Transfiguration B (February 14): Staying Close to God, Being a Light in the darkness

 

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Bible Readings: Psalm 50:1-6, Mark 9:2-9, 2 Corinthians 4:3-6, 2 Kings 2:1-12

About the Images:

Upper left and right: These are both copyright free and from Wikimedia.com. I thought they were both great examples of 2 Corinthians 4:6b - God, who said, "Let light shine out of the darkness" has shone in our hearts.

Middle Left:  This is an image from the Church of the Transfiguration on Mt Tabor in the Holy Land. This is my image so please feel free to use it for worship and related activities.

Middle Right: This image is from the free Heartlight site - see my links column at left. 
Lower Left: This is a free Microsoft image which illustrates the song Go Light Your Candle below which has the line - "so carry your candle".

Lower Right: Another Heartlight image

Listening Song: Go Light Your Candle

by Kathy Troccoli on Sounds of Heaven 1995, Greatest Hits 2003 (pictured at right) or WOW 1996.

Kids Story:

Make some flash cards with different emotions (eg smily face, sad face etc). Give each flash card to a different child and then tell the story of the 2 Kings or Mark reading. Ask the kids to listen carefully as you tell the story and to hold up their card when they think one of the characters feels like their card. Everybody then has to use their face to reflect that card.

Youth Idea:
Get a few kids to play a short game of the theatre sport Space Jump (if you don't know how to play this find out at http://phillips.personal.nccu.edu.tw/improv/jump.html) and then connect it to our lives and to the gospel story in that we are often so busy going from thing to thing that life often feels like a game of Space Jump and the disciples must have felt very much like they were playing a game of Space Jump with Jesus on the day of the transfiguration.

Film Clip: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

 Show the part where Dumbledore, in his welcome address, talks about turning on the light.

Discussion: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 
1. What does Dumbledore mean when he says "Turn on the light" ?
2. How do we, as Christians, turn on the light in a dark world?

Drama: Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

Found in Mega Drama 3 by Verona Johnson (ed) Openbook, 2002, ISBN 0859109178 (v.3), page 92, (pictured at right).This drama is based on the Gospel reading.

Discussion Questions:

Alone: When has God's glory touched you?

Brainstorm Together: How did it make you feel?

Together: How does this effect you in your daily life?

Story: Life 
Story No 148 in Your Point Being by Graham H. Twelftree, Monarch Books, 2003, ISBN 1854245929 (UK), (pictured at left). This story fits well with the Corinthians reading.

Story: A Candle in the Darkness

Found in More Hot Illustrations for Youth by Wayne Rice, Zondervan, 1995, ISBN 0310207681 (pictured at right). This story connects particularly with the 2 Corinthians reading but also with the others.

Prop for above story: 
Use a self igniting candle and explain: Daniel’s light shone very brightly (light candle) - sometime ours does too and at other times it is just a tiny glow. But, no matter what happens, once we have met God, there is no reason why our light should ever go out (blow out self lighting candle and then pause while candle reignites). The trick is to stay close to God.

Response Activity: 
Ask kids to hand out a small birthday candle to each member of the congregation. Encourage everybody to light their candle each dinner time this week to remind them of the light of God.

Also:

Prayer Exercise: Making and Taking the Time to Pray

Found in Prayer: Heart of the Pilgrimage by Jenny Youngman, Upper Room Books, Nashville, 2007, ISBN 0835898369, page 40 (pictured at left) .  This is based on the Gospel reading.