A beautiful fall season lies ahead of us! Are you ready for the change? Many things happen in our lives that cause us to change; some of them are expected and some are a surprise, but when we believe God is in control of everything, he knows what lies ahead. A surprising event happened for me. I didn’t plan it, but it was the right thing to do. I was blessed with the opportunity to travel to Israel beginning about two weeks ago. It is so fresh in my memory, I have hardly had time to take it all in. I do want to share a bit with you in this reflection. We walked in many of the places where Jesus spent his lifetime and ministry. It was Sunday, September 16th. The group I travelled with was celebrating our worship time at the top of Mt. Tabor, which is near the Sea of Galilee. As we settled into a time of quiet, our worship leader, Barbara Heil, reminded us we were sitting where many millions of other believers in Jesus Christ have sat. The site has been protected and cared for by a 1500-year-old Byzantine monastery. This was the location of Jesus’ transfiguration. Remember the story from Matthew 17:1-9 which says: 17  And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2  And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3  And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. 4  And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 5  He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son,[a] with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” 6  When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. 7  But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” 8  And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. 9  And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.” I wonder how we would have reacted if we had been with Jesus that day. Jesus’ disciples, filled with awe at his dazzling appearance and the presence of Moses and Elijah, felt compelled to do something in honor of the occasion they were witnessing. However, when God spoke so lovingly about his Son, they fell down to worship Jesus. As Pastor Kerry Jech noted, there are so many things we can take away from this experience, just as the disciples did. One of the most important is the absolute affirmation that Jesus is the Son of God, and he is the one we need to listen to. He was saying in no uncertain terms to Peter, James and John, that Jesus’ words were the ones they (and we) need to listen to in order to transform our lives as well. Just as people around us look to our teachings, so we must, as Paul said, reflect those words of Christ in our appearance and our character. Then, and only then, will our teaching be credible and sound. Pastor Kerry reminded us that we do need to know enough of God’s Word, but we don’t need to be Bible scholars. We just need to be able to tell others what we were like before we knew Jesus and how we have changed since we have received him as director of our lives. But our behavior needs to reflect our teaching. Barbara shared this story with us that happened at breakfast that very morning. A young woman from Minnesota came up to her and this is her story. She was a drug addict in a little town about the size of Marshalltown. She was on meth and in and out of jail. She had lost custody of her children and felt completely lost until she heard the gospel while she was in jail. Today she is drug-free, off meth and got custody back of her children. She gave her life to Christ and he wholly transformed her life and redeemed her out of death into life! And today, she has a job in the same jail where she used to be incarcerated. When Barbara said that she would like to share her story with our group, she got tears in her eyes and said she wanted everybody to know what Jesus has done for her! That’s what it’s all about. That is the story of redemption that Jesus transfiguration points all of us to. Our story may not be as dramatic as this young woman’s, but each of us has a story to tell. We were once lost, and in Jesus our lives have also been changed. That is the Good News we need to tell others. Take courage. Be bold. Others need to hear your story, too. It is a matter of life and death! In the grace, Spirit and love of Christ, Carolyn Moe