2nd Sunday in Lent

16 March 2025

Bible readings for today

Genesis 15:1-12,17-18
Psalms 27:1-14
Philippians 3:17-21; 4:1
Luke 13:31-35 or Luke 9:28-36

Liturgical colour: VIOLET

Collect

E te Atua o te ora me te korōria
i whakaaturia tāu Tama i roto i te ahurei
i mua i tōna matenga i runga i te rīpeka;
meinga mātou, e mau nei ki tōna rangatiratanga
te kaha ki te whai i a ia
kia rite ai ki tōna āhua mai te korōria ki te korōria;
ko Īhu Karaiti, e ora ana, e kīngi tahi ana
me koe me te Wairua Tapu,
kotahi anō Atua ake tonu atu.
Āmine.

God of life and glory,
your Son was revealed in splendour
before he suffered death upon the cross;
grant that we, beholding his majesty,
may be strengthened to follow him
and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory;
for he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.

The Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-43)

When Jesus takes Peter, John, and James up a mountain to pray, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

Leaders Input

What is Transfiguration?
The word "transfigured" is a very interesting word. The Greek word is "metamorpho" and it means to transform, literally or figuratively to metamorphose, or to change... In the case of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ it means to match the outside with the reality of the inside. To change the outward so that it matches the inward reality. Jesus' divine nature was "veiled" in human form and the transfiguration was a glimpse of that glory. Therefore, the transfiguration of Jesus Christ displayed the... glory of God incarnate in the Son.

Transfiguration & Grace: Bishop Eleanor, Former Assistant Bishop of Wellington, shares a short talk about a painting of the transfiguration, as apart of the Wellington Lenten series for 2019

Listen to Him!
'Listen to him!' A Seven Minute podcast sermon from Rev. George Penk, from St Mark's Remuera.

Gospel Conversations 2025: We've all used or heard the phrase "mountaintop experiences" and this week we're meditating on the pinnacle of all such experiences: the Transfiguration. Luke describes the indescribable, yet the reality of it all is evident in the continuing fallibility of the human observers. What can we learn from this remarkable story, and what can we learn about coming down from the mountain afterwards?

Gospel Conversations 2022: The Transfiguration is a mysterious and yet vitally important episode in the Gospel story. Listen to this profound, hopeful and inspiring conversation on Luke's version of the story.

Anglican Movement Series Lent 2 2025: Chris parallels Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and a well-prepared traveller at an airport. They discuss Jesus' resolute path towards Jerusalem, despite warnings from the Pharisees and Herod's threat. He highlights the complex relationships among Jesus, the Pharisees, Herod, and Pilate, emphasizing Jesus' certainty about his mission.

Kids Talks

Flashlight Talk (RFour.org)
Children's object lesson with glowing bottle (childrensministry.com)
Transfiguration of Jesus (Ministry to Children)
Children's object lesson - with invisible ink (April Fiet)
Jesus disguised! (Sunday School Works)
A Children’s Sermon on Luke 9:28-36 (Gary Neal Hansen)

Games / Activities

Changing Appearances (Family Faith Ministry)

Split your group into teams of 3-4. Have all the teams sit on the floor, except for one team who remain standing. Tell the seated teams to carefully study the appearance of the standing team. Have them pay special attention to details like clothing, hairstyle, and jewellery.

After a minute, send the first team out of the room. While out of the room they are to secretly choose one thing to change about the appearance of one player on the team. For example, they might turn a hat backwards, put their hair in ponytail, or switch jewellery with another team member.

When they come back in the seated players must guess what change the team made. Repeat steps 3-6 until all teams have had a turn.

Glowing Lanterns
Why not make a version of these Advent lanterns (from Sunhats & Wellie Boots) to represent the transfigured Jesus?

Stained glass windows to show God's glory revealed in Jesus. Try this one (thebuddingartists.com) or this one (littlehandslearning.co.uk)

Art in Lent

If you want to mark Lent in a simple rich way, how about creating a space where your kids can spend some time with Jesus-related art. Try these questions or make up your own:

What do you see?
What part of the bible / God's story is this painting about?
What might this show us about Jesus? About people? About our world?
What do you think is important in this picture?
Does anything in this picture have more than one meaning?
I wonder what God might be saying to you through this picture today?

