Acts Part 1: Jesus' Ascension

Acts 1: 1-12

This podcast is the first in a new series of sermons on the Book of Acts – the second part of Luke’s investigation into the life of Jesus and his ministry.

We give a lot of attention to Jesus' birth, death and resurrection, but the ascension is just as vital. Without it, everything Jesus had done would remain unfinished. The ascension is not an optional extra in the Christian faith; it is the moment that launches the next stage of God's mission in the world.

The image of a rocket launch is helpful as we consider this passage. The first stage is essential, but it is not the final destination. It provides the thrust needed for lift-off, and then it is released so the mission can continue. In a similar way, Jesus' earthly ministry was not abandoned or made less important by his ascension. It was essential. But if Jesus had remained physically present in one place, the mission would have stayed local and limited. By ascending, he was not ending the mission but advancing it.

At first, the disciples experienced the ascension as loss. Jesus was taken from their sight, and they stood looking into the sky. But the angels gently rebuked them. Why were they standing there? Why were they frozen? Because they had not yet realised that what looked like departure was actually release, and what felt like separation was actually the beginning of worldwide mission.

The ascension means Jesus is not absent. He is exalted. He reigns at the right hand of the Father as our Prophet, Priest and King. As Prophet, he still speaks through his people as the gospel is proclaimed. As Priest, he represents us before the Father, securing our acceptance and giving us peace. As King, he rules over all things for the good of his people.

The ascension changes how we live. It gives us joy instead of paralysis, confidence instead of fear, and purpose instead of passivity. Jesus leaving was not the end of the mission. It was the only way the mission could truly begin. Our Christ is not only crucified and risen, he is ascended, reigning, and at work still.

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This podcast is the first in a new series of sermons on the Book of Acts, which is the second part of Luke's investigation into the life of Jesus and his ministry. We give a lot of attention to Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection. But the ascension is just as vital. Without it, everything Jesus had done would remain unfinished. The Ascension is not an optional extra in the Christian faith. It is the moment that launches the next stage of God's mission in the world. The image of a rocket launch is helpful as we consider this passage. The first stage is essential, but it's not the final destination. It provides a thrust needed for liftoff, and then it is released so the mission can continue. In a similar way, Jesus' earthly mission was not abandoned or made less important by its ascension. It was essential. But if Jesus had remained physically present in one place, the mission would have stayed local and limited. By ascending, he was not ending the mission, but advancing it. The ascension changes how we live. It gives us joy instead of paralysis, confidence instead of fear, and purpose instead of passivity. Jesus leaving was not the end of the mission. It was only the way the mission could truly begin. Our Christ is not only crucified and risen, he is ascended, reigning, and at work still. Let's listen to Dean.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Easter's always a tough one to follow up on. Where'd you go from there? Have those heights, that joy, that celebration, that excitement, that was a wonderful message. And we did celebrate, didn't we? We enjoyed Easter, we enjoyed the story again, the reminder of all that it means for us. And so following up is always tricky, but I imagine that that's probably what Luke felt like. If you know there's there's four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Luke, written by a doctor, a well-educated man who goes out and researches, finds the eyewitnesses, and records it down. We have it as the Gospel of Luke, and he finishes that book, and then he's got his difficult second book, you know, like the difficult second album, trying to live up to the first. But we have that actually in our Bibles as well. It's called the Book of Acts. And Luke follows on from his story and carries on the story, and that's where we're going to be spending some time over the next few weeks as we look at what comes next and what follows on. Because if the Bible's got a come on a second part to it, then that's where we should go. If the Easter story isn't the culmination but that leads to something else, then that's what we want to explore. And so we're going to read through the book of Acts. Let's just pray before we listen to God's word together. