"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-10

Jesus Is Ascended, but Not Absent

This coming Sunday is The Ascension of our Lord Sunday.
The Scripture readings will be:

2 Kings 2:5-15, Acts 1:1-11, Mark 16:14-20 or Luke 24:44-53

On the fortieth day after His resurrection, our Lord ascended to the right hand of the Father. But although Jesus is hidden from your eyes, He is not absent from you. For He now fills all things in heaven and on earth. He continues "to do and to teach" (Acts 1:1), preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins through those sent in His name (Mark 16:14-20; Luke 24:44-53), giving you His true body and blood in the Supper. Jesus is your great Elijah who pours out on you a double portion of His Spirit in the Word and the Sacraments (2 Kings 2:5-15). He is Lord over all things for the sake of the Church. He whom heaven cannot contain has raised your human nature to share fully in the glory of God. You who believe and are baptized into Christ's body are already sitting in the heavenly places; for you are in Him who is at the Father's right hand. When He comes again in the clouds on the Last Day, you also will appear with Him in glory.

© The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (lcms.org/worship). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

We welcome all to join us in worship this Sunday. We also invite you to listen to our weekly radio broadcast Sunday from 10-10:30 AM on radio station WIKI 95.3FM or stream on your favorite device at WIKI's website, clicking On Air, then Listen Online. The pastors of our circuit take turns to produce Light from the Cross. Also, you may want to consider other worship resources such as Worship Anew - a 30 minute video worship service which you can stream on-demand, KFUO AM, our LCMS radio station, which can be streamed live or on-demand, and Issues, ETC, which offers a vast array of Christian topics and discussions. We are blessed to have Lutheran podcasts such as these.

May the LORD bless you and keep you, may He make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you, May His countenance shine upon you, and give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26