Pastor Chris: 1984

What do you remember most about 1984?

  • Ronald Reagan was president.
  • George Bush was vice-president.
  • The cost of a new home was $97,600
  • A first-class stamp would run you about $0.20.
  • Gas for your car would cost you $1.20.
  • A dozen eggs would set you back $1.01.
  • A gallon of milk would cost you $2.26.
  • Ascension was celebrating its 35th anniversary in 1984.

The community of Ascension was worshipping in our former sanctuary, what we now call East Hall (where our Spanish language members worship at 10:45.) A gifted young woman entered the doors of Ascension and began sharing her talents at the organ bench as a substitute organist and accompanying the choir on occasion. 

In 2024, we are celebrating 40 years of ministry for that same woman. What a joy it is to call Vicki Taylor, Director of Music Ministries, our colleague and friend, as she continues to glorify God through her gifts of music and choral and handbell direction. Over the years, Vicki has worn many hats here at Ascension and continues to have something magical up her sleeve to offer to the worship life of our congregation. She brings energy, joy, passion, dedication, and a deeply faithful heart to the ministry she provides to and through this community of faith. 

It is pure joy to continue to partner with Vicki in ministry to the glory of God as we imagine the ways in which our worship inspires, comforts, challenges, and brings praise to our God. Please take a moment to speak a word of thanks to Vicki for the many years of ministry and celebrate her for her continued commitment to “make a joyful noise to the Lord.” We are grateful for all that the Lord has done with and through her gifts and we are excited for what is to come in the years ahead.

We will celebrate Vicki at our 8:30 a.m. worship service on Sunday, June 2, and honor her continued ministry with a reception between services. 

Thanks be to God!

Pastor Chris

God’s Got You!

The past few weeks, okay who are we kidding, months really, ever since the mission trip to Tanzania/Ethiopia have been a bit of a whirlwind…and even that’s putting it mildly.

But I also recognize that I’m not the only one who feels like life sometimes moves at a frenetic pace leaving us struggling in its wake to just hang on. It almost feels like a firehose in the face where everything just keeps coming at you and all you can do is hope to catch your breath before the next barrage comes along.

The past few days have been particularly difficult – and then this happened. As I drove our daughter to school this morning and turning into the parking lot, I noticed the long line of oncoming cars attempting to cross and finally get their turn to enter the school parking lot. So, I decided to let several of them pass in front of me. And then just as I let one more car pull in front of me I noticed their license plate. It said, “GDS GOT ME”. God’s Got Me. Now, maybe it’s pure coincidence, or perhaps it was God trying to remind me that in the midst of all the recent chaos, struggle, pain, sadness, and all the other stress – that God was in fact with me and tending me the entire time.

I started to reflect more deeply about God’s presence in my life and wouldn’t you know it, there had been signs everywhere – God’s touchpoints in my life where God was leading, guiding, directing, comforting, reassuring, blessing and so many more moments of God’s grace and love. God showed up in text messages, and unexpected visitors at our house, in the kindness of a thank you card, a treat left on my desk, a beautiful gift weaved by a child, a hand on my shoulder, and then here in the most unexpected of places – on a license plate.

I try each day to be aware of God’s presence and listen for God’s whispers, but if I’m being honest then the truth is many times I let the chaos around me take over and drown out God’s presence. It took a moment of patience this morning, to not feel rushed to get into the parking lot, to recognize the difficulty of the drivers trying to cross over. And for whatever reason today I noticed, today I was patient, today I was kind…and then there it was. I find it interesting that had I not been patient, or kind, or inviting, had I not recognized the struggle of others then I would’ve missed God’s gracious reminder that was waiting there the whole time.

So, today I’m trying to slow down a bit and while I know I won’t always get it right, I’m counting on God’s grace to keep showing up in unexpected moments, in the moments of messiness and chaos, and in the moments I neglect to listen to God speaking to my heart. I’m trusting in God to lead and guide me, to hold and reassure me, to bless, empower, and send me. The message was clear, God’s got me. And God’s got you. God’s got all of us. And that brings to mind a song that I think says it all, “He’s got the whole world in his hands…”. Okay, okay, God, I hear you. Thank you! Keep singing over us!

Pastor Tony

Amazing Grace

Jesus told his disciples “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” This is a direct command to share the Gospel message to all those who do not yet know it. The question we should ask ourselves is what kind of Gospel has been shared? A Gospel of forgiveness, joy, peace, love and hope? Or are we sharing a Gospel of fear and punishment?

