Advent & Christmas at Ascension

Join us for special worship and activities to celebrate the Advent and Christmas season.

Fourth Sunday of Advent, Dec. 24, 8:30 a.m. :

We will celebrate the fourth Sunday of Advent at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 24, before we move to Christmas Eve worship in the afternoon.

Christmas Eve Worship Dec. 24

Christmas Eve Worship on Sunday, Dec. 24, will be at 3, 5 and 9 p.m. Candlelighting, communion, and glorious music will be shared at all the services. If you can help with ushering or communion, please contact Tamie, tamie@ascensionelca.org, in the church office. 

Christmas Day Worship Dec. 25

The joyful sounds of Christmas Day worship is at 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 25.

PAST EVENTS

Welcome to Advent Worship Nov. 29

Join us on Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 6:30 p.m. for a beautiful worship service as we enter into the season of Advent. We will gather around the music of Holden Evening Prayer.

Deck the Halls Dec. 2

Deck the Halls of Ascension begins at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, to prepare the church campus for the season of Advent and Christmas. 

Advent Concert Worship “Rejoice and Sing!” Dec. 9 & 10

Choirs, handbells, praise band, and instrumentalists will present Rejoice and Sing! on Sat., Dec. 9, 6 p.m., and Sun., Dec.10, 9:30 a.m. followed by a potluck brunch. Invite a friend and join us in concert worship!

Annunciation Worship and Breakfast Dec. 12

Celebrate the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary on Tuesday, Dec. 12, with a 5:30 a.m. Spanish-language worship led by mariachis, followed by a potluck breakfast.

Las Posadas Dec. 16

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 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16, with hot cocoa and coffee. Children of all ages are welcome to be in costume.  

Children’s Christmas Program Children Run Joyfully! Dec. 17

The BLAST Sunday School children will share the story of Jesus’ birth in worship on Sunday, Dec. 17, during worship at 10:45 a.m. Dress rehearsal for BLAST children is Saturday, Dec. 16, 9-11 a.m.  The 8:30 a.m. service will be regular worship.

Advent Activities: O Come Let Us Adore Him

We are returning to a Welcome to Advent Soup Supper and Worship experience on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Soup supper begins at 6 p.m. Worship will begin at 6:45 p.m. and end by 7:30 p.m. This evening will be a beautiful entry into the season of Advent and the patient expectation of the unfolding story of God’s saving work among us in the coming of a Savior.

  • Deck the Halls of Ascension: to prepare the church campus for the season of Advent and Christmas, will start at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3. 
  •  Advent Concert Worship: a beautiful evening and morning of worship on Saturday, Dec. 10, 6 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 11, at 9:30 a.m. with a potluck brunch to celebrate the season of Advent. Invite a friend and join choirs, praise band, handbells, and instrumentalists in worship to Follow the Star.
  •  Las Posadas: remembering 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 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, with hot cocoa and coffee.
  •  Children’s Christmas Program: BLAST children will share the joy of Jesus’ birth through story and song at 10:45 a.m. worship on Sunday, Dec. 18. Rehearsal for BLAST children’s Christmas program is Saturday, Dec. 17, 9-11 a.m.
  •  Christmas Eve Worship (English): Saturday, Dec. 24, 3 p.m. & 5 p.m.
  •  Christmas Day Worship: Sunday, Dec. 25, 10 a.m.

So much to look forward to as we return to the fullness of abundant life Jesus promises to us. O, come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

Advent & Christmas Schedule 2021

Join Us!

Ascension has Advent and Christmas worship and activities planned that will be memorable for all of our church community. Please join us for these special events and help the glory of the Lord shine in the dark days of winter.

Deck the Halls of Ascension, Dec. 4

Help us get the sanctuary and other areas ready for Advent and Christmas on Saturday, Dec. 4, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Lunch provided

Journey to Bethlehem, Dec. 5

BLAST families and the congregation are invited between services on Sunday, Dec. 5 for Journey to Bethlehem where we will travel with Mary and Joseph as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Children 3k through 5th grade along with their parents will move through various stations of fun crafts and activities that will help tell this amazing story. People of all ages are invited to come and see all the joy and excitement that surrounds this event.

As part of the Journey to Bethlehem on Dec. 5, we’re collecting new books and clothing for children. Just like the wise men brought gifts to the baby Jesus, we’ll be gifting these items to people in need. Look for the bin in the narthex starting this weekend.

