Ascension Day Service
So, I’ve been chronicling the development of my Ascension Day service for the Sacraments & Worship class. I finally had to turn it in, even though I don’t think it’s finished. This is something I’ll probably be working on for years. The professor liked it. He even said it’s “very creative and imaginative…right on target seeking to adopt the historical themes of Ascension Day to the postmodern audience,” and gave me an A, even though it was quite late. The final project was 19 pages, with four appendices (including a layout of the setting…I’ll try to post it someo other time) and a Power Point presentation. I think the amount of work that went into it might have been a little overboard, but hey – it is a graduate program, after all.
When we discussed Ascension Day in class, I was struck at how little the Evangelical or even the Protestant churches as a whole do to recognize Jesus’ ascension into heaven. With the whole emphasis on the “End Times” and the Left Behind phenomenon, it’s a wonder that Christ’s ascension is not emphasized more. There cannot be a second coming if Jesus had not initially left his disciples, after all.
Even without a premillennial worldview, Ascension Day should still be an important time for contemporary Christians. THis service is an attempt to flesh out the different aspects of Ascension Day within a worship setting. With experience as “king” in today’s culture, I tried to make it as participatory and experiental as possible, engaging as many senses as possible as frequently as possible.
So, without further ado,
Act I – Christ as Conquering King
Call to Worship
Leader: Christ is risen!
People: He is risen indeed!
Leader: The Lord be with you
People: And with your spirit
Leader: Lift up your hearts
People: We lift them to the Lord
Reader 1: Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth.
Reader 2: He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
Reader 3: God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Reader 1, 2, 3: Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises
Reader 3: For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm.
Reader 1: God is king over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.
Reader 2: The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham
Reader 3: For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!
(Psalm 47)
Brief Welcome
Prayer
Leader: God, it is right that at all times, and in all places, give thanks to You, Our Father, the Everlasting God. Through Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ; who, after his resurrection, appeared to his Apostles, and in their sight ascended up into heaven, to prepare a place for us; that where he is, there we may also be, and reign with him in glory. Therefore, with all of the company of heaven, we honor Your holy name, praising You forevermore, and saying “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Glory be to You, Lord most high.” Amen.
Songs
Set 1
Christ Arose
Praise Him – by David Crowder Band
Angus Dei/Holy, Holy, Holy!
My Glorious/Revelation 19
Act II – Celebrating Christ’s Ascension
Sermon
Delivered from the stations around the room. An brief homily based on the different themes of the stations (See Appendix I). Can be delivered by one speaker who walks around the room, or by multiple speakers, one positioned at each station.
Exchanging of the Peace
Visiting the Stations
The Congregation is invited to journey with one another through the Stations. The Stations do not have to be visited in any particular order. Each Station helps the participants focus on different aspects of what Jesus’ Ascension means, why it is important, and how it impacts us today.
The Stations:
Station 1: We have an Advocate at the Father’s right hand.
Black curtains serve as a border around the Station. The entrance at the front is marked with a purple curtain torn in half from top to bottom. At the center of the Station is a Judge’s bench. To the right of the bench is a bucket with a flame inside. Projected on the front of the Judge’s bench is Hebrews 4:14 & 16
Participants are invited to remember their sinful acts. They are encouraged to confess them to one another, if the participants are comfortable doing so. They are also encouraged to write their sins on a note card. Upon completing the note card, the participants are invited to drop their note cards in the flame and celebrate the mercy that flows because Jesus Christ is the Advocate
Station 2: We will join Him in the Great Banquet
The Station is set apart by curtains. Inside is a large dining room table and chairs. The table is set with fine china and silverware. At the head of the table is a large chair or a throne with a royal crown. The Station is filled with candles.
At the center is a pitcher of cold milk, a plate of crackers, and a bowl of honey. Participants take place cards and write their names on them. They place the cards on the table, sit down, drink some milk and eat some crackers with honey.
Station 3: We will face persecution
The Station is set apart by partitions. The entrance is barred like a cell door. Inside are some chains and a small table with a PowerPoint on a continuous loop of faces of contemporary Christians worldwide who face persecution every day.
Participants are encouraged to pray for their brothers and sisters in chains.
Station 4: We are challenged to spread the Gospel with others
Mounted on a wall in this Station is a large map of the city. Below it is a black light shining on the map. On the wall surrounding the map, Acts 1:6-8 is written in luminous fluorescent ink. The rest of the room is as dark as possible.
