailors that had come in and out of the harbor over hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. It was just this little, short, tiny, glorious moment that just gave me like, a little hint of perspective of timelessness, of a part of something greater. And I wonder, do you? Do you have those moments, those glorious moments? Maybe it's when you hear a piece of music that transports you. Maybe even this morning. Right. Takes you to another place. Or when you taste a dish and all the flavors just engulf your senses like you. You're like, wow, I never knew food could taste like this. Or maybe you hiked to the top of a winter of a winter mountain 00:45:26,000 S7: and just saw this beautiful sunrise. Or maybe you have snowboard and perfect powder are just floating down the mountain. Or maybe it's a lover's hand that just gently touches you. Or when your dog rolls in the snow or your horse nudges you. Or your cat brushes against your leg. Maybe it's when your child is adulting in the best way possible. 00:46:07,000 S7: Or your wedding day. Or the birth of your children. 00:46:13,300 S7: When you suddenly see and understand all the puzzle pieces, they start coming together. Or when you see someone put others first. Or when you sense the Spirit's presence. 00:46:30,667 S7: Or when you know that God is nudging you but you don't know quite why. But you know you feel that nudge or when over time you see good come out of tragedy. 00:46:48,667 S7: Those are moments when we are awestruck, when we feel close to the spiritual. When we have mountaintop experiences of enrichment and clarity. They don't happen all the time, but they happen. 00:47:10,367 S7: Our scripture reading this morning is one of those moments. Peter, James and John are taken up to a high mountain by Jesus and Matthew's gospel. This happens at a pivotal point in the gospel before those Jesus has been teaching the disciples about the kingdom, the kingdom values. And after this, Jesus turns toward Jerusalem. His crucifixion and his resurrection in the lectionary as well. Today in the church year is a hinge moment. This is the last Sunday in Epiphany and Revelation. And we turn toward Holy Week, lent, little excuse me, turn towards the lent, Holy Week, and Easter. Important things happen on mountaintops. Moses greets God on a mountain, receives the Ten Commandments. Moses is the only person who has seen God and lives, and he comes down from Mount Sinai with his face shining brightly, and it's so brightly they make him put a veil over his face. 00:48:35,667 S7: Elijah. Elijah, in his despair, goes out into the desert. He all but wants to give up on life. And the angels come and administer to him. They feed him, restore him, and he goes up on top of a mountain, feeling like that. He is the only person left in all of Israel that seeks God. And God meets Elijah there. 00:49:12,367 S7: Not in an earthquake, not in fire, not in wind, but in a small voice. 00:49:23,667 S7: Here in our story this morning, Jesus is transfigured Before the disciples. Jesus shines like the sun. We are told his faith shines like the sun. His clothes are blazing ablaze with light. And Moses and Elijah appear. 00:49:46,667 S7: And they begin talking, we are told. A cloud, a bright cloud overshadows them. And from that cloud a voice, it says, this is my son, the beloved. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him. The disciples fall to the ground, overcome with fear. And there is an extraordinary moment right there. Jesus's identity is revealed. A mountaintop experience is there, if there ever was one for Jesus, Peter, James and Zanjan. 00:50:29,000 S7: What happens next kind of is captivates me. I've noticed things that I really noticed before we read that Jesus came and touched the disciples, saying, get up and do not be afraid. 00:50:49,968 S7: As I kind of dug in to some of the words in that phrase, in that sentence, there is some interesting things. The word for touch and Greek here means more than a casual contact. The word touch. Jesus touched the disciples and said, get up and do not be afraid. The word touch implies implies a intentional contact, a clinging, even a fastening of oneself. This is not a handshake that Jesus gives them or a hand up. This is more like Jesus lifting them up from the ground and giving them a bear hug. And the word get up here is a lot deeper. It means to rise, to awaken, even to be raised from the dead. 00:51:51,601 S7: Jesus raises the disciples up. Jesus awakens them and reassures them, do not be afraid. 