New & Featured This Week
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Children's sermon, Illustration, Preaching, Sermon, Worship
Ascension of the Lord - AChristopher Keating
Dean Feldmeyer
Nazish Naseem
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
George ReedFor May 17, 2026:- When Jesus Prays by Chris Keating. Jesus’ high priestly prayer is rooted in the authority of God’s love, and not from a posture of authoritarian control. It is a prayer that the disciples might dwell in the abundance of eternal life by abiding in the love and unity Jesus has...
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Stories
Ascension of the Lord - AArgile Smith
Charles D. Reeb
John S. SmylieContents
What's Up This Week
"Wayne's Deployment" by Argile Smith
"In The Event of Power Failure" by Charles D. Reeb
"Where's the Finish Line?" by John Smylie
What's Up This Week
Life is full of challenges. The existence into which we were born is not an easy one. No matter how much we try to insulate ourselves from the world around... -
Stories
Ascension of the Lord - AConstance Berg
Pastor Wallace was loved by many, many people. He had come to a rural, agricultural area and stayed for 41 years. He and his wife Bea had four children, three of whom would become pastors themselves. The fourth was a missionary teacher in Madagascar. Pastor Wallace's second and last call was to another rural church he started only thirty miles away. He stayed fifteen years. His reputation was... -
Preaching
Ascension of the Lord - ACarlos Wilton
(Occurs in all three cycles of the lectionary. See The Ascension Of Our Lord, Cycle B, for an alternative approach.)
The brief Psalm 93 seems archaic, from the standpoint of our culture. The Lord is enthroned, here, as a cosmic king. The accoutrements of royalty are front and center: the robe of majesty, the girding-on of strength (suggesting a royal broadsword), the... -
Preaching
Ascension of the Lord - ARussell F. Anderson
BRIEF COMMENTARY ON THE LESSONS
Lesson 1: Acts 1:1--11 (C, RC, E, L)
In introducing his book, Luke notes to Theophilus that he is taking up where he left off with his gospel. The gospel ends with the witness to the resurrected Christ and Acts begins by bringing to a close this 40--day string of appearances. The disciples are still anticipating a kind of earthly reign (v. 6),... -
Sermon
Ascension of the Lord - ASchuyler Rhodes
I love this story. It doesn't matter how many times I hear it, or how it's told, it never fails to grab me in a new and different way. It's really an incredible tale. And by incredible I mean just that. Without credibility! Who could actually buy a story like this? The disciples, cowardly and virtually faithless, abandoned the Master and scattered in the chaos of his arrest and execution. In the... -
Sermon
Ascension of the Lord - ALee Griess
It's one of those stories that circulates around the internet. I don't know if it's true or not but it's so interesting that I have to share it with you. It seems that a woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen, shaking frantically with what looked like a wire running from his waist toward the electric outlet in the wall. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly electricity, she... -
Sermon
Ascension of the Lord - AFrank Luchsinger
Huckle the Cat and his school teacher Miss Honey the Bear, Bananas Gorilla, Captain Salty, Pig Will and Pig Won't, Sergeant Murphy the Police Dog, and my favorite, Lowly the Worm; if you know these names then you are familiar with the work of Richard Scarry, author and illustrator of children's books, who passed away in '94 at age 75. Scarry wrote over 250 books, which in thirty languages have... -
Sermon
Ascension of the Lord - ARichard L. Sheffield
I want to take the text seriously this morning. It would be easy not to, because Luke's story of the ascension of Jesus is not easy no matter how you take it. For you and me, twenty centuries later, this story may be very hard to take very seriously.
Our take on the ascension of Jesus might be on the order of liturgy as lift-off: Jesus being lifted up to the Air Force song: "Off we... -
Sermon
Ascension of the Lord - ARichard E. Gribble, CSC
Classical music provides some significant examples of great musical compositions that were never finished by their creators. A perennial favorite with many, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, never completed his magnificent Requiem Mass. Franz Schubert, who like Mozart, lived only a short life but produced over 600 works of music, wrote only two movements of his Eighth Symphony. Orchestras... -
Worship
Ascension of the Lord - AThom M. Shuman
Call To Worship
One: We gather in this holy place,
some empty, some filled,
some whole, some broken,
All: yearning for the Holy Spirit to fill us.
One: We come, with these ordinary people,
who have shown us the way,
All: trusting that God will continue
to illumine our hearts.
One: We surround the table of grace,
so... -
Worship
Ascension of the Lord - AAmy C. Schifrin
Martha ShonkwilerService Notes
On this Thursday evening, gather for a potluck, guided conversation, hymnfest, and closing Eucharist. Let the theme be on what it means to be a witness (Acts 1:1-11). Just why is it that Jesus had to go away? What does it mean to be a witness? Have any of them been called to be a witness in a court setting? What characteristics make for a good witness? Have a general... -
Commentary
Ascension of the Lord - AR. Craig Mccreary
This past summer I was treated to viewing one of those baseball donnybrooks in which managers and players are freely tossed out of the game. It came on a play that you would not think should be the cause of such consternation: a home run over the centerfield wall. It seems things were a bit complicated in this minor league park. In order for it to be a home run, the ball had to clear a yellow... -
Children's sermon
Ascension of the Lord - AGood morning, boys and girls. Why do you think I brought a kite with me this morning? (Let them answer.) I brought it because it will help me tell you about one of the most wonderful stories in the New Testament. It is today's lesson. As I tell you the story see if you can think why I brought my kite along. Have any of you flown a kite this year? (Let them answer.)