Participants are encouraged to mark their typical daily routes (school, work, home, store, etc.) on the map. They are reminded that every step they take is an opportunity to shine the light of Christ
Station 5: The Kingdom of God is being ushered in right now
A table is set up without any barriers. At the center is a glass of water. An audio recording of Matthew 25:42-46 is playing on a loop.
Coolers are nearby stocked with cold water bottles. Participants are encouraged to share water with each other and challenged to go out of their way to help those near them that are in need.
Station 6: We have the presence of the Holy Spirit
The room is curtained. On the end opposite the entrance are a few fans with some muslin attached to them. The fans are blowing (on a low setting) out the door. Painted on the curtains around the room are the words: ‘Ruah – Spirit’ ‘Parakletos – Spirit’
Participants are invited to stand in the wind and pray that God’s Spirit will move afresh in themselves, their church, their community, and the world
Station 7: We anticipate His return 2nd Advent Prayer – Hymn 274
The walls are blue, the floor has a green carpet. On the wall is written Luke 24:44-53. In one corner of the room is a video screen (possibly from a laptop) with this video loop from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe:
DVD time – 2:07:46-2:09:01
Lucy sees Aslan walk away into the sunset
Mr. Tumnus: Don’t worry. We’ll see him again.
Lucy: When?
Mr. Tumnus: In time. One day he’ll be here and the next he won’t. But you mustn’t press him. After all, he’s not a tame lion.
Lucy: No. But he is good.
Mr. Tumnus: Gives Lucy a handkerchief. Here. You need it more than I do.
The two hold hands and watch Aslan leave
Participants are encouraged to pray the Second Advent Prayer by Bryan Jeffery Leech:
Lord Jesus Christ:
Help us to plan our lives as if You will never return.
Help us to live our lives as if Your coming is but a second away. So may our vision stretch into the future, seeing all the great things we can do on Your behalf.
In our work we seek to extend the boundaries of Your Kingdom. We long for you, our King, to come. Amen
Act III – The Second Advent
Trumpet Blast
From the East (Jerusalem), preferably elevated.
The Collect
From Stage
Leader: Almighty God, we ask that like Your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind also ascend, and with him continually dwell, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Leader: Let us proclaim the mystery of the faith:
All: Christ has died
Christ has risen
Christ will come again!
Leader: Let us continue to worship the Lord, who sits at the right hand of the Father…
Responsorial Psalm
(Psalm 94)
Reader 1: The Lord is king, He is robed in majesty;
Congregation: The Lord is robed, He is girded with strength.
Reader 2: He has established the world; it shall never be moved; Your throne is established from of old;
Congregation: You are from everlasting.
Reader 1: The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
Reader 2: The floods have lifted their voice;
Congregation: The floods lift up their roaring.
Reader 1: More majestic than the thunders of mighty waters,
Reader 2: More majestic than the waves of the sea,
All: Majestic on high is the Lord! Your decrees are very sure; holiness befits Your house, O Lord, forevermore.
Songs
Set 2
How Great is Our God/ How Great Thou Art
All Creatures of our God and King
Reader 4: See, the Conqueror mounts in triumph,
See the King in royal state,
Riding on the clouds His chariot
To His heavenly palace-gate;
Hark, the choirs of angel voiced
Joyful hallelujahs sing,
And the portals high and lifted,
To receive their heavenly King
(William Wordsworth)
Songs
Set 3
Christ is Coming!
O Come, Emmanuel
Communion Hymn
During the song, the Bread and Cup are brought from the Stage to the Communion Table.
Nothing but the Blood
The Bread
From center of Congregation
Presider: For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread (Presider lifts up the Bread), and when he had given thanks, he broke it (Presider breaks the Bread)…
Silence
…and said “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
The Cup
Presider: In the same way, he took the cup also, (The Cup is poured) after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Communion Prayer
We give thanks to you, our Father, for the holy vine of your servant David, and for the life and knowledge which you made known to us through your Son Jesus; glory to you for evermore.
As this broken bread was scattered over the mountains, and when brought together became one, so let your Church be brought together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom; for yours are the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for evermore.
Presider: The gifts of God for the people of God.
Communion
The Congregation moves to the Center to receive the Bread and the Cup
Closing Prayer
Leader: We give thanks to You, Almighty God, that You have refreshed us with this, Your holy gift; and we ask You, of Your mercy, to strengthen us through the same in faith toward You, and in fervent love toward one another. And in one voice, we follow the model Your Son showed us when he taught us how to pray:
Lord’s Prayer
Closing Song
It is Well with my Soul
Benediction
May the Lord bless and keep you.
May the Lord make His face shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
Postlude
Performed by Band behind Curtain on Stage
That Where I am, There You…
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