As many of you know, I had to travel to El Salvador to hold my dad’s funeral in my homeland. Funerals in my country and in most Latin American countries are different from funerals here. During the vigil, family, neighbors and friends gather to accompany the family in their grief. As soon as the community knows that a person has passed away, they arrive at the family home to sit with the family. The home of the deceased is filled with the singing of hymns, crying, praying, preaching, and eating tamales, day and night. No one sleeps until after the funeral and burial.

I made the decision to preach here and also preach in the land where I grew up. On the night of the vigil, we had a service. My former pastors from El Salvador Pastora Blanca and Pastor Julio were in charge of the evening service, and I was in charge of the funeral service. As I was preparing my preaching for the funeral, one of the things that came to mind was that the message I was going to share was going to shock everyone in attendance.

My message focused solely on the salvation that Christ brought to the entire world… The Gospel affirms that salvation is obtained by faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again to pay the price for the sins of humanity… He opened the way for us to eternal life… The tomb will never be closed again… Christ defeated death, death no longer has power over us… if Christ is resurrected, we will also be resurrected…salvation is by grace and not by works…. After the death of Lazarus, Jesus told Martha, ​​“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”… A few verses later, when Jesus saw that Mary was still doubting, He said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”… Grace leads us to salvation, not works… works are the result of the work that God is already doing in us… salvation is a gift from God… Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast.”

A day after this message, family, friends and pastors said that some people had said that they had never heard of God’s grace before. A pastor told me that a member of his church asked her if we are saved by grace and not by works, then why you have preached to us that we are saved by works. I knew that these reactions were going to happen. I knew it because where I’m from they don’t know about grace. They have been about punishment, fear and resentment. Catholics, Evangelicals and even some Lutherans share salvation through works and not by grace.

On my way back home to Waukesha, I was thinking about all the reactions that grace had provoked in the minds and hearts of many. More than 2000 years have passed since grace came to us and there are still people in many parts of the world who do not know it. Brothers and sisters, as we continue on this continuous journey of learning and discernment, let the light of Christ continue to illuminate us to share the message of grace with all those who have not yet received it. 

Pastor Edwin

New Member Meeting & Brunch

On October 15, there will be a meeting between services for those interested in learning about membership at Ascension. New members will be welcomed to Ascension with a brunch on October 22. To indicate your interest in membership, sign-up online. If you know of someone interested in membership, invite them to the meeting or to discuss it with one of the pastors.

GriefShare

If you are or someone you know 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 network of 12,000+ churches worldwide, equipped to offer grief support groups. Ascension’s grief recovery ministry offers GriefShare in a series of weekly support meetings designed to offer compassionate conversation along with helpful tools and resources to help you process your grief and rebuild your life after losing a loved one.

The current session of GriefShare is a 10-week program led by Pastor Tony and takes place on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8 p.m. from March 27 – May 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.

Participants are encouraged to attend all 10 sessions however you are also welcome to begin our GriefShare group at any point. Each session is “self-contained,” so you do not have to attend in sequence, and you will be able to pick up any session you missed in our 10-week cycle.

Please contact the church office to sign up or sign up online. Questions? Please contact Pastor Tony, 262-547-8518 or tony@ascensionelca.org.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

I find myself struggling with trying to decide what to write about this month. Do I write about the exciting aspects of ministry this past December? We had our first early morning celebration of the annunciation. And when I say early morning, I mean 5:30 am worship on a Monday morning. And not just any Monday morning, but the Monday after the Advent concert when nearly all of our families had already been at church both Saturday night and all morning Sunday. We were unsure what to expect, but we had a full sanctuary, including several visitors. We enjoyed worship led by mariachi musicians who sang the traditional songs of the Festival of Guadalupe and shared breakfast together at the end of worship.

Las Posadas

Or what about Las Posadas? It was our fourth year hosting this living advent devotion and celebration and it was bigger and better than ever, even in the cold. We were excited this year to open the children’s pageant to all of Ascension’s children, so we were led by a multicultural parade of Bible characters, sheep, donkeys, and cows. We needed two piñatas for all of the fun! It was a fun night of fellowship between native English speakers and native Spanish speakers, Ascension members and many visitors.

Personally, I finished my seventh semester of seminary and was approved for ordination. There is so much I could write about what it is like to be this close to the end of school!

Perhaps it would be better for me to write a more forward looking article on all of the exciting things to come. On January 3, I will be leaving for sixteen days for a seminary course in Israel. For reasons that I don’t understand, according to seminary I have not had any cross-cultural experiences. While I feel like the work I have been doing as a Salvadoran immigrant in a US seminary should have counted as my cross-cultural experience, I won’t complain too much if it means I “must” go to Israel with experts on the area. I am both excited and nervous about this opportunity.