Transfiguration by Sieger Köder

Questions to think about

I wonder how Peter, John and James felt when they woke up and saw that Jesus looked different?
I wonder why Peter wanted to build a shelter for Jesus, Moses and Elijah?
Have you ever felt a bit like Peter? Wanting to keep something for ever, that was only meant to last a short time? Perhaps you found a butterfly and wanted to keep it in a jar for ever, or looked after a bird in a box, but didn't want to say goodbye to it?
Have you ever said something that you later regretted?
I wonder why Peter, John and James were quiet after the loud voice said: "This is my chosen Son. Listen to what he says!”
I wonder what happened next?
I wonder what they spoke about between that event, and coming down the mountain the next day?
If you could have lunch with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?

Preschool Fun

Here are some ways you can invite your preschoolers to play their way into the bible story and spend time with God.

Dressups - hats, scarves, sunglasses etc. Try a quick game of "Where has [name] gone? She was just here but now I can't see her." Toddlers will find this hilarious and love to show you that it is still them.
Things to chat about - sometimes people look different but they are still them.

Tent-building - bring out a pop up tent, or fling an old sheet over a table to make a "tent". Tell the story inside with puppets, act it out with a torch and shadow silhouettes, or just load in lots of cushions and tell it while all the kids snuggle down.
Things to chat about: What happens when we are somewhere amazing and it's time to go?

Prayers

Dazzling God of the heights and the depths
all Creation is full of Your glory
all the signs are there to read
all the warnings made in love
all the encouragement, all the guidance.

Though the path be steep,
and new ways needed to get there
and things look different;
still, with Christ, we do not face them alone.

Called together, we can listen
sharing, we can grow
ourselves – but from a new perspective
our world – beloved through the Chosen Son.
Source: Church of Scotland worship resources

Media

As a hen (Luke 13:31-35)

Leaders Input

Anglican Movement Series Lent 2 2022: Rev Pete Watson speaks on Lent and God as mother hen.

Intergenerational Worship

A collection of resources and ideas, written and compiled by Rev Beth Nicholls for Intergen Australia. Bible references: Genesis, Luke, Psalms.

Kids Talks

The Mother Hen and five little ducks (Sermons 4 Kids)
On being a chicken (Gary Neal Hansen)

Games / Activites

(adapted from Sermons4kids.com)

Love hearts Treasure Hunt
Hide heart shapes around the room with a bible verse on each heart which relates to God's love and protection. (Try 1 John 4:9, 1 John 4:18, 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, John 15:9, John 3:16, John 15:12). When all the hearts are found, read them together and talk about what they tell us.

Duck Duck Goose (or Chick Chick Hen)
Play the traditional game of Duck, Duck, Goose with children in a circle and one person to run around the circle of children and tap each one on the head and say, DUCK, DUCK, DUCK, etc until one head is tapped while saying GOOSE and that child will jump up and RUN after the leader. If caught before the runner gets back to his place, he will be the next one to tap heads, etc.

For preschoolers

Here are some ways you can invite your preschoolers to play their way into the bible story and spending time with God.

Follow the leader - Tell the kids you are the mama hen and they are the chicks. Play some music and invite the kids to follow you around. Do some fun actions and invite them to copy you - try jumping, hopping, twirling etc.
Things to chat about: what is following? who do we follow (e.g. parents), why is it good to follow Jesus

Story props / Farmyard Play - e.g. animals - especially parents and kids. Include some "dangers" - e.g. dangerous animals, ponds etc. Try adding some some people props (big and small if possible).
Things to chat about - the story and what happened.

Collage - a selection of paper, pens, scissors, glue and feathers! You could add people cut outs or chicken shapes (big and small).
Things to chat about: the story and what happened.

Under his wings - grab a parachute or a big piece of fabric. Get enough adults/leaders to hold the edges so they can lift it up and down. Play some music and encourage the kids to move around pretending to be baby chicks. When the leader makes a chicken sound (or the music stops) lift the parachute up and the kids have to run under the parachute and sit down while it comes down over them. Repeat until everyone is exhausted!
Things to chat about: how God's love surrounds us.

Media

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