Beloved Mentors

Sunday, February 11, 2024
10:30 AM 11:30 AM 10:30 11:30

Union Presbyterian Church 200 E Main St Endicott, NY, 13760 United States (map)

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There are just a handful of people in the Hebrew Scriptures who don’t experience death the way most humans do: Enoch (the father of Methuselah), Moses (maybe), and Elijah. On this feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus we are going to look at the last earthly hours one of those who appeared to Jesus and the disciples on the mountaintop: Elijah. We will witness his marvelous transcendence into heaven, and also meet his student Elisha, who has lost his beloved mentor.

Join us for worship in our beautiful sanctuary, or right here online. Worship videos are available here or on Youtube following the service. You are invited!

Transfiguration Sunday

Beloved Mentor

Psalm 50:1-6; 2 Kings 2:1-12

Union Presbyterian Church

February 11, 2024

Sharing the Light of Christ, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Liturgist: Colin DeLap Preacher: Rev. Pat Raube

Welcome Rev. Pat Raube

Announcements Colin DeLap

Prelude Chris Bartlette

“Peace Reigns Within,” Gerald Peterson

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

* Call to Worship (responsive) Colin DeLap

On a high mountain, Jesus was transfigured,

And God Said: This is my Beloved Son.

As Jesus learned from Moses and Elijah,

we learn from our teacher, Jesus.

In Jesus Christ, God’s beloved:

we glimpse the image of God’s glory.

* Hymn #481 W & R “Every Time I Feel the Spirit,” Melva W. Costen

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Every time I feel the Spirit
Moving in my heart I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit
Moving in my heart I will pray.

Upon the mountain, when my Lord spoke,
Out of God's mouth came fire and smoke.
Looked all around me, it looked so fine,
Till I asked my Lord if all was mine.

Every time I feel the Spirit
Moving in my heart I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit
Moving in my heart I will pray.

Jordan river, chilly and cold,
It chills the body but not the soul.
There is but one train upon this track;
It runs to heaven and then right back.

Every time I feel the Spirit
Moving in my heart I will pray.
Yes, every time I feel the Spirit
Moving in my heart I will pray.

* Call to New Life

* Prayer for Wholeness and Peace

God of compassion, in Jesus Christ you reveal the light of your own glory, but we turn away, distracted by our own plans. We so often speak when we should listen, and act when we should wait. Redirect our aimless enthusiasms, O Lord. Grant us wisdom to live in your light, and to follow in the way of your beloved son, Jesus Christ our Lord and savior.

* Words of Assurance

The one who calls light out of darkness

now shines in our hearts to reveal the glory of God

in the face of Jesus Christ.

By virtue of our baptism

we have been invited to share the light of Christ.

We are forgiven and made whole. Thanks be to God!

* Sharing of the Peace

May the peace of God be with you.

And also with you.

Let us share a sign of God’s peace with one another.

Scripture Psalm 50:1-6

The mighty one, God the Lord, has spoken;

calling the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

Out of Zion, the perfect in its beauty,
God shines forth in glory.

Our God will come and will not keep silence;
with a consuming flame before,
and round about a raging storm.

God calls the heavens and the earth from above
to witness the judgment of the people.

“Gather before me my loyal followers,
those who made a covenant with me

and sealed it with sacrifice.”

The heavens declare the rightness of God’s cause,
for it is God who is judge.

Time for Young Disciples Rev. Pat Raube

Music: “Sing of God Made Manifest”

(Public Domain)

Scripture 2 Kings 2:1-12

Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he answered, “Yes, I know; keep silent.”

Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the company of prophets also went and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and the two of them crossed on dry ground.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I may do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.” He responded, “You have asked a hard thing, yet if you see me as I am being taken from you, it will be granted you; if not, it will not.” As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

Response Holy Wisdom, Holy Word:

Thanks be to God!

Sermon “Beloved Mentor”

* Statement of Faith From the Confession of 1967

In Jesus of Nazareth true humanity was realized once for all. Jesus a Palestinian Jew, lived among his own people and shared their needs, temptations, joys, and sorrows. He expressed the love of God in word and deed and became a brother to all kinds of sinful men and women. But his complete obedience led him into conflict with his people. His life and teaching judged their goodness, religious aspirations, and national hopes. Many rejected him and demanded his death. In giving himself freely for them he took upon himself the judgment under which everyone stands convicted. God raised him from the dead, vindicating him as Messiah and Lord. The victim of sin became victor, and won the victory over sin and death for all.