Advent Concert Worship, Dec. 11 & 12

Invite your friends and family for this worship experience from all of Ascension’s musicians — the Ascension Choir, Ascension Ringers, the Praise Band, and youth choirs. Saturday, Dec. 11, 6 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 12, 9:30 a.m. (Please note: There will be only one service on Sunday.)

A special brunch will follow the 9:30 service on Sunday. Please watch for more information in e-alerts.

Las Posadas, Dec. 18, 5 p.m.

Weather allowing, this event on Saturday, Dec. 18, will be held outside with live music. People can start arriving at 4:45 to prepare with a candle and Mexican hot chocolate to warm up for the winter’s evening. Following the journey, you are invited to join us in a dinner of holiday favorites.

 

Children’s Christmas Program Dec. 19, 10:45 a.m.

Students participating in the Children’s Christmas program will gather at church on Saturday, Dec. 18, between 9-11a for a final Christmas Program dress rehearsal. 

Join us on Sunday, Dec. 19, at the 10:45a worship service to celebrate the Children’s Christmas program. BLAST children will share the joy of the season through readings, singing, and a special live nativity that you won’t want to miss!

Christmas Eve, Dec. 24

  • 3 & 5 p.m. worship, sanctuary
  • 6:30 p.m. outdoor worship, Memorial Gardens (weather permitting)
  • 6:30 p.m. Spanish worship, East Hall

Christmas Day, Dec. 25

  • 10 a.m., sanctuary

First Sunday of Christmas, Dec. 26

  • 10 a.m. (bilingual), sanctuary

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Care Ministries

Christmas time is a time of hope, peace and joy. It is important to recognize that much of what we love about the Christmas season are the ways we have found to make love manifest. Gifts given, treats baked, visits made, and trips taken not only to show how full of love we feel for our friends and family but also for strangers who will benefit from our gift of time, talents and treasures.

The Christmas season during the pandemic challenges many of us to focus on simplicity. As we remember, millions of people around the world will miss more than simple traditions. They will miss the loved ones they’ve lost, the jobs they no longer hold, the health they can no longer count on. So for many people this may be a sad and lonely holiday. As Christians, Jesus is our hope for peace and joy during this pandemic time. So perhaps let us find new ways to show his love if we have to change our normal ways of tradition. Drop off cookies at doorsteps, use generous takeout orders to support local businesses, shop small businesses who may be struggling, share devotions and call those in our congregation who would love to connect with an Ascension member. We can all make a difference in our Christian lives to make this a holiday full of love.

Brenda Lytle, RN, Director of Care Ministries

Grateful Hearts

Thank you for your generous donations for the Be the Village Ministry’s ToyPalooza Drive for Chosen. Many new toys were collected to distribute to foster children. Thank you for making a difference in our community!

Thank you to CRASH and JOLT for your generous service work for Chosen. Thanks to Be the Village Ministry for setting up all of the materials so that the kids could finish 30 tie blankets for foster teens in Waukesha! Great job!

Thank you to everyone that supported Chosen in Love’s Gala in November. It was a great evening for a great cause!

Pr. Chris’ Advent Message

I am grateful for the following poem from writer Ann Weems, This Year Will Be Different. She reminds me that the journey of December is far more about my own heart preparing to receive Jesus than all the hearts I want to reach in the giving of gifts and greetings in cards and smiles in pictures. Oh believe me, I love all the trappings of Christmas – right down to the Christmas tree cut-out cookie that somehow never looks like a Christmas tree. Yet, the season of Advent is always brings this longing inside of me to tend the lonely places in my life with the new life of our Savior. I wonder if you have lonely places too that hunger for the new life offered by our Savior Jesus.

Who among us does not have dreams that this year will be different?
Who among us does not intend to go peacefully, leisurely, carefully toward Bethlehem?
For who among us likes to cope with the commercialism of Christmas which lures us to tinsel not only the tree but also our hearts?
Who among us intends to get caught up in tearing around and wearing down?
Who among us does not long for:
Gifts that give love?
Shopping in serenity?
Cards and presents sent off early?
Evenings by the fireside with those we love?
The aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg mingling with pine?
The children cheerfully talking about giving instead of getting?