00:52:04,300 S7: This is a glorious moment. The kind of moment today, the kind of moment that today might end up on Instagram or TikTok. You know, Peter, James and John had social media. They would have gone viral. They would have put him on all their socials. And that's the thing. Like we love mountaintop moments. Like we want to hold on to them. We want to stay there. 00:52:35,667 S7: But we know that we have to come down from the mountain. 00:52:44,100 S7: I remember leading a mission group in Haiti one time, and we were we were returning to port au Prince. We had been down in the southern part of the island, and we were for hours in the car on these winding mountain roads, and we were stuck outside of port au Prince and traffic in Carrefour. It's a densely populated and very poor suburb of port au Prince. Now you may be thinking about, you know, a traffic jam is in like 128, but this is quite a different affair altogether. It was a dirt road. There was dust everywhere. Tap taps, which are open aired vehicles, were full of people and there were all around us. And a traffic jam in port au Prince is like cars are literally inches from one another. It was so dusty. It was like a thick fog and people had their faces covered so they wouldn't breathe in the dirt, and they were just like covered and and this dust. And I was riding with our host, Pastor Martinez and Emma's wife and their Land Rover. 00:54:12,567 S7: We set in air conditioning, filtered air. Sacred choral music playing. It was so surreal. Comfort inside. Chaos on the outside. It was surreal because of the disparity that we saw between the US and the Land Rover and comfort and those outside, and. 00:54:44,400 S7: It disturbed me for a while. But in thinking of this. 00:54:50,067 S7: This moment on the mountaintop, I realized that for my Haitian host who grew up in Haiti, lived in Haiti, were serving Haitians. That that music, that beauty, that sacred grounding was how they held on to hope so that they could keep serving others in difficult situations. 00:55:17,167 S7: They were holding on to the mountaintop experience even while living in the valley. 00:55:27,767 S7: On the mountain, Jesus raised his disciples up and told to them, be awake and don't be afraid. And that's what we do here. Every week we gather to be lifted up, awakened and encouraged to be with another, and to acknowledge God's presence in our lives and in the world, to gather, to be encouraged by and with each other. It's not an escape. It's not to escape life, but to be fully engaged in it, knowing and being reminded that God is with us. Elijah came down and found out from the mountain and found out that he was not alone. Moses came down and actually found a mess, but he kept on leading, and he led the children of Israel to the edge of the Promised Land. Jesus came down from the mountain and chose not power, but servanthood, suffering, love, death, and resurrection. 00:56:52,200 S7: When they go low, we go high. 00:56:56,567 S7: The mountaintop experiences are those high experiences. They remind us of our highest values of our faith, the highest expression of God's love, the highest calling to love our neighbor as ourselves. 00:57:14,868 S7: But here's the thing about the mountain. We don't live there. We're formed there. We're shaped there. We're shaped by God and God's love there. And we are given light there so that we can see when the path grows dim. We are steadied on the mountaintop. So we can stand when the ground feels uncertain. We are loved on the mountaintop. So that we can love when it is the hardest. 00:57:48,200 S7: The glory is not given to us so we can build tents to stay. It is given so we can walk back down with courage. And that's exactly what Jesus and the disciples did. Times are tough. Everything feels unsteady and unbalanced. 00:58:12,901 S7: So when the week is hard. When the light fills thin. When despair nips at your heels. Remember your mountaintop experiences. Remember your experiences with the divine. Remember the touch of Christ that lifts us up. Remember the voice that says, do not be afraid. Remember the glimpse of glory that tells you who you are and to whom you belong. And then let us support one another and go and live that out. Live out our grounded faith and love and grace. Amen. 00:59:02,901 S1: Amen. 00:59:22,801 S1: The. 01:00:44,467 S1: On. 01:00:48,601 S1: The other. 01:02:53,701 S7: And now let us go from this place with the light that we have seen. May we carry its warmth into the dim places of this World, and when the road is steep and the valley long, let us remember the voice that calls us beloved. Amen. Amen.