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- May 15, 2010 - Church at Worship
May 15, 2010 - Church at Worship
$12.00
SKU:
1005-15c
Weight:
1.00 Ounces
Product Description
Sermon: "The Man Who Fills the Universe" by Richard Bewes
Pastoral Welcome: Darold Retzer
ACTS Care Callers Program: Linda Levisen and Mellissa Rouhe
Children’s Feature Jackie Bishop
Scripture Reading Acts 1:1–11, TNIV Miranda Roberts - 1st service
Charlie Clayton, Kristel Ibalio - 2nd service
Introduction to the Sermon
It is sobering to note across the years, that of the six great saving acts of God in Jesus Christ – his Birth, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, Gift of the Spirit and future Return – it is the Ascension that traditionally has received the least attention from worshipping people worldwide.
It is sobering to note across the years, that of the six great saving acts of God in Jesus Christ – his Birth, Death, Resurrection, Ascension, Gift of the Spirit and future Return – it is the Ascension that traditionally has received the least attention from worshipping people worldwide.
And yet this great event was perceived in the Gospel writings as being the pinnacle of Jesus’ work on earth. We read, ‘As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:51). True, it was the Cross that was awaiting Christ, but it was the Ascension that was to provide the ultimate goal of his ministry, for here was the final seal and celebration of the mighty work of salvation, achieved in the dramatic events of the Cross and Resurrection.
Indeed, in the moment of resurrection joy when Mary Magdalene would have held onto the risen Lord, he restrained her, ‘Do not hold onto me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.’ While Jesus could satisfy the desire of his friends to establish the bodily reality of his presence by saying, ‘Touch me and see’ (Luke 24:39), Mary’s desire had been more for an ardent attachment to the old life once again. From this she had to be dissuaded. The old order was about to pass with the coming Ascension. Then there would be a new and altogether superior dimension of communion lying ahead for the friends of Jesus.
It is with this in mind that Luke is able to tell his friend Theophilus at the beginning of the book of Acts that in his ‘former’ book, he had been writing about ‘all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven’ (Acts 1:1,2). It was the Ascension that was perceived as the rounding-off of the whole earthly adventure and the introduction of an utterly new order!!
The knowledge of this background may help us as we approach the thrilling truth of the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ this coming Sabbath.
Pastor Richard Bewes
Retired Rector
All Souls Church, London, England
Meditation
At this time around the world many believing people are remembering the Ascension of Jesus Christ. Is this Event of any great practical importance for us? And sixteen centuries ago, when Augustine said that this Jesus now “fills the world” what could he possibly have meant? In our sermon today we will investigate!
