The Celebration of the Gospel
May 24, 2020 – Ascension Sunday
As they were watching he was lifted up….
While he was going they were gazing up to heaven…
—Acts 1.9,10
_____________We are Received as the Beloved of God _______
PRELUDE
GREETING
OPENING PRAYER
God, you reign over all Creation, and we praise you.
Your Christ has ascended to the the throne of the universe, and we honor you.
But here we are, on earth, gazing up into the sky,
needing you, wanting you, missing you.
Come, Holy Spirit, and revive us.
Come, Jesus, and walk with us.
Come, God of grace, and be with us. Amen.
SONG – Open Our Eyes – The Faith We Sing # 2086
CHILDREN’S TIME
SONG
_____________We are Transformed by the Love of Christ _______
PSALTER – Psalm 42.1-6a
As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
These things I remember, as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng,
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise God,
my help and my God.
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NEW TESTAMENT – Ephesians 1.15-23
Fiends, I have heard of your deep trust in Jesus,
the Beloved, the Anointed of God,
and of your love for all the saints,
so I never cease giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
I pray that the God Jesus reveals to us, the glorious Giver of Life,
will give you a spirit of wisdom and perceptiveness,
so you may know God more deeply.
I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened,
so the hope God offers us will fill your hearts.
May you know the riches that God’s beloved ones inherit
and the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who trust,
the very power by which God raised Christ from the dead,
and seated Christ at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.
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GOSPEL – Acts 1.1-11
In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the empire of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of God. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Teacher, is this the time when you will restore sovereignty to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that God has set by God’s own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two messengers in white robes stood by them. They said, “People of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
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SERMON – Looking up into the air
SONG – You Are Mine – The Faith We Sing # 2218
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
SHARING THE PEACE OF CHRIST
_____________We are Sent in the Power of the Holy Spirit _______
BLESSING AND SENDING
RESPONSE
May the grace and peace of Christ be with you, my friends.
Go and share the love of God, love that never ends.
POSTLUDE