What the Holy One Can Do With Dust

“All those days you felt like dirt, as if all you had to do was turn your face toward the wind and be scattered to the four corners or swept away by the smallest breath as insubstantial –did you not know what the Holy One can do with dust?” (Jan Richardson, Blessing the Dust)

Already we find ourselves on our way to the story of Lent. Jesus climbs a mountain and shines like the sun enjoying the presence of friends and the strength of spirit that comes with hearing the voice of God share God’s desire, “This is my Son, my Chosen, listen to him.” Only to be driven into the wilderness days later to face the temptations of the devil. What we know so well is that the mountaintop moments in our lives do not last nearly as long as the wilderness wanderings. Why is that exactly?

Are the mountaintop moments so focused, so blindingly glorious that we cannot bear them for too long a time? Consider some of the mountaintop celebrations in this life: a wedding, the birth of a child, the miracle of healing, a long night of conversation with old friends, a seven-course dinner that excites all your senses to name a few mountaintop moments. Yes, we want them to go on forever and if our hearts could be any fuller, they might explode from the overwhelming feelings of joy. But in the wilderness, we can wander amidst one distraction after another: a career change, a relationship ending, the death of someone we love, a question of which path to choose, the diagnosis, the untold story, and even the secrets we keep which we believe make us unworthy of love or peace or joy or God’s forgiveness. Yes, the wilderness offers us many distractions which can keep our eyes, our hearts, our minds, and our ears distracted from all that God wants for us. Welcome to the story of Lent. All those days you felt like dirt…but do you not know what the Holy One can do with dust?

As much as the journey of Lent leads us into the wilderness, God promises to be present for every mountaintop and valley, twist and turn, of this wilderness journey. While Jesus enters the wilderness alone, God promises that we are never alone. While Jesus suffers the temptations of the devil, God stands as a shield against all that would harm us. Even in our struggles, when we believe God has abandoned us or does not listen to our prayers, God is more present than we can imagine. The journey of Lent is our reminder that we do not wander alone in this wilderness. God is present with us – always, everywhere – that is God’s promise to us. Lent may call us to turn our hearts back to God, but God has never turned God’s face from us. And that my friends should bring us joy, no matter how deep the valley we travel in the wilderness moments of our lives.

“Let us be marked not for sorrow. And let us be marked not for shame. Let us be marked not for false humility or for thinking we are less than we are, but for claiming what God can do within the dust, within the dirt, within the stuff of which the world is made and stars that blaze in our bones and the galaxies that spiral inside their smudge we bear.” I am grateful to the author of these words. Jan helps me remember that God offers us so much more than the world, or we, can possibly imagine.

You are invited – join us on the journey of Lent. Start with Ash Wednesday on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 12 p.m. or 6:30 p.m. Receive the smudge of ash on your forehead and be reminded what the Holy One can do with dust. To the great glory of God.

Peace be with you.

Pastor Chris

Living in the Love of Jesus

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7-12)

It’s hard to believe it’s February already, but seeing that it is, it means Valentine’s Day is right around the corner (February 14th for all who need the gentle reminder). Couples will exchange gifts, friends and family will send each other cards, and people everywhere will celebrate the gift of sharing life with people we love and who love us in return. And thanks to the gift of mass commercialization, love will be everywhere.

Will it really, though? Because, while romance will certainly be swirling, it seems to me that love is a different story. At least in my opinion, it seems love is much harder to come by these days. Anger, intolerance, and violence seem to be the prevailing news stories, followed by political division, corruption, poverty, hunger, homelessness, and racism…need I go on.

But as people united in Christ, God calls us to a different way of life. We are called to love – even when it’s not the most popular thing to do. Fortunately for us we’ve been given a great resource to help us do this – Jesus. In the midst of the ups and downs of life Scripture reminds us that loving one another with patience and gentleness invites others into our lives and provides intimate ground for relationships to grow. Strangers whom we may stereotype into a category become unique and beautiful people we truly see, know, and appreciate. And loving this way can bring down the walls of fear and conflict that seem to be successful at separating people right now.

Interestingly, on Valentine’s Day this year we’ll begin our annual journey into Lent, and there we’ll see what real love – perfect, unconditional love looks like. In Jesus, we’ll witness love personified and we’ll experience love in the form of stunning self-sacrifice and loyalty, even toward those who don’t reciprocate. Embraced by this kind of love, we are free to love one another in genuine, costly, and meaningful ways.

And this my dear friends is the kind of love that God calls us to offer to the world not only this February or this Valentine’s Day, but every day. So, sisters and brothers, I invite all of us to let this love be our Valentine to the world, but most importantly to God.

