Advent & Christmas at Ascension

Annunciation Worship & Breakfast: On Thursday, Dec. 12, join your pastors and members of Ascension as we celebrate the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary with a 6 a.m. Spanish-language worship led by a mariachi band, followed by a potluck breakfast.

Advent Concert Worship “Rejoice, Rejoice Believers”: Choirs, handbells, praise band, and instrumentalists will present “Rejoice, Rejoice Believers” on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 6 p.m., and Sunday, Dec.15 at 9:30 a.m. followed by a potluck brunch. Invite a friend and join us for our Advent Concert Worship.

Las Posadas: Las Posadas remembers the journey of the holy family through the streets of Bethlehem where they were turned away again and again until an innkeeper took pity on their plight. This event hosted by our Spanish-speaking members continues to grow year after year. Incredible food, a mariachi band, and a piñata round out the night. It is a glorious gathering of the community of Ascension. It begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21, with hot cocoa, coffee and a live nativity. Children of all ages are welcome to be in costume. The actual “Las Posadas,” the walk around the building, begins at 5 p.m.

BLAST Program: “Abajo en Belén” (Down in Bethlehem): The BLAST Sunday School children will share the story of Jesus’ birth in worship on Sunday, Dec. 22, during worship at 10:45 a.m. Dress rehearsal for BLAST children is Saturday, Dec. 21, 9-11 a.m. 8:30 a.m. will be regular 4th Sunday of Advent worship.

Christmas Eve Worship: Christmas Eve Worship on Sunday, Dec. 24, will be at 3p, 5p, 6p (Spanish) and 9:30p. Candle lighting, communion, and glorious music will be shared at all the services— organ and piano at 3p, the Ascension Choir at 5p, and guitar at 9:30p. If you can help with ushering or communion, please contact Tamie in the church office, tamie@ascensionelca.org. Invite your friends! Bring your family and share in the joy of what is always a beautiful night filled with song and candlelight, tradition, and memories.

Christmas Day Worship: The joyful sounds and faces of Christmas Day will be heard and seen at worship at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 25.

Advent Arrives

Advent has come! “Advent,” as one author writes, “is a season of the heart, a time when our hearts are warmed by the love of family and friends, and especially, the love of God. Advent is also a time for heart work, a time to address straying of the heart from God’s purposes, hardening of the heart to the people around us whom God has called us to love, and dulling of the heart to the joys and wonders of life.”

Advent has sometimes been called “the little Lent,” but Advent is so much more! A time of preparation and anticipation for the One who makes all things new. Candles are lit each Sunday around an Advent Wreath to help us prepare. Words like Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love are announced to remind us of what the coming Savior of the world will offer to us. There is a joy in the waiting for Christmas because we know what is to come. The labor pains of Mary will give way to the cries of a newborn king. The world will not even take notice. But animals close by the manger and armies of angels in heaven will bend their knee in worship. Emmanuel, God with us, has come to be among us. 

We so often wait with worry, frustration, fear. We expect that the end of our waiting will bring news that is difficult to hear. Even in moments of joyful anticipation, there can be moments of cautious hesitation expecting something bad to happen. It is the broken world that seeps into our hope. It is only by the arrival of Jesus that our hope can be restored and with that hope – we find peace, joy, and love to sustain us in this life. 

Who could believe a baby in a manger would change the world forever? Is it too much to hope for in this life, with all of its struggles and moments that weigh us down, that our God comes to us to be present with us in the valleys and celebrates with us on the mountaintop? Perhaps, most days it is too much to believe that God cares so much as to take notice. Yet, I am convinced that the God who comes to us in every vulnerability, is the same God who comes to us with every strength to carry us through these days and one day, will carry us home. 

So this Advent, join us on our journey to the manger. Seek out the star in the sky, follow the shepherds, hear the cries of a new born baby, and kneel down, with all creation, in worship and reverence for the arrival of the newborn king once again.

People of God, Merry Christmas! (if just a bit early)

Pastor Chris

Light in the Darkness

Have you ever been in a place where all the lights went out and you were left standing in complete darkness? 

