Ascension Lutheran Church Podcast

This coming Sunday is the last Sunday of Easter until the completion of the 50 day Easter celebration that ends with Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Ascension is the day we celebrate Jesus transitioning from being at one place physically, to be present everywhere, always with us, always showing up somehow, someway as King of kings.

It is hard for us to remember that Christianity isn't our religion, but we were outsiders who have been adopted into the Jewish family, by the Jewish Messiah.

Earlier this Spring, I was cleaning up the corner flower bed by our front door. We have a large River Birch that grows there and its leaves still covered a mound on which we plant flowers. When I blew the leaves off the mound, to my surprise the Dianthus flowers and the Dusty Miller survived the winter

I came across an interesting article last week by Kelsey Borresen from the online version of Huffpost. And if you are raising or have raised children, I think that you might also want to tune in as well.

God treats you with never-ending love. An always-present ear. A forever-attentive eye. He treats you with His Son. His Spirit. His heart longing for your heart.

As a kid, glitter was this magical sparkle that could be added to any art project, and it would make even the most mundane picture a masterpiece. My thinking back then as a child was: more glitter, more better.

You belong to Jesus. Your ending is resurrection. You and the rest of the world will one day experience a grandiose makeover where all who belong to Jesus will live in crystal clear joy.

Register for VBS - June 9-13 Tyler Campus https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094FABAD28ABFD0-56094137-vbsjune#/

What a mess. Not only had Jesus been tragically taken from those who so dearly loved him. Not only had he suffered so terrible at the hands of the authorities that had been called by God to serve and protect the innocent. Not only had Jesus been crucified, mocked and forsaken by God. But now they can't even properly grieve his death.

Last week, being Holy Week, reminded me once again of one of my most egregious errors. I'm sure I was taught in seminary. I guess. Or else they simply assumed. Incorrectly.

What makes God's grace so amazing isn't that it is free and that you need do nothing, but that God offers his grace as we actively resist his offer fighting with every inch of our being to make things right on our own.

After weeks of anxious waiting, the surgeon revealed the results. I hadn't expected the word he used.

Walmart is an interesting place to people watch and at my last visit I was not disappointed.

Some people prefer unadulterated coffee. I've always been a flavored creamer guy. Not milk. Too thin and watery. I want the substance and thickness a little fat brings.

As we come near to Holy week and the passion story of our Lord Jesus. One little moment caught my attention as I was reading my devotional materials at home with my family. It's that moment when Jesus locked eyes with Peter.

Such is God's desire for us when talking of Him and His Son.

During this season of lent with it's special emphasis on spiritual disciplines and the giving up of certain things it is tempting to think that we are really making some improvements only to realize that the next big change awaits us. It can be discouraging.

Right or wrong I'm not one for high school reunions. I had some great friends in high school, but if they aren't attending, I feel no tug to reunite with the others. Some classmates I contact occasionally. One classmate I contact every day. Dianne started out as a high school classmate.

Jesus told a quick story about a certain fruit tree that did not bear any fruit. You will hear this parable in the gospel reading from Luke this coming Sunday.

My love for playing in the dirt started young. Both my grandparents were farmers in Perry County, MO, one outside Longtown, the other outside Old Appleton. I loved riding on the tractor with grandpa mowing hay or cultivating corn.

Do you believe Jesus has given you a spot in His home? That His performance makes up for your lack thereof? That your relationship with God is eternally good and can never, never be taken away from you?

When you think back to when you first felt the fire and reality that God was real and part of your life what comes to mind? When you think back to when your love for God was new and fresh, what was it that was especially notable and wonderful?

God treating us with such love should change how we treat others. It should give us eyes that see the person behind the product. The child of God behind the desk. Behind the face.

“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

Perhaps you have never done anything for Lent. Or maybe you have always done the same thing every year and with that repetition it has lost its edge. Here are 40 spiritual disciplines to choose from this Lenten season. Daily Devotional for Lent https://www.ascension-lcms.org/_files/ugd/f0f9a9_488936e9b9834cccb2406b723fa677ec.pdf

Sometimes with side-excursions planned out and eagerly anticipated. Other times with detours unseen and unwanted.

I know this is not a sports podcast or a Chiefs channel so I do have some Spiritual insights into what I saw, what I feel, and what's next for me and Chiefs and maybe Jesus.

Do you live by yourself? Within yourself? Trusting in your abilities and knowledge and insight?

I have been using ChatGPT for many months for all kinds of topics. I would ask it a question and then I would get a very handy answer. All was well until Last week. When it started asking me questions.

What ensures you don't miss Jesus? What brings you back to your Creator day-in and day-out?

o far everything is on track for a fall 2026 opening of the school if the congregation so decides in the voters meeting to move forward. Stay tuned for the announcement of that date. School Feasibility Committee: Glen Cork, Lonn Poage, Ana Hiel, Katie Luttinen, Pastor Mike and Pastor Scott School Feasibility Genesis Project Report: https://www.ascension-lcms.org/_files/ugd/f0f9a9_1c57897544494aecac4745b1a6ce677b.pdf

These days when it comes to plumbing repair, I get apprehensive. I wonder what else will break or leak if I try to fix this problem. I second guess myself. What if I break something beyond what I have the tools to repair?

If there is a winter season of the soul, we may rightly wonder what good purpose could ever come from such a cold and baren time of fruitless waiting on the Lord.

What looked like a fairly calm day became a crazy bouncy jaunt. While the surface air was normal, the air above 3,500 was bumpy and churning.

In almost every letter Paul urges, encourages, admonishes and prays for the spiritual growth and maturity of those who will read his letters.

I don't know about you but getting up earlier than normal causes me to wake up every hour or so. Wondering if I had missed my alarm. Strange how just an hour change in habit leads to anxiety the night before.

When the snow and ice came this past Sunday, it was kind of fun… at first.

May your new year be filled with the ever-recreating newness of grace and forgiveness.

So what if I told you that there is something more powerful than willpower or pain in your tool bag for change? And that it is a whole lot more fun.

I spotted vultures, doves, egrets, and herons. I saw Mallards, Gadwalls, Wigeons, Lesser Scaups, Buffleheads, Pied-billed Grebes, Goldeneyes, and Cormorants. All these birds I had seen before, just never took the time or binoculars to really identify them. The unknown became known through taking time to identify.

When the future looks great, we wait for it with eager expectation. So says St. Paul when writing of creation and the Second coming of Jesus.

True confession: I'm usually driving 64 mph when I scoot through this section of Sedgwick County. I hadn't noticed all the trash.