Bible Study & Sermon Companion Guide
The Transfiguration of the Lord — February 15, 2026 (Year A)
St. James Presbyterian Church | Community Bible Study
 
Opening Focus for the Week
The Transfiguration brings us to a moment of brightness that is brief and unresolved. Jesus is revealed, yet nothing is settled—no plan is announced, no future is secured. For those gathering around these texts—whether in faith, curiosity, longing, or uncertainty—this week invites attention rather than explanation. Begin with stillness. Notice your breath. Notice who is present with you. Hold this posture as you read: I do not need to arrive anywhere today. I am willing to stay with what is given.
 
Lectionary Texts for the Week

First Reading — Exodus 24:12–18
Moses is invited upward, but the gift is not immediate clarity—it is presence thick enough to require waiting. The cloud does not explain itself; it holds Moses in a holiness that can feel like delay, awe, and uncertainty all at once. Rather than asking, “What does this mean?” try asking, “What does this kind of presence ask of a person?”
Reflection Question: Where in your life are you being invited to stay with God without rushing to name what you are experiencing?
Practice for the Week: Choose one moment each day to pause before acting or speaking. In that pause, simply say: “I can wait with what is here.”
 
Psalm — Psalm 2
This psalm refuses to pretend the world is calm: conflict rises, powers posture, fear escalates. Yet the psalm does not give the last word to rage. It invites us to consider what happens when we stop treating anxiety as a prophet. What if the loudest voices are not the truest voices?
Reflection Question: What feels like it is “raging” right now—in the world, in your community, or in your inner life—and what changes if you don’t let it set the terms of your hope?
Practice for the Week: When you notice agitation or fear, take one slow breath and repeat: “Not everything loud is true.” Notice what loosens, even slightly.
 
Alternate Psalm — Psalm 99
Psalm 99 holds a tension many of us struggle to trust: God is holy and God is near. Holiness here is not distance; it is moral steadiness—a presence that does not wobble with every headline or mood. The psalm invites reverence not as intimidation, but as a way of becoming grounded.
Reflection Question: Where do you most long for steadiness right now—and what might it look like to seek that steadiness as a form of prayer?
Practice for the Week: Create a small daily ritual (a candle, a glass of water, a hand on your heart, a moment of silence) and let it become your reminder: “Holy and near.”
 
Second Reading — 2 Peter 1:16–21
This passage speaks from the far side of an encounter: “We were eyewitnesses.” It suggests that some experiences cannot be fully understood in real time—they become clearer as memory ripens. Faith here is not forced certainty; it is a willingness to remember truthfully and to keep returning to what was seen.
Reflection Question: What is a moment of light, courage, or clarity in your past that you understand differently now than you did then?
Practice for the Week: Write down one memory that still warms you or steadies you. Keep it somewhere accessible, and reread it when the week feels heavy.
 
Gospel — Matthew 17.1-9 The Transfiguration of Jesus
On the mountain, Jesus is revealed—then the moment passes. The disciples want to build something permanent, but the text offers a different invitation: listen. Not everything holy can be held; some revelations are meant to be carried as memory, question, and courage. The scene asks us to consider: What if listening is the truest form of devotion?
Reflection Question: Where are you tempted to “build a tent”—to lock something down, finalize, or control—when what is needed is deeper listening?
Practice for the Week: Practice listening in one conversation this week without fixing, correcting, or rehearsing your reply. Let your attention be your offering.
 
Allowing the Texts to Speak
As you move through the days ahead, resist the urge to resolve what you have read. Let the cloud remain. Let the memory surface when it will. Let the questions do their quiet work. Return to these texts as companions—especially when you feel rushed, reactive, or certain you already know. Notice what lingers in your body, your imagination, your conscience. Trust that God is present not only in moments of clarity, but also in the listening, the waiting, and the becoming—among us.

Please consider donating to our Bible Study Ministry via PayPal.

Bible Study Companion Guide
St. James Presbyterian Church
Worship & Study Preparation — February 8, 2026
Black History Month
 

A Shared Scriptural Arc: From Identity to Embodied Righteousness

This week’s scriptures invite us to move beyond seeing faith as comfort alone and toward understanding faith as participation in God’s justice-shaping work in the world. Read through both Black Liberation Theology and Womanist Theology, these texts insist that blessedness is not passive, holiness is not performative, and righteousness is not restricted to religious elites.

We begin worship grounded in testimony, move through prophetic clarity, are formed by spiritual wisdom, and are finally commissioned to live righteousness that is visible, relational, and within reach.

Psalm 112:1–9 (10)
Theme: Righteousness as a Way of Life
Key Movement: From Trust in God → Courageous Generosity → Enduring Hope

Black Liberation Theology Lens: Righteousness as resistance to fear and domination.
Womanist Theology Lens: Righteousness as sustainable, life-preserving faith practiced in community.

