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From The Pastor

October 18, 2019 by Rev. John Hartman

From the Pastor

In a recent poll American churchgoers were asked, “What is your greatest spiritual problem?” The reply came back, –as it always does, that there is a sense of the remoteness of God. In other words, there is the feeling that here we are going through all the motions of religion, — while God is still out there beyond the reach of our experience. But when we say in the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe Jesus Christ ascended into heaven,” we are saying, “I believe he’s in my inner space and lives within me. It’s like the words in that great old hymn of the church, “He walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own.”

The joy of the doctrine of the Ascension is that Jesus ascended for us. We are why he ascended! The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:34, “Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us.” The same Jesus we loved down here is now up there as Lord and King. We have a friend in high places! Ephesians 4:10 says, “He who descended is no other than he who ascended, so that he might fill the universe!” From there, he keeps tabs on each of us in a kind of celestial Twitter service. “Bob has a big job interview this Tuesday.” “Gertrude is thinking about leaving her husband again.” “Ronny is giving a presentation that’s going to make or break the direction of the company.” “The Jones’ are trying to get pregnant.” All this Jesus whispers into his Father’s ear. Yes, we really do have a friend in high places.

Please join us at Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church this Sunday at either 8:00 am or 10:30 am, as I continue my sermon series on the Apostles’ Creed, and we look at this important, yet often overlooked aspect of the Christian faith, — Jesus “ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”

Pastor John

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Quote of the Week

“At His Ascension our Lord entered Heaven, and He keeps the door open for humanity to enter.” Oswald Chambers

Oswald Chambers was an early twentieth-century Scottish Baptist and Holiness Movement evangelist and teacher, best known for the devotional My Utmost for His Highest.