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the men and women who you inspired to record it. We thank you that you've preserved it. We thank you that it still speaks today. And so we invite you, Holy Spirit, would you come and would you speak through your word? Would you make it alive in our hearts? Would you remove anything that would stop us from hearing it? Would you allow it to go further than our mind? But enter our hearts and shape us and transform us. We thank you for the power that is in it. We listen now, Lord. We open our hearts to listen. Speak, God, for your children are listening. We ask it in your name. Amen. So the book of Acts is where we're going to be. I'm going to read from the first verse for the first chapter. And as I say, this is this is not just Acts. I'm going to call this Act 2. Look at that, just switch this S around. So if you've got it in your Bible, because the ta you know the books of names that they're not actually inspired, so you're allowed to edit them. So rather than Acts, if you want to cross out the S and put Act 2, because that kind of summarizes exactly what Luke says. Here's how he puts it. Oh no, that's the wrong picture. Go away. We'll come back to that. It starts. In my former book, there you go, Luke's saying, in my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. So we're not sure who Theophilus is, but he's a man who we know funded Luke and helped him and funded him so he could go around and research and record this. He obviously wanted to know about Jesus. The best guess that people have is that Theophilus is actually part of a courtroom that we find at the end of Acts where Paul, one of the apostles, is on trial. And they think that actually Theophilus is part of this court or the jury or someone investigating this, and he's paid Luke to go and research it so that they know what verdict, because that's where Luke, that's where Act ends. He's trying to work out what verdict should we render. Is what Paul is saying true or is it made up? And so they think that Theophilus was a man probably in Rome who was wanting to research this and paid Luke, go find the witnesses, just as in any court case. Go find the people who saw it, get their statement, record it down, write to me. And so Luke does that in the Gospel of Luke, and then he writes the follow-up in my thought former book, he says, I wrote about all he began, and now he was writing his second account, Acts 2, of the story. After his suffering, this is Jesus, after Jesus' suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, and in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. Then they gathered around him and asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to know the times the Far dates the Father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 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. So Luke starts, this is Luke's account, this is where he goes, and this is what he starts with. Jesus has died on the cross. He's been laid in a tomb. Three days later he's risen again. He appears, he teaches about the kingdom of God, he meets with people, he eats with people, up to 500 people see him in various ways in different settings. He meets with his disciples, then he gives them this instruction, and then he ascends into heaven. And it's that idea of the ascension that I want to look at today because it kind of gets lost in our gospel stories. We don't know the death, we know the life of Jesus and his teaching, his birth, we celebrate that. We know his death, we celebrate and mark that, his resurrection, we we certainly celebrate and enjoy that. But the ascension kind of gets lost. We don't have a holiday for it, we don't have a celebration for it. It's just it's there, but we don't really know what to do with it. It happens, and we're aware it happens because Jesus isn't still here, but we're not quite sure of what it means. And so today we're going to dig into what the ascension is and why it is so so important. I've just got to go back to my original picture. There we go. You would have seen a few weeks ago the Artemis II shuttle going up into space, flying around the moon, and coming back. And and this this this for me is a helpful picture because I've been doing a bit of rocket science the last few weeks, training myself and teaching myself about this. I never realized, you see that ship there. So that that's the shuttle, we're very familiar with that. That doesn't go to the moon. The bit that goes to the moon is that tiny little bit at the top. That's that little that's where the little astronauts are sat. The rest of it is all fuel. The rest of it, that's all it is, just this massive fuel container to get them up there. Now I learnt that apparently it takes um something like 20 to 100 pounds of of fuel to launch one pound of payload into orbit. So but the problem is then you've got 100 pounds of fuel that you've also got to launch up as well. So you now you need fuel for that fuel, and then you need fuel, and there's a big fancy equation that someone's worked out, and that's how you get it up there, and that's why you need so much for that tiny little bit to get that up there. You need this massive amount of fuel, and as it goes up, what happens is it goes up and then it sort of falls apart. Bits to bits start to the side rockets fall off, then the middle bit falls off, and until finally all that is left is that tiny little bit in the middle. As it goes, it has to. If it doesn't, what will happen is it'll go up and then it will come back down, and there'll be a big bang at the end. But as it goes, it's designed that it falls apart, different bits fall down to earth, so that little bit can continue on its journey. What's the big idea? Well, when we come to the ascension, this is a picture of what it's about. The ascension, the disciples, they see this thing happen where they've seen Jesus. He has died, he's risen. Yes, come on, this is the moment. Jesus, are you at this time? You're gonna restore the kingdom, surely. This is your moment, isn't it? We're going, we're going into orbit, we're gonna do it. And then Jesus says, Goodbye. I'll see you later. And they're left there, standing, looking up into the sky. He is taken before their very eyes, and from their perspective, that must have felt like a loss. It must have felt like something falling away. It must have felt like separation. Jesus had tried to prepare them, he said, It's for your good that I go, but to their minds, they're looking, saying, Hang on a minute, what's going on? Is he coming back down? Is it is he is this it? Is this uh is this mission aborted? Has something failed? Has something gone wrong? What what what do we do now? And what looks, what we're gonna see is what looks like separation, like the rocket, what looks like something falling away is actually so that something can go forward. The ascension, one person put it like that, is the detonator for everything else that Jesus did. It is the plunger that gets pushed down, that explodes the gospel and the good news in the kingdom into the world. Without it, all that Jesus taught, all that he died for, and all that he rose for has no effect. So the ascension, we could say, is pretty important. It's it's the it's the thing that launches Jesus' ministry, it's the thing that makes it possible. And so today we're gonna see in this is how I study the Bible, I ask what, I ask so what, and then I ask now what. And so we're gonna ask those questions to figure out the ascension. What are we looking at? Well, what are we seeing here? The men stand there and they're looking into the sky and they see Jesus go. The absence of Jesus. But actually, it's not the absence, it's now the increased presence of Christ. They're seeing Jesus leave, but he leaves so that he can be more present than he ever was before. They're seeing the loss of his leadership, the intimacy of their walk with him, their protection. But it's not the loss of those things, it's actually the magnification. Those things get bigger. And what they experience isn't failure, they experience the transition into the next stage of the mission. And if we don't get this, we're going to do exactly what they did. They stood there and they stared into the sky, going, What do we do now? And I wonder if you feel like that in your faith. Whether you find that we've got this good news, and I celebrate this good news, and we come and we celebrate, and I open my Bible and I enjoy it, and I know what God has done, but a lot of the time it feels like I'm stood here going, What do I do now? And if you feel like that, it may be because you haven't understood the joy, the wonder, the beauty of the ascension and what it means for us. So we need to get it, we need to get hold of it. So the first question is what? I put those on there because I typed in worship online, and these are the pictures that come up. And I've got nothing against this, raising hands, praising God, worshiping him. But if that's all we do, then eventually it starts to look like standing around staring into the sky. Worship should lead to mission, it should lead to witness to something else. And so if you've if you're struggling to make that transition, here it is. What is the ascension? What is it? What's going on here? What do we mean when we say Jesus ascended? Well, in the Bible, the ascension can have two meanings. It can mean go up, so Jesus does go up, but it doesn't just mean go up, it can also mean someone ascending a throne. I couldn't I couldn't work out, I should have researched it, but I don't there probably is a throne in Britain, so the throne of England or the throne of Great Britain. I don't know if there is, um I know when there's there's the coronation, there's there's a throne. But you anyone could ascend that throne in terms of anyone could get into it. You just have to jump over a fence, knock away some soldiers, and you could get up there and sit on the throne. You could go up to it. But only one person can ascend to it in a way that changes their relationship with the country, their role in the world, their purpose, and the meaning of who they are, and that is the king. And so when we say Jesus ascended, he does go up in that physical way, but the word ascend isn't just about sort of how high he is or how many stories up he's gone. Ascension means Jesus has now changed his relationship. Something has happened that means his relationship with you and me and the entire world is different because he is on the throne. Ascension is not essentially, it's not space travel, it's not just Jesus going up and up and up into the stars beyond. Jesus didn't go into another part of the universe. God isn't the old man in the attic who lives up there somewhere. When we say Jesus ascended, what we mean is that he has gone to a different place. It says actually he's taken up into heaven. In the Bible, there are heavens, which is the sky and the sun and the stars and the galaxies, all that is beyond it. That's heavens. But Jesus ascended into heaven, which isn't up there, as much as the Bible does talk about it up there to show its height and its distance, but really it's this other place. It's this dimension's not quite the right word, but it's it's the the old English used to talk about these thin places. It's like it's it's the reality beyond reality. They used to talk about thin places, these places where it feels like you're touching something else, where beauty breaks in and life breaks in, it's it's it's all around us, it's beyond us, it's not just above us, it's it's God's reality, it's where he dwells, and that is where Jesus is. It's at all places at all times. And if Jesus is there, he's not just in the heavens, he's not just upstairs somewhere. Jesus is in heaven. For time, as the hymn says, contracted to a span. He became one of us, flesh and blood. He took on a body, he lived the perfect life, died and rose, but now he is in heaven. Now he is in all places at all times. Now his relationship with the world is not limited to a place in the in Israel in the distant past. His relationship to the world is that he is in all places at all times, seeing all things, knowing all things, relating to all people, calling them to himself. That's why when they lose Jesus, like the rocket, they're not, it's not actually a loss. It changes it. The ascension is something different. Mary Magdalene, if you remember, the Easter story, shows us this in a wonderful way. She sees Jesus for the first time. And she obviously doesn't say it, but she obviously clings to him because Jesus then says, Do not hold on to me. She obviously is so excited, she wraps her arms around him and hugs him tight, and he says, Do not hold on to me, for I am ascending to my Father. At first that can seem like a strange thing to say, but what Jesus is getting across is not don't touch me, but Mary, you can hug me for now, but at some point you're gonna have to let go of me. Not so that I can be further away from you, but so I can be closer to you than I even am at this moment. Not so I can leave you, but so that I can never leave you, for I will dwell within you. If I ascend, then I can be nearer to you than ever. And Mary, if I ascend, then anything can happen to you. They can chain you, they can imprison you, they can lock you away, but they will never be able to take me from you. Because my ascension means that I am with you always. My relationship changed. You haven't got to find me in the garden or seek out where I am or lower a man through the roof to try and get to me or push through the crowds to find me. I will be at all places at all times, I will be with you, and you can know me. That's why the ascension is a wonderful thing. It isn't a loss, it's the magnification of everything. Everything Jesus was, everything he did is now released into the world. Not absence, but his presence everywhere. Not weakness, but power, the power of God released. Not the mission ending, but the mission now reaching orbit, taking off, doing what it was meant to do. And so that's the what. That's what the ascension is. But so what? So what does this mean? They stood there and they're looking up, and I don't know how it happened, my imagination runs off, but they're sort of stood there looking up, Jesus ascended, that's impressive. And then they stand no bit longer. It doesn't say how long they stood there, but I just imagine Jesus on the way up, passing Gabriel and Michael, and go, go give him a hand, will you? Because they don't get it, do they? They're still there gorping. It's like just go, just go give them a nudge so that the angels then come and they appear and they go, Why are you stood looking into the sky? And it's like the penny hasn't quite dropped. All they're doing, they see they're just seeing absence. This is confusing, this is alarming, this is scary. And the angels are sent just to give them a little rebuke, a little nudge to say, guys, this means it's it's started. This means it's begun. You're gonna go back into the world, but you're not gonna go back as Matthew and and Peter and John, you're gonna go back like thunderbolts, you're gonna go back like like lights shining in the darkness, you're gonna go back like messengers, heralds of heaven, declaring the good news. You're gonna go back as those with authority and power, you're gonna go back as representatives of him. Don't stand here, gorping. It's over to you. He is now with you, he is now in you. When the Spirit comes on you, you will have power and you will be his witnesses. The world will know all that he has done, all that he is through you. Jesus has ascended. And now something changes. If you notice at the start, it says, in my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. So my first book was What about Jesus Began to do and teach? The implication being acts is what Jesus continues to do and teach. But how does he continue to do and teach it? Well, he's ascended. So he continues not by himself, but in his people, in their hearts. We carry on the mission, we carry on his ministry, we are now God's ambassadors going into the world, representing him, doing what he did. We we go as prophets. Jesus was a prophet, he spoke with wisdom, he spoke with authority. No one spoke truth that liberated and changed hearts like Jesus. He said truth that spoke that let people go free. He spoke truth that comforted and renewed. He spoke truth that confronted evil and disarmed powers. And then Luke says, you carry that on. You and our people who speak truth. You speak as prophets in the world. You go out there and what you proclaim and what you say, you declare what God has declared right and wrong, you declare what is true and what is good and what is beautiful. You go with this word, with authority, to speak into the darkness, to proclaim liberty to those who are captive, freedom for those who enslave, forgiveness for those who are caught in sin. This mission is not carried on by one visible embodied presence, but in all the people in which Jesus dwells. Jesus still speaks through his witness. That's why in Acts or the letters, you hear Paul say things like, you heard him, or he himself came and preached to you, and you think, well, no, he didn't. What Paul means is that when the messengers came, when you received them, you heard not just them speaking, you heard Jesus speaking. It's always my prayer when I'm preaching. Don't hear me. I want you to hear something of Jesus in what I'm saying. But that's possible. The fact that's even possible is because Jesus ascended. This is the New Testament. And so they they come to Jesus and they ask him, Lord, I will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Here's their problem. Lord, you've died, you've risen. Will you at this time restore the kingdom? And what does Jesus say? It's not your concern, don't worry about the times, but you will receive power. Will you? That's the standing staring into heaven. Will you do this? Will you finish this off? Will you continue the work? And the word from God to us is no. You will. You will receive power. You will be my witnesses. You will be the ones to carry it on. This is simultaneously the most humbling thing because what? Me? Us? We would be those that are ambassadors for the gospel. We would be representative of the king. Me, it's the most humbling thing and the most glorifying thing. You have deep humility because you were chosen for this. Jesus decided this would be the way it would work out. I could stay and do it myself, but I'm gonna go and I trust you. We always talk about trusting God, but there is something of God's trust in what he's done in us and what he's doing in us. He says, I will ascend and you will. You will receive power and you will be my witnesses. Jesus goes elsewhere. He says, even the least in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist. That doesn't mean that Christians are more impressive or more eloquent than John, but it means that even the weakest believer now, standing in light of all that Jesus has done, all that he has accomplished, the and the death, the resurrection, the ascension, even the weakest believer is greater than the greatest prophet we're told that ever came. That's the height that God sees you as. And I know you don't believe it, or you struggle to believe it, but that's what we're invited to. That's what Acts is inviting us to comprehend. That's what the ascension is speaking to us. You are but are simultaneously lower than you ever thought and higher than you ever dared dream believe. And God is in you. If you've called on his name and he dwells in your heart, he is in you, his life is in you, his presence is in you. And so Jesus sends them out, sends them out. To be his witnesses with authority. That's why they go out and they pray for things and it happens. And they preach forgiveness, and people are forgiven. And they invite people and they bend the knee to Jesus. And they heal and they restore and they serve and they give. They do this thing with an authority. And their authority is not in their eloquence. Paul says this. I don't have fancy words. My sentences don't make sense. I'm mumbled and jumbled and all over the place. But for some reason, when I speak, God does something. And people are changed. And people are healed and people are restored and people are set free and lives are going in a different direction. Not for my eloquence, but because there is something in me. I have an authority, and it's not my authority. It's an authority that's borrowed. He gives me his authority to go out and do this. We should be humble, but we shouldn't be hesitant. We are those who have the presence of Jesus in our hearts. You can have authority without humility, and that ends up messy. And you can have humility without authority and that ends up in weakness. But to have both, that's what God's people are meant to be. Those who go out into the world, treasures in jars of clay, Paul puts it. He is ascended. He's the prophet who's gone up. He's the priest. You see in the book of Acts that people like Stephen, they can lose their lives. There are many accounts where people lose their lives and they do so with peace. They do so with calmness. They do so not fretting and falling apart. And Stephen, in particular, the reason for that we're told is because when he looks up, he sees Jesus at the right hand of God. He sees him stood there, and as he sees him, he is able to die. We have a priest who tells us that even death is not the end. And even if the worst thing could happen because he has ascended, it is not the end for us. But it only happens if he's at the right hand of God. On earth, on earth, we hear something different. On earth, Stephen, as he's been stoned, would hear you you are wrong, you are condemned, you are shameful, you are finished. And that's that's down here. But if Jesus is ascended, then a different word is spoken. You are accepted, and you are acquitted, and you are beautiful in the Father's eyes, and you are safe in his arms. That's the power of the ascension. Do you feel weak? Do you feel ugly? Do you feel like a failure? Do you feel condemned? Then you need to get your head round the ascension where a better word is spoken over you. A truer word is spoken over you. The verdict that matters is spoken over you. Jesus is your advocate at the right hand of the Father. And he doesn't point out all the faults and the flaws. He knows them, he paid for them. But he declares that you are right in him, that you are whole in him, that you are healed, that you are a vessel, you are a temple, that he lives within you. Jesus, the ascended one, does all of this. Now what? We know what it is. We've seen some of the so what, but now what? Well, it's very much like the men, that the angels come and they speak to them. They say, Why are you you stood here, staring up into heaven? And so what do they do? They go back. Luke tells us that they go back with great joy. We all in life we all struggle. There are difficult moments, difficult times, difficult situations. And I think what I've learnt is what we need is not less of the struggle, because that just doesn't happen. In this world, you will have trouble. I can't lessen the struggle, but what I could do is get a greater joy. A joy that helps me overcome the struggle. When they run back after seeing Jesus, they're filled with a greater joy. It tells us that they worship him and they enjoy him. In Luke 24, it tells us that this is what they do. They go back worshiping, praising God. They don't leave the temple courts because of the joy of what they now know. The penny does drop eventually. Once the angels give them a nudge, they do finally get it. Oh, this means it all it's all true. This means it's happening. This means that it's continuing. This means it's over to us. And so they go with this great joy, a joy that helps them overcome all the persecution. Remember before? They're hiding in a room, they're carrying away from the authorities. Now they're in open in the temple, proclaiming it. But they were hiding, they were afraid, they were unsure, now they are bold and they are confident. What's the difference? Jesus ascended. Because he ascended, he's not further from them, he is nearer. He is not more distant, he is closer. He's not less real, he is more real. And once we understand this, we understand that what we do now is we go. You go. Our worship may be hands lifted, voices loud, praising God, but our worship leads to a witness. Because Jesus says, You go, you will receive power, and you will be my witnesses. Now, unfortunately, witness for many of us means arguing with your neighbors, trying to convince them what's true, trying to show them where they're wrong, and maybe one day get them along to church. But fortunately, that isn't what the original word means. Witness means you show people that Jesus is alive. You show them that he is real, you show them that he dwells in your heart. How do you do that? Yes, with your words and with explanations, but you also do it in the way that you work, in the way that you marry, in the way that you you serve, the way that you play, the way that you rest, the way that you eat, the way that you put out your bins, the way that you clean your car, the way that you walk your dog, everything you do becomes a witness. I do this in this way because he is Lord, he is ascended, he is alive, he is real, and the way I live that, Peter says it like this people will ask a question. People will ask you for the hope that is in you. Why why do you have such great joy? Why do you seem to have peace that I don't? What's different about you? Jesus says, when you're doing all of that, you're witnessing, you are showing people this is real. This isn't an idea. We're not standing looking at the sky. Church isn't about looking back in history and going, that's a nice thing Jesus did, isn't it? That's a nice story. You know the cross and the tomb. That's a lovely story. Let's