Peter, one of the 12 disciples, had been with Jesus since the beginning. He had now outlasted some of his brothers, who were killed for their faith. He had even lived long enough to hear rumors from younger people who doubted that Jesus had ever existed at all. It was time for him to speak and to testify then and now to what he knew to be true:
To be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 2 Peter 1:16-18
Peter stakes his life on what he saw. Jesus is real. His power was real. God coming to our world to walk with us was real. This is not just a story. This is not a fantasy. All of it really happened. Peter would eventually be killed because he refused to deny the reality of Jesus.
This Sunday we are going to talk about that real story, starting from that moment on the mountain of transfiguration, where Jesus shone like the sun. From there we are going to follow Jesus, a man and also God, to another mountain where he will willingly die for the sins of the world. He does that for you and for me, so that we, like Peter, could have a living hope, even if we die!
That is what Lent is all about, recognizing our need for a Savior and then seeing that Savior do everything we need him to do to have life everlasting.
Join us Sunday at 9 as we celebrate the Transfiguration of our Lord in worship and then have Bible Study and Sunday School at 10:20am.
Then we begin Lent with Ash Wednesday, this coming Wednesday, February 26, with supper at 5:30pm and worship at 6:30pm. This will be a communion service. Wednesday services will continue throughout Lent (until April 1). We will also have a Maundy Thursday Communion Service on April 9th at 6:30pm and a Good Friday Service, April 10, at 6:30pm. Easter Sunday is April 12th with two services, a Sunrise Service at 6:30am and our Festival Service at 9am. In between, from 7:30-8:45am, we will have an Easter Breakfast open to all.
We would love to have you join us this Lent to remember the history of our God’s passion for us as fact not fiction… because this is not fantasy. This is our redemption history. Our eternity depends on it all being true!
- Pastor Buelow