For the week of June 1 – Ascension Sunday
Morning Prayer: Everliving God, Your eternal Christ once dwelt on the earth, confined by time and space. Give us faith to discern in every time and place the presence among us of Him who is head over all things and fills all, even Jesus Christ our ascended Lord. Amen. (United Methodist Hymnal #323)
Opening Hymn: #131 We Gather Together
- We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His name, He forgets not His own. - Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
so from the beginning the fight we were winning;
thou, Lord, wast at our side, all glory be Thine! - We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
and pray that Thou still our defender wilt be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!
Psalm 47:5-8 (CEB)
5 God has gone up with a joyous shout—
the Lord with the blast of the ram’s horn.
6 Sing praises to God! Sing praises!
Sing praises to our king! Sing praises
7 because God is king of the whole world!
Sing praises with a song of instruction![a]
8 God is king over the nations.
God sits on His holy throne.
Prayers of Intercession: Thank You, Lord, for hearing our prayers for those dear to our hearts. We now pray as You have taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us, not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Offering spotlight: A portion of the offering you give supports our children who further their education. Scholarships are awarded with love and prayers, supporting all of our children because Christians are needed in every career and every walk of life.
Offering prayer: Transforming God, we have come to Your house as children. The Table is ever-growing and we revel in Your gifts for us. Receive our simple offerings, that they may be used to faithfully serve in building Your kingdom here. Amen. (Discipleship Ministries)
Hymn of Preparation: #302 Christ the Lord is Risen Today
- Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia! - Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia! Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids Him rise, Alleluia! Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia! - Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia! Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once He died our souls to save, Alleluia! Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia! - Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia! Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like Him, like Him we rise, Alleluia! Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia! - Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia! Praise to Thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia! Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia! - King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia! Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, Thy power to prove, Alleluia! Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!
Scripture: Luke 24:44-53
44 Jesus said to them, “These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about Me in the Law from Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures. 46 He said to them, “This is what is written: the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and a change of heart and life for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 Look, I’m sending to you what My Father promised, but you are to stay in the city until you have been furnished with heavenly power.”
50 He led them out as far as Bethany, where He lifted His hands and blessed them. 51 As He blessed them, He left them and was taken up to heaven. 52 They worshipped Him and returned to Jerusalem overwhelmed with joy. 53 And they were continuously in the temple praising God.
Affirm your faith by reciting the Apostles’ Creed: I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontus Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Message: The Ascension of Our Lord Pastor Becky
Today we celebrate the ascension of Jesus. It is the day He returned to the Father. We proclaimed it in the Apostles’ Creed, we heard it in our scriptures this morning. It is so pivotal to our faith that the writer of Luke/Acts ends Luke with the story and begins Acts with the same story. It is contained in the Articles of Religion of the United Methodist Church, it is Article III which reads: Of the Resurrection of Christ: Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again His body with all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until He return to judge all men at the last day.
So, what is ascension and why does it matter for us?
The basic fact, the fundamental truth is 40 days after the resurrection, Jesus returns to heaven and is reunited with the Father. Ascension means He went up from here to there to be enthroned in heaven. We understand up and things that go up. We have witnessed balloons rise and we have all been in an elevator. We know up, yet the up for Jesus holds importance for Him and for us.
Jesus is enthroned in heaven. At this moment we know exactly where Jesus is. He is in heaven, fully human and fully divine. At this moment, a physical human body resides in heaven. Not until the ascension did humanity exist in heaven. Jesus didn’t shed His mortal coil to enter heaven. He was enthroned in it in heaven. Think about that for a moment, humanity in all its complexity is in heaven. Jesus did not lose connection with the physicalness of having a human body. With Him went pain, joy, concern, curiosity … all the things that make us human resides in heaven. Jesus has not become insensitive to what it means to be human. He still feels.
By ascending, God enthroned Jesus as King over all creation. Jesus is King now, not at some far off time, but now. God has entrusted Jesus with our care. Jesus cares for us continually. He cares by sending the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told His disciples to wait in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem they would receive the Holy Spirit. It is a fulfillment of the promise we talked about last week. The promise that the Spirit would instruct, remind, and encourage us. I don’t want to go much further because next week we celebrate Pentecost.
Without the ascension, we would not have the ability to possess or be possessed by the Holy Spirit. The list would be long as to what we would not have if we didn’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling with us. The biggest void would be the lack of presence with us and that would have made Jesus a liar. He promised He would be with us until the end of the age.
Jesus as King becomes our mediator. He prays for us as our High Priest. Romans 8:34, Paul asks this question and gives us the answer: Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Jesus goes to God for us. Jesus prays for us when we can’t or won’t pray for ourselves. Jesus goes to God on our behalf. Jesus goes to God in compassion for us as Jesus understands us deeply as one like us.
Jesus’s care for us continues as our judge. The author of forgiveness and grace is our judge. Love led Jesus to the cross and that same love fuels and supports Jesus’s judgement. The grace extended by Jesus is also the same grace that will judge us. This too is good news, because Jesus can see the dimensions of our humanity. He has deeper knowledge and understanding of why we do what we do. His judgement is not one of wrath and destruction, but of new life and restoration. Jesus is not enthroned as a threat but as the greatest measure of grace. This doesn’t mean we are free to be unkind, mean, selfish miserable people just because Jesus will understand. It means we are to emulate that grace for the earthly benefit of all.
Jesus’s enthronement isn’t just a wait until judgement day or that Jesus is on vacation until then. He cares for us today, every day since Jesus’s beginning in the beginning until the end of all eternity. Day in and day out, Jesus is caring for us.
Returning to the Father, Jesus prepares eternity for each of us. We lean heavily on the 14th chapter of John in our lives and in our death. You know these words: In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. In consideration for each of us, each and everyone of us, eternity is being prepared. This gives us confidence that eternal life is cared for so we can live abundantly here and now. We can love abundantly and serve abundantly because our future is assured.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the benefits we reap from Jesus’s ascension, it is but a sampling. It reflects the depth of Jesus’s commitment to us. Jesus’s ministry didn’t end on the earth, but continues today for us. We are a part of the story. We are part of the plan for creation and Jesus redeems us. Jesus is alive! He lives! And because He lives we gain the Kingdom here and into eternity. Amen.
Closing Hymn: #154 All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name
bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
- Ye chosen seed of Israel's race, ye ransomed from the fall,
hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all. - Sinners, whose love can ne'er forget the wormwood and the gall,
go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all. - Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball,
to Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.
To Him all majesty ascribe, and crown Him Lord of all.
- Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;
extol the Stem of Jesse's Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse's Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
- O that with yonder sacred throng we at His feet may fall!
We'll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all.
We'll join the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all.
The blessing: May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you this week.