Anthem Choir

“Sharing the Light of Christ,” Pat Raube, Chris Bartlette, 2019

All you who dwell upon the earth

Sing, praise the Lord who gave you birth!

Enter God’s presence with a song;

Let joyous notes ring loud and long!

Let us worship, let us sing it!

Let us play it! Let us ring it! Alleluia!

In Jesus Christ, our God draws near,

Emmanuel, God-with-us here.

Now we belong to God alone,

We, who are many, join as one!

In our worship, praise the Savior!

In our witness, ever braver! Alleluia!

Sharing the light of Christ: Bright city on a hill!

Showing the love of God: Shine like a lamp until

Godlight is everywhere and, by his holy will,

Jesus shines, Jesus shines, Jesus shines!

Sharing the light of Christ: Through visions of our youth.

Showing the love of God as elders dream God’s truth.

Spirit of wind and flame, help us to share his name:

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

God, you who hold us in your grace:

You call us to this time and place.

Grant that your faithful church might flower;

Unleash your Spirit with her power:

In our service, we will praise you.

In our worship, voices raised through Alleluias!

Prayers of the People

The Lord’s Prayer

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.

Prayer Response #475 W & R 

“Eternal Spirit of the Living Christ,” Frank von Christierson

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Come with the vision and the strength I need  

To serve my God, and all humanity;  

Fulfillment of my life in love outpoured—  

My life in you, O Christ, your love in me.  

Call for Offering

* Doxology

“Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” Brian Wren

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise God, all creatures high and low.

Praise God, in Jesus fully known:

Creator, Word, and Spirit one.

* Prayer of Dedication

* Hymn #520 W & R “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” (Public Domain)

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home;
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

I looked over Jordan, and what did I see,
Coming for to carry me home?
A band of angels coming after me,
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home;
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

If you get there before I do,
Coming for to carry me home;
tell all my friends I'm coming too,
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home;
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

I'm sometimes up, I'm sometimes down,
Coming for to carry me home;
But still my soul feels heavenly bound,
Coming for to carry me home.

Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home;
Swing low, sweet chariot,
Coming for to carry me home.

* Benediction

Postlude Chris Bartlette

“Go Forth for God,” Robert J. Powell

Reprinted with permission under ONE LICENSE.

Where an * is indicated, please rise in body and/or in spirit.

“W & R” ~ the red Worship and Rejoice hymnal.

“PH” ~ the blue Presbyterian Hymnal

The prayer for Wholeness and Peace was adapted from a prayer in the PCUSA Book of Common Worship (2018).

The Anthem, “Sharing the Light of Christ,” was composed for the Bicentennial of Union Presbyterian Church in 2019. Music: Chris Bartlette. Lyrics: Pat Raube

TODAY’S HYMNS Throughout February, as we celebrate Black History Month, we will be singing Spirituals out of the African American tradition.

Our opening hymn is the spiritual “Every Time I Feel the Spirit.” Like many spirituals, the origins of this one are unclear, but it is believed that it certainly preceded the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln supposedly heard a group of people who had escaped from enslavement singing this spiritual under the leadership of “Aunt Mary” Dines at the Contraband Camp at 7th Street in Washington, DC. Photographer Matthew Brady captured an image of the singers. In the refrain we sing of how the Spirit is intimately involved in all our prayer lives: we pray because the Spirit moves us to pray. The image of the mountain upon which God gave Moses the Ten Commandments in the first verse reminds us of a people recently escaped, whose God appears in power and glory and awesomeness. In the second verse the Jordan River evokes the crossings of many formerly enslaved people to freedom, in this country as well as in our scriptures. The train that runs to heaven and right back brings to mind the Underground Railroad, through which so many found their way to renewed lives and liberty.

Our second hymn is the spiritual “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” Originating in early oral and musical African-American traditions, the date it was composed is unknown. The spiritual is unusual in that we know its composer: Wallace Willis, a Choctaw freeman in the old Indian territory in what is now Choctaw County, Oklahoma. It was composed sometime after 1865. Wallace may have been inspired by the sight of the Red River, by which he was toiling, reminding him of the Jordan River and of the Prophet Elijah being taken to heaven by a chariot (2 Kings 2:11). The lyrics are also believed to refer to the Underground Railroad, the freedom movement that helped black people escape from Southern enslavement to the North and Canada. Alexander Reid, a minister at a Choctaw boarding school, heard Willis singing this song and “Steal Away,” and transcribed the words and melodies.