Maybe this is an opportunity to tell you about our next Holy Day we will be observing.

Los Reyes Magos

The Three Kings will be arriving at Ascension on Sunday, January 8 at 10:45 am. We will welcome them with a potluck lunch after worship. Special music guests, Puerto Rican Band Cache MKE will provide music for worship and lunch.

In several Spanish speaking countries, this is the day children receive their gifts, just like baby Jesus did. The Magi are the ones that bring presents, not Santa. In keeping with the tradition of exchanging gifts on Three Kings Day, there will be a $5 secret Santa gift exchange at lunch. You are invited to bring a gift that matches your category (Girl, Boy, Man, Woman) and participate.

Lunch will include a traditional rosca. If you’ve never eaten a rosca before, it includes a surprising ingredient, plastic baby Jesus. Find out what it means to receive the Baby Jesus in your rosca!

There is so much to celebrate here at Ascension, whether we are celebrating what just happened or looking forward to what is on its way. May you find the moments in your own life to enjoy the memories of the good times of the year that has just ended, or happiness in looking forward to what is to come.

Edwin Aparicio, Pastoral Intern

Walk With Ascension Into 2023

Care Ministries

Happy New Year to all of our Ascension friends! We begin our year with celebration as the New Year marks the beginning of a fresh start for many. A new beginning! As a new year begins, we have new wishes and promises for a brighter future as we say farewell to the past year. I continually want to challenge myself to view the year through a lens of love instead of one of criticism. I stand firmly in my belief in the gift of being kind to ourselves and everybody around us. I think it is so important that we allow ourselves to be wrong, embrace our failures and our imperfections and feel good enough to accept our thoughts, souls and spirits. I believe love within ourselves is the greatest gift we can give ourselves. We should believe in practicing life with compassion, courage and with empathy towards others. We cannot really love and spread love around the world if we don’t first feel good about who we are. My New Year’s resolution some years ago was to start accepting myself truly and find peace in being me. A calmness that wouldn’t overthrow me every time I was struck by a feeling of inadequacy. I was tired of chasing after things that I could not achieve and that were not genuine. It was time for me to fully embrace myself, to treasure the gift of life. Time to show gratitude towards my loved ones just the way they are.

As Christians, it can be hard to find peace in a world filled with so many things to worry about. As humans, our brains are primed to pay attention to our environment. Our minds are constantly scanning to help keep us alive and identify opportunities to make our lives more pleasurable. It is why we are more likely to keep an eye on the oven than our Bible. The sights, sounds, and smells of this physical world just feel more real and tangible than our spiritual world.
 
One possible way to counter this is to focus on praying, reading the Bible, and attending church which can bolster our spiritual focus. However, many struggle to commit these practices to habit. Perhaps just thinking about God, himself, can help shift our focus away from the worries of this physical world to our more enduring spiritual one. What’s more comforting than knowing how our Savior will someday return to welcome us into his arms? Spending just a few moments thinking about God, who he is and what he means to us, can help ease anxiety, alleviate worry, and bring some peace of mind. 

“The Lord gives strength to his people, and the Lord blesses his people with peace.” (Psalm 29:11)

Brenda Lytle, RN, Director of Care Ministries

Pathway to Mental Wellness Event

After a successful first Pathway to Mental Wellness Event, “The Pathway to Peace” in October, we are ready to offer our second event at the end of January on Sunday, Jan. 29 at 12 p.m., “The Pathway to Understanding.” We will gather for a potluck lunch and then hear a presentation from the National Alliance for Mental Illness. The presentation will offer a personal perspective of mental health conditions. The presentation will provide an opportunity to hear open and honest perspectives on a highly misunderstood topic. A chance to ask questions of presenters and information on how to learn more about mental health and get involved with the mental health community.

AMEN No Regrets 2023

No Regrets 2023

Ascension Men — Coming Again to Ascension!

Saturday, Feb. 4, 8am to 1:30pm. Register to watch with us at Ascension, online https://tinyurl.com/AMEN2023 or with this QR code. Password is AMEN.

GriefShare Ministry

We plan to begin another session of Grief Share this winter beginning in February. The details will be announced soon.