Isaiah 58:1–9a (9b–12)
Theme: True Worship as Justice in Action
Key Movement: From Religious Performance → Moral Clarity → Communal Repair

Black Liberation Theology Lens: Worship that dismantles unjust systems.
Womanist Theology Lens: Justice that resists sanctified suffering and centers embodied repair.

1 Corinthians 2:1–12 (13–16)
Theme: Wisdom That Comes from the Spirit
Key Movement: From Human Wisdom → Vulnerability → Spirit-Given Insight

Black Liberation Theology Lens: God’s wisdom disrupts imperial logic.
Womanist Theology Lens: Spirit-formed wisdom rooted in lived experience and care.

Matthew 5:13–20
Theme: Righteousness Made Visible
Key Movement: From Identity → Purpose → Public Faithfulness

Black Liberation Theology Lens: Righteousness democratized beyond religious elites.
Womanist Theology Lens: Righteousness that preserves life and sustains community.

Reflection Prompts
1. Where have you seen faithful living quietly sustain people or communities?
2. What forms of devotion might God be calling us to deepen or release?
3. How might righteousness look if measured by love and repair rather than appearance?

Practices for the Week
1. Practice of Liberating Alignment: Choose one action that resists harm or restores dignity.
2. Practice of Spirit-Formed Wisdom: Spend time listening for God’s wisdom daily.
3. Practice of Life-Giving Witness: Engage in one act that strengthens community.

Please visit our YouTube or Facebook Page where Bible Study Videos are posted every Tuesday.

​Blessed Is the Life That Refuses the Lie
Bible Study Companion Guide

Lectionary Texts Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
*Psalm 15* Micah 6:1–8*1 Corinthians 1:18–31*Matthew 5:1–12
Opening Orientation
These scriptures share a single, searching concern: What does a life rightly aligned with God actually look like—when stripped of performance, power, and pretense? Rather than offering comfort alone, these texts offer clarity. Rather than promising delayed reward, they name present truth. Read slowly. Let the scriptures question us before we try to answer them.
 
Psalm 15 — Who May Dwell with God?
The psalm asks who may abide with God. The answer is ethical, not ritual: truthfulness, integrity, and refusal to profit from harm. God’s presence is not accessed through closeness to sacred things, but through consistency of life. Holiness is integrity lived out in the world.
 
First Reading: Micah 6:1–8 — When God Is Not Impressed
Micah opens as a courtroom conversation. God is not distant. God is weary—not with people, but with distortion. The people respond with religious escalation—more offerings, greater sacrifice, excessive devotion. God refuses the performance. What God requires is not excess but alignment: to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly. Justice is concrete. Kindness is relational faithfulness. Humility is truth-sized living.
 
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18–31 — When the World’s Wisdom Fails
Paul names the scandal of the cross. This is not glorification of suffering but exposure of false power. The world praises dominance, status, and exclusion. God’s wisdom dismantles these measures, revealing that systems of power lie about what strength truly is.
 
Gospel: Matthew 5:1–12 — What “Blessed” Really Means
The word translated “blessed” is makarioi. It does not mean endure quietly or wait for a later reward. It is present-tense and declarative. Jesus is not blessing suffering. Jesus is naming those whose lives already align with God’s reign. Blessedness is not reward. It is moral clarity.
The Arc Across the Texts
Micah calls us out of religious performance and into justice. The Psalm names integrity as the dwelling place of God. Paul dismantles false measures of strength and wisdom. Jesus names those living this way as blessed. The Gospel reveals what has been true all along.
Three Movements: Living Into Blessedness
Movement One — Truth Over Silence
Question: Where in my life have I learned that faith means staying quiet—even when something feels wrong?
Practice: Notice one moment this week when you feel the pull to stay silent. You do not have to fix anything. Simply name the truth to yourself or in prayer: “Something here is not right.”
Movement Two — Right Action, Small and Real
Question: Which part of Micah’s call feels hardest right now—doing justice, loving kindness, or walking humbly?
Practice: Choose one small, concrete action this week that leans toward what is right: a fair decision, a gentle kindness, or an honest restraint.
Movement Three — Blessedness as Alignment
Question: When Jesus says, “Blessed are…,” do I hear a future promise or a present truth?
Practice: Read the Beatitudes slowly. Replace “Blessed are…” with “God recognizes…” and notice what shifts within you.
Closing Word
We are not blessed because we suffer. We are blessed when we refuse lies about what is right. Blessedness is not postponed. It is practiced—in truth, courage, and alignment.


By Rev. Derrick McQueen, Ph. D. ©2026