transfiguration Sunday

+ The Transfiguration of our Lord +
14 February 2010
And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. (Luke 9:29)

The Transfiguration clearly reveals both the identity and mission of Christ Jesus and of his body, the Church.

1. The identity of Christ Jesus
a. The one spoken of by Moses and the Prophets
b. Very God of very God, of one being with the Father
2. The mission of Christ Jesus.
a. He reveals the heart of God the Father
b. In His exodus, he fulfills the Passover
3. The identity and mission of the body of Christ today
a. We are those who consider Jesus, listen to Him
b. We are those who hold fast our confidence and our hope.
“For the past few months, I have been training for a half-marathon. I love running in the mornings as high school students are biking to school, elderly people are buying fruits and vegetables at the market, and work is beginning in the rice fields. I was running down a busier road when an elderly woman, perhaps in her 70s, was riding slowly on her bike. Rather than passing me, she began talking to me in Chinese. We talked about what I was doing in Taiwan. I told her that I was a Christian and was here to teach English and the Bible. She was persistent in really wanting to get my phone number and learn English. We came to a stoplight and I could have shrugged her off saying, ‘Nice to meet you’ and separated ways. Instead, I let her give me her phone number. Even though I could not understand everything she was saying in Chinese, I could tell by her hand gestures that she was inviting me to come to her home, which was apparently a little further ahead.
“So, I kept running and she kept biking. As we opened the door to her home, there was one student desk, three plastic chairs, and an old TV. Was this really all she had? I began to pray, ‘God, thank you so much for this opportunity. What do you want to come from this?’ She showed me a notebook full of English words that she had written. I wrote down that I could return on Friday so we could practice English. She understood! On Friday, I came with a children’s prayer book designed for young children. On one page is the simple English prayer of a child and the other page has the simple Chinese. It is my level of Chinese and her level of English, so we can communicate with one another! I also gave her a New Testament in Chinese. She really valued these two books and was interested in where our church was! Praise the Lord for such an opportunity.”