(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
✨ Let Us Draw Near — Transfiguration Sunday invites us to see with new eyes: beyond fear, beyond separation, toward the light of divine love that changes everything.
Let Us Draw Near– February 15, 2026 | Transfiguration Sunday (Black History Month)
Scripture: Matthew 17:1–9 (NRSV)
This Sunday at Holy Covenant United Church of Christ, we gathered on Transfiguration Sunday—the mountaintop moment when Christ’s radiance reveals what is most true, even when we’re still learning how to see. From the first notes of the prelude, “All Day, All Night” (arr. K. Blackwell-Plank), we were gently reminded: God’s presence is not occasional. It is constant—steady as breath, luminous as love.
Pastor Chris led a Centering Prayer that met us with tenderness and holy honesty—inviting us to notice what we carry, where we hold tension, and what walls we’ve built around the heart. Then came a courageous petition: that the Spirit would awaken in us the Christ Mind, helping us to see beyond fear, beyond division, beyond the limiting stories that keep us small—so we might draw near to what is real, sacred, and true.
In the Call to the Heart, we named the wide, generous truth of God’s welcome: that we arrive with different stories, identities, and journeys—some weary, some curious, some doubting—yet all are beloved, all are worthy, all are seen. We prayed for a transformed vision: to see ourselves, one another, and this world as God sees—beloved, beautiful, and always becoming.
As part of our Black History Month observance, we honored Sister Dr. Thea Bowman in the Black Christian History Moment—celebrating her witness and contribution to the breadth of Christian faith. Our worship continued to be carried by the music of Richard Smallwood, including “Lead Me, Guide Me,” “I Love the Lord,” and the prayerful refrain of the sung response, “Rain Down.”
A Modern Lesson from Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder offered a clear, liberating word: God keeps calling us beyond inherited categories, and real transformation begins when we recognize that what we were taught to fear may actually be holy. Seeing with new eyes disrupts old certainties—but it also frees us to love more fully. That freedom, we were reminded, is nothing less than gospel.
Our Gospel reading, Matthew 17:1–9, brought us to the mountain—where Jesus is transfigured before Peter, James, and John: face shining like the sun, clothes bright as light, and the voice from the cloud declaring, “This is my Son, the Beloved… listen to him!” Fear fell heavy on the disciples, but Christ’s touch met them with mercy: “Get up and do not be afraid.”
In “Let Us Draw Near,” Pastor Chris proclaimed the Good News that this holy light is not for spectacle, but for transformation—drawing us nearer to God and nearer to one another. And from that nearness, generosity flows: the offering was framed as a natural response to changed vision—open hands becoming instruments of love, justice, and healing.
We were sent out singing and marching in hope—“Siyahamba” echoing as both prayer and promise: We are marching in the light of God. On the far side of the mountain, we stepped back into the world with hearts more awake, eyes more honest, and a courage that comes from being touched by holy light.
“Seeing with new eyes takes courage—but it also frees us to love more fully.”
Sign up to receive our weekly newsletter.