Second Sunday of Lent

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "The Wake-Up Call" – Second Sunday of Lent

Host: John David Walt (with David Walt and guest singer)
Date: March 1, 2026
Episode Focus: Reflecting on the Transfiguration and the Hope of Heaven

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Episode Overview

On this Second Sunday of Lent, John David Walt and his father, David Walt, lead listeners in a reflective, contemplative episode focused on the story of Jesus' Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9). True to the tradition of Lent, they forego commentary, allowing scripture and song to anchor the morning. The conversation ends with a warm, soul-stirring discussion about the Christian hope of heaven—a theme deeply suited to the Lenten journey.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lent and the Sunday Feast (00:03–01:22)

• Sundays during Lent are distinct: "Sundays aren't included in the 40 of Lent. These are the feast days in the midst of the fasting." (A, 00:18)
• The devotional guide skips Sunday entries to honor the tradition of feasting on God's word and in worship.
• The hosts highlight the communal journey up "Transfiguration Mountain," setting the stage for prayer, scripture, and song.

2. Consecration and Scripture Reading (01:23–05:47)

• The community enters a moment of consecration, reciting:
  • “Wake up, sleeper. Rise from the dead.”
    “And Christ will shine on you.” (A & B, 02:03–02:05)
• John leads a prayer offering oneself to Jesus before reading the core scripture: Matthew 17:1-9—the story of the Transfiguration.
  • Notable verse read: “This is my son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” (Scripture, 04:37)

3. Singing Together: “My Jesus, I Love Thee” (05:48–08:38)

• The episode’s heart is communal singing: “My Jesus, I Love Thee,” hymn #117.
• David Walt expresses his enjoyment singing with the Wake Up Call community:
  • “Oh, I enjoy it so much.” (B, 05:58)
• All four verses are sung, moving from present devotion to the final heavenly hope:
  • “In mansions of glory and endless delight, I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright.” (C, around 08:10)

4. Meditating on Heaven (08:40–13:02)

• John marvels at how the last verse of many hymns points to heaven, and both hosts reflect on thinking more about the life to come:
  • “Will you ever think about heaven?” (A, 08:46)
  • “Yeah, sure. I think about heaven.” (B, 08:48)
• Discussion on how hope for heaven shapes earthly living and moral choices:
  • “We need to think about heaven. Right before we do something wrong.” (B, 09:06)
  • “Why would I do that with all that lies before me?” (A, 09:14)
• The Christian hope is not just preparation for death but “embracing the fullness of life we have right now.”
  • “We actually want to be excited because the best is yet to come.” (A, 09:17)
• John and David share about near-death experiences and testimonies of heaven:
  • “It’s amazing how they have such similar experiences… Never heard anybody give a testimony that says, man, I don’t really want to go back there.” (A, 10:34)
• Facing the reality of death with hope and courage:
  • “You want to go out shouting… You want to go out with a blaze of glory.” (A, 11:23)
  • “That’s a witness in itself.” (A, 11:44)
• The victory of Jesus over death is celebrated:
  • “The amazing thing about Jesus, is that he went through death for us. He destroyed death… Where, O death, is thy sting?” (A, 11:51)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the feast of Sundays in Lent:
  “These are the feast days in the midst of the fasting... we come to feast on the word of God.” (A, 00:18)
• Consecration Prayer:
  “Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you.” (A, 02:06)
• On heaven as motivation:
  “We need to think about heaven. Right before we do something wrong.” (B, 09:07)
• Christian living and readiness for heaven:
  “You don’t want to go out with a whimper. You want to go out with a blaze of glory.” (A, 11:23)
• Celebration of Christian hope:
  “Plow on, saints... It’s going to be better than you can imagine.” (A, 12:33)

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Section Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamps | |-------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Sunday & Lenten Context, Introduction | 00:03–01:22 | | Consecration, Prayer, and Scripture Reading | 01:23–05:47 | | Hymn: “My Jesus, I Love Thee” | 05:48–08:38 | | Heaven and Living with Hope | 08:40–13:02 |

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Episode Tone and Experience

The episode is warm, gentle, and conversational, blending deep devotion with familial affection. John’s humility in letting “the word speak for itself” sets a reflective mood, magnified by the heartfelt hymn and earnest encouragement to “plow on” with hope.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Episode

If you’re looking to re-anchor your Lenten journey, this episode immerses you in scripture, song, and the living hope of heaven—with no sermon or commentary, just a loving invitation to think on the things of Christ and the world to come. Whether you’re joining for the music, the scripture, or the conversation about eternity, you’ll be welcomed into a family circle that gently lifts eyes and hearts toward Jesus.

