I am pretty stoked about our Ascension gathering and worship service for a number of reasons. First and most importantly, I love celebrating the ascension of Jesus into heaven and I love doing it on the day we remember his ascension. Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven. Therefore, this celebration always occurs on a Thursday, i.e., forty days after Easter. For this reason, many miss celebrating this important festival or they simply move it to a Sunday. (And that's okay! We can honor Jesus and worship him on any number of days.) But I love living out the history of Jesus by counting the days and enjoying a Thursday worship service. It helps make his Ascension loom large in my heart. I love celebrating Ascension because it reminds me of all the things that are powerfully true because he did, in fact, ascend into heaven.
So, as I said, I’m pretty stoked about our Ascension gathering and worship service. I’m excited because it is an opportunity for us to enjoy some food and fellowship together around God’s Word and worship. Did I tell you, yet, what we’re doing and planning? Let me give you the bullet points:
5 pm: Cookout/picnic supper starting at about 5 pm. Don’t worry about bringing anything. A simple supper of brats, sausages, and hotdogs will be served. We’re hoping to have a campfire to gather around together. Bring some lawn chairs or we’ll bring some chairs out.
5:30 pm: We’ll have a simple, outdoor family devotion, aimed especially at kids and families. There might be helium balloons involved. There will certainly be singing involved. And God’s Word will be there!
6:30 pm: We’ll head inside for a brief service of evening prayer. We’ll plan to Livestream this service.
7:00 pm: If you’d like to lengthen the evening, there will be refreshments that we can share together around a campfire.
As I said, I’m pretty excited about all of this. Mostly because of Jesus. But also because of you. I’m stoked to hang out with you and to celebrate Jesus together.
We are his!
Pastor Nate