Church of the Ascension

The season of Advent is one of preparation and expectant waiting. But I wonder how our expectations of the season shape our experience of it. I wonder if our expectations might actually limit the joy and wonder of what God desires for us. Maybe instead of holding tightly to our expectations—for ourselves, for others, even for God—we are invited to trust in God’s purposes. To loosen our grip. To su...

When our expectations of Jesus amount to making himin our own image—demanding he perform according to our standards and meet our desires—then the divine becomes nothing more than our puppet, and we the puppeteers. That is not “the one who is to come.” That is not the Jesus we are waiting for. Because that is not who God is. Emmanuel, God-with-us, is the one who walks with usin our sorrows and hard...

In just 17 more days - NEAR the Arctic Circle, people will gather in Skarsvag, Norway at the one church in town for Christmas Eve. The temperature is forecast to be MINUS 4 degrees. They are expecting more snow that night. They will also be expecting the presence of God - who will be here also. They will look forward to the birth of the Christ Child once more just as we will. It’s going to be cold...

This morning, we remember the hope of God’s love as we baptize Jackson. In so doing, we will proclaim to him, and ourselves, that our starting point with God is not “sinner in need of redemption” but “beloved child of God.” It is an important reminder and definition of who we are. It does not mean that, at times, we won’t fall short. We will. We will sin, and we all need God’s redemption. But it d...

Sherlock Holmes often said to Dr. Watson, “When you haveexcluded the impossible, whatever REMAINS, however improbable, must be the truth.”  Christ remains. He is the WAY,the TRUTH, and the LIFE.  2,025 years later we have gathered here this morning to worship and the fact that we are here means that we are next in the order of the story.  And it is a story of hope.  We believe and people are fed. ...

On this Celebration Sunday, we encounter passages that speak of dreadful portents, destruction, famines, plagues, persecution, and rejection. And yet, we do not fear. We understand that the reordering of the world always requires disordering. In times of great disorder, we remember that the worst things are never the last things—disorder can never be the end—because, at our very essence, we are re...

We catch a glimpse of glory divine in this part of the Kingdom of Heaven we call the Church of the Ascension. And it is definitely a Heaven that we can believe in now and forever.

In the spirit of that prayer, and in the light of this Feast of All Saints, I hope we turn our attention—as our ancestors did—to the relief of those in need. Our feeding ministries—Beans and Rice, Food Boxes, Angel Food and dinners for New Beginnings—have all been affected by rising costs.  We continue to serve those in need and have seen an increase in the numbers of those who come to us for food...

Most of us value generosity.  We strive to be generous people, and we admire those who embody generosity in the world.  We recognize those who are generous with their time and money as well as those who are generous of spirit.  Wethink of them as kind and unselfish, always willing to lend a hand and help out when someone is in need.  Generosity,typically, feels good.  It lifts us up whether we are...

None of us journeys toward healing or faith alone. Naaman had a king, servants, and soldiers who stood by him. The Samaritan leper had a community of fellow sufferers who stayed with him in his pain. When healing came, it came from God—but community prepared them to receive it. I wonder if this is not exactly what we are called to be as the church: a people who walk with others, especially when th...

Faith is not about what we have—it’s about what we hope for. Suffering, sorrow, anger, and frustration can absolutely make us question God—even make us question our belief in what God is doing, or not doing, in the world. But those things don’t have to limit our faith. If we are willing to trust God enough to walk through our pain, we will find God there—in the struggle—as our strength, our redeem...

I hope we will always be asking God and ourselves WHEN can we help next – WHAT can we do next – WHERE will we put our faith in the God who calls us to the Heavenly Banquet.  Let’s proclaim that WE BELIEVE enough to believethat God will always use the hearts and hands of Ascension to make a difference in this part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s BELIEVE – EVERY day - that someday is TODAY.    

The Bible is not a moral codebook. It is the messy, complicated, ongoing story of God’s people. And yes, it’s full of failure. More importantly, it is the story of God’s relentless, unceasing love in the face of all those failures.  Again and again, God—shrewd and compassionate—calls us home. Even, and especially, when we don’t deserve it.

Mercy and grace are not abstract ideas. They are embodied in vulnerable acts of humility and courage. They are practiced when we risk relationship instead of retreating into division. They are revealed when we lay aside loyalty to ideology and choose instead the way of Christ.

Our expectations can serve us, and they can also get us into trouble. When they serve us, they motivate us. They give us clarity about what we want, help us set goals, and keep us focused. Expectations reflect what we believe and value. When they grow out of positive beliefs, they help us persevere in hard times and set healthy boundaries that protect us.

We are all daughters and sons of Abraham even if we do not resemble one another in health and wholeness or skin color or nationality.  Each of us—every single one—is a beloved child of God, worthy of love, care, and liberation.

I’ve learned so much from your guidance and leadership, and what I’ve learned from you—and from everyone here atAscension—will guide me in the days to come. And I take comfort in knowing the Lord remains near to all of us now and in the days ahead.

If your heart is hurting, maybe it’s time to reexamine the treasure you are holding—a fool’s gold is fear, and it will never afford you the possibility and potential of a faithful life in Christ. That life is one in which we discover hope and grow in love—not because we are assured of the outcomes, but because, like Abraham, we trust in God’s promises.  We trust in faith.

When we give of our time and of our treasure to help others we are truly living into God’s call to serve the least of these and I see so much of that here at Ascension. Whether in scouting, in New Beginnings, in our feeding ministries in our efforts to be better neighbors we are giving from our abundance rather than storing up and that is something truly worth exchanging for a day in our lives.

The beauty of memorizing the Lord’s Prayer is not that itallows us to recite it faster or participate more often in worship. The beauty is that memorization frees us—to be more open to God’s voice and responsive to His desire for deep relationship with us. That deep relationship is what wewere made for, and it is what we are constantly being called back into.

I believe God is rooted in compassion.  And because of that compassion, our starting point is that we are beloved children of God —each and every one of us. That includes Jan and Marcia, Martha and Mary. And it includes you and me. And if our starting point with God is our belovedness, then our starting point with one another can only be rooted in that deep compassion.

Will we be the ones who cross to the other side to preserve our comfort or identity?  Or will we draw near, take a risk, love?  Because to follow Jesus is not just to admire the Good Samaritan—it is to become one.  Not for the sake of a nation, but for the sake of the kingdom of God.  

God’s grace—and his desire to seek relationship with us—is the ultimate expression of love. When we do the work He has called us to, we must be careful not to become prideful. Instead, we take comfort in knowing that God desires relationship with all of us.

As Christians, we are to set our hands to the plow, look forward, and live as new creations, bearing the fruit of the Spirit for the sake of God’s kingdom.

For three weeks in June, these youth and campers show uswhat the Kingdom of God looks like. They give us a glimpse of heaven on earth. For those three weeks, we witness what it means to have our identity restored—as beloved children of God, made in His image and created to be in relationship with Him.