One time when we were at my wife’s family cabin in the north woods, one of her cousins and a friend left to go for a walk on the road around the lake. It was just before sundown when they left, and when it finally turned to night, the moon was completely obscured by a dense layer of clouds. The rest of us had been sitting around the campfire when we heard cries of “HELP!” coming from the road. So, I grabbed a flashlight and headed toward the distress. And when I got to the road I shined the flashlight around and discovered the cousin and friend about 10 feet off the driveway looking disoriented. They said they forgot to take a flashlight and without the moonlight it was pitch black and they couldn’t see the road much less find the driveway to get back home.

When I first shined the flashlight on them they seemed relieved and began to laugh. It’s amazing how unnerving it can feel when all the light goes out, even if you’re close to the relative safety of loved ones or a place you know well. I wonder if you have ever been surprised by the absence of light? The light makes all the difference in the world doesn’t it?

If you want to see what Jesus means in your life, just imagine a time without him. Have you ever had that time in your life? A time before Jesus existed for you? A time before you knew about the light of the world? Was it as dark as a late night walk in the woods without a flashlight or the moon to light the way? Imagine a time before Jesus was born. Where was the hope for the world? Where was the joy? Where was the focus on love and forgiveness? There really was a time before Jesus, a time when the world was waiting, expecting, and hoping.  

Each year during Advent we wait and expect and hope for the coming of Jesus while much of the world around us remains in the dark. For many, the Christmas holiday means shopping and decorating without a hint of the baby Jesus. As Christians, the center of our holiday season is the light of the world, an infant king, bringing peace. 

Take a moment and consider this: What are the ways you will choose to focus on Jesus this season? How will you grow in your knowledge and presence of him? How will you show those around you the difference he has made to you and to the world? 

Wishing you and yours a joy-filled Advent and Christmas season. Waiting, Expecting, Hoping.

Pastor Tony

Life’s Moments

After having celebrated Thanksgiving Day with family and friends, now is the time to begin preparing for our end-of-year celebrations with families. As a church, leaders are also preparing so that in this Advent season of 2024, you, your family, and those you invite to visit Ascension can experience and meditate upon God becoming human in a variety of traditions.

As a multicultural congregation, we have the gift of offering an Advent season in which we can see, know, and experience God’s human revelation in various ways but with the same purpose. Activities such as the Advent Concert Worship, the Sunday school program, the annunciation of the angel, live nativity, the posadas, Christmas Eve, the visit of the three wise men in January, and Family Day in February. All of these revive us and remind us of the origin of our history as a Christian community.

On Thursday, Dec. 12, at 6 a.m., you are invited to join us in the Spanish Sanctuary where we will have the celebration of the Annunciation, the day in which we remember when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and revealed God’s will that she would become the means by which the Word would become flesh and dwell among us. This celebration will be accompanied by mariachi music, and a shared breakfast after worship.

On Saturday, Dec. 21, we hope that you will join us, accompany us and experience how the Holy Family arrives in Bethlehem as strangers looking for a refuge that was not found. As Luke 2:7 says, “and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” The Christmas story is a reminder for us that the first years of Jesus’s life was spent as a migrant, searching for housing and safety. The Holy Family’s journey as foreigners began on their way to Bethlehem and continued on their trip to Egypt in search of refuge due to persecution by King Herod. For this reason, it is our tradition to begin Las Posadas with the Immigrant’s Creed, a creed that professes the Christian faith through the lens of an immigrant.

I believe in Almighty God, who guided the people in exile and in exodus, the God of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon, the God of foreigners and immigrants.

I believe in Jesus Christ, a displaced Galilean, who was born away from his people and his home, who fled his country with his parents when his life was in danger, and returning to his own country suffered the oppression of the tyrant Pontius Pilate, the servant of a foreign power, who then was persecuted, beaten, and finally tortured, accused and condemned to death unjustly. But on the third day, this scorned Jesus rose from the dead, not as a foreigner but to offer us citizenship in heaven.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the eternal immigrant from God’s kingdom among us, who speaks all languages, lives in all countries, and reunites all races.

I believe that the church is the secure home for the foreigner and for all believers who constitute it, who speak the same language and have the same purpose. I believe that the communion of the saints begins when we accept the diversity of the saints.