~ Pastor Tony

Preparing for Lent

Last month, I had the opportunity to travel with Pastor Chris and Pastor Tony to New Orleans to attend a national church event called The Extravaganza. This is an annual gathering of children, youth and family ministry leaders from across the ELCA. It is so much more than a conference; it’s space to be grow, to worship, to be inspired, it’s learning from colleagues across the country, it’s sharing your insight with others, it’s informative and transformative. This is an event to renew, learn, and connect with others as a way to strengthen our local ministries.

The extravaganza takes place every year in different cities. In the year in which the Youth Gathering is happening, the extravaganza takes place in the same city. This year the gathering was in New Orleans, where the Youth Gathering  will be held in July. More than 800 leaders met to connect, renew ourselves and get to know the city to which we will bring our youth.

I am very grateful to God that I had the opportunity to immerse myself in something new to me as I continued to walk and learn in this new role as a pastor and youth leader in the US. Not only did I learn about the resources available for children, youth and family ministry, but I also learned a little about the city of New Orleans. To be honest, I didn’t know anything about New Orleans before I went. I heard some jokes in our planning meetings about beads, but I had no idea what anyone was talking about.

One of the first things I noticed when I arrived in the city were the colorful souvenirs available. Eventually we had the opportunity to have free time to explore the city. On my walk, I went into the store to buy the prizes for the chili cook-off. Inside the store, I could see that many t-shirts had the word “Bourbon St.” on it. I approached one of the store workers and he explained its the meaning. The worker explained the cultural traditions behind Mardi Gras, but did not explain me the theology behind this celebration. Later, I found out that, this celebration responds to the Christian calendar that begins on Epiphany and concludes the night before Ash Wednesday. During this time, as you all know, people tend to eat as much as possible before they have to deprive themselves of certain foods during Lent.

This tradition reminds me of the call that God always makes to each of us to prepare day after day, not just during Mardi Gras or Lent. God speaks to us, encourages us and reveals to us his great mercy. As we enter into the season of Lent in this month of February, let us think about the things that often try to prevent us from discovering and experiencing God’s love. 

This 40-day journey is a time to reflect and renew as we prepare ourself to remember and celebrate the passion, death, and resurrection of our Savior in “Semana Santa.”  Whether you choose to indulge during the days of Mardi Gras season, or give something up for Lent, or neither, may this time of year help you feel closer to God regardless of your personal journey of faith.

 Pastor Edwin Aparicio

Grow & Walk With Ascension

BLAST

February is the perfect month to focus on sharing God’s love and the many ways we can share that love with others in our world. This month we have continued to focus on using Jesus as our example as we learn about God’s love and plan for each of us. We have several exciting upcoming events as well. 

First Communion Stepping Stones: Preparation for First Communion begins for 4th-grade students and their families. Classes will take place during BLAST on Feb. 4, 11, and 18. Watch for communications from Pastor Tony with details.

Journey to the Cross will take place on Sunday, Feb. 25, between services. Be sure to join us for this amazing time when students learn more about Jesus’ deep love for them through the journey of Lent and Holy Week toward the wonderful celebration of Easter.

JOLT

JOLT will meet on the first two Thursdays of the month, Feb. 1 and 8, 6 to 7:30 p.m. JOLT students and families are invited to Ash Wednesday worship at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 21. During Lent, JOLT students and families are also invited to attend the soup suppers at 6 p.m. followed by worship at 6:45 p.m. There will be no Thursday night JOLT sessions during Lent.

  • Feb. 1, 6—7:30 p.m. JOLT
  • Feb. 8, 6– 7:30 p.m. JOLT
  • Feb. 21, 6:30 p.m. Ash Wednesday Worship
  • Feb. 28, 6 p.m. soup supper, worship at 6:45 p.m.

CRASH

Chili Cook-Off Thank You: We want to thank the competing teams, those who donated baked goods for the dessert auction and those who supported us by attending our chili cook-off. We are very grateful to God for the support we are receiving from all of you as we continue on this journey to achieve our goal of assisting at least 17 students in their journey to New Orleans this summer.

Pizza Night: Noah’s Pizza is hosting another CRASH night on Thursday, Feb. 15. Call the restaurant from 4 to 7 p.m. and tell them you are an Ascension member. Twenty percent of sales will go to the Youth Gathering fundraiser. You can buy anything that is in the menu. The phone number to make your order is (262) 696-8001.

CRASH Dates for February: We will meet at church at 6 p.m. on Sundays, Feb.4 and 18, for CRASH meetings.

GriefShare

If you or someone you love is struggling with the complex and painful experience of grief after the death of a spouse, child, family member, or friend, then we invite you to consider finding help and encouragement through Ascension’s grief support ministry, GriefShare.

