Ascension Lutheran Church and School
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty,
nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God,
who richly provides us with everything to enjoy."
1 Timothy 6: 17 ESV
Join us
Sundays*
8:00 and 10:45 a.m. — Worship Service
9:30 a.m. — Adult Discipleship Class, Children's Sunday School
Wednesdays in Lent and Advent
6:30 p.m. Vespers
*Holy Communion is offered at both Sunday services.
Learn by Heart Family Devotions
Online giving continues to be an easy way for many to give. The giving link is located just above this message. You also can use the mobile app, “VANCO MOBILE.”
Welcome to Ascension!
Pastor James Gier
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures and ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. ~ The Nicene Creed
In the Gospel of St. John (14:6) Jesus said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Jesus is our way back to our Father in heaven. He is the Gospel (Good News) of God to the world. As Evangelical Lutherans, we are loyal to the Gospel of Christ, "for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
This Gospel ministry and mission of the Christian Church is to seek, make, and mature disciples for God's eternal kingdom through preaching, baptizing, teaching and communing. This work of the Holy Spirit of God among mankind is centered in the Divine Service in which the Word of God is first proclaimed and administered through sermons and sacraments. Through this Word and these means God saves us from our captivity to sin, death, and the devil, and so works in us a new and everlasting life.
... just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns
to all eternity! ~ Luther's Small Catechism
At Ascension, this new life finds its expression in a three-fold fellowship and ministry of Church, Family, and School. Here, you will encounter and know the Lord Jesus Christ for your forgiveness, life, and salvation!
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Our Help Is Not in Worldly Riches
Amos 6:1-7; 1 Timothy 3:1-13 or 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31
“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side,” and “the rich man also died and was buried” (Luke 16:22).
The poor man Lazarus, who knew many bad things on earth, began to be comforted forever, whereas the rich man, after a lifetime of good things, began to be “in anguish” (Luke 16:25). Therefore, “woe to those who are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1), for “the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away” (Amos 6:7).
The wealthy are urged “not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches,” but “to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share” (1 Timothy 6:17-18). Covetous desire for what God has not given is idolatry and “a root of all kinds of evils” (1 Timothy 6:10). Contentment belongs to faith, by which the Christian has “great gain” in godliness (1 Timothy 6:6).