Plan for: Thanksgiving | Advent | Christmas
This sermon explores the transformative power of encountering Christ, applying His teachings in everyday life, and sharing His message in the modern world.
Beloved congregation, there is a certain, undeniable warmth that fills our hearts when we gather together in this sacred place, a sanctuary where we come to seek God's face, to hear His voice, to know His will, and to be transformed by His Word. We find ourselves standing on the precipice of another divine encounter, another sacred moment where we open our hearts to hear from God.
The Scripture we will be focusing on today comes from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9, verses 2-9. Allow me to read it for you:
'And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.' For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, 'This is my beloved Son; listen to him.' And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.'
In the passage we read, we see Jesus leading Peter, James, and John up a high mountain. This wasn't a casual hike or a random event. It was a significant moment, a divine appointment set by Jesus Himself. It was here, on this mountain, that Jesus was transfigured before them. His clothes became radiant, intensely white. This was a moment of revelation, a moment where the disciples saw Jesus in His divine glory.
This moment on the mountain was a moment of divine revelation. It was a moment where the disciples saw Jesus as He truly is - the Son of God. They heard the voice of God affirming Jesus as His beloved Son. They saw Moses and Elijah, representing the law and the prophets, talking with Jesus. This was a moment where heaven touched earth, where the divine intersected with the human. It was a moment that left an indelible mark on the disciples, a moment they would never forget.
We too have these mountaintop moments with Christ. These are moments where we encounter God in a profound way. They are moments where we see God's glory, where we hear His voice, where we are transformed by His presence. These moments may not be as dramatic as the transfiguration, but they are just as real and just as significant.
These mountaintop moments with Christ often come in the midst of our ordinary lives. They come when we take the time to seek God, to listen to His voice, to open our hearts to His presence. They come when we read His Word, when we pray, when we worship. They come when we choose to follow Jesus, to walk in His ways, to live for His glory.
After the disciples experienced the transfiguration, they had to come down from the mountain. They had to return to their ordinary lives, to their daily routines. But they were not the same. They had seen Jesus in His glory. They had heard the voice of God. They had been in the presence of Moses and Elijah. They had experienced a mountaintop moment with Christ, and it changed them.
We too must come down from our mountaintop moments with Christ. We too must return to our ordinary lives, to our daily routines. But we are not the same. We have seen Jesus in His glory. We have heard the voice of God. We have been in the presence of the divine. We have experienced a mountaintop moment with Christ, and it changes us.
So, let us seek these mountaintop moments with Christ. Let us open our hearts to His presence. Let us listen for His voice. Let us be transformed by His glory. And let us carry these moments with us as we return to our ordinary lives, allowing them to shape us, to change us, to draw us closer to Christ.
In the midst of the mundane, the disciples found themselves in a divine encounter ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO