Blessings to you on this Ascension Day!
with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God,
and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise.
After that, we who are alive and remain
will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we will always be with the Lord.
Do you ever gaze into the sky, imagining the scene of Christ's return?!
Will it be a blue with billowy clouds kind of sky?
...or sunrise or set?
...or in the middle of the night?
Will the heavens be rainbow-radiant?
or flawless azure?
or dark with foreboding?
No one knows the hour, not even the angels in Heaven, so
Jesus commanded us to watch and be ready
because he will come in an hour we don't expect!!
Matt.24:36-44
36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of [a]heaven, but My Father only.
37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away,
so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.
41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what [b]hour your Lord is coming.
43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what [c]hour the thief would come,
he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
Acts 1:9-11
9After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up,
and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
10They were looking intently into the sky as He was going,
when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?
This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven,
will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
Until then may we ever be found faithful...
Facing what we must face
Winning what must be won
Until we reach that solemn place
When life on earth is done
Praying what must be prayed
Yielding what we must yield
Obeying what must be obeyed
Until God is revealed
Bearing what we must bear
Trusting what we must trust
Casting on God our every care
Because He cares for us
Voicing what we must voice
Reaping what we must reap
Rejoicing with those who rejoice
Weeping with those who weep
Fighting what we must fight
Learning what we must learn
Daring to stand for what is right
Until the Lord's return
Doing the best we can
This by God’s grace. Amen
To love God first then fellowman
Till He returns again
© Janet Martin
Lyrics: author unknown
1. O, how lovely is the morning, when it is begun with God;
Joy and thanks our hearts adorning, as behooves a child of God,
Waking after night so fair in the Maker’s gentle care,
Rising without grief or sorrow to a new and joyful morrow.
2. Let our eyes be raised to heaven where the sun is shining bright,
And on hill and dale and meadow is dispensing life and light;
But far more than sun in space beams the Saviour’s kindly face;
Truth and kindness, peaceful nearness shine out in eternal clearness.
3. Even as the springtime flowers grow beneath the sun’s warm rays,
So the Lord by His own powers makes us garlands for His praise;
He invites most lovingly: Little children, come to Me!
All should truly know Him ever, call Him Brother, Lord, and Saviour!
4. This day also He will guide us, in our work His help provide,
And on wisdom’s ways He’ll lead us, standing ever by our side,
That on this whole blessed day no mishap can come our way;
And that under His rich blessing night will find us sweetly resting.
5. Through His grace made sweet and easy, we’ll His teachings understand,
When he on the path of duty gently leads us by the hand.
O, how blest the child that may in His grace begin the day,
Whose desire and wish is wholly by His love to be made holy.
6. Come then, Lord of life eternal, step into our midst, we pray;
Help that we may not be merely hearers of Thy Word today.
To our teacher, O, be near; bless the children gathered here;
May we thrive in fullest measure, and Thy heart in us find pleasure!