Who among us does not yearn for time for our hearts to ponder the Word of God: moments of kneeling and bursts of song and the peace of quiet calm for our spirit’s journey?
This year we intend to follow the star instead of the crowd?
But, of course, we always do intend the best. (And sometimes-best intentions tend to get the best of us!)
This year, when we find ourselves off the path again (and we invariably will!)
Let’s not add yet another stress to our Advent days, that of ‘trying to do Christmas correctly!’
Instead, let’s approach the birth of our Lord with joyful abandon!

And this year …
Let’s do what Mary did and rejoice in God.
Let’s do what Joseph did and listen to our dreams.
Let’s do what the Magi did and go to worship.
Let’s do what the shepherds did and praise and glorify God for all we’ve seen and heard.
As for the Advent frantic pace, we don’t have time for that. We’ll be too busy singing.
This year will be different!

Perhaps this year, we will all try to be different: rejoice in God; to listen to our dreams; to go to worship; to praise and glorify God for all we’ve seen and heard; and to gather at the manger to join with the angels’ song: “O come let us adore him, O come let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!”

Dear friends – Blessings on your Advent and Merry Christmas (just a little early)! Peace and joy be yours in these dark winter days as we long for the light of a Christmas star once again.

Pastor Chris

Days of Light

What joy to celebrate the birth of our Savior once again in these Christmas days. It always fills me with wonder and awe to see the body of Christ gather to sing the old songs while experiencing the story and love of God in new ways through the journey of Advent darkness to Christmas light. Even as the world often does not know what to do with the birth of our Savior, you and I hear the call of God to be witnesses to the light of God coming into the world.

Now we find ourselves on the edge of the season of Epiphany – the season of light. I am filled with peace in these days of light – each day a reminder of God’s presence in my life and in the life of the world. When we see the difficult and painful realities of our world, our hope in Jesus gives us strength to face the days before us.

Some of us are experiencing a broken relationship; some of us are living with the consequences of a decision made long ago; some of us are afraid to reach out to someone in need; some of us are wondering how we will get through one more day; and some of us are fearful of the seemingly downward spiral of a world in turmoil. Through all of these fears and worries, the light of God in Jesus Christ shines chasing away the dark night of our fear.

Our invitation is to trust God and follow God from the manger to the temple to the River Jordan to the healing and saving work of God on the cross and through the gate of death to the other side of the empty tomb. The old Norwegian hymn, “I Am So Glad Each Christmas Eve” reminds us of God’s promise.

I am so glad each Christmas Eve, the night of Jesus’ birth! Then like the sun the star shone forth, and angels sang on earth. The little child in Bethlehem, he was a king indeed!
For he came down from heaven above to help a world in need.

“He came down from heaven above to help a world in need.” This is not a future promise to God’s creation, it is a promise already fulfilled. Thanks be to God! In our daily lives, our invitation is to trust what God is doing because of what God has already done. Now there is a promise fulfilled that I can take comfort in during challenging days.

After the Advent Concert Worship weekend, a member of the congregation sent a reflection to the office. I found her words full of the faith we are invited to engage trusting that God is at work in the world. Here are her words.

When I attended the Christmas concert on Dec. 13, I was so moved by [the] production and message I received of Christ’s coming to earth to be among us, I felt I had to say something about it. We had the children singing to the glory of God, the choir at its best singing the joy to the world, instrumentalists playing, the Bell Choir ringing their hearts to God, the Folk Choir singing, and Ben and the Praise Band singing for us. The message Pastor Angela read to us was the message that means Christmas to me. I was overwhelmed with joy. As I sat there, I pondered the budget cuts and the many changes in our church in the past several years and I feel that our church is going in the right direction. There is no way we can make changes for the future without stepping on someone’s toes. Unfortunately someone gets hurt.

My prayer for 2016 at Ascension is that we all can work together and we can nd ways to make up the shortfalls in our budget. We all need to listen to our Lord who speaks to us through the holiday season and all year. Remember my favorite Bible verse, ‘I can do anything through Christ who gives me strength.’ We can do it, I know we can! ~ Arlene Davis

What I appreciate most about Arlene’s words is her unwavering trust in God. In the midst of worship and praise of our God, Arlene saw the light of a manger overflowing with God’s love for a world in need. We will never know a day in our lives without a deep and definite need for God’s presence. I am grateful to serve among a community of faith where joy is shared; where faith is active; and where our faith finds grounding and strength through the worship of God.

May these days of light in this season of Epiphany bring you joy and peace.

~ Pastor Chris Marien

(This article was originally published in Ascension’s January 2016 newsletter).