GriefShare is a 12-week program led by Pastor Tony meeting on Tuesday evenings from 6-8 p.m., Feb. 6 and concluding April 30. Through the use of video teaching and small group conversation, we seek to provide a safe and supportive space to provide care and encouragement that can be crucial to a person in grief. Sign-up online or by call to the church office.

GriefShare Support: We’re looking for volunteers to provide support to this program with snacks and donations. See the Sign-Up Genius for dates and suggestions. Questions? Please contact Pastor Tony, tony@ascensionelca.org.

Adult Ed: The Chosen, Season 1

Join us in watching this compelling video series on Mondays beginning Monday, Jan. 29, 10 a.m. or 6 p.m. led by Pastor Chris and Pastor Tony. Each week we will begin with a brief introduction, watch the video, and make connections to the Biblical story along with discussing some reflection questions.

Serve With Ascension

The Matthew 25 Promise

Mission Outreach/Serve commits to the words of Matthew 25:  “I was hungry and you fed me, I was a stranger and you took me in…..” These are the words of Jesus as He was preparing to ascend into heaven. He was very clear that out of love for Him, we would share that love with those on earth who were in need. These words motivate us to live out our love for Jesus through our love for others. Ascension has determined that we would provide opportunities to carry this out and to serve those most in need through our partnerships globally and locally.

As we select our Community Partners, we identify agencies or programs that serve those most in need whether it be feeding the hungry, providing shelter to the homeless or stranger, visiting the sick or providing clothes for those in need. We not only give monetary donations out of our budget, we look for ways to be directly involved through in-kind donations and volunteering. This is a true response to the hymn we sang a few weeks ago, Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard You calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if You lead me. I will hold Your people in my heart. The opportunities are here, it is up to each of us to respond.

If each person in the congregation pledged to do one small effort of service, we could change our community! We have a lot of special ways to do this coming in the next weeks and months. Watch the e-alerts and bulletin announcements and check out the Mission Outreach Facebook page for opportunities to serve. We update the opportunities regularly.

Meals for Healing Hearts

Healing Hearts, one of our Community Partners, is a program for families who have experienced loss. We will be supporting their work with families in need of support whether through death, divorce, deployment, separation through migration, imprisonment or any other loss. We will be providing a meal for the families prior to their session on Monday, Feb. 19, at First United Methodist Church. We will need donations of soup in a crock pot, bread or crackers, fruit and cookies. Please see the available slots in the Sign-Up Genius and click on your selection for volunteering or donating. Food should be brought to Ascension before 3 p.m. or right before 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 19, when the servers arrive. Servers will be done by 6:15 p.m.

Hope Center

Do you shop at Target? If you shop at Target, you have a chance to help the Hope Center. When you are shopping on the Target Circle app, click on “My Target” then go to Target Circle and under available earnings, click on “Vote for Nonprofits.” Vote for Hope Center. That is all you have to do and your votes will help win support for the Hope Center. What a fun and easy way to support one of our partners!

Hope Center is officially moved into the new building. Check out the pictures on our Mission Outreach Facebook page. They are already serving meals and have a beautiful new Clothing Closet. They will be able to provide many new services for the people of Waukesha. Several of our groups already are serving meals at the Hope Center. Are you interested in serving? Are you willing to help sort the donations? See the Hope Center website for more information about volunteering or contact Shirley Wehmeier.

Food Pantry of Waukesha County

Did you know that one third of the people served through the Food Pantry of Waukesha County are babies and children? They have a special Baby Care program where they offer (when available) baby formula, baby food, diapers, wipes and other hygiene items for children three and younger. This program ensures that families with infants and young children have the foods and hygiene products they need. Food needs increase in the winter as more people are seeking help during this time of year. Donations can be taken directly to the Food Pantry or brought to our Donation Center and placed in the appropriate bin.

Creation Care Ministry

Our county Creation Care/Green Team has many offerings available in their newsletter for congregations and people of faith to live out their faith through how they care for God’s creation. There are a lot of faith-based programs and activities that can enhance our ability to care for creation as a part of our faith life. To find out more about this, go to https://www.waukeshacountygreenteam.org/creation-care-network.  Thank you to everyone who brought in used Christmas lights for disposal, keeping them from the landfills. This simple act makes a difference.

Save the Date! Winter Farmer’s Market

The Food Faith and Farming Network Winter Farmer’s Market is at Ascension on Sunday, March 10. This is always a special event and we will need volunteers to help with a lot of different parts of the day. Watch for announcements and opportunities to help with the day. The day includes a very busy market and a brunch made with ingredients from the farmers.