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Transcript

[A]

All right. Good morning Sower Nation. It is Sunday, March 1st in the year of our Lord 2026. I'm John David Walt and this is your wake up call. You see, Dad's here with me and we're going to sing here before we're off to. Sundays are a little bit different for us in Lent. For starters, Sundays aren't included in the 40 of Lent. These are the feast days in the midst of the fasting. And so we come together in church and we come to feast on the word of God. And so I thought, you know, in our book you've noticed there's no entry on Sundays. That's why, just a text. Second Sunday of Lent today we're going to be reading Matthew 17, verses 1 through 9. You remember, we're on the bus, we're going to Transfiguration Mountain. It's like Pike's Peak. We're making our way all the way to the top. We're going to get off the bus, we're going to behold what happens there. Not going to make any comment on the text today. I'm talking about it through the week, some. I'll be preaching on it at my church in Gillette today, on Sunday today. But I thought it would be good if we just gathered and just let God's word be the only thing we really lift out. No comment from me. Today we're going to let the word speak for itself and then we're going to sing. But before we do that, let's enter into consecration. Wake up, sleeper. Rise from the dead. What do you say next?

[B]

And Christ will shine on you.

[A]

That's right. Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you. And we're praying in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. So our scripture reading today comes from Matthew, verse chapter 17, verses 1 through 9. Hear now the word of the Lord. After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James and John, the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters. One for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered Them and. And a voice from the cloud said, this is my son, whom I love. With him I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell face down to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. Get up, he said. Don't be afraid. When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, don't tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead. The word of the Lord again. Man, I'd love to say so much here, but we're just going to let God's Word do the talking. Today I'll be preaching on this text in church. A lot of other preachers will be too, who are walking through Jesus asking. But I thought it'd be good if we just sang today. Dad, tell us what we're going to sing. What's. What's the name?

[B]

My Jes. My Jesus, I love Thee.

[A]

What's the number?

[B]

117.

[A]

117. Dad, are you enjoying singing with us on the wake up call?

[B]

Oh, I enjoy it so much.

[A]

Yeah, well, everybody out there enjoys you and so do I.

[B]

Well, they just must enjoy bad note every now and then.

[A]

So we're going to sing all four verses of 117. My Jesus, I love thee. Let's go.

[C]

My Jesus, I love thee. I know thou art mine. For thee all the follies of sin I resign My gracious Redeemer, My Savior art thou if ever I love thee, my Jesus, I love thee Because Thou has first loved me and purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree. I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus is lamb. I love thee in life and I love thee in death and praise thee as long as Thou lested me breath and say when the death dew lies called my brow. If ever I love thee, my Jesus. Tis now last verse in mansions of glory and endless delight I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright I'll sing with the bittering crown on my brow if ever I love thee, my Jesus Tis now.

[A]

I love how the last verse of the hymns always take us to the third. To heaven.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

Will you ever think about heaven?

[B]

Yeah, sure. I think about heaven.

[A]

Well, it's going to be beyond what we can imagine, but I think we need to think about heaven more.

[B]

Well, I do too.

[A]

We need to. We need to.

[B]

I tell you, we need to think about heaven. Right before we do something wrong.

[A]

That's right. That. That just kind of Puts things in perspective, doesn't it? And we can then think, why would I do that with all that lies before me? And gosh, we, we just need. Not only do we need to be ready to go to heaven and all, the only way to be ready to go to heaven is just put your trust in Jesus, but we need to be. And we need to embrace the fullness of life we have right now. But we actually want to be excited because the best is yet to come.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

That, that's going to be the grand reunion with the great communion of saints, all those loved ones that have gone before us, all those saints from the Bible. And the Bible doesn't even. It just reaches for the most extraordinary pictures to even describe it to us. But it's going to be real. You know, thousands of people have had like, near. They've died and they've gone and they, they all kind of say the same thing. They're like, you know, I saw light, I saw my loved ones, and for whatever reason, they all came back to tell about it. I've never heard anybody give a testimony that says, man, I don't really want to go back there. No, there's something to that. It's amazing how they have such similar experiences.

[B]

So it's got to be true.

[A]

It's got to be true. And we all have a little bit of fear of dying. That's just normal.

[B]

Yeah, you just want to try to

[A]

be ready, but you want to be ready and you just actually want to go out shouting. You want to go out shouting. You want to. You don't want to go out with a whimper. You want to go out with a blaze of glory.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

And that's. That's a witness in itself. A lot of us, I mean, death is. Death was never part of the plan. It was not the original idea. And that's the amazing thing about Jesus, is that he went through death for us. He destroyed death. And so the Bible says, where, O death is thy victory? Where, O sin is thy victory? Where, O death is thy sting? He's gone through it for us, and he'll meet us right there in the midst of it.

[B]

We won't. We'll be. We'll be sort of afraid, but we just need to plow right on.

[A]

Plow on saints. A lot of you all, you're, you know, none of us know what the day will be. He does, but plow on. It's going to be better than you can imagine. So it's time for us to close out this morning. We're going to go to church. We're not going to see you on the field today. We're going to see you at the house of God. So, for The Awakening, I'm J.D. walt.

[B]

And I'm David. Walt.

[A]

We'll see you at the house.