Feb. 15, 2026

First Mennonite Church

Sugarcreek, Ohio

February 15, 2026

Worship: 9:30 am

Coffee & Fellowship Time: 10:30 am

We believe in Jesus and take his life, teachings, death and resurrection

as the model for how we live and the message we proclaim.

***************************************

We seek to be a caring and discerning community, the gathered body

of Christ, that welcomes all to join in worship, study, and service.

******************************************

We embody God’s transforming and redeeming Spirit in the world

through our prophetic witness and action.

THE CHURCH WORSHIPS TOGETHER

Transfiguration Sunday

~Gathering~

Prelude: "Glorious Light" - Keith and Kristyn Getty,

arr. Larry Shackley

Welcome& Announcements

Focus Statement:

Transfiguration Sunday is a day we celebrate the Sunday before Ash Wednesday. It provides both a narrative and theological bridge into Lent. The Transfiguration is a foretaste of the glory of Resurrection, a revelation of Jesus’ divinity that has been hidden, yet is no less real. The Transfiguration does not erase Jesus’ humanity but demonstrates the union of full humanity and full divinity in the person of Jesus. Today, let us declare the wonder, awe, and mystery that Christ’s glory calls us into.

Time of Meditation: "May Thy Holy Spirit" - Paul Tschenokoff,

arr. Jan Sanborn

Call to Worship:

Leader: On this Transfiguration Sunday, we gather on the

mountaintop with Jesus, wondering what we will

encounter.

People: We come to encounter God’s glory revealed.

Leader: We witness the revelation of Christ’s divinity made

plain before us.

People: We come to witness God’s glory revealed.

Leader: We remember that God’s glory is not about spectacle

but truth, not about show, but about Love made real

among us.

People: We come to remember God’s glory revealed.

Leader: We follow Jesus down from the mountaintop into

the valleys, as God’s glory goes before us and

behind us.

People: We come to be sent out to share God’s glory

revealed.

All: Thanks be to God! Amen.

Invocation

Hymn of Gathering: HWB 43 Christ Is Our Cornerstone

~Praying & Praising~

Old Testament Scripture Litany: Psalm 99

Leader: The LORD is king; let the peoples tremble! He sits

enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!

People: The LORD is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the

peoples.

Leader: Let them praise your great and awesome name. Holy is

he!

People: Mighty King, lover of justice, you have established

equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in

Jacob.

ALL: Extol the LORD our God; worship at his footstool.

Holy is he!

Leader: Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel also

was among those who called on his name. They cried

to the LORD, and he answered them.

People: He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud; they kept his

decrees and the statutes that he gave them.

Leader: O LORD our God, you answered them; you were a

forgiving God to them but an avenger of their

wrongdoings.

ALL: Extol the LORD our God, and worship at his holy

mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.

Hymn of Praise: HWB 66 O Worship the King

Prayers of the People

~Hearing God’s Word~

Scripture: Matthew 17:1-9; II Peter 1:16-18

Message: “Listen to him!”

~Responding~

Hymn of Response: HWB 70 Immortal, Invisible, God Only

Wise

(the offering will be brought forth at this time)

Offering Prayer

~Sending~

Sending Hymn: HWB 418 Move in Our Midst

Benediction

Postlude: "Praise the Lord, Ye Heavens Adore Him"

- Rowland Pritchard, arr. Mary McDonald

Sending Words

WORSHIP 9:30-10:30

Minister: Mike Gehman

Worship Leader: Tabatha Murphy

Pianist: Suzanne Stauffer

Song Leader: April Shupe

Usher: Mike Keim

Cover Art: The Transfiguration by Raphael

The Transfiguration, which was considered Raphael’s last painting, is thought to be one of his most famous masterpieces. The Italian High Renaissance master, Giorgio Vasari, the sixteenth century painter, writer, historian, and who is famous today for his biographies of Renaissance artists, called Raphael a mortal God and of today’s painting, he described it as: “…the most famous, the most beautiful and most divine…” Although Raphael Sanzio was only thirty-four years of age when he was given the commission, bad health prevented him from finishing it. It was left unfinished by Raphael, and is believed to have been completed by his pupils, Giulio Romano and Giovanni Francesco Penni, shortly after his death on Good Friday 1520.

FMC LIVES IN DISCIPLESHIP TOGETHER

Mission Project for February: MC USA Justice Fund

In the midst of significant social unrest in the United States, the Mennonite Church USA as launched a Justice Fund to provide a way for individuals and congregations to support MC USA churches that are actively involved in dismantling racism, addressing police brutality, reimagining policing in our society or combating poverty. The Justice Fund will use donations to provide grants for MC USA congregations that are engaging in their communities to dismantle racism and to build peace. Congregations also may use these funds for seed money to begin working in these areas.

THE CHURCH GIVES THANKS FOR

Tabatha Murphy: I am going to be an aunt; Patty Snyder is pregnant.

Nancy Yoder: Mark and Madelyn had a baby boy, Macklin, I am a great grandma.

THE CHURCH PRAYS FOR

Kristy Keim: Prayers for Mike and Herb to get better from their illness.

Sue Stauffer: Jim Cahill’s daughter, Sara Beth came in from California to have her bone marrow extracted for Jim bone marrow transplant.

April Shupe: Brittany Phillips had twin boys, one of the boys, Kayson, is back in the hospital with a stage 4 brain bleed.

Mike Gehman: Good friend passed away who had cancer.

Reno Stevanus: Niece, Marilyn had a 14-hour surgery a week ago, can’t talk yet.

THIS WEEK

Feb. 16^th Happy Birthday, Nate Miller

Feb. 18^th Ash Wednesday

Feb. 20^th Happy Birthday, Mike Gehman

Feb. 22^nd First Day of Lent

UPCOMING EVENTS

On Sunday March 1^st, the Legacy Christian School Choir will once again be singing at our church during the first half of our service, beginning at 9:30 A.M. (They have an engagement in Baltic at 10:30 A.M. so will be leaving around 10 A.M.) We encourage you to be present and to invite guests for this time of worship.

NEXT WEEK:

Minister: Mike Gehman

Worship Leader: Bruce Stauffer

Head Usher: Mike Keim

LAST WEEK

Attendance: 19

Offering: $1460

Change for a dollar: $8

CHURCH LEADERSHIP

Pastor’s Hours: Wednesday 9:30 am-2:30 pm

Church Secretary: Tabatha Murphy

Church Phone: 1-330-852-2822