I believe in the forgiveness of sin, which makes us all equal, and in reconciliation, which identifies us more than does race, language, or nationality.

I believe that in the resurrection God will unite us as one people in which all are distinct and all are alike at the same time. Beyond this world, I believe in life eternal in which no one will be an immigrant but all will be citizens of God’s kingdom, which will never end. Amen.

Feliz Navidad!

Pastor Edwin

A Season of Thanks

For many years my wife and I have wanted to visit Door County in the fall, but we always found ourselves with either too much on the calendar or too little in the bank account. Finally this year we made it happen. Taking advantage of my wife having a day off of school at the end of October, my family and I had the opportunity to get away for two days. I had heard stories about the colorful beauty that can be seen during the fall. The stories are true, as you drive through the streets you can enjoy the beautiful landscape reflected in the forest.

As you may know, fall in Door County is one of the peak seasons for tourism. As we passed by, hotel after hotel had the messages on their entrances: No Vacancy. I immediately thought that the streets were going to be crowded all day but as we drove through the cities, the streets looked like they had little traffic. In the evenings, the streets, restaurants and shops showed something different. The reality was that most people during the day were immersed in all the hiking spots, forests, and lakes enjoying and giving thanks for the beauty that can be found around the peninsula. I thought to myself, what a great way to start the season of thankfulness.

As we approach gathering and celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends, let us thank God for the things and moments God has given us. We as a Church thank God for the eight students from our Church who made their confirmation of faith on Reformation Sunday. We are thankful for the 75th anniversary of our Church that reminds us that we are always growing. We are thankful to have attended the Youth Gathering in New Orleans last summer and that the energy from that experience still inspires our students to have an active faith life in the church. We are thankful that a delegation was able to visit El Salvador this summer and that Rick Frowein is visiting Tanzania, strengthening the bonds of our partnerships and exploring new ways that Ascension can support our brothers and sisters. We are thankful for new members. As we also approach Dia de los Muertos, we give thanks for all those who have gone before us, but left wonderful memories in the hearts and minds of many of us.

I personally thank God for allowing me to visit Door County in the fall with my family. I am thankful that this summer I was able to celebrate my first year as an ordained pastor and my twelfth wedding anniversary. I am thankful to have had my first experience leading a youth trip and looking forward to our next one.

And you, what are you thankful for during this Thanksgiving holiday season?

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his loving-kindness is everlasting.” (1 Chronicles 16:34)

Happy Thanksgiving.
Pastor Edwin

Thankful for You

Well, friends, I am just a week past my hernia surgery. It has been a journey. No doubt in the month of November you will hear Pastor Tony or Pastor Edwin yell at me for preparing to pick up a chair or move a table. God forbid I move a candlestick! I am not a fan of being dependent on another person. Ask my wife! Though I am very content to ring a little bell so that my wife will know it is time to refill my coffee cup. In my dreams…at least.

It has been a glorious October – Green Meadows worship on the farm, new member brunch and the joy of 27 new members sharing in the gift of this community of faith, CRASH cooking and serving breakfast to the teachers at Hawthorne Elementary, and Reformation Sunday celebrating the public profession of faith of our confirmands. And I thought September was a full month with our 75th anniversary celebration weekend and the kick-off to fall programming. None of this was done by one person alone. The ministry and mission of Ascension is the power of God lived out through the energy and faithfulness of so many of you that make Ascension the community of faith that it is.

November brings the gift of All Saints Sunday and the remembering of those who have died in our community in the last year as well as lifting up the memory of loved ones who still rest in our hearts even as they enjoy the Kingdom of God. Young at Heart will take 50 people to an event to hear the sounds of Christmas a bit early while enjoying the gift of fellowship and community. Ascension’s annual meeting will be on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 9:45am in-between services. An opportunity for us to gather to celebrate where we have been and where God may be leading in the year ahead. Christ the King Sunday celebrates the end of the church year on Sunday, Sept. 24, and the season of Advent will be right around the corner. Again, all of this takes place, with your passion and partnership in the ministry of the body of Christ.