Pastoral Assistance and Cancer Care

If you or a family member is hospitalized and would like a visit from a pastor or pastoral assistants, please call the church office at 262-547-8518. Ascension’s Cancer Care Ministry continues to open arms to those in need, helping members of our congregation. If you know of a congregational member or family that could use some assistance walking their cancer journey, please contact, Brenda Lytle at brenda@ascensionelca.org

Young at Heart (55+)

If you are interested in fun outings and fellowship, join us at a Young at Heart Ministry gathering. They meet on the third Wednesday of each month for a potluck lunch and to play cards and games. Come and have fun!

A Christmas Miracle

This year the Hallmark Channel premiered the first of their thirty-one new Countdown to Christmas movies on Friday, Oct. 21. While that’s a bit too early for me, it nevertheless has been the growing trend of introducing new Christmas themed content and it seems there are now more Christmas specials than ever before. These specials often celebrate the “spirit of Christmas” or the “magic of Christmas” without ever really defining what that spirit or magic is, but to reveal it they tend to utilize the predictable plot device of the Christmas miracle.

The idea of a Christmas miracle is something we’re all familiar with. One website defines a Christmas miracle as: “when some highly unlikely stroke of good fortune comes to the characters in the time where they need it most, simply through the magic of Christmas.” In the countless television Christmas specials that have ended with a Christmas miracle, just when everything seems to be lost, everything instead works out perfectly in the end to create a perfect Christmas full of warm and fuzzy feelings. There is, however, a true Christmas miracle, and it doesn’t involve an angel getting its wings. The true Christmas miracle does however involve a baby and a divine love so great that it would redeem the world for all of eternity.

A miracle isn’t just some impossible coincidence that happens. A miracle is when God actively meddles with the way the world works. A miracle is when the rules of reality are broken, and something truly incredible, truly impossible happens. The Bible is full of miracles: The Red Sea parts, water comes from rocks, the walls of a city fall down, loaves and fish multiply, and people walk on water. But the most miraculous of all miracles is the birth of a holy child to be the Savior of the world. This is the miracle of all miracles, Emmanuel – God with us. Christmas is all about celebrating that miracle. The miracle that God so loved the world that God himself invaded the world to redeem it and bring it out of darkness. The magic of Christmas is the miracle of God’s love that began at a cradle in Bethlehem and reached its fulfillment at a cross in Jerusalem. So the way that we celebrate Christmas should first and always be based in our humble thanksgiving for this love and our sincere and faithful worship of the God that loves us. But it doesn’t have to end here, we can also celebrate Christmas through our actions.

Christmas is all about the celebration of a miracle, and in this season of Advent we should be expecting miracles to happen. Remember, a miracle isn’t just a stroke of good luck. A miracle is God at work in the world. It’s the unexpected that can only happen because of God doing something incredible, and God often chooses to not perform these miracles alone – God works miracles through God’s people.

Dear friends, we’re in a season meant to celebrate the greatest miracle of all time. So may we celebrate this miracle by seeking to be his miracle workers. This Advent, as we prepare for Christmas, may we spend less time looking for the perfect gift and more time looking for ways to join in God’s holy work to become someone else’s miracle. Merry Christmas!

Pastor Tony

Another Tragedy

Once again the power of death has made itself known in the world as we grieve the loss of life of children and educators at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The city and state are far enough away that we can briefly read those words and quietly dismiss the horror of the tragedy. However, we found out last November that we are not immune from the power of death or instance of tragedy as members of our own community ran for cover, jumped out of the way, assisted with the wounded and the dying, and held vigil for the grief of families in Waukesha.

I have said my prayers this day for the families of children who will never walk through front doors again. Prayers for summer activities ended before they began. Prayers for families who now plan funerals instead of end of year celebrations. And now we sit with our grief and ask ourselves once again: are these children finally worthy of our attention and care to beg for more mental health care resources to be offered, require background checks or waiting periods to purchase firearms, or offer a greater respect for those who put their lives on the line each day to protect our most precious gifts of God, namely our teachers and first responders.

I am not interested in the debate of these things. There is always a time for more words – Lord knows, I use too many words much of the time. My concern is whether the amount of words we use will only delay the inevitable next e-alert as we grieve with another city in another state about another school and the loss of life.

Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.

Pastor Chris

Thanksgiving Following Parade Tragedy

Holy God, we give you thanks for every gift given. As we gather in small ways and great ways to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, we are mindful that celebrations are more muted this year as we reflect on the horrific moments of this past Sunday. Remind us, Lord God, that you are present to us. Remind us that you offer hope; you offer life; you offer love for all the world. We come before you with hearts filled with emotions we are still working to understand. May your blessing be with us and we gather at tables, over the internet, and in all the ways we may connect with those we love. Amen.