Acts: The Ascension

Jesus’ ascension into heaven isn’t talked about or celebrated much in Baptist circles, which is too bad, because it’s very important to our faith. We spend a lot of time on His life, death, and resurrection, all of which are also very important, but somehow His ascension gets overlooked. I’m not going to go into reasons why I think it doesn’t get enough attention, but I will share one reason why we shouldn’t pass it over — I’ll give some more reasons why on Sunday.

Jesus’ ascension into heaven is important because it solidifies our place there with Him for eternity. In John 14:2-4 Jesus tells His disciples that He’s going to prepare a place for them (and us), and that He will return. When Jesus returned to heaven He did so victoriously, having completed all that He needed to do to make a way for us to be saved. If He had not ascended, but rather died a natural death, then He would not have defeated the death and the grave and we’d still be subject to it as well. But since He ascended we can be assured that His victory was complete. For that reason alone we should remember and celebrate His ascension.

This Sunday we’re going to begin a new series in the book of Acts. We’ll be here for most of the summer, and this week we’ll begin with Acts 1. To help you prepare for this Sunday read through the first chapter, but sometime this summer I’d encourage you to sit down and read the whole book in one sitting (or in one weekend). Reading it all together will give a better understanding of how everything fits together. Our gathering begins at 6pm (pre-service prayer is from 4:30-5:30pm). Hope to see you there.

Hope you have a wonderful week, and that your eyes are opened up more to see God’s hand at work in your life and all around you.

Blessings,
Pastor Mike