Ascension Day

Ascension Day marks the last appearance of Jesus to the disciples.
He told them that he would always be with them, and promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit (at Pentecost) .
We celebrate Ascension day which marks the final meeting between the risen Jesus and his disciples.

Ascension Day is
One of the most important days in our calendar
What does it mean to us.
It means that Jesus is back in his rightful place beside the Father as Lord and King of the Universe.

If we recognise him as our Lord and Saviour, we can trust him to work out his purposes in our life.

He is coming again as judge of all, to make the way to finally establish his perfect heavenly kingdom on earth.
If we love him we know that we will be with him for ever.


Ascension Service ONE SPIRIT
Thursday to Sunday

The Message
ONE SPIRIT


Old Testament Readings
1 Chronicles 25:1-7
Genesis 5:21-24
Psalm 110
New Testament Readings
Luke 2:25-40
Acts1:1-5
Jude


Ascension Day is:
One of the most important days in our calendar
What does it mean to us.
It means that Jesus is back in his rightful place beside the Father as Lord and King of the Universe.
If we recognise him as our Lord and Saviour, we can trust him to work out his purposes in our life. He is coming again as judge of all, to make the way to finally establish his perfect heavenly kingdom on earth. If we love him we know that we will be with him for ever.

(Acts 1:9-11 KJV)
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up;
and a cloud received him out of their sight.
{10} And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
{11} Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

We celebrate ascension day which marks the final meeting between the risen Jesus and his disciples,
Ascension Day marks the last appearance of Jesus to the disciples
He told them that he would always be with them, and promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit (at Pentecost) .
At Ascension, Christians celebrate the kingship of Jesus.
We must respond to his call, the great commission to reach out to everyone to tell them of his love, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Pentecost celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit in the form of flames to the followers of Jesus, as recorded in the New Testament. Jesus had told them to wait until the Spirit came to them. Ten days after ascension, 50 days after the resurrection, the Spirit came.
For some unknown reason it seems that assension day is not widely celebrated, when we as born again Christians need meditate on the importance from scripture that Christ assended to heaven fulfilling prophesy, For David himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said, 'The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.'Mr 12.36
Ac 2:34 -
For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
Furthermore, the promise is to us of being filled with his enabling Holy Spirit as were the apostles of old.
On my study and searching of the scriptures to bring todays message I had a revelation which I had not noticed at all the other times I have read the bible..
Before I bring you this --the New Testament book of Hebrews(11:5) says By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
What captured my attention some may call it revelation-- is that The Holy Spirit is promised to the disciples and us as bornagain believers.
Without going into the study of being baptised in the Holy spirit and baptised for the remission of sin in water, this would have to be another time so as not to draw us away from what I feel to bring.
It may be that if we examine quickly we may say way back in Genesis sin of man was not as bad as it is today so maybe it would have been easier for Enoch to be pleasing to God. and that would sound a pretty fair evaluation in our mind. Remember our thoughts are not Gods and neither our ways His.
We know the wickedness of man got worse for in Genesis 7 We have Noah and his family entering the ark because of the flood. Let us jump four thousand years on --
to the birth of Jesus and our reading in Luke 2
Simeon a devout man filled with the Holy spirit--mark how interesting this is before the promised Holy spirit to us remember.
I truly believe God who created us breathed life into us His life given breath a seed of himself and we can determine to walk closely to God in our lives to be pleasing to Him. Now don't shout me down I acknowledge and know it is not by works of righteousness for any man to boast and we are only cleansed by the blood of Jesus and the gate to Heaven is only through Him.
But these facts should encourage us, these people who were without the blessing of the Comforter The promised enabling Holy Spirit whereby were able to please God, how much more are we able, who have received the Holy spirit of God as bornagain believers.
You may wonder why this Old Testament reading was given it speaks of musical instruments all speaking of to prophesy to give thanks and to praise the LORD.
You may fell quite out of tune with God right now, feeling wretched that your life has not obtained this holiness spoken of.

Today can be the day of new beginings.
It is said that Sir Thomas Beecham, the British conductor, was irritating a friend on the elevator by whistling a tune from Mozart. "Must you do that?" the friend said. Beecham answered, "You may be able to hear only my whistling; I can hear the full orchestra."
May this remind you that our God see the completed work in us. We are being renewed in Christ.

Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
You will stand there and sing praises to our God who has redeemed us.
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.


May this be our encouragement that Christ died for us and has given us commision to go into all the world proclaiming these truths that others too may join within this throng.

May God add his blessing
Elaine.



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OLD TESTAMENT READINGS
1 Chronicles 25:1-7 -
1 Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was:
2 Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king.
3 Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD.
4 Of Heman: the sons of Heman; Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamtiezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, and Mahazioth:
5 All these were the sons of Heman the king's seer in the words of God, to lift up the horn. And God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
6 All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king's order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman.
7 So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.

Genesis 5:21-24
21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah.
22 Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, and he had {other} sons and daughters.
23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.
24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Psalm 110

The LORD Gives Dominion to the King
A Psalm of David.

1The LORD said unto my Lord,
Sit thou at my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool.


2The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion:
rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.

3Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power,
in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning:
thou hast the dew of thy youth.

4The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent,
Thou art a priest for ever
after the order of Melchiz'edek.


5The Lord at thy right hand
shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath.

6He shall judge among the heathen,
he shall fill the places with the dead bodies;
he shall wound the heads over many countries.

7He shall drink of the brook in the way:
therefore shall he lift up the head.

---------------
NEW TESTAMENT READING


Luke 2:25-40
25 Now there was a man named Simeon who lived in Jerusalem. He was a righteous man and very devout. He was filled with the Holy Spirit, and he eagerly expected the Messiah to come and rescue Israel.
26 The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah.
27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required,
28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 "Lord, now I can die in peace! As you promised me,
30 I have seen the Savior
31 you have given to all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!"
33 Joseph and Mary were amazed at what was being said about Jesus.
34 Then Simeon blessed them, and he said to Mary, "This child will be rejected by many in Israel, and it will be their undoing. But he will be the greatest joy to many others.
35 Thus, the deepest thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your very soul."
36 Anna, a prophet, was also there in the Temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, and was very old. She was a widow, for her husband had died when they had been married only seven years.
37 She was now eighty-four years old. She never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer.
38 She came along just as Simeon was talking with Mary and Joseph, and she began praising God. She talked about Jesus to everyone who had been waiting for the promised King to come and deliver Jerusalem.
39 When Jesus' parents had fulfilled all the requirements of the law of the Lord, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee. 40 There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom beyond his years, and God placed his special favour upon Him.

(Acts 1:9-11 KJV)

{9}And when he had spoken these things,
while they beheld, he was taken up;
and a cloud received him out of their sight.
{10} And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
{11} Which also said, Ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

psalm 91

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”