Church Message -- Yorktown Crier

Jesus’ Ascension Means He is in Control
By Pastor Stuppy

I read a brief summary of a book about a boy named Alexander. Alexander is a boy who had a TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE,NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY. In this story Alexander goes to bed one night with gum in his mouth and wakes up the next morning with gum in his hair. He trips on his skateboard getting out o fbed and then he drops his sweater in the sink with the water running. At school, his best friend deserts him, his teacher fails to appreciate him, and his mother forgets to put dessert in his lunch. After school the whole family goes to the dentist, and the only one with cavities is – guess who? Yep, it’s Alexander. Even at bedtime, things go badly forAlexander: his bath is too hot, he gets soap in his eyes, his favorite marble goes down the drain, and he has to wear his stupid looking pajamas to bed. To top it all off, his night-light burns out, he bites his tongue getting into bed, and to add insult to injury his cat refuses to sleep with him. All of us have probably had days like that; days when everything just seems to do badly. We face problems at work, at home, and school. Even when we look outside the realm of our personal lives we see a world that is also filled with trouble. You turn on the news and you hear of one tragedy or trouble after another - suicide bombings, kidnappings, devastation from flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. Sometimes it feels like our lives and the world are out of control. On Thursday of this week, churches observe a festival called ‘Ascension Day.’ It is not a day that gets as much attention as Easter and Christmas. You can’t buy Ascension lights to decorate your house or ge tchocolate Ascension eggs. It’s a day that often slips under the radar for most, even many Christians. That does not mean that Ascension Day is not important. First of all it marks an important event in the story of our salvation. We all know about Christmas when we celebrate the birth of the Savior. We know how Jesussuffered and died on Good Friday. We celebrate his glorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. Then comes Ascension Day. It arrives 40 days after Easter and marks the day on which our Lord left this earth and ascended into heaven. So why is that important? What does it have to do with all the troubles I face in my life. We need to realize that Jesus just didn’t go away. He went to heaven to work. He went, as he said, to prepare a place for us (John 14: 2, 3). He went to sit at the right hand of God (Mark 16:19). From there, he rules the world in the interests of his church (Eph 1:20-22). In a practical sense it means that Jesus is in control. With his complete authority and almighty rule, he watches over the world in the interests of his church. He uses his holy angels to protect us from harm and danger. He turns trials and troubles into blessings (Rom8:28.) He carries out his will as we get one day closer to his glorious return on Judgment Day. When things look like they are out of control, rememberthat they’re not.