stand there and look at that over and over again. We do, we come back to that place, but not to gore at it and just stand there staring. We do so so that we are filled with the confidence, filled with the boldness, filled with the joy and the worship to go out and be witnesses. As I said at the start, if you find that perhaps your faith looks a bit more like you're just standing around going, not sure what to do now. I believe Jesus died, and I believe he rose. But it feels like I'm just stood here looking for something else. Anything else you're gonna do, Jesus? Will you do this? Will you do that? Will you do the other? And Jesus says, You will. You will. If you realize that I am ascended, if you recognize that by my spirit I dwell in your heart, if you realize I've given you authority, that you are my prophets, you are my priests, you're my royal priesthood who I am sending into the world to proclaim and be witnesses to all that I have said and done, all that I have accomplished, you will. And you will go out and change the world, which is what the rest of Acts is all about. It starts in Jerusalem, goes to Judea and Samaria, and eventually it reaches the ends of the world, even Lempster. And there the world is changed because you will. You could put it more like God will in you, but that's not how Jesus says it. No, you will. You will, you've been given authority. You have the spirit in you. Today, as we remember, Jesus died and he rose. We also want to remember he he ascended. And I hope you see the importance of that. There is another reason it's important. In Germany, there's a festival called Christi Udenwart, something like that. It's a week-long holiday. And it's centered on the ascension. So we need to make a big deal of this, because if you do, you might get a week's holiday. Okay? So that's the reason one, we've got to make deal with it. But the second reason, the more important reason, is because this changes everything. This change, like I said, this is the thing that unleashes. We said Easter changes everything. It does, but it's the ascension that lights the fuse. It's the ascension that presses the button. It's the ascension that explodes it out. What is the point in building a beautiful house if no one lives in it? What is the point in cooking the most beautiful, sumptuous meal if no one eats it? What is the point in lighting a fuse if there's no TNT at the end? This is what makes it possible. The ascension is where Jesus takes all that he is, all that he does, and concentrates it in you. He ascends, but so that he can be closer and nearer and more powerful in your life than ever before. Without this, he is limited in time and space and his reach and what he can do. But if he is in heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father, then you are different. The world is different, and the way God reaches us and works in us is different. We don't stand here gorping at one single time and place. He is with us now. He speaks to us today. He works in us at this very moment. He wants to work through us today. And so you can, you can come and ask me to pray for you, but you have the power of prayer too. You can come and ask someone to teach you, but you have God's word. This was the whole idea. It's what Pentecost. We're going to come onto it. I'm jumping ahead. But Pentecost is about this. God writes the law on your heart. It's no longer something out there that you look at, it's something in you. It's no longer a power over there, it's a power in you. You can do what God's called you to do. You've been filled with the power of God Himself. Perhaps we just need to spend enough time at the ascension until we get it. Perhaps we need to just stand there, but not too long. Stand there until you see that it's happened. And then hear the prod. Don't keep standing there gorping. Go. Go. Wait on God, receive his power, and when you do, you will be his witnesses. What looked like loss was the release of power. What looked like departure or the breaking apart was the church being launched into orbit. We have a Christ. We have a crucified Christ, that's outrageous but true. We have a risen Christ, that's astounding. We also have an ascended Christ. And when we get it, that is the most wonderful thing in the world because it means I can know Him now. That with just a word, just a prayer, I can touch heaven. I can reach Him. That just by opening myself up, I can have Him dwell in me. Jesus leaving is not the end of the mission, it's the only way it could begin. And we need to dwell on that until that great joy fills our hearts.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

We hope that you've enjoyed listening to Dean's thoughts today. If anything that he has said has challenged you or raised questions that you'd like answers to, please don't hesitate to contact us and ask for a chat. You can find our details on our website, which is leobc.co.uk, as well as on the information that we have posted for this podcast. Alternatively, if you live in our area, you are very welcome to join us on Sunday morning at 10.30 to hear things first hand. We'd love to see you there.