The Story of Jesus: Part X - Ascension

1. PRAYER
O God, open our hearts
to your power moving around us
and between us and within us,
until your glory is revealed in our love
of both friend and enemy, in communities
transformed by justice and compassion,
and in the healing of all that is broken.
Amen.

2. theCHURCH
CALENDAR

3. Ascension
the STORY of JESUS: Part X

4. ADVENT:
ANTICIPATION
CHRISTMAS:
INCARNATION
EPIPHANY:
REVELATION
LENT:
CORONATION
EASTER:
CONFIRMATION
ASCENSION:
INAUGURATION

5. So when they had come together,
they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when
you will restore the kingdom
to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you
to know the times or periods that the Father
has set by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you; and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
ACTS 1:6-8

6. When he had said this, as they were
watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took
him out of their sight…
ACTS 1:9-11

8. 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 towards heaven,
suddenly two men in white robes stood by
them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you
stand looking up towards 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.’
ACTS 1:9-11

9. Then they returned to Jerusalem from
the mount called Olivet, which is near
Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
When they had entered the city, they
went to the room upstairs where (the eleven
disciples) were staying. All these were
constantly devoting themselves
to prayer, together with certain (honored)
women, including Mary the mother
of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
ACTS 1:12-14

10. “Too often we seem to regard
the Ascension of Christ as a kind
of awkward explanation for the
absence of Christ. Well, after his
resurrection, Jesus lifted off for
outer space and is now hanging
out with God in heaven until
he comes back…
BRIAN
ZAHND

11. “The ascension of Christ to the right
hand of God is the…promotion
of Christ to the position of all
authority in heaven and on earth.
The right hand of God is not
a cosmological location,
but a poetic way of saying that
God has now given all authority
to Christ. The ascension…
does not lead to the absence
of Christ, but to his cosmic
presence everywhere.”
BRIAN
ZAHND

12. “This is why the risen Christ says,
‘Behold, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.’
In the Ascension Christ now
‘fills all things everywhere
with himself.’ (Ephesians 1:23)
There is now no place
where Christ is not,
and there is no domain
over which Jesus is not Lord.” BRIAN
ZAHND

13. 1. Jesus has not been atomized into
the universe; he still has a body and
is present everywhere in the Trinity
ASCENSIONTHOUGHTS…

14. 1. Jesus has not been atomized into
the universe; he still has a body and
is present everywhere in the Trinity
2. Jesus didn’t earn the right to be
King of kings and Lord of lords
through violent coercion, verbal
manipulation, or political trickery;
he did so by defeating Sin/death
ASCENSIONTHOUGHTS…

15. ASCENSIONTHOUGHTS…
3. No Caesar, Emperor, King, President
or political party gives Jesus
permission to be in charge;
he alone is the King of kings
and Lord of lords

16. ASCENSIONTHOUGHTS…
3. No Caesar, Emperor, King, President
or political party gives Jesus
permission to be in charge;
he alone is the King of kings
and Lord of lords
4. The Kingdom of Jesus is marked
by God’s never ending, other
oriented, non-violent, self-giving love

18. POWER
GOVERNANCE

19. EMPIRE

20. EMPIRE

22. “White Christian Nationalism
is the most urgent threat to
democracy and the witness of the
Church in the United States today…
(its) an ethnocultural ideology
that
uses Christian symbolism to
create
a permission structure for the
acquisition of political power
and social control.”
DR. JEMAR
TISBY

23. “Christian Nationalism is
a theological heresy. It is
a threat to authentic Christian
faith and to democracy.
We (must) not allow people
to distort our faith to
camouflage their bigotry.”
SHANE
CLAIBORNE

24. NAKED
PUBLIC
SQUARE
Seeking the
total absence
of religious
influence in
government
or society
SACRED
PUBLIC
SQUARE
Privileging one
religion above
all others, and
allowing it to
set the laws
and policies for
society

25. CIVIL PUBLICSQUARE
Assuring the freedom
of conscience for all,
within a framework of justice,
in which all have rights
and responsibilities;
where religion is neither
fully excised from nor
officially ensconced in
society at large

26. “When self-professed Emperors
cloak themselves in national and
religious flags stitched together
in an attempt to exercise political
and military power, I am duty
bound as a pastor to speak to
the situation directly. We are to
be
guided by the commands of
Jesus
to love God and neighbor, not by
DEACON
GODSEY

27. “Our ‘rights’ or identity as
American
citizens have NOTHING to do
with
citizenship in God’s kingdom.
The USAmerican Constitution
is not a holy document or a
guiding
force in the life of a follower of
Jesus, no matter what anyone
may tell you.”
DEACON
GODSEY

28. “Jesus alone is
the ascended Lord.
Caesar is not.
Joe Biden is not.
Donald Trump is not.
The US Constitution is not.
Even the Bible is not.
JESUS is Lord, and we
give our allegiance
to him and him alone.
Amen.”
DEACON
GODSEY

29. CLOSING PRAYER
O God of glory,
your Son Jesus suffered with us,
and for us, and ascended to your right hand.
Unite us with him, and each other,
in suffering and in joy,
that all your children
may be drawn into your
bountiful presence.
Amen.