Jesus Christ Ascended - with a promise to return!

 

(The Ascension - Google Search Image)

 

 

WEDNESDAY  CHURCH

 

on the Internet

 

 

(This is your mid-week Christian power

surge with Pastor Mike Fonfara, D.Min.)

 

 

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Easter Season, Week 6

Ascension Day

 

 

Welcome, faithful sisters and brothers! Today is Ascension Day. Christ's earthly ministry was put on hold until He comes again. This Wednesday Church on the Internet gathering follows the Holy Spirit in praising God for gifts of hope and salvtion. Thank you for being a part of today's Wednesday Church family!

 

Pastor Mike Fonfara, D.Min.

mefonfara@gmail.com

 

 

OPENING THOUGHT ...

 

Jesus went away not only to prepare a place for us, so that it will be ready for us as one by one we go home, but to prepare us for the place, to fit us for heavenly enjoyments and heavenly service.

 

-- Frances Nathan Peloubet (1831-1920)

 

 

WORSHIP SERVICE ...

 

WE GATHER TOGETHER

 

Come and worship, people of God!

Put down what you are doing.

Let’s spend time praising the Almighty.

Let’s energize our faith with the Holy Spirit’s power.

Come and worship, people of God!

 

FOCUS PRAYER

 

Creative God,
Please open our hearts right now.
See how thankful we are for the ascended Savior.
See how eager we are to confess our sins in the Savior's name.

See how humble we are to know that our sins are forgiven.
See how resolved we are to practice righteous living.

See how privileged we are to give You honor and glory.

Thank You for opening our hearts right now, O God.

Amen.

 

 

 

(The Word's Power - Google Search Image)

 

 

TODAY'S SCRIPTURE ...         Acts 1:6-8 (NIV)

⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
 ⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”    

MESSAGE ...  

 "To embrace the Ascension is to heave a sigh of relief, to give up the struggle to be God (and with it the inevitable despair at our constant failure), and to enjoy our status as creatures: image-bearing creatures, but creatures nonetheless."

—N. T. Wright, Bishop of Durham (Church of England) and writer (1948—)

 

The incarnate Jesus is gone - at least for now. His Spirit sits at the right hand of God. Still, we should never forget that the Savior's Spirit is still in charge of the Church and our lives. He is active in our lives every day, good or bad. 

 

Search your hearts today and see how your can help Jesus further the Christian 2013 cause. Let's dedicate our plans to God and get busy!

COMMITMENT PRAYER ...

 

O God, we know that Christ ascended into heaven and rules from your right hand side. He rules our lives. Plant in our minds new and lasting ministries that we can do to bring your kingdom here upon the earth. In all things, O God, we are your people. Amen.

BENEDICTION ...

Let us give three cheers for our duty to be Christ's

faithful workers on this earth until He returns!

 

 

 

 



SACRED MISCELLANY ...

 

1.                      
                            Christ has no body now on earth but yours;

                   yours are the only hands with which he

                       can do his work,

                   yours are the only feet with which he can

                       can go about the world,

                   yours are the only eyes through which his

                       compassion can shine forth upon a troubled

                       world.

                   Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
                                    -- St. Theresa of Avila
 

2.

 He is gone; a cloud of light

Has received Him from our sight;

High in heaven, where eye of men

Follows not, nor angels' ken;

    Through the veils of time and space,

Passed in to the holiest place;

All the toil, the sorrow done,

 All the battle fought and won.

-- Dean Stanley

 



3.

 

Christ “ascended,” not to depart from earth, but to take thethrone of His Kingdom on earth. “He sat down at the right hand of God.” God’s reign does not consist in sitting upon a distant throne! It consists in omnipresent power and authority. To sit at His right hand means to share His Authority and Omnipresence.

 

-- Talmadge Root
 

PASTOR MIKE THANKS YOU ...

 

Thank you for worshipping with me during this week’s gathering of Wednesday Church on Internet. Come by again next week when new material will be published by Wednesday, May 15^th at 5 a.m. Remember, this social media congregation is your mid-week Christian power surge. If you like this approach to mid-week worship and feel that it has been a blessing to you, please tell your friends about it at www.wednesdaychurch.blogspot.com. Perhaps you could share to facebook. Let’s spread the Christian spirit together! If you have positive suggestions, please share them with me.

 

Pastor Mike Fonfara, D.Min.

mefonfara@gmail.com

 

 

   

                                                                                         

 

 

 

 

 

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