Ascension Lutheran Sermons

Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

The Ascension of Jesus can be seen as him “leaving us behind” to go and take on the “big job” in the heaven. He's moving on to bigger and better things, which means he's leaving us behind. But if that's what's happening, why would Jesus also promise that he “will be with us always, even to the end of the age?” Can Jesus leave and yet not leave at the same time?Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

In John 5 we read of Jesus healing a paralyzed man. Why only this one man, and why only now, when there's a festival going on in Jerusalem?Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

On the night in which we was betrayed, Jesus gave a new commandment rooted in the new covenant: "Love one another, as I have loved you." The love one another part is not new. What makes it new is the addition of "as I have loved you." How exactly has Jesus loved us, and what does that mean for our love for our neighbours? Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:25-28, ESV)Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

On May 27, King Charles III will give his speech from the throne to open Canadian parliament. But in the Revelation to John, the elder sees a far more critical "throne speech." Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

In an age of passwords, locks, and authentication codes, Jesus holds the most important key of all.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Christ is the rock on which we can build our lives. On Easter, we learn that his promises and work can be trusted since God raised him from the dead. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Humanity is torn down to the ground at the cross. We are revealed to be the sinners we are. Cowards, like the disciples. Helpless, like the women on Golgotha. Indifferent, like the crowds. Self-righteous, like the religious leaders. Cruel and callous, like Pilate and the soldiers. A good and all powerful God should fix this. But “fix” means to start over. Everything must die.  Including God's Son. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Is it Maundy or Holy Thursday? Is there a difference?Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Jesus urges us to build our lives on his promises. He has saved us and will raise us up: what is their to worry about?Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

The Lord is bound and determined to have fruit from his vineyard, even at the cost of the Son's life, and the Spirit's work in resurrecting dead tenants to become something new.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

The parable of the prodigal son is really about three people: the younger brother, yes, but also the older brother and the father. The character of the brothers reveals how sin works in our lives; the character of the father reveals the extents to which the Lord will go to reconcile us to him and to each other. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

The Lord allows us to sin against each other, and for creation itself to visit evil on all of us, that some of us might repent and turn to him and each other in forgiveness for the sake of Jesus. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Aesop's Fables are a collection of short, allegorical stories, often featuring animals, that teach moral lessons. You know who loved Aesop's fables, and even translated them so more people could read them? Martin Luther. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

The prophets of God have often met with him on mountaintops. But the Lord has always done his best, saving work in both physical and metaphorical valleys.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

What makes for a mature Christian? Our Gospel lesson from Luke 5:1-11 and our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 6:1-8 give us some good direction.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Relections on 1 Corinthians 13.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Canada has it's speeches from the throne, the US it's inaugural addresses, but Jesus sets out his agenda as king in Capernaum by quoting the prophet Isaiah. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Luke's Gospel can be read in many ways. A Gospel of reconciliation, a Gospel of mercy towards the least. But it is also a warning. That the Lord's wisdom is often never appreciated until it's too late.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

If there are any outstanding models in the Scriptures of patience, surely they would be Simeon and Anna. Both spent the better part of a lifetime waiting for the consolation of Israel. What enabled them to show such patience? What can we learn from them about faith in the Lord's promises?Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

All of the best fantasy fiction books move from light to darkness to light again. Star Wars contrasts the light side of the force with the dark shades of the Death Star and Darth Vader. The Lord of the Rings contrasts the lightness of the world of men with the darkness of Mordor, the domain of Sauron and his legions of Orcs. In the Harry Potter series, school headmaster Albus Dumbledore speaks these words right before some very trying times: “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” ("The Prisoner of Azkaban").  Because where there is Christ, there is light, and where there is light, there is life.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

No matter where he looked, or how often he prayed, or how many worship services he attended, the man simply could not find peace. He said that his “conscience could never achieve certainty but was always in doubt and said: “You have not done this correctly. You were not contrite enough. You omitted this in your confession.” The more he tried to please the Lord the more “uncertain, weak, and troubled” he became.  Was there nowhere he could go to find a God who forgave him, who loved him, who would show him mercy? Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

"In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!" (Luke 1:39-42, ESV)Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

"We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.' For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.' The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.” Luke 7:32-35Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

John the Baptist certainly sounded like a revolutionary. But he was calling for a different kind of revolution than any we have seen before or since. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

"Peace on earth, peace in heaven." As hard to believe as peace in the Middle East, or Eastern Europe, or Asia - or anywhere. Yet it is the Lord's will to reconcile all things to himself through the blood of his cross.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

You may never have thought about this: when you are asleep you are still alive. Your heart beats, you breathe, and your brain is still firing - you dream.There is therefore a difference between being alive and being awake. What IS that difference? That's what Jesus is asking us today. Not, “are you alive?” but “are you awake?”Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Being a saint is not about what you do. It's about who you are in Christ. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

If you read Luke 17:11-19 closely, you will notice that while 9 of the lepers are only cured once, the Samaritan is healed twice. How so?Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Jesus had things to say about divorce and marriage. But what he was really addressing was our inability to acknowledge what is happening in our own hearts. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

A reflection on the nature and work of the creatures of the spiritual realm, in light of modern science, the teachings of Scripture, and the work of Jesus Christ.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Humility is the hallmark of the Christian. Christianity is not about doing right, but being honest about where we are going wrong. Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Opening poem by Phillips Burrows Strong, "The Tongue."Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Some people believe James and Paul are teaching a different kind of Christianity. One believes we are saved by faith in Jesus apart from works; the other that we are saved by faith infused with works. The reality is that they are saying the same thing, but two audiences with very different concerns.Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Jesus said, "There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him... coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness." (Mark 7:15, 22). It was never the food that in and of itself was clean or unclean. It was the trust that the Lord could make it so. Do we trust that he can make us clean as well, if he says he will?Support the showCheck us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

[Jesus] saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” (Mark 6:48-52)Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Looking at the big picture of sin would overwhelm anyone, and leave us feeling like there is little than can be done. What are we, the church, against so many? We forget that the crowd of five thousand was not fed with two fish and five loaves. They were fed with two fish, five loaves - and the Lord God. With God, all things are possible.Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

John the Baptist lost his head to King Herod - but why? Was it only because he pointed out Herod's adultery? Or was there more to it than that?Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Jesus' parables show us what the Kingdom of God is like. It helps to contrast the Lord's rule with Satan's rule, the rule we're used to in this life. How is God's rule being like a farmer, and a like a mustard seed, different than what we're used to?Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

The Lord said that the Sabbath was made for us, not the other way around. What does he mean? Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

On Ascension, we talk about the ongoing work of Jesus. On Pentecost, we talk about the work of the Holy Spirit. It seems fitting, then, on Trinity Sunday to talk about the Father that we might better understand our one God. Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

The Holy Spirit's work in us is to cause the fruit God is looking for in us to grow. But what are those fruits? Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

"In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach." So Luke writes at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles. The implication? That Jesus continues to work and teach among us. How so?Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Jesus instructs us to love one another as he has loved us. It seems obvious, then, that we cannot know what he means unless we look at his example. Only then can we know the true character of God's love for us.Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.

Someone who was both everybody and nobody become a somebody in Baptism. This sentence is true of everyone who hears the Good News about Jesus and asks, "What is to prevent me from being baptized?" Support the Show.Check us out at ascensionlutheran.ca and intheway.org.