It turns out I am dependent on all of you – though not for my coffee. As one of your pastors, my ministry is encouraged, enriched, and inspired by your ministry and presence in worship, study, and in serving each other and those outside the walls of Ascension. In this month, where we celebrate the day of Thanksgiving, I want to take a moment to give thanks to God for all of you and to thank you for all that you do to share the story of God’s love throughout the world. What joy it brings to walk together in this time and place.

See you in church,
Pastor Chris

Always Thankful

As I sit here staring at a blank document on my computer wondering, “What am I going to write about for the November newsletter?”, I thought, since no new and original idea was coming to mind, I should go back and look at some of my previous articles over the years. I came across one I wrote several years ago about being thankful and even though I was trying to avoid using the ever popular “be thankful” theme, something slightly different came to mind which I think is still applicable to all of us today. So, here we go.

November is a month where people tend to list out the things we’re thankful for, (it’s probably because of that one holiday called “Thanksgiving”). Some will even list something every day on their social media pages (which is not something you’ll never find me doing). Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to be thankful, and I am thankful for many different things – I just don’t care to broadcast it all over social media. Besides, many times the things listed after family and friends are all material things which eventually break, get lost, or simply need to be replaced.

But don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be the Scrooge or Grinch of Thanksgiving, it is good to be thankful. The Bible even tells us that. First Thessalonians says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Wait, look closely, did you notice what it says? “Give thanks in all circumstances…”. So, does this mean we’re supposed to give thanks in those times when life isn’t going like we’ve planned or when something bad happens? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, yes, that’s exactly what it means.

We all know that bad things are going to happen. People will get sick, things will break or be stolen, feelings will be hurt by those we call our friends, and relationships are going to go through tough times and may even come to an end. It may be hard to see these as times to give thanks, but they are. And here’s why…

Notice the word that comes before “all.” What is it? It’s the word in. We’re told to give thanks in all circumstances, not for all circumstances. The evil, the bad things of life don’t come from God, those are a result of sin being in the world. This is why we’re not thankful for all circumstances. We’re thankful in all circumstances because no matter what we’re facing in life, God is still in control and God’s presence is still with us. This means that his love, mercy, compassion, and all the other wonderful things God is and does are still with us. They are with us because we are his beloved children. And to prove that, God sent Jesus, His only Son, so that anyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

So in this month of reflection on what it is that we’re thankful for…the thing I’m most thankful for is this – the precious gift of Jesus and his victorious resurrection! Because through this we are claimed as God’s children. And I’m thankful that God continues to go with us wherever it is that we go. It’s my constant prayer that no matter what any of us experience in our lives, that we remember that he’s always there with us and we can lean on him all the time. May you have a blessed and thankful Thanksgiving!

Pastor Tony

All Saints Day

All Saints Day is celebrated this Sunday, Nov. 3, at all services of Ascension.

As is tradition, we will have pictures of those members of our community who have joined the communion of saints in the Kingdom of Heaven. This year, the English-speaking worship services are borrowing a page from our Spanish-speaking members and creating an ofrenda (altar) where anyone can bring a picture of remembered loved ones and place them on the table so that all may share in our memories of loved ones and gather the communion of saints of every time and place. Please bring a framed picture to worship and place it on the table with the orange tablecloth when you arrive. Then after worship, please remember to take your picture home.

Council News & 2024 Annual Meeting

It’s hard to believe we are already talking about November, but Fall is here! The Council met this week to review and discuss Ascension’s budget, as we move into budget season and planning for next year. The Council had a good discussion about all of the incredible things happening inside, and outside, the walls of Ascension and how our budget can continue to support those things in the coming year. The next two steps in the budget process are a budget listening session on Sunday, Nov. 10. This is an opportunity for members of the congregation to ask questions and review the budget in more detail, before it is presented for a vote by the congregation at our annual congregational meeting on Sunday, Nov. 17. Both sessions will take place in between services. We hope you can join us.

Amanda Payne, President

Planning for 2025

How will God invite us to celebrate our ministry and prepare for the future in 2025? We invite you to join us in filling out the 2025 commitment card or submit your 2025 commitment online, prayerfully considering what God might be leading you to offer back to God through the mission and ministry of Ascension as we continue to step out in faith in 2025. Please remember, if you give online, please consider increasing your monthly offering if it has been a while since you set-up your online giving.