Today we celebrate... -
Children's sermon, Illustration, Preaching, Sermon, Worship
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AChristopher Keating
Dean Feldmeyer
Nazish Naseem
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
George ReedFor May 17, 2026:- When Jesus Prays by Chris Keating. Jesus’ high priestly prayer is rooted in the authority of God’s love, and not from a posture of authoritarian control. It is a prayer that the disciples might dwell in the abundance of eternal life by abiding in the love and unity Jesus has...
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Children's Liturgy and Story
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AJanice B. Scott
Call to Worship:
Jesus prayed for us all, that we might be protected and united. In our worship today let us explored what it means to be one just as Jesus and the Father are one.
Invitation to Confession:
Jesus, sometimes we are more ready to criticise other Christians than to be united with them.
Lord, have mercy.
Jesus, sometimes... -
Stories
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AJohn E. Sumwalt
Frank RamirezContents
"The God of All Grace" by John Sumwalt
"Keeping the Word" by Frank Ramirez
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The God of All Grace
by John Sumwalt
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself... -
Stories
Seventh Sunday of Easter - ADavid E. Leininger
We reflected earlier on Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code and its assertion that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and were parents of a daughter. True, there is nothing at all in scripture to back up such a claim, but can you imagine what kind of parent Jesus would have been?
The scene in the upper room sounds positively parental. Jesus had spent the night prior to his... -
Preaching
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AJerry L. Schmalenberger
Seasonal Theme
Jesus out of the grave and alive and with us.
Theme For The Day
We are prayed for by Jesus that we might be unified with each other and with our God. A summary of the Season of Easter.
First Lesson
Acts 1:1-11
Return To The Upper Room
We have already commented on verses 6 to 11 in the previous... -
Preaching
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AStan Purdum
At first reading, this psalm presents a scattering of themes. Some scholars think it was not a psalm at all, but a listing of headings to a number of liturgical pieces. Most, however, see in Psalm 68 the underlying theme of the victory and reign of God, the Divine Warrior -- the God who was with the people of Israel in the wilderness (v. 7). Psalm 68 calls the kingdoms of the world to acknowledge... -
Preaching
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AGeorge M. Bass
The church year theological clue
The Sunday after the Ascension, as the Seventh Sunday of Easter previously was designated, was known as Exaudi Sunday and served much the same function as the Seventh Sunday of Easter does today. This Sunday is a time of reflection on the glory God has given Christ by lifting him up to his right hand on the completion of his work. It is also a period of... -
Sermon
Seventh Sunday of Easter - ADavid O. Bales
In 1936, near the beginning of the Spanish Civil War one horrible center of fighting was the Alcázar fortress near Toledo. In the middle of horrific fighting, however, every day the firing stopped twice in order to allow a blind beggar to tap his way on the street between the firing lines. We can imagine how welcome those few minutes were to the men on both sides. They probably hoped that the... -
Sermon
Seventh Sunday of Easter - ATheodore F. Schneider
I. They Returned To Jerusalem!
I once heard a biblical theologian, lecturing on the book of Jonah, claim the book of Jonah was a theologian's parable, not a historian's report. It lacked the ring of reality, he claimed. "Can you imagine," he asked, "that the whole city of Ninevah repented following Jonah's city-wide crusade? It just does not happen that way in real life."
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Sermon
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AMark Ellingsen
Jesus was drawing near to the end of his farewell discourse to his disciples, a sermon he gave to them (according to John) on the evening of the last supper. In our gospel lesson for today, Jesus broke into a prayer to the Father. It is a famous prayer called the high priestly prayer. There are many spiritual riches to mine in this prayer and our text. For our purposes today on this last Sunday... -
Sermon
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AAlbert G. Butzer, III
"Dear friends," is the way she began her letter ...
Dear friends,
I was waiting to use a pay phone, when a young man came up to me, handed me some change and a slip of paper and said, "Take this money and dial the phone number on this piece of paper - it will help you if you need help. If not, it will do you a lot of good to listen." I was about to refuse because I was afraid... -
Sermon
Seventh Sunday of Easter - ARichard W. Ferris
A couple from Minneapolis decided to go to Florida for a long weekend to thaw out during one particularly icy winter. Because both had jobs, they had difficulty coordinating their travel schedules. It was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on a Thursday, and his wife would follow him the next day. Upon arriving, as planned the husband checked into a hotel. He settled into his room and... -
Worship
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AAmy C. Schifrin
Martha ShonkwilerAs we move between the festivals of Ascension and Pentecost we are reminded on this day of the oneness that defines the church. Can you invite a congregation from another denomination to worship with you? Can you celebrate your common life as disciples of the living Lord? What a wonderful way to prepare for the coming of the season of Pentecost.
Prayer Of The Day
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Worship
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AFrank Ramirez
Call To Worship (Acts: 1:7-8)
(Unison) [Jesus] replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Collect
Like the disciples... -
Commentary
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AWayne Brouwer
Now and again, one of my students will come into class and I'll greet her or him, but get no response. Sometimes I'll even walk up to the student when she sits down, and make my presence obvious. Then she will look up startled, pull back her hood, and yank the buds out of her ears or turn down her iPod so that she re-engages the world in which I exist. When her recorded music was shouted in... -
Children's sermon
Seventh Sunday of Easter - AGood morning! My father once had an old pickup truck that was a very light blue in color. It was an old work truck that was not too well taken care of. I remember taking some car polish and putting some on the finish of that pickup. I was amazed! The finish became bright and pretty -- not dull, faded and ugly like it had been. (Use a similar story from your life.)
The polish... -
Children's sermon
Seventh Sunday of Easter - ACynthia E. Cowen
The Point: Jesus has the authority to give eternal life.
The Lesson: Good morning boys and girls, and thank you for coming to share with me on this Seventh Sunday of Easter. See what I have brought with me this morning? (let children answer) That's right a key. Does anyone know what this key will open? (get many answers) Those are good guesses. Does anyone...
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